The auction officially ended after Ochoku was beheaded, leaving the entire audience in awe.

Tesoro, along with his partner Umit, took Caesar back to their large ship docked at the port.

"Tesoro, are you really confident you can take Caesar away?"

Umit asked with some concern.

He had attended the auction the whole time but had also been paying close attention to his surroundings.

Feld and Peclo were fine. At least they had made bids and shown their intentions to compete openly.

But Katakuri had simply sat and watched without moving at all.

Wasn't that an obvious sign of planning a robbery?

And Katakuri was not the only one. Umit had noticed quite a few others in the auction house with the same look.

"Don't worry. If we follow our plan, nothing will go wrong."

Tesoro spoke with confidence.

"Then I'll trust you."

Umit shrugged casually.

He was only a business partner. If the plan worked, that was ideal. If it failed, his losses would not be significant.

"Are the ships ready?"

Tesoro ignored his indifferent tone and continued asking.

"As you requested, they're all docked and ready."

Umit answered evenly.

"Good. We'll leave tonight."

Tesoro let out a small breath of relief.

With several ships drawing firepower, and their special vessel for smuggling, the plan had a ninety percent chance of success.

"Leave tonight? Why not prepare more?"

Umit looked surprised and puzzled.

They could stay for two full days to prepare. Why leave early?

"If we prepare more, those targeting us will prepare more as well."

Tesoro's tone grew darker.

They were already outnumbered. The more time passed, the more dangerous their situation would become.

It was better to do the opposite.

If everyone thought they would leave in two days, then departing tonight would catch them completely off guard.

"That makes sense. Let's go with that."

Umit nodded.

If a hundred enemies and the two of them prepared for the same amount of time, the hundred would naturally have more confidence.

After confirming the time with Umit, Tesoro turned to Caesar.

"Caesar Clown, you'll cooperate with our plan, right?"

"This…"

Caesar hesitated.

As a scientist, he knew well that a wise man adapted to the situation.

If Caelan had not dismissed him and sold him off, he would have shamelessly pledged himself to him already.

Now, under Tesoro's control, who was weaker than Caelan, nothing was settled yet. Following Tesoro blindly was not the safest choice.

"Follow me and I'll have you produce artificial Devil Fruits. You'll be my chief scientist.

"But if someone else takes you, it's hard to say what will happen. That Katakuri is part of the Big Mom Pirates. What do you think they'll do to the man who tricked Charlotte Linlin?"

Tesoro said with a smile.

This audacious scientist had swindled a large sum of research funds from the Big Mom Pirates.

If Katakuri caught him, his fate would be miserable.

"I understand. I'll cooperate with you."

Caesar replied gloomily. He knew very well what would happen if they caught him.

He had conned Big Mom's crew using a human gigantification project, then squandered the money on food, drink, and entertainment. If captured, his death would be anything but pleasant.

Once he heard this, Tesoro felt much more at ease.

"Good. Let's discuss the plan for tonight."

He patted Caesar on the shoulder, smiling.

The three of them—Tesoro, Umit, and Caesar—sat together to finalize the details.

"Umit has prepared ten ships. Each has a special chamber lined with seastone, enough to block Observation Haki so no one can tell where we are.

"As long as the ten ships depart in different directions, they can draw away most of the pursuers."

Tesoro grinned.

The tactic was simple but effective: split the enemy's attention, then slip away.

"It sounds doable, but maybe a bit too simple."

Caesar frowned.

If some powerful enemy got lucky, they could still be caught.

"What if we aren't on any of those ten ships?"

Tesoro smiled mysteriously, full of confidence.

"What do you mean? Not on the ten ships… are we flying away?"

Caesar asked, puzzled.

In this sea, there were no other practical means of transport aside from ships.

"We're leaving in a submarine. A vessel that travels beneath the ocean's surface, and one very few know about."

Umit explained.

At present, only he and the World Government had such ships.

Most people had never even heard of them, and even if they had, it would never cross their minds.

"There's a submarine right now, parked directly under our ship."

Tesoro smiled meaningfully. "Other than us, no one knows it's there."

"I see."

Caesar suddenly understood and felt much more at ease.

It was indeed a clever plan, one few would think of.

On the surface, they would seem to be on one of ten decoy ships.

That alone would draw most people away.

The rest would only assume they were hiding somewhere in Dressrosa.

Who would guess they had left under the sea?

That was a place most pirates feared instinctively, and many Devil Fruit users avoided completely.

"This plan is foolproof!"

Tesoro said with certainty.

Leaving tonight would also throw their enemies' timing into chaos.

Hearing the details, Caesar could not help but be impressed.

This strategy gave pursuers too many choices, ending with an escape route they would never consider.

It was seamless.

If he were the one chasing, he would likely end up confused, chasing the wrong targets, and running around like a headless chicken.

No one would expect an escape from beneath the waves.

"It's reliable. Without the intel, no one could see through it."

Caesar clapped his hands, feeling reassured.

"Of course."

Tesoro smirked proudly, pleased with his own brilliance.

He pulled out a bottle of champagne from his collection and filled glasses for Caesar and Umit.

"Let's celebrate our success in advance!"

Tesoro raised his glass happily.

In his mind, he could already see his future army of ability users wreaking havoc everywhere.

"To this perfect plan!"

"To a plan that cannot fail!"

Caesar and Umit toasted with him, convinced of its success.

With such a plan, there was no way they could lose.

…

But none of them noticed a sinister, witch-like woman appearing in a mirror in the room, silently watching the three of them toast.

On Tesoro's cuff, a tiny black bead no larger than a button emitted a faint signal to the outside.

(To be continued.)

***

For every 200 PS = 1 extra chapter. Support me on P/treon to read 30+ advanced chapters: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves

(Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)