422. An Actor

Hey guys, I'm trying a new format for the dialogues. Hope you like it

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Katorea, the town where the rebels set their base after Yuba got destroyed. Currently, the rebels are gathering outside the town. A man is seen lying there like a dead man, but he is still breathing. It's Leo who acts like an unconscious man.

"Is he alive?"

"Yeah, he's still breathing. Maybe he is dehydrated when walking in the desert."

"Then he must be a foreigner, a local won't make such a stupid mistake."

The gathered rebels are talking about Leo who can hear them clearly. But he doesn't do anything because he is acting right now. Leo just keeps lying on the ground while holding any urge he has including the urge to fart.

Sometime later, some people arrive and the rebels make way for them. Leo thinks they must be the leaders of these rebels and the people he must convince. He can only hear their voices though and they sound tough.

"Anyone knows who he is?"

One of the leaders asks, but no one answers him because they don't know Leo.

"Hmm, take him to the medic, but keep watching him. Send him away after he gets better."

"Are you sure, Koza? What if he is a spy sent by the King?"

Someone asks the leader because he is quite suspicious of Leo. But the leader, Koza is firm on his decision.

"And what if he is just a traveler? Do you want to let a man die because of your suspicion? If we do that, then we are not different from the Kingdom that abandons their people."

Koza's words silence the others, but Leo thinks otherwise. He realizes that these people are kind, but they are too naive. No wonder Crocodile could make propaganda that convinced them so easily.

'Hopefully, convincing them will be that easy too.'

Leo thinks like that while being carried to a tent the rebels used as an infirmary. A doctor checks him and finds that Leo isn't dehydrated, but has a strong fever. Well, it's not really a fever, Leo just increases his body temperature using his ability.

"Having a fever in a hot desert must feel like a nightmare. Alright, take care of him. You guys keep an eye on this guy. We need to be careful."

Koza leaves after saying that, making Leo sighs internally. They don't even check him thoroughly to make sure he isn't a spy, which is a stupid move in their situation. This isn't good for Leo because he doesn't get their attention long enough.

Robin needs more time to find all the spies planted here. So Leo starts his plan B by fakely writhing in pain to take others' attention before Koza left. Then he talks in his sleep, mimicking what some people do when they're sick.

"Ugh, must... deliver... letter, for my... family... Please,... don't kill..."

Those words surprise the rebels, especially the last word. They look at Koza who immediately asks them to inspect Leo's body. After a while, they find an envelope hidden in Leo's head wrap. They give it to Koza and he reads it.

He is shocked by what he reads and he crumples the paper angrily. His comrades asked him why he gets so angry, so he gives them the letter. They read it and have the same reaction as Koza. They get very angry.

The letter they read was written by Leo & Robin to fool these guys. It contained a fake message from Crocodile to the spies in Rebel Army. In the letter, Crocodile tells them to get ready because they'll start the 'plan' soon.

He also orders them to 'kill' Leo after receiving the letter to make sure the information won't spread. 'The kid thinks he can save his family by sending this letter without knowing I've killed them.' That's what Crocodile 'wrote' after ordering the spies to kill Leo.

"Koza, this is..."

"We've been fooled."

Leo is quite dumbfounded because they believe the letter immediately without confirming anything. But then he realizes that they must be a little suspicious of Crocodile and still have some trust in their Kingdom, that's why they can believe the fake letter this fast.

'They aren't that bad actually.'

Koza's group immediately gathers everyone in town to announce that they've changed the target to Crocodile. Many of them have thought that Crocodile's actions were quite strange. He was always on time to save people as if he knew what would happen.

Now they realize that he must've planned it to get the people's trust. Leo also stated in the fake letter that Crocodile has gotten the people's trust, so it's time to take over the Kingdom and become its King. With Robin's help, the fake letter becomes very convincing because she has a lot of information about Crocodile's plan.

But some people keep protesting and say the Kingdom is the wrong one. They also say that Crocodile is a hero and they still need to take over the Kingdom. These guys are very persistent and even try to convince the others that they look suspicious in Koza's eyes.

"Are you Crocodile's men?"

"Huh, what the hell are you saying now, Koza? Are you doubting us?"

"Yeah, you support him too much right now, so of course, I would be suspicious."

"Tsk, just one letter made you lose your trust in your comrades. This is disappointing."

"Then convince me that you aren't Crocodile's men."

They can't do that, so Koza orders his most trusted comrades to check these people's belongings while the others capture them. Of course, these guys are retaliating, but they are shorter in number.

After some thorough check-ups, the rebels find some proofs that these guys are Crocodile's men. They have Baroque Works' badges hidden in their belongings. But these guys are more surprised by this than the rebels because they don't remember having these badges.

These guys don't use badges as identities, they use codes because they are spies. Robin knew that, so she set this up to help the rebels find the spies. She hid it quite well in their belongings to convince the rebels that the badges were tried to be hidden.

The spies know it's a trap, but they can't say anything that can prove it. If they want more thorough check-ups, they will just blow their covers more. So they try to escape immediately, which is also a stupid move because it just makes the rebels more convinced.

The spies get captured and imprisoned by the rebels. There are more spies though, and they try to run away after knowing some of them to get captured. But Robin won't let them go. She takes them down while they escape to make sure Crocodile won't know this.

Leo's & Robin's plan has succeeded, so they are very satisfied. But they still need to stay here with the rebels to make sure the group will attack Crocodile at the same time as the Straw Hat Pirates. Robin keeps hiding among the rebels while Leo keeps acting sick for now.

The next day, Leo finally can open his eyes and stop acting sick. He is 'cured' by the doctor's medicine that he didn't actually eat. Leo's hands and feet are tied to the bed by Koza's group to make sure he won't escape.

They know from the letter that Leo was 'forced' to send the letter. But they could never be too careful now. They've learned their lesson. Besides, they think Leo can suddenly run after knowing that he is captured and they can't let that happen because they need information from Leo.

Leo acts as if he is panicking after seeing the rebels and the binds. He tries to escape, but he fails because the rebels catch & hold him. Koza comes and starts to get information from Leo who acts as if he doesn't want to answer while acting afraid.

It makes Koza sighs, then he shows the fake letter to Leo. Robin watches from the side with a very impressed expression because Leo is crying when he reads the fake letter. He cries because it is stated in the fake letter that Crocodile has killed his family.

'Aside from music, he also has the talent to be an actor.'

Koza's group releases him and lets him cry because they know how it feels to lose the ones they love. Leo cries for a long time until he feels that it's enough. Then he acts as if he lost all his energy, so the rebels are giving him support to stay strong.

'What a talent. I need to be careful with that acting skill.'

Leo shows a very sad expression on his face, but inside, he laughs like a devil who succeeds in his scheme. Things went smoother than he thought, so now their winning chance has increased a lot. With the Rebel Army's help, they can surely win this war easier.

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