"Waaaaah..."

The next morning, Charlie woke up to find himself tied to a large tree, completely naked, and feeling a chill in the cold wind.

He tried to call for help, but found that his mouth was stuffed with a rag, and he couldn't make a sound. Moreover, the rag smelled like swill.

Although he felt like vomiting, he couldn't vomit because his mouth was stuffed with this rag, and the feeling was really unpleasant.

"That kid's awake, what do we do now?"

Sergeant Medes took a sip of water from his water bag and asked Joey, who was resting with his eyes closed.

"fishing!"

Joey opened her eyes and uttered those two words lightly.

"Dear Mr. Charlie, we meet again!"

Joey walked up to Charlie and looked at him with a smile.

"Waaaaah..."

Upon seeing Joey, the man who had recently bought Catherine from him, he immediately became agitated.

He wanted to say something, but the rag in his mouth prevented him from uttering a complete word.

"Sorry, sorry, I forgot to take this thing down!"

As Joey pulled the rag out of Charlie's mouth, he continued calmly, "Don't make a fuss. I'm fine, but my friends might not be so happy!"

Charlie turned his head and glanced at the six people not far away. They all looked fierce and menacing, staring at him as if he were a lamb to the slaughter, and they were eager to make their move.

"Mmm!"

He nodded quickly, afraid that Joey might change her mind.

"Ptooey! Ptooey! Ptooey!"

Charlie, who had just had the rag torn off, kept spitting out saliva, it seemed that the taste of the rag had reached the limit of his endurance.

"Dear Joey, my friend, I think there might be some misunderstanding between us?"

"How did you end up capturing me?"

Charlie hurriedly began to explain as soon as he could move his mouth; he didn't want to really die here, especially not naked.

There must be some misunderstanding, but who started it first?

After Joey finished speaking, he looked at Charlie with a smiling face until Charlie felt uneasy.

"Are you talking about that woman from last time?"

"Those were all my father's orders. How could I possibly harm my good friend like you?"

"But speaking of that woman, where is she now?"

It has to be said that although Charlie is a spoiled brat, the fact that he still thinks about Catherine's whereabouts shows that he cares quite a bit about his father's affairs.

"That woman?"

"That's what I wanted to ask you too. What kind of woman did you sell to me?"

"She attacked me right after I sold her. This woman has always been disobedient and troublesome. She ran away a few days ago. I've suffered a huge loss!"

Joey's smile vanished, and he looked at Charlie with an accusing expression.

"They ran away?"

Charlie was somewhat surprised, but he quickly composed himself.

"They ran away, so that means this has nothing to do with you anymore!"

"Let me go now, and I'll explain this to my father and clear up the misunderstanding!"

Charlie put on a smiling face and spoke in a fawning tone, hoping that Joey would release him right now.

"Are you a pig, or do you think I'm a pig? Do you think I'd believe that kind of nonsense?"

"You think you can just let this go after I've suffered such a huge loss?"

Joey drew the dagger that Captain Zoro had given him and gently pressed it against Charlie's face.

Charlie's entire head stopped moving, like a statue, completely still.

"Let's talk this out, let's talk this out, my dear Joey friend. Of course, the losses should be compensated. You can come back with me now to get the money!"

Charlie was so frightened that his legs went weak. His legs were already weak from yesterday's hard work, and if he hadn't been tied to the tree, he probably wouldn't have been able to stand up.

"What an idiot! I'm not that stupid!"

"Write a letter to your father, the mayor, and have him bring 500 gold coins to ransom you. If he's short even one gold coin, I'll give you a piece of your flesh to make up for it!"

Joey made a harsh statement, and Charlie had no choice but to nod in agreement.

"Could you untie the rope? It's not easy to write like this."

"No, don't write it like that!"

With his body tied to the tree, Charlie could only slowly write a heartfelt letter that offered hope for survival.

He originally wanted to write faster, but this posture just didn't allow him to write quickly.

"Great, well written! Even I, your old man, would be moved to tears!"

Joey glanced at the contents of the letter and realized that Charlie had actually written down some of the things that had happened to him since he was five years old. He had even dragged his mother, who was already in the underworld, into the letter, using her as a bargaining chip to blackmail his father.

Joey handed the letter to Sergeant Medes and asked him to deliver it.

"My dear friend, my father will definitely send someone to deliver the money. You won't kill him, will you?"

Charlie's voice began to tremble, whether from fear or from the cold of being naked, it was hard to tell.

"I absolutely will not kill the hostage!"

Joey gave him a reassuring look.

("They're definitely going to kill the hostage!")

Joey glanced at the six people not far away, his expression one of absolute certainty.

Gold Rush Town, the mayor's villa.

"Mayor, we have news of Mr. Charlie!"

Banus ran into the third floor of the villa with a folded letter in his hand.

"What did you say?"

The mayor glanced at the extortion letter in Banus's hand but did not intend to take it.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!