[If we hit 1000 PS before the end of this week, I will drop 5 extra bonus chapters.]
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In the banquet hall, the musicians of Whiskey Peak played continuously, while dancers performed to liven up the atmosphere.
"Miss Nami, one more glass!"
Miss Monday, who looked like a nun, raised her glass toward Nami.
"Alright, bring it on!"
Nami was fearless as she downed a 500ml beer in one go.
By now, her face was flushed red, clearly a little drunk, but her spirits were high.
"Amazing! She's already knocked down 14 people, and this nun can still keep up!"
"A thousand cups without getting drunk, she's practically the goddess of wine!"
The people around stared at Nami in shock. They hadn't expected such a petite girl to be so good at drinking.
After finishing her glass, Nami poured another for Miss Monday.
Miss Monday's face twitched, but she still clinked glasses with Nami and downed the beer.
She began to suspect Nami was drinking fake alcohol. Knocking down 14 people and still going strong, how was this girl so bold?
She glanced at Caelan and Tashigi on the other side, her headache growing worse.
"Nami is so awesome! I want to drink more too!"
Tashigi suddenly felt an inexplicable urge to compete with Nami.
Caelan sighed as Tashigi, her face already flushed from the alcohol, collapsed into his arms after only two drinks.
This silly girl, so weak to alcohol, and yet she still wanted to keep drinking.
Caelan picked up a piece of barbecue and stuffed it into her mouth.
"Mm~!"
"Caelan, this is delicious!"
Tashigi happily chewed the barbecue, completely forgetting that she had wanted to keep drinking.
"If you like it, then eat more."
Caelan reached to pick up another piece to feed her, only to find the plate already empty.
"Chef! Another 100 servings!"
Caelan turned his head and called out to the nearby chefs, completely treating the place as his own home.
By this point, his table was already piled high with empty plates stacked taller than two people, and three empty oak barrels stood beside them.
Tashigi had only eaten two plates of food and drunk two beers. The rest of the destruction was entirely Caelan's work.
"What?! Another 100 servings?!"
The three chefs were drenched in sweat, their legs trembling.
They looked at the five fellow chefs already collapsed on the ground, foaming at the mouth, and felt as if they were staring at their own future.
Vivi and Igaram sat talking over drinks, occasionally glancing toward Caelan.
The other members of Baroque Works had no suspicions, simply assuming the two were exchanging information.
After more than ten minutes, Nami, who had been drinking with fifteen people, finally couldn't hold on any longer and collapsed asleep beside Caelan.
Among the crew of the Wind Rider, only Caelan remained awake, still eating and drinking while enjoying the performance of the people from Whiskey Peak.
The members of Baroque Works were dumbfounded. This man was a complete monster.
After drinking more than 200 liters of alcohol and eating food three or four times his own body weight, Caelan's condition had not changed at all.
Finally, Caelan seemed to grow a little sleepy. He rested his arms on the table and began to doze off.
Vivi stood beside Caelan, made an "OK" gesture toward the others outside, and then quietly stepped back.
The Baroque Works members left the banquet hall under Igaram's lead, though their expressions were filled with suspicion.
…
Under the moonlight, Miss Monday's face turned pale and grim, a stark contrast to the enthusiasm she had shown at the banquet.
"The guests have all collapsed. It's time to close the net."
"They've eaten most of the food in the town. If we don't get a good haul from this, we're the ones who will suffer."
Miss Monday, looking like a nun, stared in the direction of the banquet hall, greed flashing in her eyes.
"Ahem. That man is the strongest bounty hunter from the East Blue, the monster who forced the East Blue pirates into the Grand Line."
Igaram's expression was solemn. He had no intention of harming Caelan and his group.
Vivi had told him that this was their only hope to liberate Alabasta.
But Igaram still couldn't help but worry. When facing one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Crocodile, would Caelan really stand a chance?
He had never seen Caelan and Crocodile fight, so he could only compare their reputations.
One was a bounty hunter who had risen to fame in the East Blue over the past six months. The other was a Warlord of the Sea, well-known throughout the Grand Line. The gap in fame between the two was huge.
Igaram couldn't shake the feeling that Caelan's chances of winning were slim.
"There's nothing to be afraid of from the weakest sea."
Miss Monday dismissed his concern.
They had a hundred men from Baroque Works, all experienced bounty hunters.
In Miss Monday's eyes, one hundred against one was more than enough to handle Caelan.
"Ahem. Don't be careless. He is not simple."
Igaram glanced at the arrogant woman, then handed her a newspaper.
It was the same paper that Caelan had picked up from the sea restaurant. It reported how Caelan had annihilated the Crick Pirates, along with a photo of him destroying a pirate ship with a single swing of his sword.
Because of the recent flood of East Blue pirates into the Grand Line, this newspaper had become easy to find.
"What?!"
"One man wiped out the Krieg Pirates' main force and destroyed a massive pirate ship over 50 meters long with a single strike?! This has to be exaggerated!"
Miss Monday's pupils contracted sharply. This record was terrifying.
Krieg had a bounty of 17 million Berries and was far stronger than anyone in Whiskey Peak.
The combined strength of their 100 bounty hunters was nowhere near the level of the Krieg Pirates.
If Caelan could wipe out Krieg's crew, they had no chance against him.
At that moment, as she looked toward the banquet hall, it felt like staring at a terrifying beast. Fear filled her heart.
"Damn it… but what about our losses?!"
Miss Monday gritted her teeth. Just thinking about the pile of empty plates made her heart ache.
Just this one meal had cost them 4 million Berries.
She was unwilling to simply let Caelan leave.
"We can't let him go!"
The other Baroque Works members nearby were also filled with anger.
Caelan had eaten most of their inventory. If they didn't recover their losses, they might go hungry for a month.
"He drank three barrels of wine and ate hundreds of kilograms of meat. He must be too full to fight."
"We have so many people. If we strike together, we can take him down."
They convinced themselves that after eating and drinking so much, Caelan's strength had to be greatly reduced.
They couldn't believe that even as a bounty hunter, Caelan could defeat hundreds of them in this state.
"Alright! Let's go together and kill him!"
After hearing the encouragement of her subordinates, Miss Monday felt they had a point and made up her mind to give it a try.
Besides, the Krieg Pirates had been chased out of the Grand Line. Maybe their reputation was inflated, and maybe Caelan's strength wasn't as ridiculous as it sounded.
Gritting her teeth, Miss Monday charged toward the banquet hall with her men.
Igaram followed behind, not to attack Caelan, but to witness his true strength.
Whiskey Peak was just a peripheral outpost of Baroque Works, not part of its core forces.
The people here were merely Crocodile's low-level thugs, less than one percent of his total power.
If Caelan struggled to deal with these people, there would be no way for him to defeat Crocodile.
The bounty hunters of Whiskey Peak rushed into the banquet hall, filled with anger.
None of them realized what kind of monster they were about to face.
(To be continued.)
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