Chapter 23: The silent massacre

The deathly cold night had dusked clear and silent, sickly chillness that could crisp up the bones and send frost bites across the body, in a lonesome alleyway where the poor patrolled, some slept crookedly on the hard floor with no other choices present. Delicate brown hair that swayed with the wavering wind, he strode the street imposingly, his ghastly figure struck no bells of attention from the folks.

The inky black darkness of the night hid his features and more so emotions behind the fabric of a cloak, excitement and thrill filled him, his crow's eye was the reason. '... the reckless plan is succeeding it seems', he restrained the same appearance, with a closed right eye, the other poured red-like-wine blood from the socket. Long has he gotten used to the immense pain. 

'... Those scaredy kittens, they got the job done so quickly, I'm intrigued' their performance fascinated him. Not only did they follow the instructions so cleanly, they also caught some of the western bigshots in their nets.

To acquire a devil fruit ability, one must take a sizable chunk, chew on it and then let his taste buds get tainted with the horrid flavor, lastly the body needs to digest most of the consumed fruity flesh. By precisely peeling off some of the skin and trimming the outlines, the ability is kept within safe hands. And the peels are to make for a solid evidence for the existence of one of the treasures of the sea on this island. 

'the kittens had done a great job at that, slowly boxing the peels and shipping it to some places in the black market, they even earned themselves a decent profit' his crow's sigil kept spinning day and night, his mastery of the observation power was steadily in increase and it pleased him greatly. Using the latter, he observed their actions closely throughout Portelin. 

'... I had forgotten how proficient they were, the orphans' as long as the prize is met, nothing escapes their clutches it seemed. 'they would make for fine spymen' Matthew thought, having his own spy network was bound to be useful in many ways. They would help him find those people that shall hold the accursed candles one day. With his feelings never getting in the way of his graceful behavior, he continued down the trail where he would 'rest' for the night, his beloved eye would further see those kittens and determine the next course of actions. 

After some time, the sounds of the beggars receded, earning him a moment of peacefulness, although the smell didn't let his nose catch a break. Climbing on top of a roof, his hidden eye caught the sights of questionable men who wore black cloaks. 

"... Are you sure of what you heard?" 

"yes, based on our intell, it's said that the news have a chance of flowing from the slums…"

" shut up you two, let's just get the mission done quickly" 

'... Ahh, we were compelled to catch some unwarranted suspicions, it's unfortunately inevitable' Matthew spied on them curiously, he couldn't listen to what they spoke of, but his red eye could read what their lips conveyed. On the rooftops he walked with silent steps, he saw everything that happened in a 400 meter radius. Many suspicious groups dwelled the alleyways, it didn't seem to be just this one.

They furtively galloped off the streets of the slum area, searching and fetching for the trail of the mysterious boxes that were handed the other day. All infamous gangs were surveying the slums, information was the biggest power one can hold in Portelin. Once they determined the source there was a chance they could get their hands on the treasure before any of the bigshots settled in the city. That's what every underworld tycoon thought before sending his own group of spies. 

'... How naive are they, it's amusing' even if they somehow found the espying orphans, the devil fruit was kept under his personal watch, and a fierce crow won't let any other opportunistic bird touch his own valuables. 

The so called birds were taking their own areas of search, they beat the homeless and the beggars asking for any links to the 'source', they didn't clash with any of the other groups as they determined it a waste of time and resources. Instead they moved deeper and deeper in the slums. And Matthew observed them closely. 

Under the dazzling moonlight, the crow sigil twirled around in darkness. The unlucky men were not aware of the looming danger as they checked every corner of the slums. Matthew graciously followed behind the first group he eavesdropped on, his feet made no sound despite the pile of trash littering the slummy grounds.

The team of 10 lawless men were questioning a pair of a woman and her child, and by questioning, it means they forcefully abducted the child and threatened her with knives and swords unsheathed. 

"Woman, have you seen any weirdly behaving informants recently, we want quick detailed answers. Don't waste our time. Don't test us. Or the child will face repercussions…" he grabbed her by the hair, putting an end to her yelling with one of his hands. 

"... The orphans, we long have witnessed a weird pattern…" she looked at her sleeping malnourished child with dead eyes. Life was cruel for the pair, it seemed this wasn't the first time things went this dark way… 

The other men simply watched in silence, no words were uttered, just the sound of their blades cutting through air when they brandished the steel. Nothing irked them more than staying in the slums for a whole night, the scent and muddy textures were unbearable. But they have learned the hard way not to complain on missions. Unless they wanted the boss to cut their pay or perhaps… their heads.

'I will give you a hand little kittens, we don't want failures, do we now?' his figure blurred and lunged to the surroundings, perfectly blending in the darkness. 

" Have you heard something?" one of the men asked his comrade. 

" maybe it's the sound of wind, the nights are cold in Portelin…" the other thoughtfully replied, he lazily gazed around the narrow passage while the men at the front were questioning the woman. 

*fshew* he heard a sound, eyes turned around and noted a guillotined head flying above him for a second. '... What is going on—' before his senses came back to him his head quickly followed behind his comrade's. 

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A cloudy man with a cloak and a bloodied eye patch appeared, his spear danced and reaped their heads one by one. The other right men, while surprised, quickly stopped the questioning and stanced themselves defensively.

"who are you?" 

"do you know who we are?" 

Their voices fell on deaf ears, Matthew simply clenched bayonet, 'Tsuki kôgekï' he muttered. He could finish them off without using this technique that strained his body quite a bit, but he wanted to ensure no further chaos happened.

'... It feels very weird, my crow's eye ' he felt genuine overwhelming fear from these guys once his haki dug deep into their souls… he found traces of no cruelty, no arrogance, no hate for the living… Just pure, authentic emotions that spoke a lot of their states… the same emotions his disciple showed when he trained her,  the same emotions William tried to unmask while writing, the same emotions his former 'friend' Jacob hid behind a stern face... The same responses, feelings, passions, sentiments. He weirdly felt it all

Matthew couldn't put it into words as he suddenly let go of bayonet for the first time in a while and held the two decapitated heads with both hands. He looked at their horrified expressions that froze moments before their inevitable death. The other men in distance also shared that same surface-level emotion. 

'... It's delightful. So those kinds of people, the criminals, can make these faces? That means they can feel pain doesn't it… ' slowly a malicious smirk showed itself to the men, one that additionally intensified their fear of the demon. Matthew patted his hands dry from the blood, he gripped the spear once again and lunged at them. 

The silhouette of a brown haired demon dyed in black and red, with a fancy spear and a pirate eye patch charging at them while smirking was the last thing the men saw for that day… The same gory scene repeated itself throughout the night. 

Under the close watch of the shining moon, the sea was turbulent, sending murky unfathomable waves of water as it roared in discomfort... Matthew went east and north… Through the slums he ventured while holding bayonet, his red eye told him of the paths the men took to get to the kittens… he massacred all of them left and right, leaving none to tell the tale of Matthew the black crow… 

No matter the location, or where some of them escaped to, he always found them, as long as they stayed within his 'net of death' he caught them with his webs entangling their feet and his spear ripping their innards to shreds. '... How delightful indeed' he was fascinated with his own performance, a praying man that offered his own god numerous immolations was ought to be proud of himself. And Matthew the red beast was no different. 

"... You" another soul that happened to witness the ongoing slaughters in this night was none other than the leader of the casino orphans. He walked right into one of the crime scenes and saw as the very familiar faceless man with his fancy spear butchered some of the lawless men. His mind blanked, racing back to their first encounter... 

That day, He strolled some slum area, just like right now and watched as the same man helped a beggar woman by offering her some of his own food. And that's what grew his trust in the man, no matter how scary his appearance was, someone who empathized with the poor had to be an honorable person. Yet right now…

"Oh if it's not one of the kittens, how lucky is it that we chanced upon each other once again. The world we live in is surely a small place…" Matthew spoke cheerfully, his tone betrayed his gruesome clothes and that bloody spear that stabbed the man in the heart. 

"And I thought you were a good man, this is wrong…" the blond Yami Yugure had a slight shake and tremble in his tone of voice. He put his whole trust in the man, so one could imagine his disappointment upon seeing this. 

"... None in this world is a saint, everyone has their dark sides to show, young brat, the world is a far crueler place than what you think. I speak out of experience, not pretentiousness" Matthew spat, recalling that particular frog temple he visited, the village women who were getting raped right in front of his eyes. It always made him rage in silence. 

"... Nobody is a good person is it?..." disappointment was a feeling everyone experienced at some point, especially when you get betrayed or feel like you were treated unfairly. The anger, the harrowing that came with it... It made for a lingering after taste, quite the bitter one. 

"When I was younger, I traveled with a group of musicians, we made our living through entertainment and music, everyone in the mummers of Portelin knew us as the funniest troupe there ever was… once there was a surgeon who worked for a private surgery, an offer he made was so sweet and tempting to our band's head, and he didn't hesitate to hand over Yami, the ugly boy who had a big dump in his young face, earning him a scornful reputation that haunted him wherever he goes… that unsuspecting surgeon, he showed me his love, genuine care for my well being… But then he also proposed a deal, a dangerous operation that could potentially save my ugly face and turn it for the more pleasant, with a slight chance that things could go awry… 'if you are giving me a free turn, how can I not roll my dice and bet on luck?' I told him, and so I let him slice my body up and down… I watched as he burned my dumped face with a brazier, the pain was keeps stinging me to this night… and so the new handsome Yami with a beautiful face that could turn any lady heads over heels for him was born, from the ashes of his former face, former identity and… his master's corpse, he died performing the deed, I never realized one could die so peacefully, a smile adorned his old face, as if wasting his life for that deed was the best choice he ever made… I took his surname for myself, 'yugure' and I searched for a new way of living…" his tone was full of emotions, a wry expression was seen by Matthew. 

"... I begged, I stole, I even killed people for my own sake, just like any other lawless would do in my place… I developed a liking for orphans from the day I became one, I earned money from my hunts, I fed them, cared for them, and I even went as far as training them. We became a band of thieves that fetched letters and charts instead of cash and treasure. We tracked den den mushis and recorded conversations and sold them to whoever wanted. We spied on the rich and made a living out of thievery and crime. And from then on, I learned one lesson, that information was power…" he continued narrating, Matthew listened attentively to the side. '... This kid is something else, he reminds me a lot of Angella' 

"... We will never be good people as long as we live in this city, not like master Yugure was. I knew that yet I desperately wanted to change it. Good people do exist, you faceless beast, we always live and aspire to be one of them" he clenched his hands and pointed at Matthew with a finger.  

"foolish boy, the people I just killed were not good by any means, they deserved death and I was the one who had to do it, nonetheless, I liked your story a lot…" Matthew suddenly had a brilliant idea in his head. He reached for one of the many big pockets this cloak had, and pulled out a fruit

"what are you…" Yami's eyes landed on that very familiar thing, it was the damned devil fruit that brought him and his siblings massive troubles for the past few days. An apple-like build with hazy green skin, the stem was L shaped with a very dark green leaf on top of the L, weird patterns surrounded the fruit as if sculptured by a fine stonemason. 

" it's a gift for all the trouble you had to deal with this week, eat it…" Matthew said, his signature cold smile showed itself. 

"huh?..."

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