Chapter 67: Shopping Spree
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I looked over Cal as she pushed herself up, yawning as she had just woken up from a nap. "You almost died, you know." Cal ripped the IV out of her arm and jumped to her feet. "I knew you wouldn't let me die. But what did happen? My memory is a little foggy."
"Why are you acting like this Cal, whenever we've spared before, you didn't take things this far. In fact, why did you bring up the whole sex bet around it? I know it doesn't have to do with your ego, so tell me, why do you have to beat me."
I had grabbed Cal by her shoulders and locked eyes with her. I wouldn't back down until she told me why. Then the barriers Cal put up collapsed, "I-I..didn't want to do this...it's all your fault anyway. I let you touch me. I broke the promise I made to myself that I would never let another man touch me. But then you saved me, cared for me, and healed the part of me that I thought I would never get back."
I tried to hug the vulnerable woman, but Cal stepped back, "No! I know you're trying to comfort me, but I need some space right now, just please." I stepped back, letting Cal leave the room.
"Damnit, Cal, if only you'd told me." I leaned against the counter and felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist. "It's not you're fault, dear. Cal has her own demons that she needs to overcome. Before she's ready to accept you into her heart fully."
I turned around and pulled Leana into my embrace, "Thank you, Leana, how about I go make us something in the kitchen, and we have dinner just the two of us." Leana smiled, "That would be nice."
The following day, we landed in Alabasta, but we enjoyed ourselves instead of planning a bank robbery. I realized how much I had missed. While I visited a lot of islands, I never took the time to explore them.
'I keep thinking of this place as a storyline instead of a world.' Though it wasn't all seriousness, Evos somehow found out about a black market and wanted me to take him so he could find some materials he needed to experiment.
While I had to act unsure and responsible on the inside, I cursed myself out for not thinking of the same thing. "A couple of rules before we go in." Evos was walking behind me, both of us wearing heavy cloaks with masks to conceal our faces.
"You do not talk to anyone, do not make eye contact with anyone. And most importantly, if shit goes down, don't use your gas." And though I couldn't see his reaction, I could feel his eyes rolling into the back of his head.
The entrance to the black market was through a tarnished stone arc that led into a staircase that we walked down for a few minutes going underneath the city. It was like any other market when we came out—a crowded path with both sides lined with stalls.
But instead of perfumes and silks, there were other items on sale. I grabbed Evos and pulled him in front of me, not letting him out of my sight. "Do you have a list of what you need," I whispered to him, prompting him to pull out a small piece of paper.
Looking it over, I realized they were relatively expensive and rare materials, "Why do you need pufferfish venom? We could have just caught a pufferfish back on the ship?"
"I need a specific species, and it's not native to these waters, but it is heavily trafficked through this kingdom. They produce a potent poison called tetrodotoxin. If I can crack the chemical compound, I could create a powerful numbing agent that could last for days."
"Can't argue with that here. Let's find some of this other stuff. Then we can go find an animal handler." For an underground black market, it was surprisingly easy to find the correct stalls.
All I had to do was pay an informant to find where the stall we needed. My arms were weighed down with bags of materials in an hour, and Evos was no different. We only had one store left, which was the fishmonger.
The store was off the beaten path, down another set of stairs, and hidden among a pile of trash and other filth. Opening the door, the store was poorly lit in spaces, and aquatic tanks stood in a random pattern around the room, creating a maze.
At the counter was a small hunched-over man, his hands scarred and veiny from old age, "It's been a while since I've had customers. Tell me why do you grace my store."
I put on my best smile as my wallet was a little light at the moment, and I didn't want to get ripped off, "We're looking for a toxic fish that balloons when inflated, do you have any?"
The old monger smiled and nodded, "I know every fish in my store, and I have several of the ones you're looking for." He reached underneath the counter and pulled out a large glass jar with three small puffer fish swimming around.
"All three are female, so you don't have to worry about young ones, and that will be 15,000 berri." Frowning, I couldn't tell if the old man was ripping me off or not. I wasn't an expert in the fish market and how much to pay for poisonous fish.
"How about 13,000? As you can see, we've been shopping all day, and we still need money to pay for dinner." The man smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes, "14,500 and not a berri less, you're not the only person who needs to eat."
Scowling I pulled out the bills and threw them on the counter, "You win old man, you win."
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