One Piece: Lord of the Weather Chapter 61: Return to the Shadows

While the south was burning, Pablo was thinking about the north.

The soldiers who had been guarding the warehouses and securing the roads began to leave their posts. King Bekori had ordered the transfer of many soldiers to the south to suppress the rising spark of rebellion.

And in the north... the warehouses beca less guarded.

Pablo sat in his room in the cave. In front of him was a map of Sorbet. He was studying. Searching.

"The south is burning, and the army is occupied with it. This is our ti."

He searched for a new target. The search did not take long.

On the outskirts of the northern city, there was a warehouse belonging to one of the major nobles. It stored huge quantities of rare herbs. Previously, it was guarded by over a hundred soldiers. But now, after many soldiers had been transferred to the south, fewer than sixty remained. Fifty-six or fifty-seven... no more.

Pablo decided. This was the target.

But he did not move imdiately. He waited.

The third batch of n had not yet arrived. He needed every man. Every gun. Every sword.

Two days later, the third and final batch arrived.

A small boat landed on the distant shore. Twenty n disembarked. They were the last to arrive from Naraka. Now, the total number of Pablo's n in Sorbet was one hundred. Forty had been with him from the beginning, and sixty had co in succession.

Pablo gathered sixty of them. The remaining forty would spread out in the south to continue the instigation.

"Tonight, we strike."

---

The Storm

The night was dark. The sky was clear. But it would not remain so.

Pablo stood with his n hundreds of ters from the warehouse. From a distance, they could see a few figures moving. Ten soldiers were walking outside the warehouse, guarding the entrances. The rest... were inside. Resting. Playing cards. Sleeping.

The sky began to change.

Not like before. Not ordinary rain. It was a real storm. Clouds gathered with unnatural speed. They turned black. Heavy. Then the rain fell.

The soldiers outside ran for shelter. They found an iron roof in a corner of the warehouse yard. They gathered under it. They laughed at first. Cursed the weather. Said it was a strange storm. They did not know it was man-made.

Under that roof, the ten soldiers gathered. They were close to each other. Leaning against the walls. Smoking. Complaining.

They saw nothing.

They heard nothing.

Pablo moved first. He walked in the shadows under the cover of rain and wind. Marco to his right. Shigo to his left. They walked with quick, confident steps. They needed no words. They knew.

They approached. Just the three of them.

When they reached the soldiers gathered under the roof, Pablo stopped.

He raised his hand. He signaled.

The attack.

Marco pounced like a hurricane. His fist shattered the face of the first soldier before he could scream. His kick sent another into the wall. A third strike crushed a third's neck. It took no more than seconds.

Shigo was faster than his shadow. His sword moved in deadly silence. Cut. Cut. Cut. The bodies fell as if they had never been standing monts before.

Pablo raised his pistol. Two shots. Two soldiers fell.

The wind was around him. It was strong. It was waiting.

He thought of a wind blade. Just will. The wind condensed. Compressed. Beca sharp as a knife.

It shot forward. Cut a soldier's neck before he could touch his weapon. Then another. Cut another's chest.

He was far from his n. No one noticed. The storm covered everything. Sounds. Sights. Movents.

In less than a minute, the ten soldiers outside the warehouse were all dead.

They did not raise their guns. Did not fire a single shot. Did not even understand what had happened.

---

Pablo's n opened the warehouse doors. They stord inside.

The remaining soldiers were in their rooms. So were sleeping. So were playing cards. So were eating. They did not expect an attack. Did not expect anyone to dare approach them under such guard.

But Pablo dared.

The battle was short. Less than ten minutes. Bullets filled the place. Screams mixed with the howling wind from outside. Marco smashed bones. Shigo cut lives. And Pablo was at the heart, his pistol aiming, his strong body moving among the soldiers like a shadow.

When it was all over, all the soldiers were dead. Over fifty soldiers. No one remained.

Pablo lost four n. Four of his sixty n fell. They did not move. Their bodies lay on the cold ground.

Pablo said nothing. The ti for mourning had not yet co. There was work to do.

"Move everything. Quickly."

The carts that were inside the warehouse were used to transport the sacks. The quantity was enormous. Over fifty carts. They needed a second trip.

The work continued all night. The n were exhausted, but they did not stop.

Before dawn, everything had been moved to the cave. Every herb. Every sack. Everything.

Pablo closed the warehouse door behind him. It looked empty. No one knew that hours earlier it had been full of riches.

They disappeared into the forest with the first light.

---

In the cave, after things had settled, Pablo sat alone in his room. The sacks were piled around him nearly to the ceiling. He began sorting them. Calculating.

Silveria Azure, Verdiana Green, Golden Topaz Leaves, and other rare types. The quantities were larger than he expected.

He added the numbers. Calculated again. Calculated a third ti.

He smiled.

Over two hundred million Beli.

Another operation with high profits.

He closed his eyes. He breathed deeply.

Now, he had over 300 million Beli in his pocket after selling this shipnt. Plus the weapons coming from Naraka. Plus 100 n under his command. Plus a rebellion igniting in the south.

Everything was going as planned. Even better.

He opened his eyes. He was ready for the next phase.