Alex watches Calli in her blue-and-yellow outfit, glaring at her acquaintance, a young woman in a simple work uniform, slightly dirty from work.
Guess she likes to work... hands-on. I can respect that.
"Bella... you owe me from last time, don't think I haven't forgotten yet," Calli says, looking frustrated.
"Hehe... don't be mad... I made a fortune... I already said I owe you one, okay? Don't you believe me?" she says with a grin. Behind her stand numerous tough-looking employees, all muscular, with an intimidating air around them.
These are not simply warehouse workers... they look like thugs. Maybe a criminal organisation?
Did Calli really call this woman somewhat trustworthy? Trustworthy, my ass. Even Mr. Krabs is more trustworthy than this chick. With that smile and her backup, I'm hoping this doesn't turn violent. We want to lie low as long as possible.
Since trading clearly is not his forte, at least compared to Benezia, and he is already tired of this encounter, Alex decides to keep his scepticism to himself and take on a supporting role.
He dutifully walks outside, then re-enters carrying a crate of goods. Slowly but steadily, he presents all the items to Benezia, going in and out through the back entrance, pretending to haul crate after crate filled with loot, while in reality taking them all from his inventory.
He notices Benezia, backed by Menchi and Calli, bickering endlessly with the shopkeeper.
Together with Tereza, who is equally out of her element, he sits in a corner while the others negotiate—meanwhile, Jewel jumps between their heads, seemingly bored as well.
"Stop jumping onto my head, Jewel! I thought you were hurt. This doesn't speed up the healing process," Tereza complains, trying to punch her, only for Jewel to dodge easily.
Princess Jewel is a master of Zetsu—her body is almost healed.
"Come to think of it, you are right. Since you constantly hide your presence with Zetsu, your healing is also sped up by a lot," Alex realises.
"Anyway, Tereza has a point... calm down, please, let us rest a little," Alex says, grabbing Jewel and drawing her into his arms.
Tereza also nestles very close to him and leans her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes.
Despite Jewel's intimidating glare, she relaxes and just keeps smiling.
"You can glare all you want," she says smugly. "It doesn't affect me."
Princess Jewel will learn a terrifying eye skill next! One that will curse anyone who wrongs her.
"Please don't, your eyes in the dark are already scary enough," Alex comments.
Also, in her opinion, almost everyone wrongs her. She would become a real menace... no, she already is one. She would become a damn nightmare.
"I agree..." Tereza says, sighing, as she finally calms down a little.
As Alex, Tereza, and Jewel relax, Benezia, Menchi, and Calli continue to negotiate. Finally, they return, and Alex studies their expressions with interest.
They look neither angry nor particularly satisfied. I guess it was a wash then, which is fine.
"Looks like things went okay... not great, but not bad," Alex guesses.
"That seems to be a somewhat accurate statement. Since our spoils are all items with a pretty firm worth, there wasn't much we could achieve by pressing the issue," Benezia says.
"So... how much did we get?" Alex asks curiously.
"If we add together the 10 million, our previous funds, what Menchi had left, and now our sales, we are sitting at exactly 65 million Belly," Benezia states. "We also have the voucher we obtained in Mock Town."
Nice. We can divide up the funds later. It's not like we have found a great use for money yet. I mean, we bought a few decent items, but I feel money itself shouldn't be our goal. There must be more lucrative goals for us to pursue.
"Not bad, but not a sum that's too impressive; there is more potential in this city," Alex remarks. "Money is not what we are after. Maybe we should focus on our other tasks first."
Also, there is nothing holding us back here! Let's take it all! After our visit to a certain someone. We need to decide how we handle the other players, but aside from that, we can go wild... after we recover.
"Let's leave this nasty place first..." Calli mutters with two bundles of cash in her hand, which she swiftly pockets.
So she got two million... rather generous of Benezia.
"Wait... isn't this a decent store? We should shop here," Alex suggests, eyeing the store, noticing hundreds of items around them.
"We already took a look," Menchi comments, folding her arms. "Forget it. This shop only sells common treasures, like the junk we sold. These things have a set value, but they are not what we are after. This shop focuses on volume and then reselling. We won't find anything valuable here."
"Fine then..." Alex concedes. "So we should get a place to stay, then. We would be fucked if it gets dark and we are unable to find a place. Maybe check into a decent hotel, or maybe rent an apartment or a small house."
"Stay at my place, it's actually right next to the office... I've just taken it over," Calli offers, sounding almost pleased with herself.
She stole it, but sounds mighty proud. Looks like she is a tried-and-true criminal after all.
"Might as well," Alex agrees. "It's better if we lie low, and your place is hidden well enough."
"I'll show you around the shopping street, but if you are looking for true rarities, I'm afraid you are on your own. I can't help you in the lower city. The really expensive stuff can be bought at Shipbuilding Island. One particular store might be a place you will find interesting," Calli explains, a hint of enjoyment on her face.
"Let's go there then, it certainly sounds promising..." Alex responds immediately.
Since the Galley-La Hardquarters are also there, we are not wasting too much time.
The group heads back upwards through the canals, takes the elevator, and finally reaches Shipbuilding Island again. Despite the time it takes, Alex still hasn't gotten tired of the phenomenal view of Water 7.
After that, Calli leads them to a small shopping street.
The street is filled with luxurious-looking stores, every single one appearing exceptionally well constructed, with polished facades and carefully arranged displays.
They promptly park their bulls again and step outside, their inventories now filled with a large amount of cash—65 million Belly in total.
As they walk along the street, Menchi doesn't hesitate and dashes into the first store they pass.
Please no.... Women and shopping.
"This one smells good!" she exclaims, grinning wildly.
Before Alex can even say a word, she is already inside. Reluctantly, he follows her, shouting, "At this rate, we won't ever finish! You can go look for food on your own time!"
To his surprise, the inside of the shop is filled with spices, large mountains of them stacked everywhere.
It takes Alex a full ten minutes to forcefully drag Menchi out of the shop, grabbing her under her arms until she finally relents.
Soulmate should change his tactic. He should tie a collar with a rope around this Peasant cook's neck for wasting his time! Princess Jewel will gladly be in charge of the rope, as she is more than willing to educate her.
Jewel's comment finally causes Menchi to snap. She lunges at Alex's head, only for Jewel to jump off and scurry away, causing Menchi to crash into Alex instead.
"..."
"..."
"Hehe," Menchi laughs awkwardly. "I am sorry about that."
"Just get up... let's not turn this into a comedy show, okay?" Alex mutters, making her get up, looking truly ashamed.
As they exit the shop, the others have already moved on to a couple of stores ahead. They quickly follow after them, only for Alex to see Jewel rushing into a nearby jewelry store.
Jewel... I swear you are the same as Menchi! The very same!
After dragging Jewel out of the shop, which merely offers overpriced jewelry and no item the system actually recognises, they finally catch up with Benezia, Tereza, and Calli.
To their surprise, Calli leads them to a huge auction house, one of the largest buildings in the city.
"Auction house, huh?" Alex murmurs. "That's such a common trope... but I'm not against it."
"No," Calli explains. "These auctions are scams targeting rich people, mostly tourists and people wanting to show off. Also, the next one isn't ready for weeks. I am leading you to a place that's even better."
"Oh? Lead on then," Alex says with a grin.
This sounds promising.
They walk past the auction house and turn into a narrow alley lined with a few overflowing garbage containers. Moving past the stench and clutter, they head down a short flight of stairs leading to a small underground entrance.
Inside, they find a compact shop, guarded by several strong-looking men and women who bow politely towards Calli, Alex, and the others as they enter. The guards are all armed with rifles, pistols, or other weapons such as sabres, spears, daggers, or axes, while their faces are hidden.
Before Alex can properly look around, a familiar notification flashes before his eyes.
[Congratulations. Player has found a Secret Shop.]
Immediately, he glances at Tereza, who has clearly received the same message.
Benezia and Menchi notice the subtle shift in Alex's and Tereza's attitude immediately and approach them.
"I've received a system message. The system says that we have found a secret shop," Alex explains, before they can say a word.
"This seems to be only available through players. I haven't received a message," Benezia notes.
"Me neither," Menchi adds.
Princess Jewel also didn't receive a message—what a travesty. How can this Peasant system ignore Princess Jewel?!
"Please stop..." Alex says, patting Jewel on her head.
He lets his gaze wander across the shop. Racks of different weapons line the walls, but at the far end of the room, next to the register, he spots a faintly glowing panel of light.
That looks like a system panel... let me check it out.
As if they had exchanged thoughts, Alex and Tereza both ignore the displayed merchandise and head straight for the panel.
Inspecting it carefully, their systems connect with the interface, and a long list of items appears in front of Alex.
Consumables, armour, weapons, trinkets—Alex sees dozens of entries, mostly of Green and Blue Quality. None of the items are cheap; even the lowest-tier consumables are priced at a minimum of 1 million Belly, while the Blue items go all the way up to 20 million Belly.
At the very bottom of the list, he notices a section of high-quality items with enormous prices.
His attention is immediately drawn to a Purple-coloured entry: [Skillful Grade Blade (Unidentified)], with a commanding price of 50 million Belly. The item is limited to one—not one per player, but one in total—and its possible Quality ranges between Light Purple and Purple.
Just below that, he finds [Devil Fruit (Unidentified)], listed for a total of 150 million Belly. Its Quality can vary between Blue and Deep Purple, and this one is limited to a single player.
Limited to Deep Purple? So I guess this random unidentified one can't be a powerful Logia, or a Mythical Zoan.
Finally, at the very bottom, Alex's eyes grow wide. An item with a guaranteed Light Gold Quality, with the potential to reach full Gold: [Great Grade Blade (Unidentified)], priced at a ridiculous 300 million Belly and, of course, limited to a single player.
One of the 21 Great Grade Blades... damn!
"Fuck! I want them all!" Alex mutters under his breath.
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