Troublesome as it may be, Takumi wasn't afraid of him in the least.
As long as Crocodile didn't mess with him, whatever grandiose Utopia plans he had were none of Takumi's concern.
With nothing more on his mind, Takumi walked into the tavern.
He made his way straight to the bar with ease. Ordering himself two of the tavern's specialty drinks, he found them to his taste and ended up getting a few more. He also asked the bartender to fill up his gourd while he was at it.
Since Kaku and Enel would take some time buying supplies, Takumi decided to stay a little longer, enjoying his drinks. Once he sensed Kaku and Enel were nearby and ready, he told the bartender, "Pack me a crate of each of the drinks I had earlier."
The bartender looked surprised. "You had over ten different drinks, each crate has twelve bottles... Are you sure you can carry that much?"
Takumi wasn't interested in a lengthy response, simply placing a gold bar on the counter.
Seeing this, the bartender grinned and quickly pocketed the gold. "Alright, just a moment, I'll get all the drinks ready for you."
As the bartender turned to the storeroom, Takumi added casually, "And throw in two crates of apple juice."
"Uh, apple juice?" The bartender blinked, then spoke apologetically, "This is a tavern, so we don't have much juice. At most, there's one crate left."
"That's fine, one crate then," Takumi said indifferently.
Initially, the patrons around him were quite astonished that a young guy like Takumi would casually buy crates of liquor. But as soon as they heard him ask for apple juice, most of them burst out laughing.
"Pffft, haha, I thought this kid was something else, but he's buying apple juice at a tavern? That's hilarious!"
"Haha, I knew it. He's just a kid. Apple juice suits you, kid! Go on, run to the general store next door and buy your juice there."
"Look, he's even carrying two swords, and one of them is wooden! What is this, playing samurai? Haha, do you even know how to wield them, kid? Need an uncle here to teach you?"
Takumi: "..."
The bartender wanted to laugh as well but had to suppress it since Takumi was a paying customer. Clearing her throat, she said, "Ignore those guys with nothing better to do. Ahem, I'll get your drinks and juice right away, just give me a moment."
Takumi nodded slightly. He ignored the taunting voices behind him, just like he always had.
There was no need to engage with these clueless fools.
Outside the tavern.
Two patrons exited, laughing and chatting.
"That short guy was hilarious. He didn't even get mad after being taunted like that, haha."
"Yeah, he went to a tavern to buy apple juice? What is up with that? I can't stop laughing."
As they walked past Enel and Kaku, Kaku blinked and began to say, "The short guy they mentioned... Could it be..."
He didn't even finish when Enel dropped the pile of goods he was carrying, swung the golden staff he had shrunk and kept in his ear, and immediately sent the two men flying.
Seeing this, Kaku was now certain—the short guy they were talking about was indeed Takumi.
"Heh, Takumi, that guy? You think you can laugh at him?" Enel glared at the men he had struck and sent two bolts of lightning after them for good measure. The men hadn't even hit the ground before they were thoroughly electrocuted.
Witnessing all this, the nearby pedestrians quickly gave them a wide berth, wanting no trouble.
Kaku sighed, "You already knocked them away; was it necessary to electrocute them too?"
"I'm just mad, so what?" Enel said without a hint of remorse. "My captain, Thunder God Enel's captain, is not someone who can just be ridiculed."
Kaku sighed again, "There were others inside the tavern laughing at him as well. Are you going to take them all down too? Don't forget, Takumi said not to make trouble..."
"Even if I don't take them all down, I can still teach them a lesson, right?!" Enel kicked open the tavern door. Under the bewildered gaze of everyone inside, a small cloud of lightning began to spread across the ceiling of the tavern, crackling with threatening arcs of electricity.
Fear instantly washed over the patrons inside. Though they had no idea what exactly was happening, they wanted to run. However, Enel was blocking the only exit, leaving them no chance to escape...
The bartender, along with some workers, came out with the crates of drinks and apple juice. Noticing the dark cloud above, the bartender looked panicked.
"Huh? What's going on? Why is there a cloud indoors? Please, no fighting inside the tavern! I run a small business here, and if it gets wrecked, I'm finished..."
The bartender's voice trembled slightly.
Takumi turned his head to glance at Enel.
Enel chuckled softly, "I won't kill them, just teaching them a lesson."
With that, lightning bolts rained down from the dark cloud, electrocuting every patron present, including the bartender.
Takumi did not stop Enel.
Once everyone had been electrocuted and passed out, Takumi stood up, grabbing the crate of apple juice, and tossed it at Enel. "Take your stuff."
Enel quickly caught it, grinning. "Got it. But what about those crates of liquor?"
"I have my ways. You go on ahead."
"Alright, don't take too long." Enel nodded and obediently stepped outside.
Takumi waved his hand, placing all but one of the crates of alcohol into his system's storage space. He then eyed the bottles behind the counter and swiftly gathered them as well, leaving behind two gold bars before he exited the tavern with the remaining crate of alcohol.
Seeing Takumi emerge from the tavern, Kaku glanced at the frightened crowd keeping their distance from them and sighed, "It seems like we've made quite a scene. We should leave quickly."
As the trio headed back to their ship.
A man with a tall and lean build, who looked like a rock star, and a fashionable woman with a yellow hat and an umbrella passed by them.
It was normal for Enel and Kaku not to recognize them.
But Takumi, after only a glance, knew exactly who they were—Crocodile's underlings, code-named Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine.
It wasn't surprising to see members of Baroque Works here since they had already established themselves in Alabasta.
However, what did surprise Takumi a little was the presence of someone else currently under Crocodile's command.
"Takumi, bounty of 1.54 billion, Enel, bounty of 130 million, Kaku, bounty of 50 million." A female voice called out suddenly from a nearby two-story building. A strikingly beautiful woman, with a face reminiscent of Cleopatra, leaned against the building's ledge, holding a newspaper with their bounties. She smiled faintly, her voice calm as she said, "Your bounties have gone up, I see."
____________________________
Support me
at ko-fi. com/gered or patreon.com/Emik01
to read up to chapter 350+!
___________________________
Don't forget to give Power Stone if you like this story!