"Good. Then get some sleep first."
Aaron was clearly satisfied with Absalom's answer and attitude. Smiling, he handed him a small pill.
It was a kind of sedative, similar to a sleeping pill. Once swallowed, it would induce a deep sleep that could last for several days unless counteracted by another specific drug.
Without hesitation, Absalom accepted the pill and swallowed it.
The effect was immediate; he quickly fell into a deep slumber.
Seeing this, Aaron promptly stored Absalom away in his alternate dimension. Then, drawing upon the powers of both the Munch Munch Fruit and the Snow-Snow Fruit, he turned into a swirl of wind and snow and slipped silently out through the open window.
Before long, Aaron arrived at the cold, deserted docks and quietly infiltrated the warehouse where Williams had been storing the Dance Powder.
"So this is what Crocodile's been spending his fortune on for his coup. This much Dance Powder must be worth at least several hundred million Berries…
But in Alabasta, this amount could probably only produce a rainfall or two. That desert is so arid… The Sand Crocodile really is swimming in money," Aaron murmured as he looked at the warehouse packed from floor to ceiling with shimmering green powder.
Then, like a diligent hamster relocating its hoard, he began methodically transporting the Dance Powder out of the warehouse bit by bit using the powers of both Fruits. He relocated everything to a hidden cave outside the city.
To prevent discovery, he sealed the cave entrance with a snow wall as hard as steel, created by his Devil Fruit ability, and then buried the entire mountain in a blizzard he summoned himself.
After finishing the relocation, Aaron once again transformed into wind and snow and swiftly returned to Vilia Port.
That night, as with many before it, Vilia Port was blanketed in a heavy snowfall.
Biting winds howled through the streets, and snowflakes danced endlessly in the frigid air.
Atop the hill stood the city's tallest and grandest building, the Lord's Castle and tonight, it received an uninvited guest.
Whoosh... whoosh...
The freezing wind carried snowflakes through the castle's courtyards and open balconies.
Using the storm as cover, Aaron silently infiltrated the castle in his snow-elemental form, then activated the Clear-Clear Fruit's power to render himself invisible.
The castle was massive, and finding one specific person inside would have been difficult for most but not for Aaron.
He expanded his Observation Haki, instantly sweeping the structure with his senses, collecting every detail of life and motion within. Within moments, he locked onto his target for the night Hodgson, the man he'd come to capture.
Hodgson, as expected of a Snake-Snake Fruit, Model: Anaconda user, was extremely sensitive to the cold. His chamber contained not one but three blazing fireplaces, raising the temperature to a sweltering level.
At that moment, Hodgson lay lazily on a luxurious carpet made from Heavenly Goose down, his upper body human and his lower half a thick serpent's tail, his hybrid form. Several beautiful young maids were attending to him with great care.
Years of indulgence and lack of training, coupled with the side effects of his Devil Fruit, had turned the once lean and formidable guard into a bloated, flabby man.
If Shuma hadn't mentioned the changes in his appearance, Aaron might have had to rely on Observation Haki alone for quite some time to identify him.
Unlike the heavily fortified auction fortress once run by Doflamingo, Gilbert's castle wasn't filled with deadly traps, only a large number of well-trained soldiers stationed at nearly every corridor. Each guard was armed and outfitted with expensive equipment.
The castle itself was decorated with obscene opulence. Priceless antiques and paintings adorned every hallway.
As Aaron silently made his way through, he noticed the artistry never seemed to end, each painting clearly the work of a master, any of which could easily fetch millions of Berries if sold on the black market.
It was no wonder people said Lord Gilbert, ruler of Vilia Port, was "richer than a king."
With control over Drum Kingdom's largest port city and a near monopoly on its thriving pharmaceutical industry, Gilbert, one of the Drum Kingdom's autonomous princes exempt from taxes and tribute—had amassed staggering wealth.
That immense fortune allowed him to raise and maintain an elite private army, perfectly equipped and trained, giving him the audacity to openly challenge King Gresham himself.
"If I had this much money," Aaron thought, eyes glinting with a mix of greed and disdain,
"I'd invest it all in research. With enough funding, you could develop powerful weapons and medicines. The technology of this world is incredibly advanced…
And yet he spends it all on useless decorations. As expected, nobles are hopelessly indulgent."
Running an organization had made Aaron painfully aware of how expensive survival was.
With so many subordinates under his command, expenses piled up endlessly.
His Shining Gold Trade Association was incredibly profitable bringing in hundreds of millions of Berries a month but once wages, bonuses, intelligence funding for Shuma's network, and research grants for the Fierce Drug Laboratory were paid out, not much remained.
Sometimes, he even had to personally hunt high-bounty pirates just to keep things afloat.
Now, standing in this palace of wealth, Aaron couldn't help but feel the urge to rob the place clean.
With the powers of the Munch Munch Fruit and the Clear-Clear Fruit combined and with no one in the castle capable of using Observation Haki, he could strip the entire fortress bare without anyone noticing.
"Hmm... back already, are you?"
Suddenly, Aaron's eyes flashed red.
He stopped moving, turning sharply toward a certain direction.
Through his Observation Haki, he detected Gilbert, the castle's owner, returning riding atop a Furry Hippopotamus and surrounded by a large group of guards.
But what truly caught Aaron's attention was the masked man accompanying him.
The man's aura was powerful comparable to top lieutenants like Horton, Getra, or Jim from the Akio Gang. His presence alone made it clear that he was no ordinary fighter.
And from the fact that he rode alongside Gilbert on the same mount, and that Gilbert himself treated him with uncharacteristic respect, it was obvious this masked man's identity was anything but simple.
Gilbert was infamous throughout the Drum Kingdom, especially in Vilia Port, for his arrogance.
There were perhaps fewer than five people in the entire city who could make him speak politely.
Fortunately, the masked man didn't appear to possess Observation Haki; he hadn't noticed Aaron's spiritual probing at all and continued chatting casually with Gilbert.
Judging by their lip movements, the conversation was mundane, nothing of significance.
Behind them followed nine more masked individuals, each radiating strong life energy, only slightly weaker than the one riding beside Gilbert.
Like their leader, they too lacked Observation Haki.
"Who could they be...?" Aaron wondered grimly.
"They're too secretive."
Even ordinary citizens of the Drum Kingdom now knew that civil war was inevitable.
And now Gilbert had suddenly acquired the backing of a mysterious, high-ranking powerhouse and a group of capable fighters that would certainly tip the scales of victory in his favor.
For Aaron, that was important news.
After all, his allegiance would always lie with the side that wins.
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