Treating others, Drake never minded hosting. In fact, she was very enthusiastic about it. But the problem is, she's a spendthrift at heart. Having savings would just not be like her.
To reward her for finding the plate and effectively improving her quality of life, a special welfare card was introduced. However, it didn't change her lifestyle.
Although her quality of life improved, she didn't feel any happier. To this day, she's still the most indebted person on Ghost Island, living a life of paying back debts at the beginning of the month and borrowing money in the middle of the month.
Drake can often be seen treating guests on Ghost Island and in Wano Kuni, but while she's the one treating, it's uncertain whose money is being used.
Although she borrows and pays back, whenever she borrows money, she receives special greetings from her companions.
"Borrowing money to treat... only you could come up with something like that. You even improved your rank this time, so why not use the prize money?"
"Ahem... well... I promised King I'd pay him with that prize money, so that part is considered an early repayment to him.
Besides, for me, this is normal, isn't it? Let's see, who should I borrow from next..."
Saying this, Drake took out her ledger, which not only recorded her debt history but also assigned numbers to a few people. After all, it's not great to keep borrowing from one person, so Drake would rotate her lenders.
"Oh, Babanuki, it's about your turn. Lend me some of your stash. Kojiro seems to have opened a new tavern. When we get back, I'll treat for you guys there."
"Forget it, you should change this habit. I'll treat this time and introduce you to my daughter."
Mandfeish took over the conversation. He and Drake had completely different values and he always tried to persuade her to save a little nest egg.
"No, that's no fun. If you insist, Mandfeish, consider it me borrowing from you. Next month, I'll apply for an outside duty to get some money from the Navy."
Hearing a pirate say they're going to get money from the Navy sounds laughable, but it's the solid truth. The Navy wouldn't bother questioning how this wanted criminal got caught.
Find a pirate you dislike, then find a middleman to send them to a Navy Branch, and basically, you'd get the bounty. Ordinary pirates using such middlemen could usually only get eighty percent, but Hundred Beasts had its own channels.
They could pocket ninety-five percent of the bounty. The Navy and the World Government were well aware of the situation but continued to let it happen. To them, pirates fighting among themselves was a good thing.
Even if pirates flaunted the bounty as a badge of honor, they didn't care at all. They'd even deliberately raise the bounty for the second-in-command of a pirate crew to instigate internal conflicts.
"You..."
Mandfeish found it difficult to follow the thought process of the young ones. These values left him quite bewildered.
"Alright, Brother Mandfeish, you're not on Ghost Island often. That's just how she is. The day she truly saves up some money would be the real surprise."
As Drake's bad friend and bestie, and also her largest creditor, Emmalyn understood Drake's character all too well. If it weren't for her decent combat skills, she might have already been sold off by someone.
No matter who pays the bill this time, Drake would consider it her own. Compared to those who constantly default on their debts, her character was already quite commendable.
"Exactly, you have a daughter now, no need for you to treat."
"But then again, there shouldn't be many rounds left, right?"
"Yeah, Scotch and Hold'em haven't finished yet. Once they're done, this round of rotations should be about over."
"Scotch is really hanging in there quite long, isn't he?"
"Page One is still young. In a few more years, it'll be different."
...
In the competition arena, an unusual aerial battle continued. Scotch, as a modified person, now floated in the air like an alien flying saucer. Through further efforts, he managed to evolve into a Magnezone by utilizing the magnetic field environment created by Arceus.
The transformed shape didn't change much, just a peculiar antenna sprouted on his head that could receive special electromagnetic waves. Sometimes, he could act like a bug, intercepting parts of the Radio Snail's voice signals.
In the arena, he could wield abilities akin to cheating, as he could capture signals of the broadcasted arena images by Rotom, giving him a special god's-eye view.
But his challenger was Page One. It's fine otherwise, but in terms of abilities, Garchomp completely countered him. Even the strongest electromagnetic cannon couldn't inflict any harm on Page One.
Being a modified person, his Haki and body techniques were the weakest among the top-ranked Numberers. With his electricity countered, he could only rely on the weapons equipped on his modified body.
Ratatatat!
Boom!
Archaeology is the primary driver of technology. Ohara's library recorded countless ancient technologies. Although Queen didn't have Vegapunk's ability to cram the entire library's knowledge into his head, he did find some techniques on human modifications.
Scotch's weapons had undergone several upgrades, from the initial three-shot muskets to today's Gatling gun, and also equipped with a small laser cannon. Combined with his abilities, Scotch became an immensely powerful aerial artillery platform.
But now, this artillery platform encountered a lightning-immune armored jet fighter.
The battle between the two was both long and dull. In summary, Scotch used long-range firepower to suppress Page One, preventing him from getting close.
Garchomp can fly, but the ground is its main battleground. Away from the ground, it performs less effectively than on land. Moreover, in the air, neither Earthquake nor Dig can be used.
Dragon Type skills are equally powerful, but Page One is young. Being a fellow Zoan-type stamina monster, his stamina can't compare to adults, and his combat experience is much less, allowing Scotch to trap him with firepower.
However, Scotch's ammunition had limits. After a few clicks of empty gunfire, his weapon instantly went quiet. He usually guarded the islands at the edge of the Hundred Beasts Territory with his own exclusive ammo depot, never worrying about running out of bullets.
Being accustomed to extravagance, he found himself in a dilemma in the arena. After dodging for a while, Page One finally caught up, ending the battle with a Fire Fang. Page One thus set a new record for Numberers with single-digit rankings.
He surpassed Setsuna's previous record, becoming the youngest single-digit Numberer at the age of 13.