In the amusement park, inside a massive Ferris wheel, Luffy and the others were looking out into the distance from their high vantage point, their faces filled with excitement.
"Wow~~~ It's so high!"
"Luffy, Usopp." The little reindeer waved his small hooves. "Look over there, that seems to be the entrance to the amusement park!"
"Eh? Really? Haha, this amusement park is truly huge."
(I say, can't you guys quiet down just a little bit?)
Watching these few buffoons jumping up and down, Shuraiya couldn't help but break out into a cold sweat, deeply afraid they would end up breaking the ride.
(Besides, you guys just accepted a challenge where someone staked all of their companions. How do you still have the peace of mind to keep playing?)
"Hey, hey! Look over there, quick!"
At that moment, the little boy, Nabo, suddenly let out a cry of alarm. "Look at the street over there, did something happen?"
Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper looked in the direction Nabo was pointing and discovered billowing dust and smoke rising from a commercial street in the distance. Although it was too far away to see the exact situation, the Straw Hats could faintly sense that a major incident was occurring.
"Is that district undergoing demolition? It looks like a lot of houses have collapsed." A certain long-nosed fellow knit his brows tightly.
"Well... eighty percent chance it's another group of fellows who don't know the depth of the heavens and earth making trouble."
Shuraiya didn't think too much of it either, replying casually, "Honestly, don't they know that if you stir up trouble in the commercial street, the Penguin will deploy the enforcement team?"
"Enforcement team?" X3 Two people and one reindeer tilted their necks in unison, looks of complete confusion on their faces.
"Right. Because there are no Marines present in this sea area, aside from relying on pirates to govern pirates, the enforcement team exists specifically to sanction those lawless pirates."
Shuraiya nodded, explaining to everyone, "Every single one of their members is meticulously selected, not lacking in the slightest compared to the elite soldiers of the Marines. Furthermore, I heard they even possess weapons crafted from Sea Prism Stone, specifically used to deal with ability users."
"Not only that, the captain of the enforcement team is none other than the highest official stationed in Hannabal by the Oswald Family: 'Muddy Face' Baso Karo!"
"Oh?" Luffy blinked, impressed but not quite understanding. "Is that person very strong?"
"Extremely strong." Shuraiya's expression was grave. As a former bounty hunter, this pirate executioner knew quite a bit of useful intelligence.
"Before joining the Penguin, he was also a legendary great pirate with a bounty as high as 270 million Berries!"
"Pfft!" x2
Upon hearing this number, the little reindeer and a certain long-nosed fellow instantly lost their composure.
"270 million! Isn't that more than double Luffy's?"
The fur all over Chopper's body puffed up in an instant from shock. In his understanding, a fellow with such a bounty had to be an exceptionally vicious and terrifying existence.
"Whew~~~ It's a good thing we didn't stir up trouble here."
Usopp silently wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He cast a glance at the cluelessly cute Luffy, secretly rejoicing that the one causing trouble this time wasn't his own captain.
However, unfortunately, there was one point this long-nosed fellow had overlooked.
And that was—sometimes, the people on their ship who caused trouble weren't limited to Luffy alone.
Meanwhile, within the commercial street that had already been reduced to a field of ruins, Sherlock and the other two had been completely surrounded by a large contingent of armed troops clad in black uniforms.
"Oh? Is this the Penguin's enforcement team? They certainly arrived quickly."
Sherlock pushed up his glasses with a perfectly calm expression. Combining this with his prior perception, he figured that the people monitoring him from the shadows back then were likely this enforcement team of the Penguin.
He glanced at a weapon resembling a rocket launcher carried on the shoulders of several soldiers. For some reason, the Sorcerer could actually sense a faint threat emanating from it.
Just then, the crowd parted to form a path, and a very tall, middle-aged man dressed in casual clothes stepped forward. This man was expressionless, looking at a glance like a stern fellow who was extremely difficult to speak with.
"Heh, to actually prompt Mr. Karo to come out personally, I am truly flattered."
A wicked smile curled at the corner of Law's mouth. Though his tone was highly casual, he had already raised his guard to twelve percent in his heart.
Initially, this furry-hatted man had intended to see if there was any possibility of cooperating with the Oswald Family, so Law had done some investigation into this Muddy Face.
However, once Law discovered that this arms manufacturer, the Penguin, actually shared an extraordinary connection with Joker, he discarded that impractical notion.
(This paralyzed face is very strong!)
Rovick looked as if he were facing a formidable enemy. He tightly gripped the hilt of Blink, focusing his mind in wary readiness.
"The Sorcerer with a bounty of 97 million Berries, and the Surgeon of Death with a bounty of 100 million Berries."
Baso Karo stared intently at the two of them, subsequently scanning the surrounding broken walls and ruins before continuing, "Young people nowadays are truly lawless. Don't you know that unregistered pirates are not permitted to enter this place, and furthermore, combat is strictly forbidden?"
His tone was just as flat as his expression, making it entirely impossible to tell whether he was angry or felt indifferent. That face, which seemed as if it were cast from cement, possessed absolutely no emotional fluctuations, looking as though stone chips would fall off if he were to make a facial expression.
"However, Traveler Rovick, you are an exception."
Mr. Karo turned his gaze to the blue-haired swordsman, saying in a deep voice, "You are not a pirate, nor did you participate in the previous battle. You may leave now."
Yet Rovick was completely unmoved. Gripping the sharp sword in his hand, he remained standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the other two, his intention implicit.
"Very well, loyal enough." The Muddy Face nodded, offering praise. Of course, his tone lacked even the slightest hint of actual praise.
"Tch, meddlesome."
"Utterly foolish..."
Seeing this, Law and Sherlock muttered their complaints almost simultaneously. It appeared that Rovick's act of taking a knife for his friends had not earned him a shred of gratitude from the two involved parties on the surface.
"Damn it!! Law! Chairman! Do you two still have a single drop of conscience left?!"
The blue-haired traveler instantly blew his top, roaring with bared teeth at the two bad friends beside him, "I am kindly trying to help you guys, how can you say that?! You..."
"Be quiet, Rovick-ya," Law said impatiently, turning his face away rather testily.
Sherlock also completely ignored the blue-haired swordsman who was frantically ranting. He looked toward Baso Karo, took a few steps forward, and executed an elegant introductory bow toward this middle-aged, stone-faced man.
"A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Karo."
A faint smile hung on the glasses-wearing face as he spoke in an unhurried manner, "Regarding this incident, I express my deep apologies. If possible, I am willing to compensate for the entire losses of this commercial street in full."
In a certain sense, Sherlock was a person of extremely strong principles. Paying back debts and compensating for damaged items were matters that could not be more normal in his mind. As long as the party at fault was himself, Sherlock would absolutely assume responsibility.
Furthermore, to a damn rich person like him, problems that could be resolved with Berries were not problems at all!
"As expected of the former chairman of the East Blue's number one chamber of commerce, indeed straightforward enough."
Karo was also somewhat surprised that the Sorcerer would be so easy to talk to, and his goodwill toward him rose significantly. He took a longer look at this refined gentleman, nodding as he said, "However, in that case, we can discuss another matter."
This middle-aged man waved his hand in signal, and the enforcement team immediately lowered their weapons, standing down from their alert status.
(Whew~ Thank goodness the Chairman, this local tycoon, is here, otherwise this definitely wouldn't have ended well.)
Seeing this, Rovick let out a long sigh of relief in his heart. If possible, he didn't want to make an enemy out of the Penguin, the number one lackey under the World Government, either.
The expression on Law's face relaxed as well, but owing the Sorcerer a favor out of nowhere made this unyielding Surgeon of Death feel a little bit displeased.
"The other matter is to hand this item over to you, Sorcerer." Karo walked straight up to Sherlock and extended a black card.
Sherlock accepted it and looked, discovering that this card was printed with a Penguin emblem as well as a crescent moon pattern. Rubbing his fingers over it a few times, the texture was very fine, though he couldn't tell what material this black card was made of.
"This card is?" Confusion surfaced on Sherlock's face.
"This is the Oswald Family's [Crescent Moon Membership Card]. Congratulations, you have now become a distinguished Crescent Moon Member."
Karo explained, "Only major clients of the Oswald Family possess the qualification to obtain a Crescent Moon Membership. You spent over a billion Berries at my auction house previously, so naturally, you are qualified."
"Cough, cough, cough... What... What the heck?!"
Hearing this, Rovick suddenly broke into a violent fit of coughing. "Chairman, so that stunning female slave who ate a Devil Fruit was bought by you?!"
"I say, aren't you being a bit too unprincipled, actually going to buy slaves?"
"And you clearly already have two such charming and beautiful women on your ship, why are you still out here fooling around???"
Rovick was completely dumbfounded. He stared at Sherlock with a bizarre expression, looking as if he were reacquainting himself with this merchant friend of his.
Beside the blue-haired swordsman, Law, who didn't know the truth, carried his sword and stood quietly to the side without speaking. However, the gaze he cast toward the Sorcerer was also somewhat strange, evidently shifting his impression of the latter significantly.
After all, although this furry-hatted man was no saint, he still deeply despised the corrupt class that purchased slaves for entertainment in his heart.
"Crescent Moon Member... Thank you, I am honored."
Completely ignoring the strange looks from the two men behind him, Sherlock calmly stored that black membership card into the Mirror Space, while secretly rejoicing in his heart that Luffy, Nami, and the others didn't know about this matter.
Judging by the exaggerated reaction from this buffoon Rovick right now, a certain glasses-wearer couldn't even begin to imagine how his group of buffoon companions would react upon learning he had bought a delicate female slave...
"Right, there is one more thing." Karo extended his hand and snapped his fingers, and his subordinates immediately brought forward a familiar figure held between them.
Upon seeing the newcomer's beautiful, deep blue long hair, her pitiful, tearful appearance, and the collar around her neck, the corner of Sherlock's mouth twitched slightly.
(How did she get captured again?)
A certain glasses-wearer felt immensely speechless. He recalled that not long ago, he had wished Maya wouldn't be captured again, yet how much time had passed since then? Had it even been an hour?
"On the way here, my subordinates happened to run into this slave who was planning to escape, so they captured her back along the way."
This stone-faced man took the chain connected to Maya's collar and placed it into Sherlock's palm, adding, "This was our oversight; we didn't expect her ability could actually remove the explosive collar on her neck. Therefore, this time we specially added a pair of Sea Prism Stone handcuffs for her. Here, this is the key."
Sherlock silently accepted the key. He looked at the blue-haired girl's pale face, then glanced at the serious manner of Muddy Face Karo, letting out a soft sigh.
"This after-sales service of yours is truly conscientious."
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