One Piece: Awaken The Replication System

"What?"

"It?"

Spider?

Witnesses?

Luwell's beautiful eyes widened, a look of disbelief on her face.

Curious, Kuina looked at Leno and the spider in his palm. Though she thought it was outrageous, she didn't question it. After spending so much time with him, she had developed a certain trust in Leno.

Leno placed the spider on the ground. The spider shivered as Leno released his Observation Haki, forming a special mind link with the spider.

"Find the one who left, and I'll let you go."

"What?" Luwell folded her arms, not trusting Leno's ability to let the spider lead the way. "You really think this is possible? How can it be?"

As soon as she finished speaking, the spider, which had been lying quietly, began moving its front paws.

"Deal!"

Leno nodded.

Luwell was dumbfounded.

"A deal? Are you seriously talking to spiders? You must be crazy."

Suddenly, she thought of something and asked, "Wait, did you eat Ruen's Devil Fruit?"

"No, just a talent," Leno smiled, without offering much explanation. "Let's follow it!"

The spider started to crawl, moving surprisingly fast.

Luwell's jade-like forehead filled with question marks as she found the situation unbelievable.

Kuina found it amusing. "What did it say?"

"It said it wanted two fish in exchange."

"Spiders eat fish?" Luwell questioned.

"It's a rare fishing spider," Leno explained. "It often lives on the shore and at the pier. Before high tide, it weaves a web to catch fish."

"Oh? You know quite a lot!"

"How should I put it? I'm also a scholar!" Luwell raised her chin slightly, showing a bit of pride.

"Really?" Leno and Kuina looked at her with odd expressions.

Luwell was upset. "Hey, don't underestimate me, and I'm a scholar who studies flora and fauna."

Leno and Kuina exchanged glances and stopped talking.

Luwell gritted her teeth. "You don't believe me?"

Leno coughed lightly. "We're here."

Luwell turned her head and saw the fishing spider stop in front of a dilapidated building, pointing its claws toward the door.

"This is the old base's office building," Kuina observed. "There's blood!"

"Kuro is injured?" Leno squinted, his Observation Haki sensing a faint heartbeat inside the building.

"I'll go in!" Leno leaped lightly, landing on the windowsill three meters above the ground before disappearing into the darkness.

Luwell looked at the fishing spider, squatting down to ask curiously, "Do you really understand human language?"

The fishing spider tilted its head, as if confused. "???"

One person and one spider, locked in a stare.

After a while, Luwell gave up, looking at Kuina, who was holding her sword, and asked, "Do you believe it?"

"Yes," Kuina nodded slightly. "I do."

"You've won!" Luwell shrugged.

Suddenly, there was a barking dog, followed by screams and whistles. Luwell and Kuina tensed up.

"That's the dock! The Marine patrol must have found something!" Luwell exclaimed.

Upstairs, in a dark room reeking of disinfectant, Kuro lay seriously injured, defenseless as Leno placed his sword against his neck.

Kuro, hearing the commotion, tensed.

"Tell me the location, or I'll hand you over to the Marines."

Kuro was silent for three seconds before saying, "Take me out, and I'll tell you the location."

"Tell me the location first!" Leno demanded.

Kuro gritted his teeth. "It's still hidden in a corner of the casino—300 million Belly in cash!"

"And the Dragon Gold?"

"That's there too!"

Leno sheathed his sword and turned to leave.

"Wait!" Kuro called out. "Save me, and I'll tell you a secret about Ruen and the Kingdom of Oikot!"

"What does that have to do with me?" Leno didn't look back.

Kuro, desperate, added, "This secret is worth a billion Belly! It's related to the Jemal Kingdom of North Blue!"

"Oh?" Leno paused, giving Kuro a glimmer of hope.

"Secrets or not, I'm not interested," Leno continued, dashing Kuro's hopes.

"But!" Leno turned back, looking down at Kuro. "Do you want to live?"

"Yes!" Kuro exclaimed.

Leno walked back, gazing down at Kuro. "Then you owe me your life!"

Leno and the others returned to the ship without incident. Leno instructed Luwell to give Kuro a simple treatment for his wounds. When Kuro awoke, he revealed the location of the hidden treasure.

The next day, as the morning light bathed Glass Ball Island, the port began bustling with life once more.

At the warehouse, Leno, Kuina, and Kaze checked the purchase list and began loading the goods onto the ship.

"You should leave as soon as possible," Kaze warned. "Once the distinguished guests from various countries leave, the Marines will undoubtedly enforce martial law."

Glass Ball Island appeared calm, but beneath the surface, tensions simmered. Ruen's death was bound to trigger a power struggle among the island's underground forces. The fashion committee had managed to suppress the conflict during last night's auction, but the tension remained palpable.

"Understood," Leno nodded, handing Kaze a box. "As a token of thanks, this is for you."

"What is it?" Kaze asked, curiosity piqued.

"A small gift, for your trouble," Leno replied, referring not just to the procurement but to the trouble he and Kuina had caused, which had inevitably impacted Kaze's sword shop.

"It's no trouble at all," Kaze smiled, placing the box aside.

"Then, farewell!"

"Farewell!" Kaze watched as Leno and Kuina boarded the ship and sailed away.

"The Shimotsuki family has a worthy successor," Kaze mused, watching the boat disappear over the horizon.

Returning to the warehouse, he opened the box. His eyes widened as he saw the blood-red ore inside, shaped like a heart.

"Dragon Gold?!" Kaze's breath quickened.

On the other side of the port, Luwell ordered the crew to raise the sails and then walked into the cabin herself.

"It's time to escape. That damn guy took all my savings. He's so infuriating!" she muttered.

Kuro, sitting on the sofa with bandages covering his body, meditated with his eyes closed. He glanced at Luwell and said, "He left something for you."

"Eh?" Luwell looked around and noticed a suitcase on the table.

"For me?"

She opened the suitcase and found it filled with Belly—100 million in total.

She looked at Kuro in surprise. "This is for me?"

Kuro nodded.

Luwell, still in disbelief, mumbled, "What a strange guy!"

She picked up the note on top of the money.

"You still owe me 7 million Belly!"

Luwell's smile froze. "Stingy guy!"

But then she looked at the money again and laughed.

"Well, he's still kind of cute!"

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