Chapter 401 - 178: Dancer of Dusk
Yuan’s expression was a mixture of confusion and surprise.
He had previously suspected Wei’en of disguising himself as Marco to escape the Dawn Church’s pursuit.
But based on his observations of Wei’en in the Caster City State, the boy had only managed to accomplish what he did last time by relying on the power of a forbidden item. His true strength was likely maxed out just by killing Henrik.
’So what’s the deal with destroying all of Dakman Island now?’
’There’s no way that kid could do it!’
’That’s something only someone with the power of at least a Level-Three Disaster could accomplish!’
’It seems the person impersonating Marco is someone else entirely...’
’Could it be Ales Kilibali, who also fled the Caster City State?’
’It’s possible!’
Waleed stroked the sparse stubble on his chin and murmured, "Red-hair... destroyed Dakman Island?"
Upon hearing the news, Black Jack felt the good hand he was holding had lost all its appeal. He looked at the one-armed pirate who had brought the message. "Are you sure it was the Marco from the Ronan? The Red-haired Marco who killed Henrik?"
"First Officer, I’m absolutely certain!"
The one-armed pirate said with conviction, "More than one person just passed along the message, and the details are all the same—Dakman Island has been completely destroyed, with countless casualties in the surrounding area. And at the time, the Ronan was the only ship to leave that stretch of sea."
Yuan: "..."
Marco, sitting at the card table, had his long red hair and the paper slips plastered to his face hiding his pained, cringing expression.
’That son of a bitch is really something else. First, he kills a captain from the Black Pearl, and now, not even two days later, he’s smashed an entire island...’
’Fucking hell, he’s not going to stop until he gets me killed!’
With that thought, Marco looked toward Black Jack and Yuan. He pushed aside the paper slips on his face and said through gritted teeth, "Now you know, right? That wasn’t me. I didn’t have the time."
I, the Tyrant—no, Red-hair!
Black Jack glanced at him without a word, then waved his subordinate away. After a few seconds of thought, a mysterious smile appeared on his face. "Whoever he is, we’ll find out if we go take a look. What do you say, Plague Doctor Third Officer?"
Yuan shot him a glare. ’Why does that title ’Third Officer’ sound so grating?’
"You decide. But if this takes too long... well, you know the consequences!"
"Relax. With the two of us, are you really afraid of one Level-Three Disaster?" Black Jack made his decision and picked up the cards from the table again. "Come on, come on! The last hand was interrupted, so it doesn’t count. Watch me crush you all this round!"
"You? Just get ready to sleep with paper slips all over your face tonight." Yuan’s eyes were glued to the deck, as if to prevent the dishonest Black Jack from cheating.
Just then, Waleed spoke up. "Boss, when we meet him, can you let me test him out? I remember when I first joined the Black Pearl, that bastard Henrik looked out for me a lot."
Black Jack’s shuffling paused. He looked up at him. "Xiaode, according to the ship’s rules, we have to invite him aboard."
"But I can test his strength before that, right?"
"A test?"
"That’s right," Waleed said, nodding as he pointed at Marco. "Otherwise, if we get another weakling like him, wouldn’t the Black Pearl become a laughingstock?"
"Oh, that’s true. I agree. But you are absolutely forbidden from using that forbidden item again, understand? I’m worried it’ll go out of control again."
"Relax, Boss. It’s just a little test, there won’t be any problems."
Marco watched the three pirates ignore his very existence, cursing them endlessly in his head. Left with no choice, he spoke up again. "Um, Lord Black Jack, you’ve seen for yourself, I really didn’t do those things. I was wondering if you could let us go?"
"No," Black Jack said, quickly cutting the deck and arranging the cards neatly on the table. "Keeping you on this ship is to prevent any other... accidents."
"What accidents?"
"The accident of not being able to find the person impersonating you, of course." Black Jack reached for his pile of cards and fanned them out gently. ’Not bad.’
"You..." Marco froze, the realization dawning on him. He looked at them and stammered, "You... you’re not... planning to have me impersonate him... no, that’s not right. You want me to impersonate... myself?"
"Don’t make us out to be the bad guys. You should know that joining the Black Pearl is a great honor in the entire Cordo Sea Region. You should be overjoyed."
Marco: "..."
’Damn it. He didn’t think this was any kind of honor at all. Besides, he wasn’t the one who did those things. Why should he be the scapegoat?’
"Alright, now that you’re here, don’t worry about other things," Yuan said impassively, glancing at his cards. "Look at your crew. Aren’t they all having a good time?"
’A good time?’
Marco turned to look at the deck behind him. Moskra and the others were in a drinking contest with the pirates from the Bai Ke Li. They were chugging alcohol and laughing boisterously...
’They really are having a fucking good time!’
SHIT!
Just then, Black Jack added, "Don’t you want to know who’s been impersonating you and doing all those things?"
’Who...’
Marco fell silent. Of course he wanted to know who it was—who the fuck would dare to set him up like this!
He’d only been at sea for a few days before running into this mess, and it had already cut his grand ambitions in half. If he wasn’t worried about Lisi and the old bastard back home laughing at him for running back with his tail between his legs, he’d want to head straight back to the Caster City State.