Chapter 108: Reconnaissance Steps
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Settling down Amadeus, Vlad moved initially rather slowly to take in the atmosphere of Arcadia, and at times as he was moving past the many citizens spending their night time as they chosen, some of the men and women would turn around, wanting to take a better look at the tall black-haired man who had an aristocratic allure around him but constantly failing to get a second closer look at him.
It was an appearance that stirred many of them, an appearance that settled down only at the Harbor, when Vlad arrived back at his Caravel holding a bag containing some bottles he entered casually in a room at the base level of the lower deck, being already expected by the white-haired youngster who was seated on a comfortable sofa.
"What brings you back? I thought you'll only return after one week, maybe two. Or you picked the wrong place for the Mausoleum Key?"
"Nothing of that sort. I was on my way toward the Cave, to do a reconnaissance job, something simple without many risks."
"It's that so? And that bag?" asked Dalyon while watching Vlad walking toward a comfortable seat of his cabin, later on placing the bag on the table nearby.
"A small attention from me. Afterall, I would also feel horrible being stuck in a single location, watching over nothing of value."
"Hah, nothing of value. From what I understood from Adra, that Library of yours could be worth hundreds of millions of berries. While your laboratory could be worth furthermore, don't get me started with your humble speech." pointed out Dalyon, noticing Vlad insert his hand in the bag, and fetch a glass of wine that he tossed at him.
"Good luck selling my books around on the black market, the Underworld, or conventional markets. You'll have such luck, that everyone will pass by your stall." mentioned Vlad with clear sarcasm, while grabbing another bottle of wine that he opened, cheering one with Dalyon and downing a mouthful of wine akin to a great alcoholic.
"Nah, it's a bother. I'll just end like you and sell out each of those books for 100-250 bellies, nothing astonishing. However, that drugs you are creating with the Blood Worms could be worth a lot on the market."
"Depends on which one."
"Obviously, I am talking about the Underworld, not the common links that will get you entangled with the marines. Also, a curiosity you can or not respond… How did you manage to gather information about the Underworld."
"That one is rather simple…"
– Puru – Puru
– Puru – Puru
Dalyon heard the dial snail beginning to call from Vlad's coat pocket, and noticed the evil smile on the man's expression as he picked up the snail that morphed slowly, taking in feminine traits while his snail face was covered by a fox mask, with silky curly blonde hair making their presence known.
"You wondered how do I know so much? This lady is the one to introduce me to this hidden pockets that I wasn't aware, not fully yet."
Picking up the transmitter of the dial snail, he calmly greeted the woman behind the end of the call line.
"Lady Stussy, with what pleasure are you calling this poor doctor?"
"My dear doctor, how couldn't I not call you when news reached my ear that you've arrived in the Briss Kingdom? Would I miss this chance to reminisce about the music of Arcadia that made Briss famous?"
"To think news would reach high places so swiftly. My lady, you are always a mystery to me."
"Information sure passes by easily while at the top, it just requires one to be mindful of who they are expecting, because the flaw at times is chaotic. Anyway, congratulations, you've become a decent Bounty Hunter that has taken down two Devil Fruit users."
"I am humbled by my lady."
"Of course. By the way, Doctor-kun, have I told you the news about the Journal? Or we only talked about random stories the last time we were on the line?"
"I can't remember you mentioning about the journal, or maybe I am just forgetful."
"... It should be me who got too curious to hear new information about South Blue. To summarize the reception of the journal … a successful hit that has each of the Celestial Ladies interested in you. How is it? Should I let them catch you?"
"My lady, I am just a doctor, but I can impart with you some straightforward remarks, maybe akin to a warning from my mother that goes something like this … Don't play with fire."
"Noo, I would never let them catch you. Those women don't have taste at all and would chain you up for no reason. I didn't call for this, instead, I want to extend to you another proposal."
"..."
"It just so happens that my photographer, Knut Beepeck is inside Alcadia, conducting some important business for me. Your treatment will be satisfactory for you, I promise."
"Hmmm, I don't like the initial conditions. Let's draft something different to give the impression I am not losing too much in my mind."
"*Giggle* What's on your mind, Sir Dracul?"
"More information about the Underworld, with a slightly condensed method of entering inside."
"My, my, that's unexpected. It seems I've picked your interest with the Dark Side, but that's more to my liking. Anything else, my dear doctor?"
"Greed is something I can handle."
"Myy, well said. I am sure you'll become a key player of the Underworld in no time with your medical expertise in drug making."
–
–
"That woman sounds confident and clearly knows how to play your game."
"Mhmm, I am aware. This makes her even more enticing for me. This one is truly the definition of a bad girl who knows how to get her way around."
"But aren't you losing out?"
"Some pictures for some thirsty whores? I'll gladly do it, just to mess them up."
"Regardless if they are the "Mistresses of the World". Ohh don't give me that face, you'll soon understand this game of power if you are long enough to stick with me here. And once I get myself inserted in the Inner Circle of the World Players, I'll let you strangle some of them to death as revenge for your people."
"..."
Dalyon gave Vlad an expression that could tell he didn't believe much from his speech, but the mention of the Celestial Nobles who rule over the World, being the ones to destroy his proud race, ignited his flames as he took a big mouthful of wine.
"You know what … If you get to that point, I wouldn't mind assisting you more than usual. When it comes to those Celestial's and their demise, count me on, but anything else is subjective to me, because I am not following you like those girls."
Vlad only smirked indulging himself in some wine before he had to take off toward the Tomb of Kings, while over the end of the line, inside a massive formation that spanned the entire World, called "Red Line" a woman with a curvaceous figure line slowly removed her fox mask, placing it down on a small tea table nearby.
She was wearing a white dress, with a pink cravat, while her face had small traces of make-up, making her appearance way seductive.
"Let's give the green light for the maid, so she could approach the "Doctor" if you could call someone as such."
"Mistress, this time it is Saintess Sharlmina who approached the Staff with explicit orders of revealing information about the one in the Journal's Cover Page …"
"Huh, that woman? Just tell her that is under a confidentiality contract, where I as the Editor in Chef can't divulge the personal information of my workers… even if she is a Celestial Noble. However, to not make her want to take your head, just give her a spoil about the "Doctors" return to our eyes."
"Your words, Mistress. I`ll be off."
"Be careful, since those Celestials can't be at times too prideful and arrogant for their own good."
The comments of the blonde woman who started playing with her shoulder-length curly hair, made the beautiful maid wearing a butler's attire withdraw swiftly.
She arrived quickly at the luxurious guest room, where a woman wearing a grey suit with flower patterns on it, moving down along a pattern on the side of skirt.
Her light brown hair was styled in the shape of a bubble, upward, forming a curl above her head, while the accessories were sparkling around her, with a set of heart-shaped golden earrings that also possessed diamonds on it, along with a necklace holding a large blue sapphire on it, while her fingers had a golden ring on the 4th finger with a multiple coloured jewel stone, while the rest were "modest" at best, each worth hundreds of millions in bellies.
"Saintess, my apologies in telling you that Miss Stussy has been busy as of late with the shaping of the new journal."
"Unacceptable. How can she reject my request? Bring her right away, so she can tell me in face that comment."
"Saintess, please calm, lady Stussy is aware that you are a big fan of the "Doctor" and for this she is working hard to get a new set of pictures, just for you."
The noblewoman, who by no means was ugly, clearly aware of how to keep herself beautiful with a slim bodyline, reacted pleased, mellowing down her initial displeasure and anger of the rejection she suffered.
"My! Just for me? How could I have doubted Stussy and her intent."
"Sanintess, you should relax, don't stress yourself, since it would damage your delicate skin."
When the brown-haired woman heard that, she froze down, placing slowly her hands on her milky-white cheeks, then turning around to her servants, an entourage of women and two guys carrying a luxurious palanquin.
"You're ever so beautiful, Saintess. Just leave everything to us, your servants. But, it would also bring our morale up if you would donate more funds to the journal." added Stussy's "butler" clearly unaffected by the mood swings of the Celestials in Mary Geoise, having to deal with their ignorance and arrogance on a daily basis.
"Of course, it's my duty as Saintess of this World to bring grace to my dutiful servants."
The servant who was having the hard task of dealing with Saintess Sharlmina, conducted herself touched by the comment, but deep down she was rolling her eyes, guiding the woman and her entourage of servants out of the luxurious residence that Stussy owned in Mary Geoise.
"You've returned in all pieces?"
"Mistress, you are looking down at me. You know that my best trait is marketing you, as one of the best Aegis Agents."
"Unnecessary, but well-welcomed. Anyway, you've done it?"
"Of course. I could read it in her eyes and excitement that she melted over the "Doctor". She is even willing to add more to the budget."
"That's my girl. Do the same for the rest of the women trying to bother me." commented Stussy as she got up from her comfy chair revealing the imprint of her figure that would make a lot of men wish they were in that chair.
Walking with a confident gait, she looked at the maid and while grabbing her by the hair, she placed a kiss on her lips.
"I'll be off for one week. There's this stupid Saint, Costelon, that wants me to accompany him to East Blue out of all places for a "diplomatic" visit to that woman … Ban Dedessinée's Kingdom
… Hah, Stars give me strength, why have those fools degenerated so much."
Saying that she made her way out of the private room, going with her own business, leaving out the flustered beauty as she was touching her lower lip.
.
.
Without knowing the "difficulties" of coexisting with the Upper Echelon of the world, Vlad finished his bottle of wine with Dalyon while entertaining a casual discussion, but once the last drop of wine in his bottle vanished he went off toward the Tomb of Kings.
It was a location that from Duchess Linda's words all pointed toward a small, rocky mountain, situated outside of Arcadia, at 30 km distance positioned which he found to remind him of the Măcin Mountains that were of the same size and construction, maybe this time having a lusher forest and greenery compared to the barren land.
It was a night journey that he enjoyed by trailing around the main roads moving out of Arcadia, seeing all sort of small Towns and villages, were the night atmosphere was serene, there was nothing that made him frown.
Still, he wasn't derailing from his objective, and increasing his pace of walking, by 10 PM he got closer to the Cave.
A place highly prioritized by the Royal Guards who constructed something of a Fortress and a Barrack mix, that it perplexed him once he jumped on the wall of the construct.
'This is for sure my place, otherwise, why would they invest money on building a Fortress in the mountain? Those people don't know what Warfare in its right sense is to be concerned with building High Mountain Fortifications. Those people don't know the fear of being annihilated."
Vlad watched over the night watch of those Royal Guards as he moved silently at the cover of the night, and all he could see was incompetence.
'They are too comfortable in their shoes. No one is alert at all, and it would take me a couple of minutes to kill all of them without a single soul to even cry in pain.'
{A prime example of the effects comfort does for people. However, let's get it done, since I am not into scenery sightings. I've been in Galena Mountain for too many years to be pleased by some mountain.}
'Whoa, aren't you grumpy, old man?'
{I don't want to hear that from you.}
With his ghostly movements, he reached a prime spot on top of a Watch Tower where all of this Fortress was in sight from the inside, and not long after settling on the highest point.
He started doing some sharp tongue clicks in an Active Echolocation while also activating his Observation Haki to map out the echoes coming back from his tongue click.
'The fortress purpose was to mask the opening in the cave. Wasted materials and financier supplies.'
Jumping off the Tower, he used 'Rise of Phantasma' exactly when he was about to touch the ground, sending himself flying like vengeful wrath in the direction of his Echolocation and Haki pointed him, in the North-East direction from his visage at the Watch Tower.
Ignoring the relaxed Royal Guards who were chatting along about something mundane, without even giving them a sign that he was around, he started descending down on this narrowing which made him wonder how it was formed.
Getting deeper underground, he could see this time, unlike when he was in Yehimal the building patterns and architecture that matched with his previous challenge. There were various frescoes and motifs chiselled in stone, and in his paced passage he could see a small being standing proud while behind him were five Giants appearing like Pillars.
Then in an evident fashion, there were also some references to the Legends of Atlas with regard to a man experiencing various challenges that life threw at him, testing his will and desire for greatness.
'Question, whether you can or not respond. This Atlas guy, was he a megalomaniac like Nihiloor?'
{... Even worse.}
'Worse? I mean I get it he is a crazy bastard to build up all this laborious challenges just so someone reaches his Tomb.'
'What else should I be surprised about? His knowledge should be impressive since Nihiloor's abilities were based on his own.'
{You'll understand as you get closer to him.}
Anathema, who was in its default shape, being held at Vlad's waist remained mysterious as ever, not giving too much information from the house.
Nevertheless, at this stage, Vlad could care less, being intent on taking his time with the frescos engraved on the structure leading underground.
'Also, a particularity I noticed in this style of construction. There is nothing rounded in the buildings. Everything is symmetric. Probably something is wrong with this Atlas to not innovate on his constructing skills, not that I want to flaunt my knowledge on this subject.'
There was no answer from Anathema, as if his conscious thought was brushed aside by the black sword.
Already used with this style of communication, Vlad walked deeper until he reached an endpoint, where a gigantic sized door made out the same material that stopped him from exiting the Crossroads Passage in Yehimal, greeted him with a clear stop to his exploration.
In addition to what might be an impregnable door, his eyes also noticed the strange pattern on the door, giving the vibe of a puzzle and opening mechanism at the same time.
'A puzzle? Again?'
It was a comment that deep down was filled with iry, annoyance and even some hateful emotions because he had to clash his head on the underwater walls built in Galerna Mountain's Lake at the summit and solve a strange puzzle.
Something that wouldn't be entertaining for anyone when you had to descend hundreds of meters down in cold waters, and also being required to solve a puzzle … as a blind man.
'The same story repeats so it seem.' thought Vlad who coated his whole right hand in Armament Haki, placing it on a pattern on the Brown-Dark Sealed Door.
Yet, if his intent was to check the durability of this door, something that made him frown happened after placing his hand on the door … a loud alarm that blasted on his sensible ears could be heard around the entire Fortress at this part of Duskwall Mountain.
*WEE* *HUUU* (S/F: The Alarms used in destruction situations that scared the entire neighbourhood when they are blasted)
"You've got to be kidding me? I don't want to butcher all of the bugs in this place."
{Then try your new power at full strength.}
"Full strength you say?" asked Vlad while the alarm blasted in his ears that it created a ringing noise in his ears, while from the back at the surface the cries of men who were alerted started getting audible.
Dragged once again in a crossroads, of consciousness and morality this time, he frowned with the air around him getting heavier as he took two steps away from the Entrance.
Grabbing the black sword from his waist which immediately shifted too in aura by releasing a dark energy that started twirling around the blade, and also enveloping Vlad's arm which began suffering slow changes as he coated it in Armament Haki.
Akin to a leech that was sucking the life out of a host, Anathema started draining Vlad off his Haki, beginning a battle of wills similar to their first clash in Galena. Yet unlike their initial "greeting" protocol from the past, this time they were working together to reach the same goal, of opening the Sealed Door.
Accumulating plenty of power, where there was considerable space for more power, sensing the Royal Guards get closer to him, and intent on not killing them, he slashed at the Sealed Door releasing an intense crimson-red Sword Wave in the shape of a Dragon's Head.
Then from the initial seconds of strong winds that blasted on the faces of the men trying to figure out what happened deep in the Cavern entrance, an earthquake exploded on a larger scale enveloping the entire Mountain when the Sword Wave Attack clashed with the Dark-Brown Door which showed a lot of resistance akin to the past in Yehimal's Cavern.
"Not this time! I have grown considerably since the last time you challenged me."
Cracks formed in the entire door, and with his attack yet having to die off, he snapped the moment a large chunk of the door was sent flying inside the Cave, revealing to Vlad from the Chaos of the moment, a spacious place akin to a Temple filled with pillars.
This created a moment similar to an important experiment where you wanted to observe all the changes taking place in that exact moment (0), and with his analytical mind he suddenly saw from the opening a small being in the shape of a humanoid seated with his legs crossed, eyes closed shut.
An appearance that wasn't to last, as he noticed a pair of star-like pupils being opened in darkness, whereas the quake intensified but not because of his Dragon Head attack, no, it was something that resulted from the awakening of this being inside the Cave.
"Forced entry of a person authorized! High-measures required! Non-invasive method."
A speech that he could hear that sounded robotic, but with the tonality of a youthful boy, and with his Observation Haki alerting him that something was about to happen, he didn't flinch, instead gazed deep in the Abyss in the red eyes of the being that had shining stars in its iris, until the door started recovering and the opening being closed, while an extra door was created right in front of him.
"Aren't you quite strong enough to put a door in such a short span of time? … Well, looking at my situation, it would be better if I withdraw and rethink my approach."
Void of frustrations from his failed attempt at breaking inside the Cave, he didn't even consider this as a failed reconnaissance mission, afterall, he was able to grasp about the whole picture when it came to the "Tomb of Kings" while the mysterious being left a small print in Vlad's mind, since he didn't understand the powers.
The same situation was going inside the Cavern, where this small, human-sized being with red eyes and stars on his iris had a contemplating expression as if something marked him.
"I could feel two familiar scents from the Earth…. How long have I been sleeping for this time?
Urgh, those noisy humans are again acting like monkeys. Can't those people just leave me alone in my sleep as I wait for my master's return?"
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