The next day, Victor and his entourage were summoned by King Jimah, the ruler of the Land of Flowers, at the 'Palace' within the Kano Kingdom's royal palace.
King Jimah had already received a secret report from the Happo Navy and greatly admired Victor for personally delivering weapons and revealing crucial intelligence. However, admiration aside, prices still needed to be negotiated. The advisory minister engaged in a morning-long debate with Kuranthna and Capone Bege, finally reaching an agreement.
'Coral' cleared all its weapon inventory, and the Land of Flowers paid a considerable sum of money. With this money, 'Coral' could not only smoothly complete the merger of the three major gangs but also begin expanding into new business ventures, no longer confined to their previous unsavory dealings. Most importantly, 'Coral' successfully opened a trade route with the Land of Flowers, which was quite rare for the stubborn and conservative nation.
After the transaction, everyone stayed in the Land of Flowers for several days, thoroughly enjoying the country's renowned local delicacies. Victor, meanwhile, remained in his room, meticulously studying the notebook containing the training methods for Armament Haki.
On the fifth day of their arrival in the Land of Flowers, Victor, who had been up late reading the previous night, woke to find everyone else had already left. Feeling like he was growing mushrooms from staying indoors so much, he decided to take a stroll down to the docks. The weather was clear, and the sea breeze at the docks carried the scent of fish and a clamor of voices, making for a lively scene.
Victor, dressed casually with a brown round hat and his mid-length blonde hair tied in a bun at the back, leisurely strolled through the dockside market with his hands in his pockets, contemplating his future. The training methods for Armament Haki were now in his possession, and mastering it was only a matter of time. As for Observation Haki, he was naturally proficient and exceptionally strong, so he didn't need to worry about it.
The most troublesome aspect was awakening his Devil Fruit ability; he had absolutely no clue where to start. If only the dream manga updated more frequently, he mused. As Victor's thoughts wandered, he was drawn by the aroma of freshly made local snacks from a street stall.
This snack, called 'God of Wealth Golden Plaque,' was made by frying thin omelets on a hot griddle until crispy, then cutting them into small pieces, placing them in a box, and sprinkling them with various sauces and seasonings. Eaten with a bamboo skewer, it had a unique flavor. The price wasn't expensive, 200 Berries per serving. Victor bought one, intending to eat it as he walked.
He had barely taken a few bites when Victor suddenly looked towards the other end of the dockside market. A few seconds later, a commotion erupted from that direction.
Several burly men surrounded a woman dressed in plain clothes and wearing a straw hat, preventing her from leaving.
"Hey, hey! Little lady, you think a simple 'sorry' will do after you nearly fatally injure this big shot? No way!" The leader was a bald, burly man in a blue short-sleeved shirt, who showed no signs of injury whatsoever.
"Whoa, whoa! Brother Kukuma, look ya! This little lady is so beautiful! If we offer her to the Captain, we'll surely be greatly rewarded ya!" Another man with a long, horse-like face and a mohawk carefully examined the woman's face, jumping up and down in excitement like a large monkey.
"What a tired trope..." Victor, blending in with the crowd, was speechless. "Are these cliché villain henchman lines serious? Is the 'ya' at the end of every sentence meant to differentiate him from 'Mr. Ah' over there?"
Victor then looked at the surrounded woman. The henchman was right; she was indeed a rare beauty. She wore a simple, coarse, plain-colored long dress with a few patches. Her long, black hair was pulled up into a casual high ponytail at the back of her head, highlighting her slender, fair neck. Her pupils were an unusual purplish-red, and her beautiful, unadorned face now showed a hint of annoyance.
"Gentlemen, it was my fault for accidentally bumping into you just now, but this market is crowded, and bumps and knocks are inevitable. I hope you can be understanding." Contrary to her delicate and fragile appearance, the beautiful woman's voice carried a hint of heroism and was very pleasant to listen to.
"Understanding? Who's going to understand me, the one who got injured?
Huh?" The bald man in blue began to badger, grabbing the woman's arm and trying to pull her towards his pirate ship.
"No way, you have to come with me to see a doctor! There's a good doctor on that ship over there, you come with us!" He was determined to abduct this beautiful woman, as his captain had a liking for such women, and he might even get a good reward if the captain was pleased.
The black-haired woman stumbled as the bald man in blue pulled her. Victor noticed a bandage wrapped around her left foot, which was revealed by the hem of her long dress, while her right foot had a crescent moon tattoo.
Suddenly, the bald man in blue stiffened, then began to frantically claw at his neck as red foamy blood gushed from his mouth. The mohawk-haired man rushed to his side, only to discover a long bamboo skewer deeply embedded in the bald man's throat. The men forgot about the black-haired woman and quickly carried the bald man towards their ship.
The black-haired woman looked somewhat bewildered, then she suddenly realized and looked towards one side of the onlookers. In that direction, a retreating figure was moving against the surging crowd, but only the brown round hat on their head was faintly visible.
"Hmm... without a bamboo skewer, I can't just use my hands, can I?" Victor returned to the stall and bought another 'God of Wealth Golden Plaque' to go, asking for an extra skewer, and continued to eat and wander.
After about half an hour of strolling, Victor, holding half a box of 'God of Wealth Golden Plaque,' turned into a nearby residential alley and waited for half a minute. A figure hurried into the alley; it was none other than the black-haired beauty from before.
"Madam, you've been following me for half an hour, are you hungry?" Victor smiled, holding up the packaged 'God of Wealth Golden Plaque' and shaking it, then handed it to the woman. "Eat first, then we can talk."
After the woman hesitated and took the food box, Victor casually found a stone step and sat down, continuing to slowly eat the remaining half-box of omelets in his hand. The woman wanted to politely decline, but her stomach grumbled at that moment. Her face flushed, she hesitated, and finally opened the food box, quickly and politely eating the omelets.
By the time the woman had completely finished the omelets in the box, Victor had also just finished his snack. The woman's face was slightly red. She closed the food box and bowed deeply to Victor.
"This humble one's original intention was to thank you for saving me just now, but unexpectedly, I've also received the grace of a meal from you. It's truly, truly impolite."
Victor waved his hand, gently saying,
"You're welcome. The leader of those people just now was the infamous pirate 'Charcoal Eyebrows' Umridge; he's quite troublesome. If you don't have anything urgent to do, Miss, it would be best for you to lie low for a while."
The woman quickly bowed again, apologizing, "It's truly rude of me not to introduce myself. My name is Mai Hime. May I ask your esteemed name, benefactor?"
Victor scratched his cheek and gave a wry smile. "Let's not be so formal, alright? My name is Victor. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Mai, from the Kozuki family of Kano Country."
The wind in the alley suddenly stilled.
Mai Hime's right hand dropped, and then, a glint of cold steel shot from her sleeve, aiming directly for Victor's throat. But Victor's reaction was even faster; his neck automatically turned into a zipper and disconnected halfway, causing Mai Hime's thrust to miss.
Resin Zipper: Puzzle.
Victor grabbed Mai Hime's arm before she could withdraw her attack and said gently, "What's wrong? Miss Mai doesn't want people to know her hometown is Wano Country? Or perhaps you don't want people to know you're a vassal of Kozuki Oden?"
Mai Hime twisted her restrained right wrist, tossing the short sword into the air. She tried to catch it with her left hand but Victor tightly gripped her left arm, forcing her to give up. She glared at Victor with resentment, "Marine's dog! I must have been blind to have walked right into a trap..."
Victor laughed out loud, "That square-faced shorty doesn't have the right to be my master. Alright, no more jokes. If you keep moving so intensely, your leg will truly be crippled." He wanted to say something else to ease the awkward atmosphere, when he suddenly noticed a figure standing still at the alley entrance—it was Perona!
Her cheeks were stuffed with sweet rice cakes, and she was carrying a pile of wrapped sweets. At this moment, she was staring wide-eyed at Victor and Mai Hime, who were half-pulling, half-hugging each other in the dim alley.
"I just went out for some sweet rice cakes, and now I've been cuckolded by a strange woman?!"
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