"Martha, let's head back."
"Understood."
After staying in the mountains for more than a month, Kurogane Ren finally decided to return to town with Martha.
The main reason was simple.
There was barely any prey left in the forest.
If he stayed any longer, he might actually starve to death.
So in the end, he chose to go back.
…
"Martha, where's Ren been lately? Why haven't we seen him at all?"
"Martha, is the man beside you your new boyfriend?"
…
The moment Martha returned to town, a large crowd immediately started greeting her. Some were simply saying hello, but most of them were asking about Ren.
As for Ren himself, walking quietly beside her, his face had already gone dark.
Among One Piece fans, there had always been a running joke that in this world, changing even a tiny little detail was enough to count as a full disguise.
Now Ren believed it.
He had only grown a little taller and a little broader.
And yet no one in town recognized him.
He had walked all the way here, and not a single person had figured out who he was.
"Oh, my beloved Martha! Do you know how I've lived these past thirty days? I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep! And now you've finally returned!"
At that moment, a slick-looking young man came strutting over with a bouquet of flowers in hand, stopping right in front of Martha.
While pouring out his dramatic confession, he puckered his lips and leaned in, clearly trying to kiss her.
Martha pressed one hand against his face.
Then she casually flung him away.
He flew straight into a vegetable stall.
The entire street burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! Belbed, what number is this now?"
"The thirtieth time she's rejected you?"
"No, no, I remember clearly. This is the thirty-first!"
Belbed was the son of the town mayor, the most important official on the island.
Ever since he first saw Martha on the street a few months ago, he had been running over to confess to her every few days.
But Martha, being a machine, had absolutely no interest in him.
That said, despite having a mayor for a father, Belbed had never bullied anyone or thrown his weight around. He was more like the town's resident clown, always making a scene. The townspeople didn't dislike him at all.
So Ren had long ago instructed Martha not to hurt him.
Just throw him far enough away each time.
Belbed climbed to his feet, vegetable leaves hanging from his hair, and shouted stubbornly, "Martha! I will never give up!"
Then he ran off again.
The crowd around them laughed even harder.
After returning to the tavern, Ren immediately took out all the money he had saved up, along with the gold he still had left from the Celestial Dragon.
He handed everything to Martha.
"Martha, take this and go buy a ship at the harbor."
"Understood."
Sending Martha to buy the ship was something Ren had thought through carefully.
First, Martha was a machine. She could scan vessels far more precisely than a human and judge their condition much better than he could.
Then Ren grabbed a wooden board and wrote:
Tavern for sale, including brewing recipe. Starting price: 1,000,000 beli. Serious buyers only.
After placing the sign outside the door, he sat down quietly inside the tavern and waited for a buyer to come knocking.
It didn't take long.
Soon, someone stepped through the door.
Ren looked up and saw that it was Jababa, one of the wealthiest merchants in town.
"Oh, Boss Jia."
Jababa waved his hand with a smile. "Ah, Ren, no need to be so formal. Just call me by name."
Ren thought to himself, Yeah, right. The second I do that, you'll grin like you've won something.
He already knew all about Jababa's weird hobby, so there was no way he was falling for it.
Seeing that Ren had no intention of calling him by name, Jababa gave up on that idea and got straight to the point.
"Ren, why are you suddenly selling the place? Everything was going so well."
Ren sighed.
"I need to take care of some things, and I'll be leaving soon. I also need a large amount of money, so selling the tavern is the only option."
Jababa immediately grinned and said in a teasing tone, "What kind of thing requires that much money? Don't tell me you're planning to marry Martha? Ah, Belbed would die of heartbreak. That means my lovely niece finally has a chance."
Ren's mouth twitched.
Sometimes he truly wondered how he had managed to end up on an island filled with so many weirdos.
He quickly cut off Jababa's imagination before it went any farther.
"You should give up on that. If Belbed marries your niece, then the only explanation is that he's gone blind. Anyway, are you buying or not? If not, I'll just sell it to someone else."
"Buy? Of course I'm buying," Jababa said at once. "I've wanted your brewing recipe for a long time now."
He rubbed his hands together and said, "How about this? One price. 1.5 million beli. Deal?"
Jababa knew perfectly well that the tavern itself wasn't what was valuable.
What truly mattered was Ren's beer.
Before, Ren had been working alone, so the amount he could brew was limited. That was why, despite his alcohol being both delicious and cheap, he had never made a truly huge profit.
But Jababa was different.
If he got Ren's recipe, he could build a proper brewery and mass-produce it.
With the reputation Ren's beer already had, he was certain he would make a fortune.
That was why Ren had opened at one million, and Jababa immediately raised it by five hundred thousand without even bargaining.
He wanted the recipe locked down as fast as possible.
Because Ren's beer was already famous all over the surrounding islands.
If other people found out he was selling the recipe, who knew how high the price might climb?
Ren stared blankly for a moment.
He had listed one million.
The man in front of him hadn't even started haggling and had already added another five hundred thousand on his own.
But after thinking about it, Ren could only conclude one thing.
This was great.
If he could make an extra five hundred thousand, why would he say no?
So he slapped the table and said decisively, "Deal. 1.5 million it is."
"Ren, you really are straightforward."
Jababa immediately pulled out a thick stack of cash and placed it on the table.
"Here's the full 1.5 million beli. Count it."
Ren quietly spread his Observation Haki over it, then smiled and said, "I trust Boss Jia's integrity. No need."
As he spoke, he swept the money away in one go.
Then he pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it over.
"This is the brewing recipe. That said, I still have some things to handle over the next few days, so let me keep staying here for a little longer."
Since the recipe was all Jababa cared about, he had no interest in the tavern building itself.
So he agreed immediately without the slightest hesitation.
He snatched the recipe eagerly and stuffed it into his clothes, then asked, "Ren, you're not going to sell this recipe to anyone else, are you?"
Ren thumped his chest and said with righteous confidence, "Don't worry. Since I sold it to you, I naturally won't sell it to anyone else."
Meanwhile, the voice in his head was saying something very different.
As if. I'm a Brewmaster. I've got more alcohol recipes in my head than I can count. This beer recipe is the lowest-tier one I know. Red wine, liquor, spirits—any of them are better than this.
Hearing Ren's assurance, Jababa left smiling from ear to ear.
Ren was smiling too.
The two of them parted with cheerful faces, both convinced that they were the one who had come out ahead.
That very night, Martha returned and reported that the ship had already been purchased.
Over the next few days, Ren and Martha used the 1.5 million beli from Jababa to buy supplies in bulk.
Food.
Drinking water.
Furniture.
Navigation tools.
Anything that might be useful at sea, they bought.
Then, one quiet morning, before most of the town had even woken up, Ren slipped away from the island and officially began his journey out to sea.
The reason he chose to leave at dawn was simple.
He didn't want the people on the island to come see him off.
Over the past few days, once word spread that he was leaving, the townspeople had all shown how reluctant they were to let him go.
Many of them had even refused to take his money when he went shopping, and some had tried to give him extra things to take along.
And Ren...
Ren didn't want to see them like that.
When he first arrived on this island more than a year ago, the townspeople had taken good care of him after hearing that he was young and an orphan.
Even though he had only lived with them for a year, Ren had already formed real bonds with the people here.