One Piece: Gambling To The Top

A/N: 18 Chapters ahead at patréon:

www.pàtreon.com/Blazuki

-x-X-x-

Josh sat down opposite the agents of the World Government. He reached a small fridge on the corner and brought two drinks for his guests. Making a small smirk, he asked them.

"May I know why are you here?"

He is aware that it can be related to Crocodile's vanish, or Robin's. Who knows. He won't open his mouth in any case.

"We are from CP11 if you ever heard about us." The blonde woman answered as she leaned back and crossed her long legs.

"Never in my life," Josh answered honestly.

"Good that you didn't." The man spoke in a very deep voice.

Mikita was about to say something about how rude they are, yet Josh held her back by putting her hand on her thigh, and he stared back at the guests, not saying a single word.

The silence continued for three minutes.

Josh staring at them while they stared back.

Nobody dared to blink.

Finally, the blonde female agent blinked. It seems her eye-makeup played a role in that.

Mikita stood up and pointed at her. "Kyahahaha, you lost staring competition. You better say the first word."

"Baby, you just said the first word." Josh held Mikita's hand and made her sit down. Hearing his words, Mikita had a small flush. She felt embarrassed, yet she kept looking at the agents and laughing at them.

"Ha~"

Sighing, the agent male started talking. Even though his voice was calm, it could easily catch the attention.

"We are here to ask you about the mysterious vanishing of Mr 0. Maybe he escaped. Maybe he is dead, do you know anything about that."

As it seems, the world government was aware that Baroque Works belongs to Crocodile. Since the organisation contained many criminals within them, it's needless to say that they could do their job daylight because of the Warlord status of Crocodile.

Josh didn't dare to flinch. After pretending to think for a brief, he said. "You mean my previous boss."

"Previous boss?"

"Well, I understand why you visited now. After a mission, which happened to be hunting a pirate, we, just like the rest of the agents, had some conflict between us.

"I was one of the guys who decided to leave the agency. Once I tried to see Mr. 0 for my retirement share, I didn't find him at all…"

"Hmm…"

The man and the woman looked at each other, before staring back at Josh.

"What kind of conflicts happened between you." The woman stared at him sharply.

Josh took a deep breath, his hand on Mikita's thigh so she doesn't speak.

"He has asked me to be responsible for the deal between the rebels and the underworld weapon dealers." Josh, previously known as Mr 7, said. "If you like to know, I discovered that he was planning to take the country down. At first, I had thought that Baroque Works was a bounty hunting organisation, but it was a criminal organisation. I and my partner decided to leave it…"

Putting his face in his hands, Josh pretended to be sad and affected by the previous mission. If the world government is missing Crocodile, then they should know what kind of crimes he had committed. Maybe that way, this case can be closed. Of course, Josh pretended to not know about Crocodile's identity.

Mikita continued. "After that, Joshy couldn't sleep the night. He had asked me to leave with him. However, he never could sleep after that night. One day, he decided to come and fight Mr 0 personally. But Alas, we found nothing for him. We left, hunted pirates, and made our casinos here."

Mikita put a hand on Josh's shoulder and patted him. Josh was still covering his face with his hands. Just by looking at his face, she had one idea. 'This man knows how to bullshit. Why do I feel like I'm pitying him.'

The agents examined Josh and Mikita, depending on their training to know if their target is telling the truth.

From Josh's expression, one can easily tell that he was affected.

In this world, the agents know only one kind of person who can lie with their face skin intact, which is an agent himself…

they never met someone who trained to take the sympathy of the jury.

On the other hand, even though Mikita is showing affection, her performance looked to be faking pity.

The agents felt quite sorry for Josh since Mikita seemed to be fooling him.

Josh put his hand down and stared at the agents. "Is there something else that I can help you with?"

The woman joined her hands together and leaned forward until her face was closer to Josh.

Mikita's facial expression changed as she was about to charge, but Josh held her again.

"Last one. Where is Ms All Sunday, also known as the Demon Child, Nico Robin."

Josh's heart skipped a beat when he heard this question. But since he was prepared, his face didn't move the slightest.

Half closing his eyes, he made sure to look at the left side, up… because looking at the right side means you are trying to make a lie.

Josh then said. "I have seen no trace to her at all. Can you give me a description how she looks like?"

There is no way he would give them Robin.

Not after he had sex with her and Marianne. They are his women, and he won't just give them up.

The female agent leaned back and stared back at her partner. "We need to report this."

"You're right." The guy agent looked back at Josh. "Do anyone else knows about the information about the rebellion and weapon deals."

"Ah… King Cobra maybe?" Shrugging his shoulder, Josh leaned back on his seat and shook his head.

He needed to lie this through. However, somehow, the question of the male agent made him feel a bit of wariness.

The agents stood up after they saw that Josh has nothing more to say.

Josh was aware of the situation he is in.

The agents had just asked him if someone else knows about Crocodile.

In this world, the World Government for sure would cover for Crocodile, unless they are the ones to take the credit. They don't want to ruin their reputation.

"Have a nice day then." The man turned her back and vanished.

The woman did the same as he vanished in thin air.

"Heh… this is like your technique. Only slower a bit." Mikita then sighed. "Josh, you know. Their questions, it has surprised me — "

Lifting his hand, Josh shut Mikita's mouth. Her green eyes turned in his direction.

"Agents, I know you are hiding there," Josh said, pointing at them. "Behind the fridge. And behind the couch."

Josh was faster than the two agents. He had read through their Shave Technique and could assure that they are hiding somewhere in this room.

Mikita held her breath. That's right. The agents can hide, just to draw them to talk about hidden information in case Josh and Mikita made them believe something else.

The window then was suddenly opened, followed by a surge of wind. Josh could see the guy biting on his lip, while the woman left with a blush on her face, despite trying to make a cold face.

"Amateurs." Josh shook his head, murmuring in a low tone. "When a level 10 tries to fool level 20."

Upon realising what mistake she was about to make, Mikita, not believing that she almost talked about Robin, put her hand on her mouth.

"These fuckers! No one can even trust the World Government."

"Well, at least they pay us well for the pirates' bounties. Just talk about fashion until we are back home." Josh said, putting his hand on his face.

"Yes, honey."

Josh shrugged his shoulder as Mikita held his arm on their way out to the casino.