When hobbies become work, that hobby can become a burden, and doing the same thing too much can cause interest to decline.
Especially when forced, setting a song as your wake-up alarm can lead to a decrease in interest in that song.
Tesoro and Stella have performed too many times, and they want to prepare for performances when they feel like performing, rather than performing frequently.
And Victoria Cindry is the target he discovered.
Hailing from West Blue, she is a famous stage actress, holding a considerable status in the dance world and enjoying a certain level of fame worldwide, but her live performances are mostly confined to West Blue, with other seas only hearing rumors about her.
Moreover she has recently encountered some trouble, her relationship was exposed.
This was a big blow to her fans. Tesoro and Stella were also married, but they are different.
These two have been tied as a couple since their debut day, coupled with the behind-the-scenes manipulation of Beasts Fruits and Morgans’ control over media gossip, no one has any opinion on this matter.
But Cindry is a freelance artist, although she is quite famous, she doesn’t have an agency and does not know how to deal with public opinion. When paparazzi photos of her date with her fiancé were leaked, she lost a lot of her audience.
Although Tesoro doesn’t know the specifics of the situation, the intelligence about Cindry increasing her recent performance frequency suggests that she has not given up on her performing dreams, giving him the opportunity to recruit her.
Trading between the Four Seas is quite frequent. Besides Mariejois’ Red Port, which is just a passage for people from the Grand Line, there are also other passages on the Red Line.
However, these places are far away from the Sabaody Archipelago. Without the help of bubble technology, ascending becomes much more difficult, both in terms of cost and danger. Still, some people choose to pass through here.
After changing to another ship, they continued towards West Blue. Meanwhile, Tesoro called Stella to report about his safe arrival.
When he is away, Stella never calls him on her own, so as not to affect his operations by the ringing of the phone.
“Rotom, I’ll trouble you.”
“No problem, Rotomm, the signal is connecting, please wait patiently, Rotomm.”
Rotom has now become a special communication tool for the officer-level members and their families, and they even have a group chat where any big news can be announced in a timely manner.
In no time, Rotom’s expression turned into a communication display, and Stella appeared on the other side.
“Rotom, can you go out and play for a while?”
Devices hosted by Rotom can also be used when Rotom is absent, but the battery will be consumed faster. Rotom is responsible for both power generation and artificial intelligence, so they generally don’t leave.
But Tesoro and Stella’s call is a private conversation between lovers. Although Den Den Mushi is also a living being, people can’t understand snail language, so it’s naturally not embarrassing. But it’s not good to talk about private matters in front of Rotom.
“Rotomm, what a hassle, Rotomm.”
Despite grumbling impatiently, Rotom still flew out of the phone to play with Tanaka, they both have the ability to go through walls and sometimes play strange hide-and-seek together.
A similar thing happened on Stella’s side, except there were many more Rotoms on Onigashima, so that Rotom went to visit someone else’s house.
“Did you succeed in your goal?”
“Yes, it’s a great fruit.”
Saying this, Tesoro raised his hand, and the gold ring on his finger began to change shape under his control, finally forming a heart shape.
“I’m still not proficient in the ability, give me some time. While I may not be able to replicate the feats of Lord Arceus, I can still show you some special things.”
Tesoro referred to the wedding of Setsuna and Zeraora. Gol-Gol Fruit’s ability was to control gold. He had just eaten the fruit not long ago and could only perform simple things like changing shape for now.
However, he could already feel that the gold was like an extension of his limbs. He believed that as his mastery of the ability deepened, he should be able to replicate a copycat version of the scene.
“Is that so? Anyways, I flipped through the newspaper these past few days, and that Cindry seems to be nicknamed the ‘Smiling Dancer’.”
“Are you jealous?”
“I’m not, but just be careful out there.”
“Don’t worry, don’t you know me yet?”
Boom!
A loud noise interrupted their conversation, but Stella wasn’t in any danger; it was just Onigashima’s regular training.
“Alright, it’s starting again here. Stay safe. Let’s end the call here for today.”
Due to the noise, they ended today’s call, then Tesoro continued towards his destination.
—
West Blue, Ari Island. Tanaka descended straight through the ceiling like a ghost.
“Mr. Tesoro, I’ve done the investigation. Cindry has a performance tonight, and she has already performed seven consecutive shows. Although there are quite a few audience members, it’s nowhere near her peak.”
Saying that, Tanaka took out a stack of tickets for the musical. It wouldn’t have been easy to buy so many tickets on the day of the show if she was at the height of her popularity.
“She’s quite determined.”
As an actor himself, he knows how tiring it is to perform at such a high intensity, especially since many of Cindry’s dances are high-difficulty moves that put a lot of strain on her legs. Under normal circumstances, she definitely wouldn’t push her body like this.
In a world without body doubles and photoshop, every successful star has put in a lot of effort.
“Let’s go, let’s see what this Smiling Dancer’s performance is all about.”
The group arrived at Cindry’s performance venue. When she took the stage, Tesoro understood the origin of her nickname.
“She really loves this profession.”
“Boss, how did you figure that out?”
Tanaka asked in confusion, not understanding how Tesoro came to this conclusion.
“Because of the smile. A professional fake smile and a genuine smile are different. I can see it at a glance. It’s just that her dance steps…why do they look like those of a beginner? She missed three beats in this dance, which shouldn’t happen. Is she too tired?”
Watching Cindry even wobble a few times before steadying herself at the end of the dance, Tesoro drew this conclusion.
But after his initial observation of Cindry, he knew that with just her smile alone, he could reignite her popularity. He was about to approach her for a private conversation when he saw Cindry suddenly lose her footing and fall from the stage…..
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