"Hey, look over there, what's that!"
On the towering city wall, a gun-wielding soldier standing guard next to the defensive cannon suddenly heard a loud warning from a nearby comrade and quickly snapped to attention, looking outward.
Sure enough, he saw a figure slowly approaching along the tracks.
This was extremely strange. How could someone be walking here from the wilderness? The outside was teeming with Kabane!
"What should we do? Should we open the gate?" one soldier hesitantly asked.
The city gate also served as a drawbridge, usually only lowered in advance when an Iron Fortress approached. But now, it was just one person.
"Let's go ask Lord Arata. I can't make this decision."
"Right."
Soon, the Warrior on duty at the gate tonight, Arata Takuya, received the news. After listening, he looked at the reporting soldier with suspicion.
"Are you sure it's not a Kabane wandering over here?"
"Uh, Lord Arata, there's no red glow on him, and his movements seem very steady."
"This..."
Arata Takuya hesitated but eventually decided to go up and take a look. Just then, a commotion erupted from outside, causing him to frown deeply. His right hand instinctively moved to his sword scabbard as he quickly walked over, shouting, "What's going on!"
"My lord!"
"That, that person, the one walking from the wilderness, he, he's already come up..." the soldier who ran over stammered.
"Huh?"
Arata Takuya was momentarily stunned, then angrily shouted, "You dared to open the gate for him without permission!!"
"N-no, we didn't."
Meanwhile, on the city wall, about twenty gun-wielding soldiers stared in terror at the impossibly tall giant before them, their mouths agape, completely forgetting they were holding guns.
This man had a slicked-back, oiled black hairstyle, golden earrings, a black shirt, brown trousers, leather shoes, and an extremely large fur coat draped over his shoulders.
He was called a giant because his height was estimated to be over two meters—perhaps even two and a half meters!
This was utterly shocking for these soldiers, whose average height was around 1.7 meters, with some even shorter. They had rarely seen anyone over 1.8 meters in their lives.
But what truly stunned them, even frightened them, was that this man had just jumped up from outside the moat!!! "Hey, what is this place?"
Suddenly, the giant spoke first. The surrounding soldiers exchanged glances. Although his accent and grammar sounded strange, they could understand him.
"Th-this, my lord, this is Yatagai Station," one braver soldier mustered the courage to reply.
"Oh"
Crocodile looked over in surprise. He hadn't expected these people to understand him. He had just tried asking a question.
"Alright, where's the place to buy food here?"
"Uh, it should be the shopping street to the north. There's a night market there now, with many vendors selling food."
Having gotten the answer he wanted, Crocodile casually tossed out a small koban coin, which he had picked up from the Living Dead on his way here.
Because it was clearly the currency of this world, as a pirate, he was particularly sensitive to such matters. On the other hand, the CP9 agents wouldn't specifically search every Living Dead.
"Ah, thank you, thank you, sir!"
The soldier who answered the question was visibly delighted to receive a reward, which made the other soldiers envious and regretful.
Meanwhile, Crocodile looked towards the northern part of the city and indeed saw a brightly lit area. Under the astonished gazes of the soldiers along the way, he casually descended the city wall via the stairs.
"Who are you!"
Just as he was about to head towards the so-called night market, a Warrior holding a scabbard, leading a dozen or so armed soldiers, stopped him.
"This, this, this..."
However, when Shinishi Takuya noticed Crocodile's height and build, he instinctively halted his steps. But he had already successfully caught Crocodile's attention.
"Warrior?"
Crocodile glanced down at him, and just that one glance instantly made the latter retreat in fear, as if he had seen something terrifying, even stumbling and knocking over several soldiers behind him.
Although the former didn't possess Conqueror's Haki, the power of Haki itself is related to a person's spirit, killing intent, and other mental strengths. This made the originally intangible aura manifest as an almost real sense of intimidation in the strong individuals of the sea.
"So weak..."
Seeing the Warrior in such a pitiful state, Crocodile shook his head disdainfully and left.
He was hungry.
"Who, who is he? Was he inspected?" After Crocodile's figure disappeared at the city gate, Shinishi Takuya stood up in shame and anger, shouting.
At the same time, he angrily questioned himself in his heart. It's just a large build, could he really handle so many gun barrels? What was I afraid of? Such a disgrace!
Inspection, a full-body check required for outsiders entering the city, involves queuing up, stripping naked, and being closely observed by several people to check for any wounds.
"Uh, no, but..." At this moment, an armed soldier leaned in and whispered in his ear, "Sir, but he jumped from the ground up to the city wall!"
"????"
Shinishi Takuya looked at him with a puzzled expression, as if saying 'you must think I'm a fool.' But the latter helplessly pointed to the other soldiers and said, "If you don't believe me, you can ask them. Many people saw it just now. That man ran at full speed from outside, then leaped over the moat and onto the city tower!"
"Yes, yes, yes!"
"That's right, that's right, we all saw it!"
"Please, don't provoke him. We just shone a searchlight in the direction he came from, and the path was densely covered with Kabane corpses!"
Shinishi Takuya fell silent, as his worldview was being severely challenged, even feeling dizzy and breathless. It took him a while to forcibly calm down.
"You go and keep an eye on him, but just watch from a distance. Don't make any rash moves. I'll go and see the Chief immediately!"
"Yes!"
The night market should be the brightest and liveliest place in a city after it transitions into the evening. It is filled with a faint sense of festivity, the enticing aroma of food, and the cheerful, melodious laughter of young girls.
The clamor of small vendors and stalls was incessant, with men, women, and children of all ages dressed in various yukatas or coarse clothing, their faces momentarily lit with joy as they bustled about.
However, a tall figure suddenly barging in caused waves of exclamations along the way, and the bustling crowd automatically parted wherever he went.
It was like a crocodile charging into a school of fish, causing the startled fish to scatter in all directions.
Crocodile paid no mind to this. Following the scent of food, he arrived at a stall selling grilled chicken skewers. He first observed the color of the chicken, then placed an order with the stunned vendor.
"Ten chicken skewers, a cup of wine—any kind will do—and a plate of tomato sauce. By the way, do you know what tomato sauce is? If not, just bring me a tomato and a bowl, and I'll make it myself."