Feeling the fresh ocean breeze vanish, replaced by the dry, blistering heat of the desert, Alex looks down at Sandy Island just beneath them.
The entire damn Island looks like a small sandbox from up here. The only thing I can spot is the large river cutting the island in two.
"Man, it would be hell to actually use a damn boat to travel to all these islands—or worse, go through the desert. And there's also this big-ass river that cuts the island in two. Without your Devil Fruit, we'd really be screwed, Tereza," Alex says.
Giving her that fruit really paid off. Maybe I should've just eaten it myself. Honestly, I regret it a little. The ability to fly around with no restrictions is just broken. Who cares about a few more stats, a strong spell, or some combat ability? Movement! Movement is the damn key. Her Fruit might as well be a Black Quality Skill. She gets a huge chunk of stats, she can somewhat heal and strengthen herself freely by sucking the blood of others, and she can fly around with almost no limitations. Well... what's done is done.
With the smouldering heat below, Tereza continues her flight until the medium-sized city of Rainbase comes into view.
Despite being far away, Alex can already spot the most important and memorable part of the city in the center—Rain Dinners, personally run by Crocodile. It's a massive casino, restaurant, and resort, built in the shape of a giant pyramid with a huge crocodile statue perched on top.
"Let's land a little bit away from Rain Dinners, on the outskirts," Benezia suggests. "If possible, I don't want to announce our arrival so openly. That way, we can take a look around first... and also summon Menchi."
Tereza skillfully adjusts their course, shifting slightly so that the sun is directly behind her, making it almost impossible to spot her, before descending just outside the city.
As she lands, Alex and Benezia quickly jump off, and she shifts back into her human form. Alex immediately notices her entire body glistening with sweat—obviously suffering under the heat just as much as he is, if not more, considering how long she's been flying.
"Maybe we should buy a pair of shears and shorten that pelt a little," Alex jokes, prompting Tereza to shoot him a glare.
That was mean...
"Sorry," Alex says, immediately regretting the comment. He steps forward and gently grabs her shoulders. "I'm grateful you pushed yourself so hard. I really appreciate it."
"It's fine..." she mumbles, obviously embarrassed, turning her face away.
Princess Jewel doesn't understand! A mount should do what a mount does. Why is Soulmate making a big deal out of it?
"As much as I'd love to disagree with Jewel, she has a point. We all have our roles, and I'll do anything I can... so don't mention it," Tereza responds, before stepping forward. "Let's check out the city. It looks really beautiful. I'll activate my [Purple Lottery Token] later when we can relax."
Alex finally takes a proper look at Rainbase. With Rain Dinners at its center like a castle, the city spreads out with expensive-looking, mid-sized buildings surrounding it. The architecture has that typical 'desert feel', reminding him of classical buildings from movies and games in the real World. Yet most of the structures are built with great care and elegance, clearly owned by well-off residents.
"This city... is much larger than I thought," Alex comments. "Also... I mostly see middle-class and high-class buildings. This really is a city for the rich, it seems."
Who else has money to gamble away? Especially when Arabasta is going through a drought, caused by abusing Rain Powder and a rebellion.
"System. Please summon Menchi!" Alex finally says.
[Summoning Supporter Menchi
Remaining Time until summoning: 49 Minutes, 57 Seconds
Warning: If the player leaves the vicinity of the current town, the summoning process will be cancelled.]
"Huh?" Alex mutters. "So it takes some time to actually summon her?"
"Of course. It would be illogical if you could instantly teleport her whenever you please. I believe the actual time depends on the scope of the mission. Since we are not that far away from Whiskey Peak, at least compared to the entirety of Paradise, it doesn't take that long," Benezia explains confidently.
"I see..." Alex responds.
Didn't know about that. Guess it didn't come up because the circumstances for the last missions were different, and I mostly used Menchi as a combat Supporter.
"We might as well take a walk until then," Alex suggests, following Tereza, who is already a bit further ahead. "We have around 6 million Belly, so we can even check out the shops!"
Maybe this time, Princess Jewel can buy a few beautiful gems and finally start her collection.
Alex smirks as he hears the word collection, but decides to stay silent.
"Little one, don't be silly. We won't spoil you," Benezia admonishes her. "We are only spending Belly if we get tangible benefits. Items to turn into FC, items to trade, items that will help us on our mission."
Princess Jewel disagrees with the premise of Benezia's argument. Shiny gems are incredibly useful!
How? ... Well, no use arguing with her.
"Let's just move on..." Alex complains, following Tereza, who mercilessly presses ahead.
The group walks through the busy town, passing by simply dressed workers, well-dressed locals, and travellers from other regions. The closer they get to Rain Dinners, the more crowded the town becomes—and the more luxurious the buildings appear, clearly showing where the wealth is concentrated.
As they reach the heart of the city, Alex suddenly raises his hand.
A weapons shop! At least judging by its logo!
"Let's check it out," Alex says, stepping inside with Benezia and Tereza following close behind.
Inside, the shop is lined with impressive weaponry—from katanas to classical medieval swords, spears, axes—everything is represented. Alex also notes a variety of weapons fitting Arabasta's culture. Strange hybrids of axes and spears, curved sabres, and other exotic designs.
His eyes are immediately drawn to a shining, oversized shamshir adorned with gems.
[Luxurious Traditional Shamshir (Display)]
World: One Piece
Quality: Light Blue
Type: Sword (Shamshir)
Required Stats: STR - 5, PHY - 5, AGI - 4
Durability: 30/30
Damage: 15-35
Effect: Pricy—Can be sold almost everywhere for a high price.
Effect: Increases CHA by 1 (Flat boost, not increased by skills)
Note: A luxurious silver Shamshir, adorned with expensive gems, that will draw eyes wherever you go.
Note: Due to its focus on appearance, it has extremely low durability and is not intended to be used in actual combat.
"Are you seeing this?!" Alex asks, grabbing the shamshir from the rack.
But what does Display mean? Can it be? I'm getting reminded of the shop behavior in Final Fantasy 9.
This probably means that Princess Jewel can't just steal it, since this shop seems to be recognized by the system.
Damn, what a shame... but I guess it makes sense. If it were possible, I would rob store after store. There might be stores that can't just be robbed.
These stores can be robbed, Soulmate! However, the items would simply be unrecognized by the system, turning this shiny sword into something almost worthless. However, Princess Jewel would still accept it for her collection!
"The little one is correct, if you ignore her silly comment at the end of her explanation. That's usually how it works, though there are exceptions—for example, stores in hostile areas. If we want items from this store, we need to actually buy them," Benezia determines.
"Excuse me, customer!" the store owner, a middle-aged man in traditional robes, yells as he rushes over. "This is a prized piece and you can't just touch it!"
"Shut up!" Alex says, waving the shamshir around to test its weight. "Is that how you treat a paying customer, huh? How much for this Shamshir?"
"It's worth no less than 10 million Belly! It's my most expensive piece! However, since you seem to be a smart trader, I can sell it to you for 9 million—that is my best offer. If you can't afford it, disappear!"
"10 million?! 9 million?! What are you, a scammer?" Alex snaps, starting to return the shamshir.
"What else do you got..." he asks shamelessly.
"..."
"..."
"Well... customer, at least you know you are out of your league. Let me show you a few more affordable pieces."
As the merchant speaks, a system screen opens in front of Alex, listing dozens of weapons.
Alex browses through it, spotting quite a few Gray, White, and even Green items, with the shamshir listed at the very bottom as the most expensive one.
He notices even White items cost almost a million Belly, with Green ones priced at least 2 to 3 million.
To his surprise, not only the [Luxurious Traditional Shamshir], but all the others are showing a discount of 10%.
That's my Basic Eloquence lvl 5! I guess it really shines here... no! If I get 10%, Menchi and especially Benezia would be able to get it even cheaper... that skill is useless for me. I need to think this through.
We only have around 6 million Belly. It's not worth blowing it all on a couple of items... that's what we should do if the mission ends. I guess it's nice to know we can always use our money to trade for decent items. The Shamshir looks interesting enough... it can be sold anywhere? So if we take it with us, we could always sell it for the currency of that world. It almost reminds me of the [Gold Bar] ... wait a minute! That's it! This is a great opportunity to finally dump most of them and turn them into items!
Alex smiles greedily as he, once again, stares at the [Luxurious Traditional Shamshir] on the wall.
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