In the drizzling curtain of rain, Astrix and Mihawk walked side by side through the crowd.
"Mihawk, is the opponent strong?"
"In town… it's easy to draw the Marines' attention."
Astrix couldn't help muttering: You're a Marine hunter, and you're afraid of Marines?
Besides—
Before the Captain surrendered, he had already reached an agreement with the World Government: they wouldn't trouble the rest of the Roger Pirates. Yet here they were, targeting him again.
As expected of the World Government—credit score solidly negative.
"Damn it, just you wait."
Back when the system hadn't activated, they had plastered bounties on him left and right; now that it was online, they still wanted to catch him.
Outrageous!
If they had guts, they should go after Vice-Captain Rayleigh. Chasing a cook nonstop—pure bullying of an honest man!
Back in his room, Astrix opened the newbie gift pack at once. Two warm currents instantly spread through his body, and then his gut began writhing violently.
[Big Eater: Supreme stomach pouch—rapidly stores energy via eating. Review: three-meter height, you deserve it.]
[Innate Divine Strength: You are strong.]
With Big Eater active, the hunger he hadn't felt in six years came roaring back.
He pulled the Rumble-Rumble Fruit from the system space. Ignoring the sickening taste, he crunched it down to the last bite, not even leaving the stem.
Even one bite of a Devil Fruit grants the power—but Astrix had been schooled by the internet.
He'd heard the rumor: finish the whole fruit to awaken it more easily.
Crackling lightning cloaked his body. Staring at his elementized hands, the unease that had weighed on him since the Roger Pirates disbanded vanished in an instant.
With a Fruit power, even if he met an unbeatable foe, he could at least run.
He could even sense the storm clouds overhead; with a single thought, lightning could pour down.
"Finally… I can live by my own strength."
In the ten-square-meter room, Astrix zipped around as lightning, savoring the feeling of being elemental.
From now on, he could shout:
I'm the lightning man who ate the Rumble-Rumble Fruit!
Reverting to flesh, he used lightning to temper his body while studying the Myriad-World Trading Platform.
Put simply—
It was a cross-world marketplace: buy with points or barter.
Sell items from the One Piece world to the system for points, or list them for other-world users and earn points.
Think of it as an in-game auction house.
For example—
Captain Roger's blade Ace: system buyout 10,000 points; Famous Sword Shusui: 5,000 points.
If you didn't sell to the system, you could list the Supreme Grade Sword Ace at a higher price.
The platform skimmed ten percent on every deal.
Glancing at the listed goods, Astrix's eyes blazed.
[Musou Isshin: 88,888 tons of gold. Seller note: heh, my wife's Raiden Makoto!]
[Ex～Calibur: 10,000 points. Seller note: I've got a little ahoge!]
[Wanted: any One Piece bro—1,000 points for a Devil Fruit.]
[Wanted: One Piece bro—10,000 points, just let Momonosuke die.]
[Wanted: One Piece bro—10,000 points, just let the Deserter King Koby die.]
Astrix burned with envy. That Teyvat bastard deserved to die—married Raiden Makoto and flaunted Musou Isshin!
"Damn you, just wait."
Your own misery is hateful, but others' success hurts even more.
Same transmigrator—why was he broke, with no noble birth or overpowered body, while that Teyvat idiot got to marry Raiden Makoto?
Astrix's mind nearly shattered.
"Screw it—even if I have to empty Shandora, I'm buying Musou Isshin."
"Die mad, bastard!"
After ranting for a while, he finally tested what points meant—pulling out the eternal log pose pointing to Laugh Tale.
[Sell eternal pose (Laugh Tale) for 1,000 points?]
"No."
Stashing the pose in the system warehouse, he checked the direct-sale tab:
[Observation Haki: 5,000 points]
[Armament Haki: 5,000 points]
[Conqueror's Haki: already owned]
[Swordmaster training: 1,000 points]
[Iron Balloon: 20,000 points]
Compared with the player listings, the direct shop was sparse—only the three types of Haki, swordsmanship, and physique.
"So… expensive!"
"Observation and Armament—if you can't awaken them yourself, five grand each. Iron Balloon's a whopping twenty."
He wanted them badly—but couldn't afford a single one.
He resolved to leave Loguetown as soon as possible and head for Shandora, to buy Musou Isshin with that golden pillar.
A sword is a swordsman's second life; an artifact like Musou Isshin needs no explanation.
He had meant to retrieve Captain Roger's blade Ace, but with Musou Isshin around—
Ace? Never heard of her.
As for the two Haki types, he would grind them the hard way for now; he was flat broke on points anyway.
Anything priced in the tens of thousands was off the table.
Outside, the rain kept falling.
Mihawk hadn't come to hurry him. Astrix guessed Mihawk hated getting wet—and that coffin boat was too cramped. Hell to even find a toilet.
Across the street, inside a weapons shop,
CP9 agent Ruki Ichijou's brows were knotted. "Why is he with Mihawk?"
"With Mihawk around, I've got no shot. Call in the Marines?"
For any other Roger Pirate, it might be worth sharing the credit—but Beelzebub Astrix was a weakling. No need.
Calling the Marines meant splitting the bounty.
Inside the hotel, Astrix ordered dinner for twenty. Mihawk raised an eyebrow as he devoured it.
"We'll leave after dark."
With his mouth full, Astrix said, "Mihawk, a guy like you worried about Marines?"
Mihawk lifted his teacup. "The Marine hero escorting Roger to Loguetown… is Garp."
"Old man Garp…" A chill ran down Astrix's spine.
Garp—Roger himself had called him a headache, a pure battle maniac who landed every punch.
He'd even pummel Imu without blinking,
and with his iron fists had dominated the entire Great Pirate Era, rival and friend to Captain Roger.
The strongest man, Gabban, once said Roger had invited Garp aboard—but Garp refused.
That was why, before meeting Mihawk at Twin Capes, Astrix had detoured to Foosha Village to leave Garp a little surprise.
"If it's Garp, we'd better be careful. Mihawk, I'll grab us a bigger ship later."
On the way here, he could ride Mihawk's coffin boat and ignore the sea. Now he needed something larger—if only for a decent toilet.
Because of the Pirate King's public execution, Loguetown's harbor was packed with every kind of vessel.
As a pirate, stealing a ship was only natural.