The connections with the Whitebeard Pirates weren't bad. Except for Blackbeard Teach, who was hiding his true nature, they were all good people and even offered to keep trading first. But the problem was that it was difficult to keep selling items from my inventory. So, I moved to a nearby uninhabited island to try utilizing the [Cook-Cook Fruit].
"First, shall I try with this tree?"
I cut down one tree in front of me with the adamantium staff-sword I made in the MCU, placed it on the stump, and tried cutting it.
"Huh? Why is it like this?"
I just tried cutting it while thinking of meat, but nothing changed. After several attempts, when I tried again while carefully visualizing the beef I sold to the Whitebeard Pirates, it changed into beef and was cut.
"Ah! So it's about understanding of ingredients... No wonder 'Streusen' was a gourmet too."
The mystery of why other fruits besides the [Gura Gura no Mi] didn't awaken was solved at once. My understanding of gravity was high, and for other fruits, not having that understanding seemed to play a big role.
"Then I need to buy books about ingredients and learn how to assess their condition."
Packaging was also a problem. I could create plastic with [Matter Manipulation], but packaging large quantities alone didn't seem feasible. I'd need to hire people and have a base, so it seemed I should earn some basic capital while finding fruits.
"This is the perfect time for pirate hunting."
Worried there might be friction with the Yonko, I decided to catch pirates near the entrance to the New World, and first moved to the Sabaody Archipelago to purchase several wanted posters and books related to food ingredients. Since Celestial Dragons come here and Marineford is nearby, the quality of information in the books was quite good.
As expected, that day too, Celestial Dragons seemed to have come to go to the Human Auction Shop, riding on slaves and shooting people dead as they came. I considered killing them but thought it wasn't the right time yet, so I watched from atop a building using [Stealth].
'Ah! That's right, Seastone.'
I followed the Celestial Dragon, sneaked into the Human Auction Shop, stole one pair of Seastone handcuffs, and analyzed them. Seastone is a stone containing the power of the sea, as hard as diamond, and a stone that can neutralize Devil Fruit users. Like kryptonite in the One Piece worldview, I guess.
Then, I heard a sobbing sound nearby. Checking with Observation Haki, I sensed several presences inside a locked door in front of the warehouse I was in.
'Slaves?'
I opened the lock with the [Lockpicking] spell and went inside. Several women were dressed so scantily that their skin was visible, with metal restraints around their necks. Among them were young girls too. About 10 such people were locked in iron bars. They seemed to be items for today's auction.
'The One Piece worldview is truly a difficult place to live without strength.'
According to the original, bombs were embedded in those restraints, set to explode if forcibly removed. Since I couldn't use Ryuo yet, I couldn't break them like Luffy or Rayleigh to free them, but I could easily remove them using [Matter Manipulation].
'Nice. I needed manpower for packaging.'
While in stealth, I used [Nano Buckle] to change my clothes from a suit to a floral shirt and blue shorts commonly seen in the One Piece worldview, and created and wore a mask. Then I released stealth.
"I'll free you now, everyone be quiet. If you make noise, people will come."
Suddenly appearing and speaking, the slaves were momentarily flustered, but hearing my words, they nodded silently without a word. Fortunately, everyone stayed quiet; I was prepared to knock them out if they screamed, but it seemed unnecessary.
I opened the iron bar door with [Lockpicking], went in, and freed each person's neck restraint by turning it into sand with [Matter Manipulation].
"Everyone, hold my hands."
Perhaps seeing my strange ability, the slaves silently gathered and held both my hands as instructed. I immediately teleported to the uninhabited island where I had been to experiment with the Cook-Cook Fruit.
"Whew~ Now you can talk."
The slaves, unable to adjust to the sudden change of location, finally expressed relief upon hearing they could talk, some crying or cheering, thanking me.
"Wow~ I'm alive, I'm alive!"
"Sob sob, thank you. If I had stayed there, what would have happened..."
"Masked brother! Thank you!"
"First, let's all eat."
I took out random lunchboxes for each. Everyone seemed hungry and started eating ravenously. The young girls abandoned their spoons and just ate with their hands. Seeing that was pitiful. One coughed from eating too fast, so I took out a bottle of water and handed it over.
"If you eat too fast, your stomach will be shocked and you'll vomit everything, so eat slowly. I'll give more if it's not enough."
"It's so delicious. Sob sob..."
After feeding them and letting them rest sufficiently, I asked how they became slaves. Then all sorts of stories came pouring out.
"Pirates invaded my village, killed all my family, and I was taken."
"I was from the same village as this child."
"My parents sold me to the Human Auction Shop."
"I was tricked and sold by my gambling boyfriend."
After hearing their stories, I touched each one's head and read their memories with [Mental Intrusion]. Fortunately, since I had [Eyeballing], I didn't need to touch their brains like Cassandra Nova; just placing my hand on their head allowed intrusion. Reading them, there were no liars.
"Listening to everyone's stories, it seems you have nowhere to return to."
It's hard to call this fortunate, but everyone had nowhere to go. Some had homes, but since their parents sold them into slavery, it was hard to return.
"Then, how about working with me? I do business and would like help with things like packaging."
"I'm fine with it. I have nowhere to go anyway."
"Me too."
"I'm not sure if there's anything I can do, but if you entrust me with something, I'll work hard."
"I'll work hard too."
Everyone agreed. First, I took out tracksuits from my inventory and changed everyone except the young girls. I didn't have kids' clothes, so no choice. Then I took out the 'Odyssey' I had made as an Avengers mobile base. Seeing that, they were so surprised they couldn't close their mouths.
I arranged rooms appropriately and taught them how to use the toilet, shower, etc. Then I used the active camouflage panel (stealth) and flew very high.
"At this level, no matter how excellent their Observation Haki is, they shouldn't be able to detect us."
Since they're all women, I thought they'd need many things, so I moved to a big city. If there were people who might leave, I would have kept wearing the mask to hide my identity, but since it seemed no one would, I just took off the mask and changed my clothes back to a suit.
"Wow~ Brother is handsome."
When I came out dressed up again, the women blushed without a word and stared intently at my face.
"Ahem... Everyone, rest well for now. And, is there anyone who has worked at a clothing store or knows things like measurements well?"
A blue-haired woman raised her hand.
"I know a bit about sewing."
"Then, since we need to buy clothes and underwear, take everyone's measurements. Those who know their measurements, tell her in advance."
"Understood."
"And anyone who has cooked?"
This time, a blonde woman raised her hand.
"I've worked at a restaurant for a long time, so I'll give it a try."
"Then, when we arrive in the city later, come with me to shop. What are both your names?"
Blue hair
"I'm 'Mary'."
Blonde hair
"I'm 'Lan'."
Then a child grabbed and shook my pants.
"Brother, can't I come too?"
"No! If this many people go together at once, you might get kidnapped again. Is that still okay?"
Perhaps I triggered her trauma, as she started crying. Were my words too harsh?
"Waaah... I'll just stay."
"If you stay quietly, I'll buy you a present. Stop crying."
"Sob... okay."
While playing with the kids and moving, a big city came into view. Mary, Lan, and I descended to the city via teleportation from the 'Odyssey'.
"First, let's buy clothes. What you're wearing now is too conspicuous."
"Okay."
While wandering around looking for a clothing store, we found out this was the Lulusia Kingdom.
'This is the kingdom that disappears from a Mother Flame in the later part of One Piece.'
Knowing that and looking at the city gave a completely different feeling. Children playing, women chatting, laborers carrying something—all this would disappear in an instant.
"What are you thinking about so deeply?"
"Nothing, nothing. Let's go first. They said the clothing store is near here."
We asked people, found a clothing store, bought several sets of clothes that fit their measurements, and put them in my inventory. Then we moved to a place selling food ingredients and purchased various materials. Some were for us to eat, and some were to learn about the ingredients.
"This vegetable here. When you put it in soup, the aroma improves. It's also sweet. And this..."
Lan, having worked at a restaurant for a long time, knew a lot about various ingredients. Listening to Lan's explanations, I accumulated knowledge about ingredients while shopping.
"Now let's go buy toys, dolls, and snacks for the kids."
"Okay."
On the way, I saw a jewelry store, so I picked up stones from the roadside, turned them into Seastone with [Matter Manipulation], and sold them. In the One Piece worldview, Seastone is a truly precious material. According to the setting, it only comes from near Wano Country waters, making it extremely difficult to obtain, so it was more expensive than gold.
After replenishing cash like that, I stopped by a toy store and bought toys and dolls for the kids. I tried to buy snacks at a street stall on the way, but didn't see anything suitable for kids, so I just gave up and returned to the 'Odyssey'. Even after buying so much, I made money. [Matter Manipulation] was truly the best.
"Brother~!"
"Yeah, waited long? This is a present." I took out the toys and dolls I bought.
"Wow~"
"I bought clothes, so change and play."
"Okay."
I took out loads of clothes I bought from my inventory. They each went into their rooms, put on clothes that fit their measurements, and came out. Since I picked mostly plain designs, they didn't seem to have any complaints.
And I assigned meal duties to help Lan. I put the ingredients in the refrigerator and taught Lan how to use the kitchen. As I was about to assign laundry duty, I said I would hang and fold them. Explaining how to use the kitchen to Lan also took a long time. If I tried to explain the washing machine, it would probably take half a day. And using [Daily Life Magic] was faster.
Living here wasn't bad either, but it seemed better to find a useful island and make it a base.
"Since it's all women, East Blue would be good, right? No strong people there."
We moved slowly, using [Jack Sparrow's Compass] to collect fruits and catch pirates while traveling.
There were two types of pirates in One Piece: 'Morganians' were pirates who plundered and harassed civilians, and 'Peace Mains' were pirates who fought or caught Morganians and went on adventures.
Using [Mental Intrusion] to read memories, I left Peace Mains alone and started catching and killing only Morganians. For those without abilities, I beheaded them and stored them in my inventory, and for underlings, I stole their lifespan. For those with strange fruit abilities, I didn't want to gain their abilities, so I just hung them on the ship and moved. No useful fruit users were seen. While catching them like that, before I knew it, [(A) Armament Haki] rose to S. The side income was also substantial. I collected all sorts of treasures and Berries the pirates had gathered.
After moving for about two days, a place that looked like a Marine base came into view, so I teleported alone with the pirates I had captured to collect bounties. Perhaps because they came hanging on the ship, they were all in poor condition. I took them and moved toward the large building. Then a Marine came running and spoke.
"How may I help you?"
"Vice Admiral Garp said to catch pirates if I see them, so I caught them, but I also came to collect the bounty."
"Vice Admiral Garp? Please wait a moment."
After waiting a bit, Marines came running and kindly guided me. After handing over the pirates' heads and the pirates, the bounty payment was processed immediately. Mentioning the name of Garp, the Marine Hero, made them process it quickly.
'The acquaintance chance is really good.'
The money received like that amounted to 300 million Berries.
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