The Wandering Islands Trading Company occupied one of the nicer buildings on Jaya, which wasn't saying much, considering most structures on this pirate haven looked like they'd collapse in a strong wind. But this place at least had fresh paint and windows without bars.
Marcus approached the entrance with Alvida at his side, ready to finally collect the Devil Fruits. Five fruits total, worth seven hundred million berries. He'd already put down two gold bars as deposit, leaving about three hundred million in balance to settle.
It should be a simple transaction, except nothing was ever simple on a pirate island.
The moment they walked through the door, he froze mid-step.
A line of young women stood waiting inside, each one wearing what could generously be called "strategic fabric placement." They held silver trays and smiled invitingly, their outfits leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination.
"Oh, for fuck's sake," Alvida muttered beside him, her expression shifting from pleasant to murderous in about half a second.
The manager came waddling over with a broad smile plastered across his face. But when his eyes landed on Alvida, that smile flickered.
Over the past three days, word had spread about the Straw Hat Pirates. Pirates loved gossip almost as much as they loved booze, and the rumor mill had been working overtime.
Most of the speculation centered around Vivi.
The Straw Hats had made several supply runs to Mock Town over those three days, and despite Vivi's attempts to keep a low profile, her face had been recognized. Some observant pirate had seen her features and remembered wanted posters from Arabasta. From there, it hadn't taken long for the more informed intelligence brokers on the island to piece things together.
Former Princess Vivi of Arabasta, traveling with a pirate crew. That was newsworthy.
And when the manager had learned that detail, he'd immediately revised his understanding of Marcus. Not just some rich punk with Celestial Dragon connections, this guy was likely royal guard or something similar. That explained the ridiculous amount of gold, the confident demeanor, and the willingness to drop seven hundred million berries like it was pocket change.
He had relaxed after that revelation. Royal escorts from ancient kingdoms tended to be predictable in their tastes and desires. So he'd arranged this little "greeting party" figuring Marcus would appreciate the gesture.
What he hadn't counted on was Marcus bringing his companion.
Still, he was a professional. He'd been running this establishment for years and knew how to think on his feet.
"Apologies," he said smoothly, spreading his hands. "The previous client just finished his... business... and we haven't had time to reorganize the floor yet. You understand how it is on a pirate island, certain entertainments are quite popular. Sometimes we even run special promotions, buy-one-get-one deals, that sort of thing."
He chuckled, trying to play it off as normal commerce. "Of course, if you're interested, we could extend those same terms to you. But if not, no pressure! We're here for the main transaction, naturally."
Alvida shot him a look. "Just bring out the merchandise."
The manager nodded rapidly. "Of course, of course! Right away!"
He barked orders at his staff, and the scantily-clad women quickly dispersed. Within moments, several men appeared carrying a wooden case, much fancier than the plain crate Marcus had expected.
They were led to a VIP room in the back.
Once the case was set on the table and opened, he leaned forward to examine the contents.
Five Devil Fruits, each resting in its own cushioned compartment.
He picked up the first one that caught his eye, a red banana-shaped fruit with the distinctive swirl patterns.
The manager immediately began his sales pitch. "Excellent choice! You've got a good eye, that's one of our two Zoan-type fruits."
But Marcus' expression had gone strange as he turned the fruit over in his hands, examining it more closely.
Zoan Type: Ox-Ox Fruit, Model: Giraffe.
What?
This was supposed to go to Kaku of CP9. In the original story, Spandam had purchased two Devil Fruits for his agents, this giraffe fruit for Kaku, and another one for Kalifa.
His eyes immediately went to the second fruit in the case, a purple, melon-sized thing covered in spiral patterns.
Sure enough: Paramecia Type: Bubble-Bubble Fruit.
Both fruits that should have ended up in CP9 hands were sitting right here in front of him.
He felt a grin spreading across his face. His early arrival and willingness to throw gold around had apparently changed the timeline. Spandam or whoever was supposed to buy these had been too slow, and his money had spoken louder.
"Something wrong?" the manager asked nervously, misinterpreting Marcus' shifting expressions.
"Not at all," Marcus said. "In fact, this is perfect. I'll take all five."
He pulled out two more gold bars from his inventory and tossed them onto the table.
The manager's eyes lit up like it was Christmas morning. He snatched up the gold bars. These weren't ordinary gold bars, he had learned that over the past few days. The first time they'd taken one of Marcus' gold bars to exchange for currency, they'd been shocked when a buyer offered 300 million berries for a single bar.
The buyer? None other than Gild Tesoro himself, the Golden Emperor.
The point was, while the transaction appeared to be worth around 700 million berries, the manager was actually making closer to 360 million once the true value of those gold bars was factored in. No wonder he was so eager to please, even knowing they might have royal connections. This was the best business deal he'd made in years.
"Convert the remaining balance to cash," Marcus instructed.
"Right away! Though I should mention, counting out that much currency will take about half an hour. Perhaps you and your companion would like to enjoy some of our other services while you wait?"
He pulled out a leather-bound menu and set it on the table between them, tapping it twice to draw attention to the VIP section.
Marcus noticed the first thing highlighted: "Excellent soundproofing, complete privacy guaranteed."
He raised an eyebrow. That was... oddly specific to mention first.
Alvida had noticed it too, judging by her expression.
But Marcus was curious what other services were available.
He flipped through the menu.
A foot massage sounded pretty good, actually. When would he get another chance to enjoy something like this?
He passed the menu to Alvida.
She glanced at it for exactly two seconds before tossing it aside.
"We don't need any of that."
"I'll have your money ready shortly." The manager bowed his way out of the room, and the door clicked shut behind him.
The moment they were alone, Alvida's demeanor shifted completely.
"So," she said, moving closer. "Were you planning to sneak over here by yourself?"
"I came to pick up the Devil Fruits. That's it."
"Uh-huh. Sure."
"I'm serious."
For the past three days, they'd barely had a moment alone together. Between the village celebrations, ship renovations, and various other responsibilities, Marcus had been working from dawn until well past midnight. He'd actually been planning to slip away alone today, figuring the errand would be quick. But Alvida had invited herself along.
Now she was giving him that look, the one that said she didn't believe him for a second.
"I did actually come for the fruits." Marcus gestured to the case. "Check these out. This is pretty interesting."
He started laying out the five Devil Fruits on the table, one by one.
"Two Zoan types, one giraffe, one tortoise. Both ordinary animal models, nothing special. But these other three? One of them is a serious prize."
Alvida's interest was piqued. "Oh? What kind of prize?"
Marcus picked up a fruit that was barely larger than a pine cone, turning it in his hands so she could see the distinct patterns.
"Ancient Zoan Type, Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Model: Velociraptor."
Alvida's eyes widened. "An Ancient Zoan? On a random island like this?"
"I know, right? This manager probably doesn't even realize what he has."
She examined the fruit, frowning thoughtfully. "I've heard of velociraptors. Aren't they those small pack-hunting dinosaurs? Kind of like prehistoric hyenas or something?"
"That's one way to put it, yeah."
"Doesn't sound that impressive, honestly. They were only about a meter tall, right? Not much muscle mass, from what I remember. Fast and agile, but... small."
Marcus shrugged. "You're probably right. But here's the thing, what if they appeared as a pack?"
"Hmm." Alvida considered that for a moment. "I guess if you had a group of them working together, that could be dangerous. But..." She gave him a skeptical look. "Any Zoan user working with a pack would be strong. That's not unique to velociraptors."
"... Fair point," Marcus admitted.
He scratched his head after hearing Alvida's assessment of the velociraptor fruit.
She had a point. Compared to the other Ancient Zoan types that had appeared in the series, like Drake's Allosaurus or Page One's Spinosaurus, the velociraptor didn't exactly scream "terrifying prehistoric predator."
It might even be weaker than some regular Zoan fruits that transformed users into bears or leopards.
Still, Ancient Zoans were supposed to be stronger than regular ones across the board, especially when it came to recovery abilities... probably.
Though he wasn't certain about that. The manga had never explicitly stated that Ancient Zoans were automatically superior to normal animal types. Maybe the velociraptor just wasn't that impressive to begin with, which would explain why it never appeared in any Devil Fruit encyclopedia.
He picked up the last Devil Fruit, turning it over in his hands. It was another Paramecia type, and one he actually recognized from the anime.
The Sickle-Sickle Fruit.
Like the Whisper-Whisper Fruit that Vivi had taken, this was one of those special fruits that only appeared in filler episodes, specifically during the Warship Island Arc that the anime had created.
The abilities it granted were pretty straightforward. The user could generate sharp, blade-like air slashes just by swinging their arms.
Not exactly game-changing, but not useless either.
Though he wasn't completely sure if the fruit's abilities would match what he remembered from the anime. Devil Fruits could be developed in unexpected ways depending on the user's creativity and combat style.
The only way to know for sure was for someone to actually eat it.
But looking at the current Straw Hat crew roster, he couldn't think of anyone who'd be a perfect match for these particular fruits. Luffy already had his rubber powers, Zoro would never eat a Devil Fruit, Sanji probably still wanted the Clear-Clear Fruit...
His thoughts were interrupted as his gaze fell on the Shichiseiken.
In the One Piece world, there were actually several examples of inanimate objects that had somehow consumed Devil Fruits.
Spandam's sword Funkfreed had eaten the Elephant-Elephant Fruit. There was also the gun that had consumed the Mutt-Mutt Fruit, Model: Dachshund. And according to the lore, the person who'd mastered the technology to make this possible was none other than Vegapunk himself.
But Marcus had witnessed evidence that objects could absorb Devil Fruit powers through a different method, prolonged exposure and erosion. He'd seen it firsthand with the Chimera fruit that had been sealed beneath that rock formation. The fruit's power had been slowly leaking out over time, causing irregular biological mutations in the surrounding area. The "demon" inside the fruit had been gradually released through erosion, essentially allowing the rock itself to partially absorb the abilities.
The principle seemed straightforward enough: a Devil Fruit kept in extended contact with an object would slowly release its power, eventually being "consumed" by that object. So in a way, it wasn't that the object ate the fruit, it was more like the fruit ate the object, transforming it in the process. But getting an inanimate object to absorb a Devil Fruit through natural erosion was incredibly difficult and time-consuming. That's why the Chimera fruit had remained sealed for so long despite its power leaking out. The absorption process could take decades or even centuries, far longer than a normal human lifespan.
That's probably why Vegapunk had once said that even if he published his methods, most organizations wouldn't be able to replicate the process.
Devil Fruits possessed a unique property that prevented them from rotting, but they could still be destroyed. If you crushed a Devil Fruit or even juiced it, would it still grant powers? And if so, where exactly was that power stored?
For Zoan types, the answer was relatively clear, the power resided in the Lineage Factor, the genetic blueprint that determined the transformation. That was also why Zoan fruits were the easiest type to artificially recreate, as proven by Caesar's SMILE fruits and Vegapunk's own experiments.
Most of the weapons that displayed Devil Fruit abilities were indeed Zoan types, which meant that Lineage Factors could somehow be absorbed by or infused into inanimate objects.
But how did you extract a Lineage Factor from a Devil Fruit in the first place? That was probably the real secret, and the reason why Vegapunk's methods couldn't be easily copied even if he shared them openly.
Marcus stared at the Shichiseiken.
The sword already had a "demon" inhabiting it. So what would happen if that demon encountered another demon? If this cursed blade tried to consume a Devil Fruit?
It was worth testing.
He arranged all five Devil Fruits in a semicircle in front of the sword, which was leaning against the table.
"Take your pick," he said calmly. "If you want one, just wrap it in your cursed aura."
He knew the sword could understand him perfectly well. It was sapient enough to choose its wielders and corrupt their minds.
The purple ghostly aura surrounding the blade flared briefly. For a moment, he thought it was going to claim one. Then the aura retracted, settling back into the sword like a disappointed cat.
"What, none of them good enough for you?" Marcus muttered, picking up the Shichiseiken to get a better sense of its response.
The answer came through clearly in his mind.
Contempt.
The sword essentially considered all five fruits beneath its notice.
He had to admit, from the sword's perspective, that assessment wasn't entirely wrong. None of these fruits were particularly powerful. The giraffe, tortoise, and velociraptor were all relatively mundane transformations that wouldn't significantly enhance the sword's already considerable abilities.
As for the Bubble-Bubble and Sickle-Sickle, they were even less appealing.
The Sickle-Sickle Fruit might let an ordinary person throw air slashes like a swordsman, but anyone who tried to wield the Shichiseiken would immediately be corrupted by its curse and transformed into a mindless puppet. And once someone became the sword's thrall, generating flying slashes through pure cursed energy was trivial anyway.
So yeah, that ability was completely redundant.
"Guess you've got standards," he said, setting the sword down.
He pulled out a few more Devil Fruits from his inventory, the Bomb-Bomb Fruit, the Munch-Munch Fruit, the Shroom-Shroom Fruit, and the Whisper-Whisper Fruit.
The Bug-Bug Fruit, Model: Mantis was still being converted, so that one wasn't available.
The Shichiseiken's aura flickered dismissively at this new selection. Still not interested.
Marcus gave up.
He began placing all the fruits into his conversion interface. The transmutation tablet could break down pretty much anything into raw energy value, and Devil Fruits converted at a rate of about 80 million EMC each.
Five fruits came out to 400 million EMC total.
Watching the energy drain away as the conversion process started, he didn't feel particularly bothered by the cost. Thanks to his recently completed Void Domain project, he could now generate tens of millions of EMC every single day just by letting the automated systems run. His energy supply was effectively unlimited, it was just a matter of time.
The conversion would take a while to complete.
Right on cue, there was a knock at the door.
He looked up, and walked over to collect the converted berries from the completed transaction.