Chapter 145 - Chapter 147

"Cap'n, are you sure that this is a good idea? You know how unstable that guy is, right?" Vash said in a lazy tone while pouring himself a drink.

"Unstable? That's one word for his overall personality, though it's not entirely correct. He can be very useful if you can manage to gain control over him, and since he only responds to one thing only, we shall see who he fears more when this day is over. Me or Kaido." Amell laughed and thought back to his life when he used to wander the continent of Ishgar over a century ago, though it had not been that long for anyone else than him. Back in those days, his favourite pass-time was to drag off arrogant kids off their high-horses, like he was about to do now.

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Inside a small apartment in the Flower Capital of Wano, a woman and a man sat facing each other. The man had brown hair and classic samurai robes on, and the woman had yellow and green colour in an equal divide in her hair. These two were Annabelle from Gotei's zero division and Kenshin, the third commander of the Gotei.

"So this is everything we have on him?" Kenshin was sitting comfortably and looking over all the information that Annabelle had on his target. He glanced up at her face to see the seriousness stuck on her face, "Yes, lord Kenshin. This is all I could gather on short notice. If I had been notified earlier I could have started prioritizing the target soon and gotten more thorough information." She said almost apologetically.

"No, no, this is quite outstanding, Miss Annabelle. To get this much in only a couple of days is incredible. It's terrifying to think about what you might dig up about me if you had more then four days." Kenshin smiled and laughed lightly, much to the embarrassment of Annabelle.

"You flatter me," She said in a low tone with slightly rosy cheeks.

"Absolutely. You deserve it, Byakuya wasn't lying when he said that you were the best in the business." Kenshin picked up a report about the security surrounding the castle and he scanned it carefully and then looked at her, "Are you absolutely sure about this?" He wore quite a serious gaze.

"No, because Kaido is backing him, he could possibly have hidden security measures that I don't know about. But in that report are all the current subordinates that protect the target at all times." Annabelle had managed to in just a few days, gather an incredible amount of information. So much that it stunned Kenshin at how efficient and talented she was at her job.

"So do you think I stand a chance?" Kenshin put down the report and glanced up at the best intelligence officer in the Gotei. Annabelle cupped her chin and took a moment to think about it.

"You should have no problem. None of them matches up to Kaido and his crew, and in terms of swordsmanship, you outrank them by a lot." Annabelle said with confidence while she grew a little red in the face.

"If you say so" Kenshin smiled and stood up slowly, "Tea?" He asked and directed his smile toward Annabelle.

"Yes please, Lord Kenshin!" She bowed her head and her smile grew more childish and innocent.

"Please, skip the lord title and just call me Kenshin." He said and walked away toward the kitchen.

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Back on Dressrosa, the group were strolling through the city in the most casual way they could, and they didn't seem to mind all the terrifying gazes they were getting from the civilians around them. Toshiro and Amell didn't seem to even register all the people staring at them. But Lubbock and Vash were completely enthralled in the attention and Vash would occasionally wink at some woman that stood frozen in fear as they passed by. Lubbock would try and do the same thing but no woman would look at him, they would all just stare at Amell, Vash, or Toshiro.

"Don't you ever get tired of the attention, Vash?" Toshiro glanced at his fellow commander.

Vash hit him with a look like he was crazy," No way! I mean, I don't care a lot about this sort of attention. But the more I show myself like this, the more people seem to for whatever reason wanna kill me. And that means more fighting, so if being famous is what it takes to get a good fight then I will be the most famous guy ever!" Vash declared confidently.

"I don't know if I agree with that logic, but you do you," Toshiro said and turned to Amell and started speaking with a respectful tone. "It appears we have caught the attention of the King, finally." He said and Amell knew what he was referring to and nodded slowly. Behind those two, the situation had now gotten more heated than before, "Answer the question, you stupid blonde moron!" Lubbock almost yelled at Vash.

"How can I answer that? Maybe women of this world have some hidden power that lets them see something we don't." Vash raised his shoulders in genuine wonder about the problem Lubbock was facing. The women wouldn't even spare him a single gaze, almost like he literally wasn't even there.

"What are you talking about? What is so different about me?" He said as his previously very confident spirit grew weaker every second. Vash looked around at all the people staring at them, and after a few second something seemed to click as his face lit up in delight and confidence. "Why don't we try men? They are about equal in number to the women and they all seem to notice you. And look, I won't even stand in the way of you on this one, so go nuts, buddy!" Vash smiled like your typical world-saving saint, and he felt immensely proud of himself.

"What the hell!? I DON'T SWING THAT WAY!" Lubbock yelled after he heard what he thought was the most insane advice he had ever been given by someone.

"Swing this way or that way. I'm sure there's not much of a difference. Love comes in all shape and sizes, embrace this new beautiful side of your life!" Vash sped next to Lubbock and reached his arm around his shoulder and pulled him in closer.

"Yes, I agree. Embrace it, brother!" Toshiro said stoically from the front of the group.

"Toshi, shut up or I'll take your head!" Lubbock said under his breath while trying to control his anger.

"And I don't swing that way! I like girls, women! You understand, blonde moron?" Lubbock pushed Vash away from him and started doing breathing exercises to try and not lose control of his anger.

"Fine, I was just trying to be a supportive friend. Well, forget about me ever helping you again." Vash decided to start completely ignoring Lubbock, so he went back to flirting with all the women that entered his gaze.

"Boys, the first part is done, now we just need to finish the last part, let's go!" Amell took a firm step forward and disappeared in a burst of speed. The three commanders turned serious and also disappeared toward the big mansion on the island where this island's king resides.

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End