After gathering it all up, they head back onto the deck.
A few minutes later, Menchi arrives alongside Jewel.
Bored with waiting, the group decides to fish on a nearby large rock formation with a nice view over the sea.
Alex and Benezia, with nothing else pressing to do, join them.
Enjoying the fresh breeze, Alex closes his eyes for a few minutes, but quickly joins Menchi and Jewel, trying his best to catch a few fish as well.
Catching a few Gray and White Quality fish, they continue idly passing the time until Tereza finally returns—not from the air this time, but on a large boat accompanied by several workers from the Galley-La Company.
"What a piece of junk," mutters a grumpy old man as soon as he jumps from the boat onto the rocky cliffside.
"Can't disagree," Alex replies, recognizing the old man as their Galley-La contact—the one Iceburg had referred them to earlier.
This particular man isn't in charge of building ships, but rather of salvaging and repairing them.
"Anyway, I assume you can still use it?" Alex asks.
"I'll offer you ten million," the man says in a disgusted tone, looking over the ship like it personally offended him.
"Deal accepted—however, we'll be removing all of the equipment," Benezia replies calmly. "If you want everything as-is, we'll require twenty-five million."
"Forget it!" the old man barks.
Alex sighs. After an intense round of negotiations—and a lot of back and forth—Benezia finally accepts his second offer: twenty million Belly and a medium-sized fishing boat, that they can operate with just a few people.
"I also want you to cash in this bounty for us," Benezia adds, gesturing toward Roshio's severed head, which still lies ominously on the deck.
"Get it!" the man shouts to one of his workers, clearly eager to be done with this whole mess.
Looking even more disgusted than before, the man and his team begin hauling the pirate ship into the water, tying it off and slowly towing it back toward the city.
"He'll bring us the money shortly," Tereza says, grinning. "We can also pick up the ship tomorrow."
"Menchi already collected the twenty million from our voucher a few days ago—the one for the ship we sold in Mock Town," Alex explains. "That brings us to eighty-five million. The items and money we just got from Roshio are worth at least another five million. Add to that this current ship sale—twenty million—and his bounty at forty-two million, and that puts us right at our first goal."
"Exactly 152 million Belly," he concludes. "Enough for the Devil Fruit."
"I'd say let's go for it," Alex adds. "It only costs half as much as a Gold Quality sword—and honestly, I think its value might be the same. Maybe even higher."
"Why are you asking us?" Tereza responds, looking puzzled.
"It's our money... It's not my decision to make," Alex states. "Also, I'm interested in your thoughts."
I most likely won't get any real deep thoughts out of them... let's ask our 'mommy.'
"Judging from the few references, the fruit seems to be equal in value, which means acquiring the fruit for half the price of the Weapon is obviously the correct decision. However, if it's an average or below-average fruit, it could be worth less than half of the sword. If we're truly unlucky, it might even be useless. Remember, it's also capped at Deep Purple Quality—we can't receive a Gold one. There is no right choice here—you might as well decide for yourself." Benezia informs him. "Isn't luck part of your skillset in the first place?" She adds, drily.
Why am I paying you if you leave it up to me, huh?
Not like I'm paying her... but still. This pisses me off. Now it's all on me.
Well, I'll just go for it then. The 21 Great Grade Blades are usually just katanas, and my Alexandrian Royal Swordsmanship is not suitable for them. Since I'll end up selling those kinds of weapons anyway, I might as well go with the fruit. It's probably more cost-effective, especially since the FC value is similar, and it only costs half of what the Great Grade Blade costs.
"For now..." Alex says, as everyone stares at him with expectation. "Let's go home!"
The next day, the group visits Calli and sells their items directly to her. She offers them the full 5 million Belly Alex requested.
"I'll earn a couple of hundred thousand, but don't think I'm taking advantage of you!" she says.
Afterwards, without waiting for the money from Galley-La to come in, they head straight to the company at Dock 1, which is thankfully not that far away.
After asking around, they quickly find the same disgruntled old man from before.
Not particularly interested in him—or his name—Alex immediately gets to the point.
"Where's the money?"
"You greedy pirates are all the same... just wait!" the man grumbles, then turns and storms off.
Half an hour later, he returns, carrying a large suitcase full of cash.
"I'm not counting it," Alex says. "I'll trust you."
"I couldn't care less if you do! Leave if your business is over," the man complains, already heading back to work.
"Man, that guy should get a new job if he's this pissed off," Alex mutters. "I like to complain myself, but this guy is on another level."
"You have a point," Tereza agrees. "Let's leave. I'm a little excited about the fruit!"
Riding their bulls to the auction house, the group enters through the back entrance and once again reaches the same underground store.
Like last time, nobody else is there.
With a smile, Alex approaches the shop, opens his system panel, and scrolls all the way down to the most expensive options.
However, as he scans the listings, his body suddenly tenses up.
While the [Great Grade Blade (Unidentified)], priced at 300 million Belly, is still available—so is the [Devil Fruit (Unidentified)] for 150 million Belly—however, the [Skillful Grade Blade (Unidentified)], for 50 million Belly, is no longer listed.
Alex immediately steps back from the menu, refraining from purchasing anything for now, and walks back over to the group.
"What is it?" Menchi asks.
"Let me guess," Benezia says, her expression getting serious. "Some item got sold?"
"Yes..." Alex mutters. "The [Skillful Grade Blade (Unidentified)] is gone."
"So? Why do we care?" Tereza asks. "We were interested in the other two items. They're still available, right?"
"We should care," Alex says, eyes narrowing. "Because it means... other players are in Water 7."
"Oh... I guess that's true. So what are your plans?" Tereza asks.
"I'll buy the fruit. If they went for the cheapest option, it tells me they probably don't expect to be able to afford the other items. So there's no reason to panic. Nothing changes," Alex explains.
"I agree," Benezia adds, giving him a slight nod.
"Thanks for the encouragement..." Alex mutters, turning away, again.
He walks back to the panel and immediately selects the Devil Fruit option.
As he clicks on it, a system message appears in front of him.
[Warning: The [Devil Fruit (Unidentified)] will randomly transform into a Devil Fruit that hasn't been eaten yet. Devil Fruits that already have an owner are not available.]
[Does the Player want to go ahead and purchase it? Please confirm.]
"Damn... why am I hesitating this much?" Alex complains, backing away again.
"What is it now?" Tereza asks, annoyed. "Alex, you're getting silly!"
"Shut up! I just got a warning that the Devil Fruit will transform into one that hasn't been eaten yet!" Alex snaps. "I don't know the lore that well. I only remember a handful of them. Like the ones Kalifa and Kaku will eventually eat. We killed Bellamy, so there's a chance his fruit hasn't been taken either. And there are probably others, especially the ones who got killed by players. Don't forget the message we saw about world integrity."
"So?" Menchi asks. "Why do you hesitate?"
"Is this fruit still worth buying?" Alex asks, frustrated that neither Menchi nor Tereza understands his hesitation. "The Giraffe Giraffe Fruit—or whatever it's called—sucks! So does that Bubble fruit. They're so bad, I didn't even bother remembering their names. Bellamy's fruit is also mid as hell. Sure, it lets you bounce around like a lunatic, maybe gives you insane jumping power, but I doubt many people would pay a lot of FC for it. These three fruits would be worth maybe one hundred thousand FC... at most."
Benezia sighs. "As much as I'd love to agree with you, there are 228 known Devil Fruits—166 canon, and another 62 non-canon, mostly from movies. Just because you remember three particular mediocre fruits does not mean that we can't gain a surprisingly potent one."
"You studied the lore that much?" Menchi says, in shock. "Doesn't fit you at all. Hehe."
"While I haven't enjoyed immersing myself in this childish and unrealistic world," Benezia says flatly, "I deemed it necessary nonetheless. My point is simple: According to my estimate, there should be at least twenty fruits that are currently unclaimed. In my opinion, it's still worth a try—especially since you correctly pointed out that many characters might have died due to Player interference. We've already taken out three Devil Fruit users ourselves."
"I guess that's true," Alex admits.
Guess I go for the fruit after all, then!
"Might as well save for the weapon if you're unsure," Menchi suggests.
"..."
Now I'm hesitating again.
"Jewel...?" Alex says, desperate for literally any opinion at this point.
Princess Jewel suggests investing the money in gem—
"Tereza?" Alex interrupts, cutting Jewel off immediately.
"Buy the fruit," Tereza says confidently, surprising him a little. "Trust me—as someone who's eaten one—it changes everything. I couldn't imagine going through these death missions without mine. I might be biased, but these wings and my extra abilities? They're incredible. They feel so natural to me now. I could never ever live without them. I would probably kill myself out of sheer depression, I am not lying. If there's even a chance that we can obtain something useful like mine..."
So she can say something really useful. I have to agree with her.
"Fine," Alex mutters, turning toward the secret shop panel for the third time.
"Buy the fucking fruit now! No need to confirm!" he yells, slamming the button before him again.
[Warning, the [Devil Fruit (Unidentified)] will randomly transform into a Devil Fruit that hasn't been eaten yet. Devil Fruits that already have an owner are not available.]
[Does Player want to go ahead and purchase it? Please confirm.]"..."
Speechless and frustrated, Alex confirms his decision.
You have received [Supa Supa no Mi]
[Supa Supa no Mi]
World: One Piece
Quality: Purple
Effect: Grants a new innate skill that can be leveled up.
Effect: Transforms the user's body to gain characteristics of a steel blade, transforming him into a Full-Body Bladed Human.
Effect: Blade Human - The user gains the defensive abilities of steel blades, making him immune to most common types of physical damage. In addition, he can transform his entire body into blades, granting him access to many supernatural abilities.
Effect: Leveling up increases the range of the user's abilities, along with their potency, control, and overall effect.
Note: Are you willing to accept the curse of the sea?
Note: Don't get greedy—eating more than one of these fruits is a bad idea.
Note: The devil within does not accept outside help, whether from other fruits or anything else entirely.
"Jackpot!" Alex yells, raising one of his fists.
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