Lia's POV;
The crew generally accepted the news and was glad that we will not truly become the World Governments lapdog. Josef was the most relieved of us. Nojiko too wasn't a fan of the Marines, not after what happened under Arlong.
Once everything was cleared we went back into the submarine and gathered as much of the gold as possible. Our storage was full of gold, so much gold even that Nojiko was drooling when she saw the final result.
Later that day she tried to call her sister, but no one picked up. She was worried, but Lara told her that Nami and the rest of the Straw Hats might be on some island and not close to the transponder snail.
That calmed Nojiko down somewhat for the rest of the day.
I myself was anything but calm, I was worried. Stressed even. There could go so much wrong in the war. There are players present that can kill us easily and a lot of others that can give Lara a very close fight.
She will be one of the focus points there, what if something happens and she gets wounded or worse.
I almost jumped when I felt Lara's arms snaking around my waist. She rested her head on my shoulder and hugged me from behind. It feels good to be held by her, I don't want her to go, but she was eager for the war since before we were born.
“It's okay, if you don't want to we can drop the whole thing. I simply tell them that we aren't interested and attack Impel Down on our own,” she suddenly said and kissed the tip of my ear, a very sensitive place.
I shook my head in denial. “No, this war is something you want to take part in for years. I wouldn't forbid you to go. It's just..,” I turned around, now hugging her back.
“You are worried that something will happen right?” She asked softly. I nodded and squeezed her tighter. If Lara dies then this world isn't worth living in. Our crew is not as important as being with my Lara, never will be.
“I promise you that I won't hold back. From the moment I start to fight I will use every power I have and if necessary use my inventory. Is that good enough?” She continued. I knew that she would decline the offer if I truly ask her to do so. But again, she really wants to do that.
“Promise me you will use your Devil Fruit power to your best ability, both of them. And take Chopper's rumble balls with you, and don't play with your enemy. End them quickly and decisively.” She nodded to all my points. I knew she would follow my request, I knew she will most likely survive with all that. With the help of her inventory, it is almost guaranteed. I still couldn't myself stop worrying.
“Be careful okay?”, I asked one last time. She kissed me deeply as an answer and we changed position to our bed. The rest of the night Lara showed me how much she loves me and I tried to mirror her expressions and actions.
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“So this is Sabaody Archipelago?” Asked Noa with a raised eyebrow.
A week has passed since we called the Marines. The guy we first got on the line was quite shocked by our call and was stuttering even though he should have known that we couldn't do anything to him through the snail. None of us had Conqueror Haki.
Still, after some fumbling and stuttering, he managed to link us higher in the chain of command and we got put through to the very top. Sengoku himself answered our call. He was a pretty no-nonsense type and we could hear his distaste for us throughout the whole conversation.
Lara has hammered out the finer details of our contract with him. In short, we are to do everything that Kuma has said and allowed to do anything he said as well. Finer details were a ban on using the sea currents between the three great gates without an escort of five super-sized warships. We might get lost, i.e. they don't want Mrs Chicken Wing to raid Impel Down.
We also got our very first order, we are to go to the Sabaody Archipelago and Lara has to meet up with a Marine escort ship that brings her to the Marine HQ. Us, her crew, is to stay away and do whatever we want. As long as it isn't against the World Government.
That's why we took a direct course at Sabaody Archipelago. The mangrove island was now directly in front of us and we made a straight line towards their main harbour. The one with the Marine base.
They should already know about us and if they attack, well we are allowed to shoot back.
Alas, nothing happened. We sailed into the heavily fortified harbour and docked without any problem. We were even freed from paying any taxes.
A Marine Captain came to greet us, he looked battle hardened and I could feel that he was definitely a captain that has earned his rank.
“Greetings Slicer Lara and Kage Pirates, I'm Harbelly, Captain of the Sabaody Marine Base. We were informed about the change of your status and an escort ship will be here at the end of the day. Is there anything you'd like to do in the meantime?” The Captain has a tone that showed he would like to do anything but being a guide for us.
“We're going to do a tour and change in some gold we found. Can you recommend a good shop to exchange gold and jewellery to Berry?” Replied Lara in a friendly tone, the total opposite of the Marine.
“A subordinate of mine will show you the way. He will also be able to show you towards any auctions or shop you'd like to visit.” With that said the Captain turned around and marched off, his entourage followed him. A young, nervous-looking Marine was left. He gulped audibly and saluted to us when we looked at him.
“I almost pity him,” laughed Nojiko. The Marine started to tremble and stopped his salute.
“Ma...ma'am, I am ordered to give you a tour through Sabaody Archipelago. Wh..where would y..you like to go f..first?” I was surprised that this kid could even finish his words without bursting into tears.
“Did you do something to your boss or why were you tasked with guiding us?” Laughed Yosaku. He walked up to the Marine and threw an arm around the poor guy's shoulder. It was a perfect picture of the difference between the Marines and Pirates if you want to be on the side of the pirates.
Yosaku was at least four heads taller, his shoulders were so wide two of the kids could stand next to each other and wouldn't be as wide. Heck, one single arm of Yosaku was probably more muscular than the whole kid.
The Marine squeaked in fear and began to tremble. “Stop it Yosaku, can't you see that this kid is almost wetting himself?” Said Noa with an apologetic smile at the Marine.
The Marine tried to smile back in thanks but got pocked into the cheek by Fiara. He turned his head to look at her and went wide-eyed when he stared right into an active flamethrower.
“Lia said that Marines are evil and are to be burned. And now I am told not to burn you Marines. Tell me little Marine, are you evil?” Her voice was innocent and sweat. Like a child that asks for candy.
“No...no ma'am, I'm not...evil. I... I became a Marine... I became a Marine because I want to pro..protect the people,” stuttered the rapidly paling kid. Fiara looked over to me for help.
“For now the Marines are not to be killed. We have an agreement. But if they attack first you are free to turn them into ashes,” I explained. Fiara looked a little confused, not truly understanding what has changed, but nodded anyway.
She put her weapon back and jumped off of the Marine. The kid sighed in relieve, but stood ramrod still when Lara walked over to him. “As I have said to your boss, we want to exchange some gold and other precious stuff into Berry notes. We need a handler with enough money to do that, lead the way.”
The kid nodded rapidly. Each of us went back on our ship and took a big bag of gold. Only Lara had no bag, she wasn't allowed to, Nojiko said she has to show her status as captain. Yosaku took two, each thrice his size. He was carrying more than three tons of gold.
With our valuables on our shoulder, we followed the Marine into the city. Civilians and Marines were staring openly at us, mouth agape and muttering with each other about us and why we were here. And above all, why we were with a Marine and not attacked.
The kid has calmed down a little and was leading us through the town. From what I could see there were no visible slaves present. The people were dressed fairly well and looked to have at least some money.
“Miss Slicer the pawn shop I would recommend is over there.” I'm impressed, the kid has finished a sentence without stuttering.
Lara nodded and walked inside, the rest of us followed. The Marine kid tried to stay out but got shoved in by Yosaku.
The shop was huge, displays showed expensive and curious wares, protected behind thick glass. Half a dozen guards were also present, they tensed up upon seeing us but haven't attacked yet.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
A pretty young girl was behind the counter, she wasn't a slave as well. Maybe slavery is forbidden on this part of the island. I'll ask the kid after changing our money.
We stepped fully inside and each of us put our bag down. Some of them opened and showed their content. They all were filled with gold, precious gemstones and figurines. The sea king has hoarded everything that looked shiny and golden. We even had to leave a lot of it behind.
The girl's eyes widened extremely the moment she realized who we were. She paled and began to quiver. “G..good day honoured customers. How...how may I help you?” She was doing pretty good if you take the almost palpable fear into account.
“My crew and I came across some gold and other stuff. We want to exchange that into Berry. Are you allowed to do large transactions or do you have to call your boss?” Answered Lara while leaning on the counter. The girl tried to get as far away from her as possible and the guards put their hands on their weapons. Not that it would help them, they were all weaker than each of us.
The girl eyed the large bags each of us has and pulled a transponder snail from behind the counter. She dialled a number and an angry voice answered after a moment. “Yes, What is it, Charo? Don't you know that I want to go to an auction today?”
“Mister Bartsley, I know, but you've said I am to call you when we have a customer that wants to exchange a large amount of gold,” replied the girl with a slight tremble in her voice.
“Yes I did, and? I hope this is not some pocket money, I know that you plebeians think that any and all gold is much, but that's not what I meant with large amounts.” The girl shrunk into herself and nodded quietly, before remembering that she has to speak.
“Yes Mister Bartsley, I know Mister Bartsley. It's just that Slicer Lara of the Kage Pirates has come and she has more than half a dozen large bags filled with gold.”
The connection was silent for a while. The snail had a wide-eyed and shocked expression. “I see, can get her on the line?” He then asked. The girl handed the speaker over to Lara, looking as if we would kill her on the spot if she did anything wrong.
“Yo,” greeted Lara with a cheerful grin. She was immensely enjoying the expressions we were causing and liked the attention as much as I. Both of us were gaining some sadistic pleasure by their discomfort.
The snail paled a little but composed itself rather quickly. “Am I right to understand that I am currently speaking to Slicer Lara, captain of the Kage Pirates?” Questioned the man, now sickly polite and friendly.
“Yes, that's me. Listen, my crew and I found some pretty penny. The problem is that it is all in gold and a lot of shops don't take that. So we came here and asked our friends the Marines which shop might be good enough to give us a fair price.
And look at that, they pointed us directly to you, there was not even a possible alternative. That tells me that you must be the best in your market. That's true?”
The snail looked comically pleased with itself for the praise, which means that the speaker was even more so. From behind me, I could hear the faint snicker of Noa and Jonny.
“Indeed, my shop, Bartsley's Golden Eye is the most prestigious and important pawn shop in all of Sabaody. I own more than ten different shops on equally many groves. There is no amount we can't exchange.” He was clearly skilled in praising himself.
“That's great, what course do you have per kilogram of gold?” Asked Lara next.
“For normal customers, we exchange one kilogram of gold per 500.000 Berry. But for someone as known and renown as you, I will offer 750.000 Berry for each kilogram. My employee Charo is also skilled enough to estimate most items. She will be able to conduct business with you.”
“Good to hear, she was really friendly to us so far. You can be glad to have her working for you. With that said I'd like to exchange the gold and items we have with us.” Lara gave the girl a wink but got only a confused blink in return.
“May I know the amount of gold you want to exchange? My employee spoke about multiple bags.” Questioned the man, we could almost see him rubbing his hands together. Nojiko told us that one kilogram of pure gold can be sold for 100.000.000 if done right.
We knew that we wouldn't get the true price for our gold, but 75% was still fairly good. This man must either fear that we will wreck his place or hope that words of us doing business with him gives him more popularity.
“Yes, we have half a dozen figurines, each pure gold and with multiple gems embedded. We also have five tons of gold and another half of a ton in gems and other precious metal and material. On top of that are a hand full of ornament armours, swords, shields and other weapons. All of them decorated with lots of silver, gold and gems.”
At the end of Lara's list, the snail's eyes were almost thrice its normal size and its mouth was hanging wide open. The gold alone would give us money equal to 3.750.000.000 Berry. All the extra stuff might even be worth more.
“That...did I hear that right?” Asked the owner. His brain must have crashed.
Lara made a frown and changed her voice into slightly irritated. “Do I have to repeat myself?”
Of course, the man did a double take and tried to calm Lara down. “No of course not Miss Slicer, I was just a little stunned by the huge amount. However, I'm not sure if we have that much money at your current shop.” He sounded almost pained to confess that.
“Then how much do you have?” Questioned Lara, it was clear for all of us that one pawn shop alone wouldn't be enough. The gold was just too much for that.
“Each shop has at most 500.000.000 Berry. The shop you are standing in has twice as much, we can allow more thanks to the protection of the local Marine Base.” Explained the owner. The useless information about the money from other shops might be a ploy for us to go there as well.
“Hmpf, very well. We will let your employee take a look at our random stuff. In the meantime, you can gather the rest of the money. That won't be a problem, will it? I mean you've said you have nine other shops, meaning there are 4.500.000.000 Berry left.”
The snail looked frightened and the man was pleading with Lara to change her demand. “Miss Slicer! I..I'm sorry, but moving that much money is highly dangerous. I can't just do it without proper planning. The Archipelago isn't truly safe on each grove.”
“I see, so you don't want to do the exchange. That's fine with me, seems like the Marines made a mistake. I'll just have to look for a different shop then,” replied Lara with a tone of finality.
The owner knew that he might have a huge profit in front of him, he also knew that moving that much money is really risky on an island like Sabaody. But the win he would reign in if this works would be tremendous. He might be able to double the money he gives us. The gold alone will be enough for a decent profit.
“No please not! I will arrange the movement. But you have to understand that I must know at least the general amount of money I have to move. Would you please wait until Charo has done her estimation of your other goods and then wait for the money to come?”
“A reasonable offer. Let me make one in return. You will give us 5.000.000.000 Berry in exchange for everything we have with us. No matter how much the other stuff is truly worth. I promise you that everything we have is of some worth. Who knows maybe you will find stuff that is a lot more worth than the 1.500.000.000 Berry you will give us for unknown stuff.
My treasurer and navigator Nojiko said that she estimates the worth to be close to 3.000.000.000 Berry and that does not include the gold.”
The snail was salivating, I tell you, it was salivating on the hands of the girl. She looked rather grossed out by that but was too frightened to wipe her hands or put the snail away.
“And I can truly trust you?” Questioned the man, he seems to at least have some intelligence. Never take the word of a pirate for the truth.
“Hey, when have I ever attacked, betrayed or stolen from a civilian?” Defended Lara herself. Well, there was this one time after the tournament, where she stole the book about the Devil Fruits. However, I didn't say that out loud.
“True, I have never heard of that. And Miss Clarie has spoken highly of the one time she bought that jewellery from you. And those pieces were also of mastery quality.” Mused the man. So the woman we did sell to at Water 7 spoke about us. “Very well, I will arrange for a delivery of 5.000.000.000 Berry. They should be at your current place within an hour.
Is there anything else I can do for you? Has Charo offered any drinks yet?”
“Yes she did, she is truly forthcoming.” Lied Lara, the girl looked thankfully at her and bowed deeply.
“Great, is there anything else I can do for you then?” Now that he had made a deal that might give him a lot of money he was way more sure in himself.
“No, that would be all. Ah, no there is one more thing. I couldn't stop myself and have overheard your previous talk with the lovely Miss Charo, you've said something about an auction. May I know which one and on which grove it is taking place?”
“It is a monthly held auction on grove one. The auction is held at the Public Employment Security Office. An establishment for the highest quality of employment, you can find every kind of worker there.” Praised the man. Both Lara and I knew what the name stood for. “It starts in seven hours,” he continued.
“Nice to hear, we might take a look. Maybe we will see each other there. I am wearing roughly the same clothes as on my wanted poster. You can't miss me.” Declared Lara happily.
The snail sweated a little bit but manage hold a forced smile. “That would be lovely. If there isn't anything else then, I have to prepare the movement of the money, as well as a few other things. I wish you a nice stay on Sabaody Archipelago Miss Slicer.”
“Yup, see you,” replied Lara with a cheerful grin. She hung up and gave the speaker back to the silent girl.
She then looked at the girl and smiled. “Well then, please get me a coke and whatever my crew wishes to have.” The girl nodded dumbly, wrote down what we'd like to have, even asked the Marine, and then left to fetch the drinks.
That was the moment Jonny and Noa weren't able to hold it in any longer and both fell into loud laughter. The rest of us joining in as well. Even the guards were laughing at the end.
“Damn, this guy nearly pissed himself there. You think he will go to the auction?” Asked Noa in between his laughing.
“Hell no, he will stay as far away as possible from our grove and grove 1.” Answered Jonny.
“Was it a good idea to give our stuff away for the money without knowing how much it really is worth?” Asked Nojiko with a slight glare.
“I don't want to go to other shops and also don't want to wait for the stuff to be sorted. We have so much it might take the girl hours to sort and appraise everything. This is easier and you said that it should be roughly that much.” Answered Lara while taking the coke out of the girl's hands.
Each of us got our drink and we sat down on prepared chairs. The girl started to go through our bags, of course with the help of the guards and was impressed with the luxury of some of the stuff we had.
Close to an hour later we got the first of man walking inside the shop. From my place, at the door, I could see that there were close to thirty more waiting outside. Some looked to have been inside a fight.
The man had a large suitcase cuffed to his arm and opened it up in front of Nojiko. She in return started to count the money and nodded to Lara afterwards. “There are 500.000.000 Berry inside the case.”
Lara took a sip from her third bottle of coke and smiled at the man. “Great, you can leave the case with us.” The man wordlessly uncuffed himself from the case and left.
Soon more and more men walked in, each was holding a suitcase. Each was filled with exactly 500.000.000 Berry. Close to the end we even had a man that carried the arm of another man inside. The arm was cuffed to the suitcase and he informed us that they were attacked on their way.
They had to amputate the arm to get away, but also have lost the key in the process. That was no problem for us. Josef grabbed the suitcase and put his finger in the keyhole. A bone came out of his finger and he formed it into the needed key. With a click, the case was opened and Nojiko happily counted the money.
In the end, it took us one hour and a half to get all the money, but we did get the promised 5.000.000.000 Berry. Now we were rich as fuck. I mean, truly rich as fuck. So much that it was even dangerous for us to have so much money.
We might have to bury some of it on an uncivilised island. Our very first treasure chest, how exciting.