Sherlock had always been highly efficient; in less than thirty minutes, he had completely wrung out all the intelligence Tashigi possessed.
And during this half hour or so, the poor female Marine had suffered immense mental devastation. Her hollow, dull eyes were completely devoid of life, and her face was stained with tears, making the nearby Miss Navigator feel a bit of pity.
Come to think of it, if someone could calmly and nonchalantly expose the secrets you desperately tried to hide in the deepest recesses of your heart, anyone would find it unbearable.
"Hmm, that seems to be about it."
Sherlock quickly sorted through the intelligence he had just obtained in his mind and nodded, before turning his gaze toward Tashigi, who had been completely broken down.
"Thank you very much for the information, beautiful Marine lady. Now then..." With that, the Sorcerer extended his right hand in front of the female Marine's eyes and lightly snapped his fingers.
Snap! A crisp sound echoed.
This snap was nothing less than the straw that broke the camel's back. Already utterly exhausted mentally, Tashigi's eyes went dark at this minor stimulus, and she predictably collapsed onto the ground.
"...Please, have a sweet dream~"
Withdrawing his gaze from the now-unconscious female Marine, Sherlock stood up and gently pushed up his glasses.
"Alright, now that we've gathered enough intelligence, it's time to find... Hey, Nami, what's with that look?"
"Uh... is there something strange about my look? Ahaha, Sherlock, don't sweat the small stuff."
Nami awkwardly withdrew the bizarre gaze she had been using—the kind one might use to look at an alien. She scratched her cheek and gave a sheepish smile.
"I was just shocked by what you did. Your performance just now, which practically looked like mind-reading, is honestly terrifying."
Even though the Sorcerer was her crewmate, the thought that this guy could uncover the secrets buried deep in your heart through mere observation and perception still made Nami feel psychologically uncomfortable.
"Terrifying? Not at all. This is merely an alternative application of hypnotism—nothing to boast about."
Sherlock said nonchalantly, "Besides, Nami, aren't you also able to read my mind just by looking into my eyes?"
"Hey, hey, hey, those two things aren't comparable at all, alright?"
To be honest, Nami herself didn't know how her "Anti-Sherlock Observation Haki" had awakened. In fact, rather than an awakening, it was more like this highly targeted, powerful intuition was an innate [talent] born within Miss Navigator specifically to counter a certain four-eyes.
"Putting that aside for now, Sherlock, what were you about to say? What do we do next?"
Dropping the matter of "mind-reading," Nami crossed her arms and continued, "What we know for sure now is that Zoro has been captured by the Marines. Are we heading to the prison to rescue him?"
"No rush, we will definitely go to the prison. After all, there's an [old friend] waiting for me to visit." Deliberately emphasizing the words "old friend," the Sorcerer narrowed his eyes slightly and said ominously:
"I have far too many questions to ask him."
(An old friend? Who? And what questions do you want to ask?) A string of question marks popped up above Nami's head. She was just about to ask when Sherlock interrupted her.
"Are you hungry right now, Nami?" the Sorcerer asked out of the blue.
"Eh?"
"Huh? What are you talking about, Sherlock? We don't have time to eat right now..."
Nami was completely baffled by this abrupt leap in conversation from the four-eyes, but with her sharp intellect, she quickly realized what he was trying to imply.
"Are you saying that idiot Luffy is currently..."
"Exactly."
Lightly pushing up his glasses, Sherlock grinned and said, "It's lunchtime right now, and there's only one place where our Captain is most likely to show up."
"He always strictly follows the will of his stomach..."
A Marine fortress is absolutely a heavily fortified place, and the G-8 Fortress is even more so.
Yet within this fortress, heavily guarded layer upon layer by Marine soldiers, a blue-nosed reindeer wearing a pink hat was strutting around out in the open, drawing frequent sidelong glances from the Marines.
Many dutiful (gluttonous) Marines thought about capturing this strange (delicious) reindeer and sending it to the Marine cafeteria, but when they saw the little black cat fast asleep on the reindeer's back, they abandoned the idea.
(This reindeer is probably another pet picked up by Rear Admiral Alan...) the Marines thought to themselves.
Although they didn't know the exact background of that little girl with the black and white split hair, these Marine soldiers had been repeatedly warned by Vice Admiral Jonathan: absolutely, under no circumstances, provoke that foul-tempered little thing.
Of course, a certain doctor of the Straw Hat Pirates was naturally completely oblivious to all of this.
(Strange, why are these Marines ignoring me?)
Looking at the squad of well-equipped, solemn-faced Marine soldiers ahead, Chopper tilted his head in complete bewilderment. Then he turned to look at the kitty sleeping like a log on his back and muttered to himself:
"Also, just how long is this lazy cat going to sleep?"
Ever since meeting this mysterious red-eyed black cat last night, Chopper had, driven by some mysterious force, been following right behind its tail, wandering all over the place.
But perhaps this little black cat shared Zoro's sense of direction; it went in huge circles several times and still failed to find the so-called "Commander's Office." Once dawn broke, the creature jumped onto Chopper's back and went to sleep, showing no signs of waking up even now, leaving Chopper not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
(Sigh, since that's the case, while those Marines are ignoring me, I should look for Luffy and the others first.)
At that thought, the blue-nosed reindeer lifted his head and took a deep, powerful sniff.
Unlike the inland bay, which carried a faint smell of oil, the scents inside G-8 Fortress were quite easy to distinguish. Before long, Chopper caught a familiar scent.
A pleasant, elegant fragrance of flowers.
(This scent... Robin!) Chopper's eyes instantly lit up. The blue-nosed reindeer would absolutely never mistake that highly recognizable floral fragrance belonging to a certain archaeologist.
Without the slightest hesitation, he dashed off in the direction of the scent, nearly throwing the sleeping little black cat off his back.
"You want to carry them and sail for a little while longer?"
Sitting cross-legged on the Going Merry's adorable sheep figurehead, Alan threw her burnt-out cigar forcefully into the distance.
"Can I take it that you are bargaining with me?" As she spoke, a sharp glint suddenly flashed through the loli Rear Admiral's amber right eye.
No one replied. The surroundings were terrifyingly quiet, as if Rear Admiral Alan had been talking to the empty air the entire time.
After a long silence.
"Fine, you win." The twin-tailed loli with black and white split hair completely changed her tune, unexpectedly making a rare compromise. Looking at her sour expression, she was clearly extremely reluctant.
"Considering you're still just a 'baby,' I'll take a step back this time."
"But correspondingly, when the time comes that you can no longer sail, I will come looking for you again."
Reaching out to gently pat the sheep figurehead beneath her, Alan flashed a very sweet smile.
"When that time comes, you'd better not refuse~~ little guy..."
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