One Piece: It's always been you

Chapter 177 They're looking at me, this great beauty.

Yu released Katakuri's hand, then took his arm, tiptoed to get taller and closer to him. "You look very handsome now. Handsome men and beautiful women standing together always attract attention. Their eyes may show curiosity and envy, but they will never show hatred or contempt."

"Talkative..." Katakuri hadn't expected to be exposed; he thought he was controlling himself well. But just as Yu said, he couldn't hide his feelings.

Although the mask covered his mouth, the weight of the scarf on his shoulders and the sense of cover on his face that a mask could not replace over the years. Especially with the gazes he felt on the street, Katakuri was starting to feel uneasy.

"Just think of them as looking at the beautiful woman next to you," You joked.

But what she wants to say is that this time, for better or for worse, she will stand by Katakuri's side and accept it with him. She will be both the protector and the protected, while Katakuri will not be just the protector.

As Yu walked, she suddenly noticed a dark shadow on the glass window of the coffee shop ahead, and it seemed that the people around her were quite afraid of it.

Curious, I walked up and discovered that the shadow was actually Sweet, leaning against the window with a sullen face, his fangs almost showing because of his emotions.

Then look at Ace and Law beside it, they both look helpless and ignoring Sweet.

Is this... a conflict?

Yu and Katakuri exchanged a glance, then walked into the coffee shop.

"Awoo awoo!" Sweet smelled Yu's scent and rushed over as if he had seen a savior.

But, just halfway there, a rope stretched taut between Sweet's neck and Ace's hand, and Sweet stopped in his tracks, struggling to get to Ace's side.

Yu quickly ran to its side, making sure Sweet wasn't being strangled. She looked at the rope around its neck and asked the two people beside her what was wrong.

Ace sighed helplessly, "The parade has started, and the road back to the main tower is blocked. Pets have to be on leashes to pass through, but this guy got upset after a while, so we had to sit in the coffee shop with him for now."

Especially since Sweet was so tall, the staff wouldn't let him pass. It wasn't that they were afraid it would frighten the people on the street, but rather that if such a large wolf got out of control, the entire parade would be ruined.

"Sweetie, shall we stay here with you a little longer?" You patted Sweet's head and suggested. The road was indeed quite long, and it wasn't practical to hold his hand or carry him. So they decided to stay here and wait until there were fewer people outside before leaving.

The four of them and the wolf sat down in the coffee shop, but watching the parade outside by the window was a bit less interesting. The atmosphere among the four was actually quite harmonious, as two of them tacitly kept to themselves and the other two chatted happily.

The music was lively, and cheers were constant. You was immersed in this joy when a strange presence suddenly came from behind, making her turn around quickly as a warning. But when she turned around, she only saw the blurry silhouette of the coffee shop door closing; someone had walked out.

Her intuition told her that something was wrong with the person who went out, so she stood up and chased after him without even explaining to the other three.

“Yu…” Ace sensed something was wrong, but neither Law nor Katakuri made a move, as if there was nothing to worry about, and that Yu could handle small things on her own.

Not long after, You returned.

"They ran away?" Katakuri could tell from her pale face what had happened.

Yu snorted and took a sip of her nearly empty milk tea. "She probably won't give up." Katakuri was right. When he ran out to chase after her, she had already disappeared into the crowd, and Yu returned empty-handed.

But her repeated appearances were clearly intended to mislead You, or to numb her and lower her guard. In any case, whether it was the former or the latter, the result was that the person was plotting something even bigger and worse.

"Nesang, her ability is hard to catch." Spatial abilities either require predicting her next move and knowing where she'll appear, or catching her before she uses her ability. But neither is feasible in the current situation where the enemy is in the dark and we are in the light. They can only passively be tossed around.

Yu was also troubled by this. Moreover, if Kong Mingwei went out with a face similar to hers to find Grantesoro's executives, Tesoro and Bakala would be at ease, but the other lower-ranking executives would probably be deceived, and there would be misunderstandings. "Tell me, since she has the ability, why doesn't she just use her ability to separate us one by one and then take action against us one by one?"

If she can teleport herself, then others should be able to as well. Why go through all this trouble, constantly exposing herself again and again? If it's just to confuse people, then it's not worth it at all.

Yu couldn't think of an answer to this question, nor could she find a suitable deduction that she could believe in. Moreover, what Yu wanted to know most was whose life she was going to save by taking this crystal.

“Nai-san, I guess she doesn’t not want to, she can’t.” Luo glanced at his right hand. “If I use the baton in ROOM against someone with Haki, I will expend more energy. If that person’s Haki is much stronger than mine, the chance of success will be even smaller.”

Yu seemed to be deep in thought, "Then she just can't transfer Card Two." In that case, it seemed understandable.

Figuring this out won't help much; we still won't be able to find out where Kong Mingwei is, or find a better way to guard against her.

In his dejected state, Katakuri noticed that the water in his glass had suddenly started to slosh around, becoming more and more noticeable, to the point that the standing waiter had to press himself against the wall to maintain his balance.

Katakuri pulled Yu to his side with one hand and held onto the windowsill with his right. Turning his head, he realized that the bustling street had disappeared, replaced by an endless expanse of darkness.

Meanwhile, in the basement of the main tower, Baccarat and Tezzolo stared at each other in dismay at their empty solitary confinement cell. Tezzolo questioned the guard beside him, "Are you sure no one came here? He just vanished like that?"

The guard nodded. He didn't know what had happened either. He had just turned around to check that the person in the cell was still there, and then, in the blink of an eye, the person had vanished. Moreover, he had checked the cell repeatedly and found no escape route. Besides, this was the very bottom of Grantesoro; digging down would only lead to the sea.

Bakara asked, "Have you checked the walls for any signs of the user using their abilities?" Sariden is a user of the Statue-Statue Fruit, so perhaps he could turn himself into a statue.

"But we put seastone on him..."

“In that case, only one person can take him away silently.” Bakara made a decision, but she felt more threatened. Whether it was the person who took Sariden or Sariden himself, they would both be looking for Miss Yu outside of this place! “Quick! Contact Mr. Tanaka and go find Miss Yu quickly.”

The cadres who were with her had never seen Miss Bakara so anxious before. Their hands holding the Den Den Mushi trembled involuntarily. However, before they could make a call, the Den Den Mushi rang.

"Lord Tesoro, the coffee shop on the parade street has suddenly disappeared." Mr. Tanaka, who was on the other end of the Den Den Mushi, saw the coffee shop suddenly disappear on the surveillance camera and immediately contacted Tesoro to report this strange incident.

Tesoro pressed, "When did this happen?"

“Just now, and Miss Yu was in the coffee shop.”

Tesoro and Bakara realized it was too late for them to inform Yu.

Grantesoro can move, but now Yu has vanished along with the coffee shop, leaving them with no direction to search. Bakura took the Den Den Mushi from the executive's hand. "Mr. Tanaka, who else is in the coffee shop?"