Logia Brothers Chapter 64 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of The Logia Brothers! The Straw Hats are in Water Seven, the City of Water! They have a few things to do here: Get the Going Merry repaired, recruit a great shipwright for the crew, exchange their massive amounts of gold for cash, and various other assorted errands. Will it be an easy and relaxing week-long stay? Will someone screw it up? Is there only good news or is bad news coming?

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So, without further delay, please enjoy.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter 64 – Water Seven and Galley-La Company

As the Going Merry sailed onward, the crew chatted about they needed to do upon arriving at Water Seven.

“Luffy, leave finding the shipwright to me.” Sanji pointed his thumb at his chest. “I’ll find us a real beauty!”

“Are you an idiot?!” Luffy asked before spreading his arms out wide. “We’re talking a shipwright here! It’s gotta be a huge mountain of a man. At least five meters tall!”

Usopp deadpanned at Luffy. “Someone that big wouldn’t even fit on the ship, Luffy.”

Zoro spoke up without opening his eyes from where he was leaning against the wall. “Anyone will do, as long as they’re skilled. The real problem is if we can find anyone crazy enough to join a pirate crew.”

“I’m so excited. We’re going to have a new nakama.” Chopper beamed as he sat on the railing of the upper deck next to Nami and Mikita.

“Kyahahaha. We haven’t even gotten to the island yet, Chopper.” Mikita laughed brightly at how excited the Zoan doctor was.

Nami pulled out the map that Kokoro had given them. “It’s lucky that we stopped by that station first. Now we have a map drawn just for us.” She started unfolding it carefully. “We need to go to the spot marked on the map and find someone named Iceberg.” She looked at the map and blinked. What was on the paper wasn’t a map. In fact, it looked a lot more like a drawing done by Chimney. It was vaguely island like with a set of sea train tracks at the bottom. The only indication of where the Straw Hats needed to go was marked as ‘Around here’ with an arrow pointed at one entire side of the badly drawn island. “I see…” Nami threw the drawing onto the deck angrily. “LIKE THAT’S GONNA HELP!!!”

Luffy had a sketchpad out with a badly drawn person on it that was just labeled ‘Shipwright’ with the words ‘Five Meters’ under it. “So, we’re looking for a guy like this.”

“If I saw a guy like that, I’d run away!” Usopp cringed at the malformed look of the ‘creature’ that Luffy called a man.

Sanji wasn’t any better as he looked at the horrible drawing. “Yeah, me too. And if there was a ship around, I’d take it out to sea. But that thing looks like it’s part octopus, so I’m afraid it would still come after me!”

“Don’t be mean.” Vivi lightly admonished Sanji and Usopp for their harsh words on Luffy’s drawing. She wouldn’t call it ‘good’ or anything, but they were taking it a bit far. She disappeared into a swirl of sand and reformed in the crow’s nest to take watch.

“Fufufu.” Robin giggled softly, a small smile on her lips at the antics of the crew.

Nami, now recovered from her bout of anger at the useless map they’d been given, called out to everyone. “Okay, gather round everyone! I’m going to be giving you each your allowance for our one-week stay!”

Luffy quickly hopped up to the railing with a bright smile. “Wow! You’re generous!” He said, not even knowing how much Nami was planning to give him yet.

A bit later and Luffy looked at Usopp curiously. The gunman was hugging the main mast of the Going Merry with a smile on his face. “What’re you doing, Usopp?”

“This ship holds a lot of fond memories of our adventures.” Usopp said as he opened his eyes. “All the small repairs we’ve had to make here and there tell the tale of everything we’ve been through. The thought that the Merry will be fixed up as good as new, or even better than new, fills me with a lot of strong feelings.”

Sanji nodded once in agreement, his cigarette hanging from the side of his mouth. “I know what you mean. Especially since e entered the Grand Line, the Going Merry has been through a lot.”

Mikita agreed as she looked at Usopp hugging the mast. “He’s right. The deck creaks, we keep having to fix leaks in the bilge. The Grand Line is just too rough of a sea for a ship made to sail in the calmer waters of the East Blue.”

“But we have lots of money now!” Luffy beamed at his nakama. “We can make Merry even better than before!”

“We could add more cannons!” Usopp declared with his fist in the air.

Luffy laughed brightly. “And a bronze statue!”

“Land ho!” Vivi called out from the crow’s nest.

“Is that it?” Zoro had one hand over his eyes to shade them, allowing him to see the island they were approaching more clearly.

Chopper ran up to the bow of the ship with a grin. “I see the island!”

When the Going Merry got closer, all of the Straw Hats marveled at the newest island on their voyage through the Grand Line.

“Whoa!” Luffy had a huge smile on his face as he craned his neck to see the very top of the island.

“How pretty.” Robin said with a small smile.

“The entire city is a giant fountain?!” Mikita and Usopp exclaimed at the same time.

Nami grinned at the structure of the ‘Water City’. “Amazing.”

“Is this all seawater?” Vivi wondered curiously at the water that was spraying form the top of the fountain and then falling down into three separate basins before flowing out into a series of large canals spaced evenly around the bottom basin. Being from a desert island, the thought of all of the water coming from the fountain being freshwater, and therefore potable with treatment, seemed impossible.

Sanji exhaled a small cloud of smoke as he smiled at Water Seven. “No wonder the Sea Trian runs through here.”

“I’ve never seen such a huge industrial city before!” Usopp nearly gaped at all of the large gates that could be seen around the base of the huge city, each marked with a different number.

Nami perked up as the Going Merry got close enough for her to read the name of the station the ship was approaching. “That says Blue Station. If that’s for the Sea Train, then where’s the port?”

“Closer to town, probably.” Zoro shrugged since they were still kind of far from that actual city.

“Hey! You there!” A fisherman in a small boat, his fishing line resting in the water with a bobber floating on the small waves, called out to them. “Pirates will get in trouble if they enter from the front!” The fisherman hollered over to the Going Merry after seeing the Jolly Roger. “Steer over that way…” He pointed to the left. “And go to the other side of town where the Marines won’t see you!”

Surprised at the rather warm welcome for pirates, the crew all looked at each other for a second.

“Okay!” Luffy waved to the fisherman with a grin.

“Thank you!” Vivi smiled and gave a friendly wave to the nice man.

Chopper continued to marvel at the city as they changed course and sailed for the other side of Water Seven. “Wow! This is amazing! A city on the water…”

Usopp looked at the buildings with the waves lapping gently against the foundations. “On the water? This city is in the water! Are those buildings sinking?!”

“No. The foundation of this town is built under the water’s surface.” Robin pointed out with a grin. “Look underneath the buildings, at the foundations.”

“Hey, they’re pillars.” Mikita said with a small chuckle. “Solid stone keeps the buildings out of the water, no matter the tide.”

Sanji admired the style that Water Seven had with a grin. “No wonder it’s called the ‘City of Water’.”

“Yahoo! Let’s hurry and pull into port!” Luffy cheered, eager to explore this cool new island.

An old man waved the Straw Hats down from a chair and table set up at a restraint patio. He cupped his hands around his mouth to make his voice louder. “Hey, you there! You can’t come this way. What’s a pirate ship doing here? Looking for loot?”

“No. We want to get our ship repaired.” Vivi answered the man politely.

“Is it normal to ask if we want to loot the place?” Usopp blinked at the question that the old man had asked without a care.

The old man smiled at the pirates after learning what they wanted. “Then there’s a cape up ahead. You can drop anchor there. The Marines won’t be able to see your ship behind the cliffs.”

“Oh…thanks.” Vivi waved to the old man as the Merry sailed in the direction of the pointed out cove.

It didn’t take long to anchor the ship and furl the sails after they got to the cove. Just as the old man had said, the high stone cliffs on the edges of the cove completely hid a ship of the Going Merry’s size.

“Say, why don’t people fear pirates in this city?” Nami asked what had been on her mind since arriving.

“Pirates are customers too.” Sanji said with a shrug. It was the same back at the Baratie after all.

“Or they have really strong guards that don’t fear pirates.” Zoro offered the possibility that the entire city was protected.

Mikita nodded at Zoro’s reasoning. “That’s probably it. This city is huge after all.”

“Wait! Isn’t that bad for us though?!” Usopp half-shouted at the thought of such a large city and how many guards they could have.

“We’re not here to cause any trouble.” Vivi reminded the gunman.

Sanji agreed with Vivi, hearts in his eyes. “Right! We’re customers too. As long as we don’t cause any problems and pay for the ship repairs, we should be fine.”

“Alright then, let’s go!” Luffy ran off and Usopp took off right behind him, both eager to explore the huge city.

“Wait! Luffy! Usopp!” Nami shouted and both men came to a stop, looking back at her curiously. “Follow me, guys!”

“Where to?” Luffy asked, not knowing where Nami wanted to go.

Nami rolled her eyes at Luffy playfully. “First we’ll find the guy named Iceberg and give him this introduction letter from Ms. Kokoro. He’ll help us arrange to get the ship fixed. And we also need to find a place to exchange most of this gold into cash.” Nami waved her arm over the many, many crates tied down to the Going Merry’s deck.

“Speaking of the gold…” Vivi put her hands on a couple of the crates. “This is my share, right, Nami?”

“Yes.” Nami nodded once.

Vivi smiled as she looked at the inconspicuous crates. “Then I’d like to ship these back to Alabasta just as they are.”

Everyone smiled or grinned at how much Vivi was doing for her homeland. Those crates alone were probably worth roughly 125,000,000 Beri.

To make the ownership of the gold legitimate, all a nation of Alabasta’s status would need to do was melt it down into bars and imprint their royal seal on them. Once that was done, the gold bars could be used for trade with other nations; which Alabasta desperately needed as they rebuilt from the long drought and civil war.

“I’ll come with you then.” Mikita hugged Vivi from the side and placed a quick kiss on the princess’s cheek.

Vivi returned the hug and the kiss with a bright smile. “Thank you, Mikita.”

“Alright! Then let’s go visit the city of water!” Luffy cheered and started walking again.

“Help unload the gold, you jerk!” Chopper, in Heavy Point, yelled at Luffy from where he and Zoro were lifting one of the heavy crates.

A short time later and the crates of gold were unloaded and put onto a pair of carts that Usopp had rigged up. Nami, Luffy, Usopp, Mikita, and Vivi pulled the carts behind them as they headed down the only path into Water Seven.

They didn’t know that some excitement was happening near the place they’d end up heading for.

-Dock One ~ Water Seven-

“I don’t understand what you’re saying.” A man with slicked back blonde hair with a pair of orange-tinted goggles resting on his forehead said as he looked at the much taller pirate standing near him. His blue denim jacket and matching blue jeans made it clear he was a shipwright here.

“Well, you see… Heh heh…” The pirate, Mikazuki (Captain of the Big Helmet Pirates and wanted Dead or Alive for 36,000,000 Beri), wore a traditional samurai helmet and similar clothing, as did the rest of his crew. He gave the shipwright an unsettling smile, made worse by the two large, tusk-like teeth jutting up from his bottom jaw. “I thought it over real hard… Real hard, you know? And, well… I know you fixed the ship and all… But the price just seems too high.”

The shipwright just gave the pirate a side glance. “You’re in my way.” He let out a puff of smoke from his cigar as he continued to plane away a large timber. The workman already knew where this was going.

Mikazuki drew his large sword from his hip and held it in front of him threateningly. “And so… I’ve decided that I’m not paying anything! Hahahaha!”

“Hahahahaha!” His crew laughed along with their Captain.

“But thanks for doing such a thorough job on the ship!” Mikazuki mocked the shipwright for being scammed so easily.

A fair distance away, surrounded by a large crowd of Water Seven residents, was a blue-haired man wearing a blue and orange vertical-striped button-up shirt with a small white mouse in the breast pocket. “Kalifa, what’s going on?” He asked his secretary beside him.

“Yes, Mr. Iceberg.” Kalifa, a lovely blonde woman with an hourglass figure that was hugged by her high-collared shirt and her black skirt, pushed up her glasses and glanced at the clipboard in her hand. “It’s the customer in Dock One. He’s now refusing to pay for the repairs. It’s sexual harassment.”

“Uh, maybe it is?” Iceberg said, though he didn’t look certain of Kalifa’s claim at all.

The rest of the workers in Dock One continued on with their work, though none of them looked amused in the slightest with the pirate crew.

“Mister, it’s not a good idea to annoy craftsmen like that.” The shipwright said without looking up from his work.

A long log being carried by a worker slammed into the back of Mikazuki’s head, shattering his helmet in the process, as the shipwright turned to take the timber to be made into planks.

“Gaaahhh!!!” Mikazuki hacked out, blood flying through the air as he hit the ground like a sack of rocks.

“Oops, sorry about that.” The shipwright said as he continued on his way.

“Watch where you’re going!” The First Mate of the Big Helmet crew roared at the worker.

A huge saw, made to cut apart the large beams and timbers that made up a ship’s frame, fell and slashed across the First Mate’s back. The man’s coat and shirt shredded instantly as his back gushed blood from the deep wound.

“Oh, sorry.” A shipwright with a long nose (much like Usopp’s, but a near-perfect square in shape) wearing a cap and an orange vest apologized as if the ‘accident’ hadn’t grievously injured someone.

“Hey!” The rest of the pirates drew their weapons and brandished them at the gathering crowd of shipwrights. “Are you trying to pick a fight?! Don’t you know who you’re dealing with?!”

“Gaaagh!” Two more pirates went down as hand planers were thrown with such force and precision that they took the men straight off their feet.

One of the shipwrights, wearing a black top hat, white t-shirt, and black pants with suspenders, almost blurred before three more pirates crashed to the ground. The man’s expression never changed in the slightest, his perfectly groomed goatee and semi-long black hair the last thing the pirates saw before they lost consciousness.

One of the older shipwrights, a slightly portly man with a bald head, but thick hair along the sides, smiled at one of the new apprentices that was polishing up a cannon. “Hey, you haven’t test fired that cannon yet, have you?”

“No, sir.” The apprentice shook his head.

Without a word the old man turned the cannon around and lit the fuse. The barrel now aimed straight at the remaining pirates.

“You bastards! Don’t think you’ll get away with this!” The Big Helmet pirates threatened as they were backing away towards the exit of Dock One.

WooooooOOOOOO

BOOM

The cannon shell explode, leaving the pirates sprawled all over the places, beaten, broken, bleeding, and burned.

“This is what happens when you try that pirate shit with us shipwrights.” Paulie, the cigar smoking man, told the battered pirate crew.

“Not that we’re too bad at it ourselves.” One of the other shipwrights chuckled, getting laughter from several others.

The laughter died down quickly when one of the foremen raised his hand. “You know the drill, tie them up and drag them down to the Marine outpost to cash in any and all bounties. We’ll make our money back from that and selling off their ship.” A dozen men quickly moved to follow the foreman’s instructions. “The rest of you, get back to work!”

Just like that, the incident was settled and the watching civilians of Water Seven cheered. “That’s the Galley-La Company for you!”

-Straw Hats-

“Let’s find the money exchange first.” Usopp suggested as the group headed for Water Seven proper.

“Why?” Luffy asked with a grin. “Let’s go to the shipbuilding place first!”

Usopp looked at Luffy like he was dumb. “We can’t walk around town hauling all of this gold. It makes me nervous!”

“It would be just as dangerous if it were cash.” Nami said with a shrug. Money, goods, and valuables alike were always targets for thieves.

“Yeah, but the size of these crates practically screams that we’ve got a lot of stuff worth stealing!” Usopp looked at Nami seriously. “What if we run into pirates?” He knew how much Nami loved money and was hoping the thought of being targeted herself might convince her.

“But we’re pirates too. Kyahahaha!” Mikita laughed as she and Vivi were pulling along their own cart with Vivi’s crates of gold on it.

“Hmm… You’re right, Usopp.” Nami agreed after thinking it over. “If we turn the gold into bills, maybe we can actually hang on to some of our money.”

Luffy stopped as they got to the entryway of Water Seven and read the large sign hanging above. “Rental Bull Shop? What’s that?”

“What exactly do you rent here?” Vivi had never heard of such a thing before.

Mikita blinked as she read the sign again. “Surely not an actual bull…right?”

Luffy, deciding that the easiest way to find out was to ask, strode forward with a big grin. “I’d like to rent a bull, please!”

“FIND OUT WHAT IT IS FIRST!!!” Nami and Usopp both shouted at his back.

“Welcome. A bull?” The shopkeeper, a slightly older man with black hair and small glasses, greeted them as he set his newspaper down. “For how many people?”

“Five.” Luffy held up his hand with all five fingers up. “But two of us are going to a different place.”

“I see.” The man nodded to Luffy. He eyed the two carts and the crates on them, one having a good number more than the other. “And what’re you hauling there? I need to have an estimate for the weight.”

“Gold.” Luffy told him nonchalantly.

“Luffy!” Nami, Mikita, Usopp, and Vivi all snapped out.

The shopkeeper laughed it off. “It’s alright if you don’t want to tell me. But if it’s as heavy as gold or close to it, then the Yagara Bulls won’t be strong enough to ferry you.”

Luffy opened up one of the crates to show off the gold within. “But it is gold, see?”

The shopkeeper’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head. “Whoa! I’ll take some!”

“No way!” Nami dope slapped the man instantly.

After the shopkeeper had backed off a bit and apologized to the angry Nami, he got some more information. “Where are you all from?”

“We followed the Log Pose to get here.” Nami answered, still keeping herself between the man and the crates, her eyes sharp.

“Well now, that’s something!” The shopkeeper was much more familiar with guests form the islands that the Sea Train connected to. “Then you all probably don’t know what a Yagara Bull is.” He pointed over to a pen in the water. “Check out that fish tank.”

The pirates moved over to the tank and sawhorse-like fish swimming about, all of their heads above the water. “Moo!” The fish made sounds similar to cows as they played around.

“The ranks of bulls starts with these guys, the Yagara Bulls.” The shopkeeper explained with a smile. “Next up is the Rabuka Bulls.” He pointed to a tank further away where three large, eel-like bulls were lounging around, all of them had large mouths filled with sharp fangs. “Then you have the King Bulls, but our only two are currently being rented for a project on the other side of the island, I’m afraid.”

“Sir, do you know where the World Post Office is?” Vivi asked politely.

“The Post? Of course, it’s straight down this main canal and then you take the second right turn and go straight down, you can’t miss it, largest building in the area.” The shopkeeper smiled at her.

After some discussion, the shopkeeper recommended two Yagara Bulls for Vivi and Mikita, one to carry them, and the other to carry the crates of gold. For Nami, Luffy, and Usopp, it was determined that one of the larger Rabuka Bulls would be needed.

“Two Yagara Bulls will be 1,000,000 Beri, and the Rabuka Bull will be 2,000,000 Beri.” The shopkeeper smiled at the Straw Hats as he held out his hand for payment.

Mikita deadpanned at the man. “Your price sign over there says that a Yagara is 1,000 each and the Rabuka is 2,000 each.” She pointed her thumb at the sign that clearly showed the prices of the rental bulls.

“YOU RAISED THE PRICE BY FIVE-HUNDRED TIMES!!!” Usopp and Nami roared at the man with sharp fangs filling their mouths.

“Here you go.” Luffy placed a small stack of Beri notes into the shopkeeper’s hands before he jumped onto the back of the nearest Rabuka Bull. “This guy is awesome!”

“Shhhhaaa…” The Rabuka Bull let out a hiss that seemed like a yawn.

“I’ll get the Bulls ready for you promptly, sirs and ladies!” The shopkeeper bowed at the waist after seeing that Luffy had put 50,000 Beri into his hand when the three bulls together would’ve only costed 4,000 in total.

In no time at all the Rabuka Bull, with a large twelve-seat boat on its back, was ready and loaded with the crates while Luffy sat atop its head and Nami and Usopp rode in the cushioned chairs. The two Yagara Bulls were also loaded up, one carrying the crates of gold with seemingly no strain, while the other was being fawned over by Vivi, making Mikita laugh.

“To exchange that much gold you’ll need to go to the Main Street Exchange. It’s the biggest in the city and the only one that’ll have enough cash to handle your transaction.” The shopkeeper told Nami, handing her a map and quickly circling the location for her with a smile. “Have a nice day, and thank you very much for your business!” He waved to them as the three bulls began to swim away.

“We’ll see you back at the Going Merry!” Mikita waved to Nami, Usopp, and Luffy as she and Vivi took the turn into the canal that the shopkeeper had told them about.

“See you later!” Luffy waved back with a big smile on his face, clearly excited about exploring Water Seven on the back of the large Rabuka Bull.

-World Post Office-

“Heave!” The workers assisting Vivi and Mikita called out together as they lifted the crates one by one and carried them over to the largest scale that they had to weigh them.

The postman, a kindly elder man with a white button-up shirt under a black vest smiled pleasantly at the two lovely ladies. “That tips the scale quite a bit.” With a chuckle he jotted down the weights and totaled them up. “Alright, and you said this is going to Alabasta Kingdom on Sandy Island?”

“Yes, sir.” Vivi smiled at him. She’d already painted a very specific mark on each side of the crates and on top as well. Any inspector at an Alabastan port would immediately know this mail had come from her because of it being her personal royal mark as the princess. That would get the crates taken to her father, Igaram, Chaka, and Pell, immediately. The notes that she’d put in all three of the crates explained how Vivi had gotten her hands on the gold and her hopes for the money helping Alabasta recover faster.

“You’re in luck then.” The old man smiled as he picked up a long, thin wooden rod and tapped a place on the board behind the counter. “We have an Eternal Pose to Alabasta on one of our mail ships heading out later today. Since it’ll be a direct voyage, instead of the lengthier one where the ship has to island hop following the Log Pose, the price is cheaper.”

Mikita grinned and pulled Vivi into a side-hug. “That’s great to hear, right?”

“It’s wonderful!” Vivi beamed happily. “How much is it?” She looked at the base price for a direct voyage delivery.

“For the weight of your shipment, multiplied by the base price…” The old man quickly did the math on his till. “The price comes out to 205,000 Beri, ma’am.”

Vivi winced just slightly, but Mikita smiled at her and got out some of her own cash as well. The payment was made and the crates were taken to the back to be wrapped and put on the ship bound for Alabasta.

-Luffy, Nami, Usopp-

“This whole city really is centered on canals.” Usopp said as he marveled at the complex canal systems.

The Rabuka Bull swam at a steady pace through the large canals, the smaller Yagara Bulls and their riders making way for the much larger bull to pass unimpeded. The large eel-like bull seemingly knew exactly where to go after being told only once as it never stopped swimming once it began.

“Huh, those people are all wearing masks.” Nami mentioned as they passed another Rabuka Bull that was going in the opposite direction, all of the seats on the boat it was carrying were filled with people in opulent masks and resplendent costumes. “There must be a party somewhere.”

“Didn’t Kokoro say something about a carnival island around here?” Usopp recalled after a second. “Maybe everyone in costume is heading there or coming back from there?”

“Something smells great!” Luffy called out as the Rabuka Bull swam into the main street market.

“Hey Missus! I’ll make it cheap!”

“We’re having our fifty percent off sale today!”

“Exotic items for the distinguished customer!”

Luffy, of course, only cared about what smelled so good.

“Hello! Mister sitting on the Rabuka’s head!” A lady running a stall with a sign saying ‘Water-Water Meat’ on it called out to Luffy as the Rabuka swam close to her location. “Want to try some water-water meat today?! You’ll only find it here in Water Seven!”

“Meat?” Luffy jumped down to stand in front of the stall. “I’ve bever had this kind of meat before.” He saw that the meat was being slow-cooked in hot water just shy of boiling. The water itself also smelled fragrant, like it had spices mixed into it that marinated the meat as it cooked. “I’ll take ten!” He smiled brightly.

“Would you like some for your Rabuka Bull too, sir?” The woman asked as she handed over the ten water-water meat pieces to Luffy. “Bulls love water-water meat, even though its prepared for people to eat.”

“Sure thing!” Luffy agreed with a bug grin at the Rabuka.

The woman called out to the back of her stall and a moment later a large man, her husband, carried a full side of what looked like beef, but could’ve been another animal entirely, out. It was fully cooked in the same way as the rest of the water-water meat was and the man smiled at Luffy.

“You wanna feed him?” The man offered the entire side of the animal to Luffy.

Luffy took it in one hand and lifted it easily making the husband and wife both gape at his ridiculous strength. “Here you go, buddy!” Luffy tossed the meat towards the Rabuka’s jaws.

With a snap, the Rabuka’s jaws closed around the meat. A few quick bites to shred it apart with its large fangs and the meat disappeared down the huge fish’s gullet. “Sssshhhaaa!” The Rabuka gave its best impression of a smile at the treat.

Luffy laughed brightly at the clear enjoyment on the Rabuka Bull’s face before he paid for his snacks and hopped back on top of the Rabuka’s head as it swam onwards. “Nami.” He handed her one of the water-water meats. “Usopp.” He gave one to his buddy.

“Thank you, Luffy.” Nami kissed his cheek before taking a bite out of the meat. “Oh wow! It’s so tender!”

“Thanks!” Usopp knew it was a sign of real friendship when Luffy shared meat and was always thankful when his friend and Captain showed how much he cared. “Whoa! That’s juicy!” Usopp exclaimed as the juices from the meat nearly gushed out when he bit into it.

Luffy laughed, already having finished off four of the remaining eight water-water meats. “It’s great!”

A short time after their snack, the Rabuka Bull headed towards a large tower at the end of the canal.

“Now, we’re finally going to enter the shipbuilding island. We’ll be using the water gate elevator.” Nami read off the map which had certain features of the city listed on the side.

“Water gate elevator?” Usopp tilted his head in confusion. “What’s that?”

Nami pointed at the large tower. “It’s that tower right there. It’ll take us up to the next level of the city.”

“How?” Luffy was interested in how they could go higher and it showed in his almost sparkling eyes.

A woman standing on a platform next to the tower called out to everyone waiting through a megaphone. “You may now enter! This elevator is going to the shipbuilding island!”

The gate on the tower raised upwards and several Yagara Bulls swam in, followed by the Rabuka Bull. The steel gate lowered until it closed fully, sealing them all inside. A moment later and a large torrent of water rushed into the elevator from below, filling the tower bit by bit and raising the water level as the bulls simply floated atop the rising water.

“This Water Seven place is fun!” Luffy laughed brightly as they rose higher and higher. “They can do anything with water!”

In no time at all the top gate opened and the bulls swam out into the large canal up top on the shipbuilding island’s main street.

“This place has more land than water.” Usopp noticed immediately. “I guess that makes sense.” They were up an entire level and were now well above sea level.

“Let’s head to the exchange and get our business taken care of quickly.” Nami smiled brightly, already thinking of how much cash their haul would bring in.

Luffy was looking around everywhere and saw a large crowd around a large metal gate with a ‘1’ painted on it. “I wonder what’s going on over there?”

“Focus, Luffy!” Usopp said with a clap of his hands. “Let’s exchange the money first, then we’ll see what’s up over there.”

“Okay!” Luffy agreed as the Rabuka Bull slowed to a stop in front of a large, three-story stone building with a sign above the large front doors that read ‘Beri Cashing and Exchange’. With ease, Luffy hopped into the boat that the Rabuka Bull had strapped to it and picked up most of the crates by himself.

“Always insane…” Usopp shook his head, still stunned by how strong Luffy was, even if he’d grown used to it.

Nami nearly growled at him as she was hefting up one side of the last crate left. “Lift your side already, Usopp!”

Usopp promptly lifted his side and the two carried the crate in through the front door. Luffy stood outside the door wondering how he was supposed to get in with all of the crates he was carrying stacked high in his arms.

“I know how to get us some help.” Nami grinned as she kissed Luffy’s cheek before she and Usopp headed inside. Nami guided them over to the nearest available teller.

“How may I help you today, Miss?” The young man in a nice uniform suit asked politely.

Nami motioned him to lean over the counter a bit before she opened the top of the crate just enough to show the man the gold inside. “We have a few more crates like this outside with our Captain. Could we get some help bringing them inside?”

“Ahem! Y-Yes, of course!” The young man coughed into his fist to regain his composure after seeing so much gold all at once, and knowing there was even MORE outside. “One moment, please.” The young man left his window and quickly got his boss’s attention.

In only a handful of minutes almost two dozen employees were helping carry the crates into the private meeting room, the nicest one that was on the third floor, as the owner of the exchange himself sat down across from the three pirates. He greeted them politely with a smile and pulled out a loupe so that he could examine the gold more closely for several long minutes, going through each crate to test that the gold was real and for its purity. Once he was satisfied that all of the gold was real, he sat back down across from Luffy, Usopp, and Nami with a winning smile on his face before making his offer.

Outside of the building the people on the street were startled by a sudden loud exclamation.

“400,000,000 BERI?!” Luffy’s eyes were wide at the offer for their gold.

“Not so loud, you idiot! People will hear!” Usopp tried to shut Luffy up, even as his entire body was shaking from the large amount of money they were about to get.

Outside the door to the meeting room, several employees, and even a few customers waiting for their own appraisals, heard the offer that had been made. Needless to say, it was already too late to keep the soon-to-be payday a secret.

“W-Well, it’s certainly worth that much.” The owner nodded as he looked at some of the gold through his loupe again. “The purity is incredibly high, so we won’t have to do any smelting and purifying ourselves.”

“With that much we could really make the Going Merry better than ever!” Luffy grinned happily at Usopp. “Then we can spend the rest on a bronze statue!”

“You’re not buying that…” Usopp deadpanned at Luffy, knowing that Nami would sooner throttle Luffy than let him waste money on a bronze statue of himself.

The owner smiled at the three of them as he adjusted his bowtie a little and then smoothed out his well-trimmed mustache. “If you agree to the price, then I’ll prepare the money right away.”

Nami raised her left leg into the air and brought her heel down on the table that some of the gold rested on.

Bam

The gold jumped into the air a bit from the transfer of force before clattering back onto the table.

“Yipe!” The owner let out a stunned yelp at the sudden action.

“What’s the matter, Nami?” Luffy looked over at his over curiously.

Nami locked eyes with the owner and the man broke out into a flop sweat instantly. “I have three things to say, Mr. Owner.” Nami said with a cool tone, her eyes boring into the owner’s as she spoke. “First, I forgot to tell you, but he has a 200,000,000 Beri bounty on his head.” She pointed at Luffy with her thumb. The owner’s eyes darted to Luffy and his flop sweat became much more severe. “Second, I don’t agree with your appraisal.” Nami stated with a voice that made it clear that anger was simmering just beneath the surface of her calm exterior. “Third, if you lie one more time, I’ll beat you within an inch of your life and then hang you out of that window for everyone to see.” She motioned her head towards the large window that overlooked the main street canal outside.

‘Oh! She wants me to do the thing…’ Luffy realized when he felt Nami lightly elbow him. He caught the owner’s eyes easily as the man was looking between the window, Nami, and Luffy in turn. A fraction of his Conqueror’s Haki hit the man as he held the owner’s gaze.

“E-eh?!” The owner’s body locked up in terror and his sweating became like a waterfall running down his face. His body started to tremble and shake even as it tried to lock up in total fear. The owner’s wide eyes couldn’t break away from Luffy’s gaze at all. His heart thundered in his chest and he knew right then and there that if the beautiful woman at the straw hatted man’s side said so, the man would kill him instantly.

Just as suddenly as the terrifying pressure had appeared, it disappeared as if it was never there.

The only evidence that anything had happened was the petrified owner that was trembling and sweating so badly that his sweat had soaked through his white shirt in just a few seconds.

“Now…” Nami gave the owner a sweet smile that didn’t reach her eyes at all. “What’s our gold really worth?” She already had a pretty good estimate and this man wouldn’t dare try and lie to them again after experiencing even a fraction of Luffy’s Conqueror’s Haki.

The man stuttered and stumbled over his words for a moment before clearing his throat and speaking clearly. “It’s w-worth right around e-eight…800,000,000 Beri.”

“800,000,000 BERI!!!” This time it was Usopp that couldn’t keep his outburst to himself as the eyes of everyone that had hear his cry of shock all widened their eyes at the ridiculous sum of money.

“We accept!” Luffy declared after sharing a quick glance with Nami. He burst into laughter at the tons of money they were about to get while Nami leaned into his side with a devious (and sexy) smirk on her lips.

Wouldn’t the others be surprised when they all got back to the Going Merry!

-End Chapter-

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JACKPOT!!!

The Straw Hats are rich as fuck now! Woohoo!

Nami ain’t playing any fucking games! You try and screw them out of money and she’ll fucking end you! (Or have Luffy do it.)

We see the shipwrights of the Galley-La Company taking care of business!

Me thinks a meeting will soon occur between the Straw Hats and the Galley-La foremen!

Vivi got to ship her share of the gold from Skypiea back to Alabasta to help her kingdom recover faster! She is the sweetest princess ever! No wonder all of Alabasta loves her so much!

But with such a huge amount of money in their possession, and it not being a secret now, will trouble come looking for the Straw Hats?

Keep reading to find out!

Until I get your reviews, later!