If it hadn't become obvious by this point the Seed package was in fact a starter pack from the system, just named differently than expected. Not that I minded really as it only made sense that a merchant starting out had a seed starter. Weirdly named starter pack aside I now had one hundred and fifty system coins to my name and wanted to see what the shop was all about before using the search function to try and find someone good to trade with. As it turned out the shop was LOADED with stuff. A chunk of it I recognized from the books like Dittany, Wiggenweld potions, Phoenix feathers and Basilisk venom.-
Others I didn't recognize such as the primal draught, Stolen breath potion and Deathly blood. The shop categorized everything nice and neatly with it all being in either the treasure, item, skill or ability category. There was a price tag, description and even name search function as well if I was after something specific. The prices were kinda high as even a Wiggenweld potion went for twenty five coins. On a positive note however I confirmed that there was in fact high end magical items available such as the hallows, Philosophers stone and sword of Gryffindor.-
Unfortunately there was no way I was going to be able to afford any of them any time soon as even the sword which was the cheapest had a price tag of a million coins and it was even noted in the description that this sword was it's base version without having taken any special properties. In the end I chose not to buy anything just yet in case I got really lucky with my first use of the search function of the system.-
Not having enough coins to save such a contact would be downright heartbreaking. Without skipping a beat I mentally told the system to initiate the search function and prayed to whatever gods might be listening for good luck.
{Search function activated.... searching.... searching.... searching.... Target locked. Initiating trade window with target: Edward Newgate, World :One piece}
'Holy shit! Whitebeard!' My eyes nearly fell out of their sockets at this reveal and I had to forcefully calm myself.
Whitebeard could either be an amazing trading partner or a terrible one depending on when exacting in the timeline I was contacting him.-
If this was when he was part of the Rocks pirates then it would make him a great partner as he'd have decades of life left where he could gather resources to trade with me. Even if it was towards the end of his life he would still be a valuable trading partner. This all changes however if Ace, one of his crewmates and adopted son had been captured already. Whitebeard would then become a lost cause because theres no way I could convince him not to try and rescue Ace even if I told him he'd die if he did.-
'If I can get lucky and it's before Ace gets caught then I can change things by revealing Blackbeard's devil fruit and strength.' I thought seriously as the world around me began to grey out and all sounds vanished.
Soon a point of light appeared in the grey world and expanded to reveal an incredibly large muscular old man with a black bandana over his scalp and a ridiculous look crescent moon mustache.
"Gurarara! What an interesting power! Your devil fruit right brat?" the man asked with a deep voice and an amused look.
"Not a devil fruit but yes it's my doing. I am Alexander Drake, Multiversal merchant. At your service!" I said grandly with a bow.
"Gurarara! A funny one then! Alright brat I'll play along. What are you selling?" Whitebeard laughed and asked clearly entertained by this strange encounter.
I scratched the back of my head at that and replied awkwardly. "Well in truth I don't ACTUALLY have anything to sell at this time since you are my first customer. But if you tell me whether or not Ace has been captured or not I may be able to provide extremely valuable information to you!" I said honestly.
The amused look on the mans face turned into a frown and even through the system window I couldn't help but sweat as the mans gaze held a suffocating amount of weight.
"Ace? What do you mean about him being captured?" the man asked calmly but I knew it was a demand more than anything.
"Can I take it he hasn't then?" I asked without giving up my information for free.
"Don't play with me brat! What is this about Ace being captured?" the man demanded firmly.
"Calm down and I'll tell you. You can give me whatever you think the information is worth afterwards, Deal?' I asked nervously as a bead of sweat drips down my forehead.
The man stares at me for a moment before nodding "Alright, now speak." he said in a tone that brokered no argument.
"Teach, Blackbeard as he likes to be called. He's not as weak as you think he is. He has the dark dark fruit that nullifies other devil fruit powers if he touches you. He is strong enough even without it to scar the face of Shanks in a direct clash. He wants to use Ace to force you to clash with the Marines so he can steal your devil fruit powers and replace you as one of the Yonko. If Ace is hunting him alone he doesn't stand a chance at winning." I said seriously.
The mans expression turned grave and thoughtful at the information for a few moments.
"Give me three days to check this out. If you aren't lying to me I'll give you enough gold to buy a brand new ship. If you are lying to me though." he stopped there but I got the message loud and clear.
"I have been nothing but truthful, it is in my own interest after all. I will contact you again in three days, farewell for now Mister Newgate." I said politely before willing the contact to end.
{Trading ended, Save contact? Y/N?}
I accepted the prompt and sighed as fifty of my coins vanished but it should be worth it. Whitebeard was a man of his word as far as I knew and would definitely be paying me for the information in three days once he confirmed I wasn't lying. It was a little scummy to withhold information that could save lives for profit but my own life was the most important to me.