The blue-hole mask was the basis for Alex's recognition of Kira's identity.
He was even more certain when he remembered that Kid was also in Mad Hatter's Town.
"What is he doing here? Helping Kid buy a gun? But that gun... seems to be the flintlock pistol that Jesus bought yesterday."
Alex looked at Kira discreetly, trying to guess the other person's motive for coming to the store.
As soon as a customer arrived, Sunny put down the auction catalog, quickly adjusted her emotions, and looked expressionlessly at Kira as he pushed open the door.
In a shop like theirs, there was no need to sell service or a smile.
If you want to buy, buy; if not, get lost.
Very straightforward guidelines.
Kira walked into the shop and was slightly surprised to see that there was no difficult old man as Kid had mentioned.
He came here to buy something, and it didn't matter who was there as long as someone was present.
He walked quickly to the counter and, without any hesitation, pulled out four 100-yen bills and placed them on the counter.
"4 million, for the Keanu gun," he said directly.
"The Keanu gun is priced at 3.8 million," Sunny replied.
"It doesn't matter. You can do whatever you want with the extra 200,000."
"Oh, but the gun has already been bought by someone else."
"?"
A question mark slowly appeared on Kira's forehead.
It was bought, but instead of just saying so, you're wasting my time here?
He suddenly understood a little of why Kid would be angry in this shop.
Since setting sail, had they ever encountered a merchant like this?
But then, Kira thought that being bought was a good thing. They could simply go and rob it back afterward.
If they wanted something, they would just take it; if they didn't like someone, they would just kill them.
Just like the 4 million berries they had robbed the previous night.
With this in mind, Kira asked, "Who bought the gun?"
Sunny, who had been around for many years, could see Kira's motive for asking who the buyer was.
It was nothing more than going to the buyer's location to carry out a robbery—something perfectly justified for pirates.
Under normal circumstances, Sunny would never reveal a guest's information, as this was the bottom line for sellers.
But this time was different because the buyer was Jesus of the Red Hair Pirates.
She looked at Kira and said without emotion, "The gun was sold yesterday afternoon. The person who bought it is called Jesus."
Kira, upon hearing this, grabbed the money and turned around to leave, as if saying one more word would be a waste of time.
He vaguely felt that the name Jesus sounded familiar but didn't think much of it.
The gun was sold yesterday afternoon, so the person called Jesus was most likely still in Mad Hatter's Town.
Kira walked out of the weapons shop and went straight to the pub where Kid was.
The next step was obvious: find the buyer, take the gun, and then there would be no need to stay here any longer.
Alex walked up to the door, peered halfway out, and looked at Kira's receding back with a compassionate gaze.
But then, thinking about how far Shanks and the others had already gone, he couldn't help feeling a little sorry for them.
Otherwise, he really wanted to see Kid and his gang try to rob the Keanu gun.
Leaving the door ajar, Alex turned back to the counter, intending to say something to Sunny, but then saw that she was once again buried in the auction catalog.
With her habit of reading a single newspaper for three or four hours back and forth, he didn't know how much time this little auction booklet could take up.
Alex was still a bit interested in auctions, so he quietly stood behind Sunny and peeked at the list of auction items in the booklet.
"A famous sword owned by one of the 50 master craftsmen? When I learn to use a sword, I don't know when it will be."
"Huh? There's even a fishman slave, with a starting price of 1 million berries... Unfortunately, I don't have the money, or I could buy it and try the Hunter's Notes on a fishman."
"Skunk? It says... an unprecedented aromatic variant of skunk? What the hell, they're auctioning off even this? And it's even categorized as a strange and precious beast..."
"Well, after all, most of the auction items are weapons. Forget knives, there are even flintlock muskets."
"It makes sense. The potential buyers are basically pirates, so the demand for weapons is naturally higher, unlike the auctions held by nobles, which are basically dominated by slaves."
"However, after reading through them all, the only heavy auction items are the Devil Fruit and the famous sword of a master craftsman."
"The value of the latter is definitely not comparable to that of the Devil's Fruit, but it is also something that can't be found easily."
Alex was browsing behind Sunny, and the auction items with varying starting prices were truly an eye-opener.
Compared to the auctions in the Hunter world, where all kinds of antiques are the main commodities, the auctions in the pirate world are much more interesting.
The miscellaneous items easily aroused Alex's desire to buy.
After looking at the auction items, Alex quietly left the counter and continued exercising in the corner of the store.
This form of exercise couldn't increase strength in a short period of time, but it was better to do it little by little. In the current situation, it was better than nothing.
"It's past dinner time, and Thor still isn't back," Alex thought, glancing at the clock.
He didn't know if it was because Thor was so angry with Shanks yesterday that he had become exceptionally young today.
After all, he needed to let off some steam.
For some reason, Alex felt like he had found a reason why Thor hadn't returned yet.
The Tavern
In the noisy tavern, Kid waited for Kira to return empty-handed.
"They didn't sell it to you?" Kid's gaze was cold, and the anger rising within him transformed into a destructive desire that could erupt at any moment.
He had already been driven to the brink of exhaustion over this gun.
Kira shook his head and said, "It wasn't for sale, but it was bought by someone named Jesus."
"Oh? When was it bought?" Kid's interest was piqued, a cold smile forming on the corners of his mouth.
He couldn't afford to provoke the unpredictable Saul, but could he not provoke the person who bought the gun?
"Yesterday afternoon."
"Find him."
Kid suddenly got up and walked towards the door.
Kira left the money for the drink and followed Kid.
There was no strict prohibition in Mad Hatter's Town against competitors killing each other, but there was one rule that everyone must obey: they must not harm the legitimate interests of merchants.
In other words, if you spend money in a shop, you must pay the correct amount.
If you try to avoid paying, you will die.
The two walked out of the pub one after the other and came out into the street.
As the saying goes, there is a way for every snake and a path for every rat.
If they wanted to find out the whereabouts of Jesus in town as quickly as possible, they had to go through the back channels and find a dealer who specialized in this kind of business.
As they walked quickly down the street, Kira suddenly said, "I always feel like... the name Jesus sounds a bit familiar."
"Then think about it," Kid said, glancing at him.
But after hearing Kira say that, Kid did feel that way too.
Jesus...
The two of them suddenly stopped walking.
Kid still had a murderous expression on his face, but the aura emanating from him had clearly changed.
As for Kira, her expression was unreadable because of her mask.
After a long while, Kira said blankly, "What should we do next?"
"Leave!" Kid growled.
He loved collecting weapons, but some weapons were not essential.
However, the Keanu gun was different. It was one of the weapons he intended to carry on his person for combat use, not just a collector's item.
That was the fundamental reason for his obsession and the reason why he had stayed in Mad Hatter's Town for so long.
But now that he could no longer obtain the Keanu gun, there was no need to stay any longer.
At that moment, a man walking with his head down while reading an auction catalog came face to face with Kid.
They were about to collide...
But Kid remained unmoved, allowing the man to run into him.
Boom...
It was clear that the man had deliberately run into Kid, but he took two steps back and stumbled, dropping the catalog.
"You blind son of a—"
Before he could finish his sentence, he was knocked flying by Kid's punch, which was full of pent-up anger. He landed ten meters away, and it was unclear whether he was dead or alive.
"How dare you scum go to sea?" Kid spat on the ground.
Suddenly, he noticed the auction brochure.