Chapter 4

Alex tried real hard to remember where he had seen her, but he couldn't remember. The man who was talking to Alex till then, asked the lady "Are you sure my lady? He doesn't look like a good person."

"I am sure that such a good looking kid can't be a criminal." she replied and the man wanted to say "Then how are you going to explain the fact that a kid, who looks like he is in his teenage, is travelling alone and doesn't even have a destination in mind. He just wants to go to the nearest island from here." but he stopped himself, as he knew the lady's wrath.

Alex looked at her for a little longer and decided to board the ship, but he was completely alert of his surroundings. He knew that there are no free meals in any world.

When he got onto the ship, the woman approached him and said "Welcome to my ship. I am Stussy, the owner of this merchant group." stretching out her hand for a handshake.

Alex looked at her and accepted the handshake. He said "Thanks for the ride. I don't know how much it usually costs, so you can tell me how much I owe you." but he was thinking something else.

As soon as he shook her hand, he said in his head 'She is strong. She definitely isn't some random rich lady. I need to learn more about her.'

The woman named Stussy said to Alex "Oh, you don't have to pay me. We were going there anyways, and if I need anything from you, I will ask."

She then turned to another man on the ship and said "Show him his room and get him something to eat."

The man nodded and led Alex to a room in the ship. The room had a bed and a cupboard for clothes. The man said to Alex "You are lucky kid. She usually isn't this kind to strangers."

"Does that mean, she usually doesn't help people and I am the only exception?" Alex asked and he nodded before saying "Alright, I have work to do. Call me if you want something. I will ask someone to get you breakfast."

He then left and Alex was alone in the ship, thinking about what to do from then. He couldn't help but think about Stussy. She obviously is someone who knows who Alex was.

'I currently have three enemies, the revolutionary army, the world government, which includes the Frauce Kingdom, Marines and the Cipher Pol.

Frauce Kingdom doesn't have any female knights, so I can rule them out. As for the Marines and the Cipher Pol, they are not jobless to send an undercover agent to keep an eye on a weak noble who doesn't have any experience of the outside world, but I can't rule them out, as this world is full with mysteries and the world government does some pretty crazy things.

So, she is either from the revolutionary army, or the from the navy or the Cipher Pol. I have to be careful from now.' Alex thought and relaxed on the bed. Although it wasn't comfortable, it was way better than his handmade bed of twigs, leaves and grass.

After an hour or so, the ship started sailing towards their next destination. He was served his breakfast, which was bread and soup. He wanted to check if it was poisoned, so he had a rat which he caught in the village. He would feed the rat small portions of the food to test for poison.

Alex asked around and he was told that it would take a week for them to arrive at the next island, which is was some random small island.

He spent his whole day reading different books he borrowed from Stussy and he learnt a lot of things. Alex looked out and noticed that it was dark. He was preparing to get dinner and sleep. He walked to the door to ask someone for his dinner, when he heard a knock.

From the other side of the door, Stussy asked "Alex, do you have a moment?" and Alex opened the door. He said to her "Lady Stussy, what brings you here. Come on in." and invited her in.

Stussy said "Drop the lady thing. Don't make it sound like I am old and married. Anyways, I was getting bored eating alone. So, I thought we could have dinner together, if you don't mind."

"I will never refuse a dinner with such a beautiful lady. Today's my lucky day." Alex said and Stussy chuckled and said "My...my...you certainly know how to talk to a woman."

They sat down for dinner, during which, Alex couldn't eat comfortably, as he couldn't test for poison in front of her. They talked alot and Alex started testing her with things he remembered from the show.

He said "You know, I heard from my friend about a kid named Sabo in Goa Kingdom. He is a pretty interesting guy. I heard that he was very mischievous and liked to play around." and carefully observed her eyes.

He is someone who lived amongst many cunning people in the game, who are greedy and would immediately backstab anyone for benefits. He could identify who was lying and who wasn't.

And seeing her reaction, he was sure that she didn't know about Sabo. Which meant that she wasn't from the revolutionary army. Alex was sure about the Sabo incident because the appointment with the Celestial Dragon a week from the day he was attacked by the world government, was the same Celestial Dragon who visited Goa Kingdom.

It had been well over two months since the incident and every revolutionary would have know about the new rookie who had crazy potential.

Now, she is either from the navy or the Cipher Pol, but he couldn't dig deeper without revealing sensitive information which he shouldn't know, leading to his death.

He then tried to play it safe by asking "I am curious about your work on this ship. You don't look like a merchant and don't have the businessmen mindset, who would do anything for profits."

"Hohohoh....you are smart Alex." she said while she laughed covering her mouth. She continued "If you want to know so badly, I can tell you. I have a feeling from the first time I saw you, that you are someone who is smart and wouldn't take irrational decisions.

They call me the rising flower of the pleasure district. I am popular in the underworld entertainment industry. We don't specialise in only entertainment, we also sell information. The minute I saw you, I could tell that you are someone who will become famous. So, the price you are paying for travelling with me, is your information.

You can visit us for any services you want. This is a gift from me." handing him a paper with a weird message and a list of addresses.

'She doesn't look like she is lying. The Marines aren't someone who would go undercover for jobs like this. This definitely is something only the Cipher Pol would do. She revealed the information with confidence that she could get rid of me anytime if she ever wanted to.' Alex thought and accepted the paper.

He thanked her for that and they continued their dinner without any other important conversation.