"Kenta's academic progress isn't going well, is it?"
The woman in an ornate dress lowered her head, responding with visible reluctance:
"No."
"I heard that illegitimate child is quite clever, likely to inherit your husband's merchant association. Meanwhile, your son only cares about having fun."
Dier straightened up, his gaze fixed on the woman before him:
"Mrs. Marie, you wouldn't want to be driven out of your home by an illegitimate child, would you?"
"That's why I came to you." The woman lifted her head, pleading with a trembling voice:
"With your Hypnosis, Kenta can become as studious as he was a few days ago and surpass that damned bastard."
"So, what do I get out of this?"
"I... I understand."
Shakily rising to her feet, the woman removed the gold ring from her ring finger, then proceeded to take off her other jewelry one by one.
She's quite perceptive.
Looking at the jewelry now piled on the table, Dier nodded in satisfaction—this could fetch a good sum.
Wait, why is she unzipping her dress?!
"My husband has always been in poor health..."
"I think you've misunderstood what I want."
Dier quickly waved his hands, sizing her up before explaining:
"I only want money—cash, gold, jewelry, anything of value."
Though the married woman before him was still attractive, he was only twelve. Besides, he wasn't like Cao Cao, nor did he fancy women without substance.
Snap!
Dier snapped his fingers and called toward the door:
"Secretary, come in and explain our pricing to this lady."
Click~
Robin entered, ignoring the woman's stunned expression, and pulled a price list from her pocket:
"Mrs. Marie, your son is twelve this year. I recommend this six-year package..."
The two women began haggling, while Dier, with nothing better to do, leaned back and stared blankly at the ceiling.
It's been two and a half years already.
Kali Dier, twelve years old, a transmigrator who's been in the world of One Piece for two and a half years.
Currently working hard toward his goal of becoming the world's strongest while lying down.
His timing for transmigration was unfortunate—the original body, due to his delicate looks, had caught the eye of the underworld boss Amy. Unwilling to endure humiliation, he jumped into the sea to his death.
When Dier woke up, he was already adrift at sea.
Fortunately, he encountered Robin, who had just escaped from Ohara in a small boat, preventing him from setting the record for the shortest-lived transmigrator.
"Then, tomorrow at 2 PM, same room. Please bring five million Berries in cash."
Robin opened the door, smiling as she escorted Marie out: "You won't be disappointed."
Click~
The door closed again.
Robin took off her 10cm platform shoes and scurried to the sofa, rubbing her sore ankles as she asked:
"Do you really think she'll come? Five million isn't a small amount."
"Of course. The Hypnosis started the moment she walked into the room."
Dier closed his pocket watch and lazily explained:
"Right now, all she can think about is making her son surpass that illegitimate child."
Robin nodded thoughtfully, pulling out a newspaper from her pocket:
"The shop owner downstairs sent this up."
She then extracted a bounty poster from the newspaper, her voice laced with amusement:
"Your bounty has increased quite a bit."
"Really?!"
Dier sprang up as if electrified, snatching the bounty poster and eagerly scanning the number beneath the photo:
"Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands..."
The excited voice gradually calmed down, eventually turning into a gnashing of teeth:
"Damn Marines! This is downright bullying!!"
He angrily slapped the bounty poster onto the table. It featured a ten-year-old white-haired boy, with the bounty amount below particularly eye-catching.
[Accomplice Kali Dier, Bounty: 1,000 Berries]
[Often appears with the Devil Child. Recommended for capture alive to extract information on the Devil Child's whereabouts]
Back when he and Robin had rowed their small boat to the next island, they hadn't even caught their breath before the bounty posters arrived.
The Devil Child, Nico Robin, Bounty: 79,000,000 Berries.
Accomplice, Kali Dier, Bounty: 500 Berries.
Dier knew the nature of the World Government well. Whether he turned himself in or tried to escape alone without Robin, he'd most likely be disposed of as someone who knew too much about Ohara.
So he might as well stick with Robin—it was safer that way.
Now, after two and a half years on the run, Dier's bounty had doubled, a whopping increase of 500 Berries.
"What's the point of such a tiny increase? Are they trying to insult me?!"
"Of course it's useful," Robin said, sitting cross-legged nearby, waving a newspaper with mock seriousness.
"A newspaper costs 40 Berries. With 500 Berries, you could only buy twelve and a half copies. But long-term subscriptions come with discounts—1,000 Berries gets you a full month's worth, thirty whole issues."
Dier: "..."
Thanks to his company, Robin's personality had become much brighter compared to the original timeline. Where she had once been subtly mischievous, she was now openly so.
Zzzzt~
He stood up, tiny sparks flickering at his fingertips, and flicked Robin's forehead.
At the same time, he crumpled the bounty poster in his hand, his entire palm bursting into flames to burn it to ashes.
"I'm going to ask the shopkeeper to buy some things. What do you want?"
"Black tea and sandwiches."
"Got it~"
Click~
Dier pushed open the door and stepped outside. The two of them were currently staying on the second floor of an inn, which didn't offer shopping or delivery services.
Of course, if the "persuasion" was convincing enough, exceptions could be made.
Extinguishing the flames in his hand, Dier headed downstairs.
When he had crossed over into this world, he'd brought along a rather abstract golden finger with him.
[The Power of Belief]
He could only gain an ability if others believed he had it.
People with greater fame or strength provided more "belief." Different abilities required different amounts of "belief," and as "belief" increased, the upper limits of the abilities would also rise.
Apart from this rough explanation, the golden finger offered no further guidance.
No system interface, no companion spirit—Dier had once doubted its very existence.
Had seawater seeped into his brain and caused hallucinations?
Though there hadn't been a famously strong Sun God around who'd believe anything he said, there had been Robin—still untouched by betrayal, her mind relatively simple.
And very famous at that.
An 8-year-old with a 79,000,000 Berry bounty—the last person that outrageous was Charlotte Linlin, who'd gotten a 50,000,000 Berry bounty at age 6.
By tricking Robin, Dier had successfully mastered Hypnosis, confirming the golden finger's existence.
Hypnosis not only helped him acquire other abilities more easily but also allowed him to earn money and improve their living conditions.
Like right now, he was about to pass off 1,000 Berries as 5,000 to convince the shopkeeper to run some errands.
"Boss, could you go buy lunch for three people, plus two sandwiches, hmm?"
Bang!
The hotel room door was kicked open violently as a man in a black suit barged in.
Dier frowned and retreated behind the boss.
In the West Blue, those wearing black suits were mostly either mafia or World Government agents.
Brandon held a gun in one hand and two bounty posters in the other, shouting loudly:
"Have you two seen the people on these bounty posters?!"
The posters featured Dier and Robin respectively.
Unlike the Grand Line where monsters roamed everywhere, a 79 million bounty was genuinely high in the Four Blues.
And to make matters worse, the person carrying this bounty was just a little girl—hard not to be tempted.
"I've seen them!" Before the boss could reply, Dier stepped forward, rubbing his hands in a mercenary manner:
"But as for the price..."
"Don't worry, you'll be well compensated afterward."
"Great!" Dier feigned excitement, raising his head to stare intently into Brandon's eyes:
"Shall we go upstairs to talk?"
Brandon, who had been about to take Dier back, paused as a thought flashed through his mind:
"That's 79 million berries, and the target is just a little girl. I can handle this myself—why bother reporting back to the boss? Why not just..."
"Fine, let's go upstairs!"
Seeing Brandon's reaction, Dier secretly sighed in relief—another weak-willed guy.
Unlike ordinary hypnosis that required verbal cues and props, he could perform hypnosis just by making eye contact.
Though using props and verbal guidance made it easier and more effective.
Just now, he had used hypnosis out of thin air to stir Brandon's greed.
The two went up to a room on the second floor—one Dier specifically used for hypnosis.
While Brandon was still examining the spiral-patterned tablecloth, Dier lightly tapped his forehead three times.
Petals fluttered down as his bloated face transformed into a refined one, nearly identical to the one on the bounty poster.
A Flower-Flower Fruit user could make any part of their body bloom like flowers, growing on any tangible object within sight.
Besides hands and feet, they could also grow facial features like cheek flesh to alter their appearance.
This was something Dier had learned from a novel in his past life.
The extra body parts could still convey sensation—three taps on the forehead was the signal he and Robin had agreed on.
Remove the disguise, reveal the true face.
Watching the chubby face before him suddenly turn into a delicate young man, Brandon looked puzzled:
"Who are you?"
Dier's lips twitched. Sure, his white hair was dyed black, but was it really that hard to recognize him?
Typical face-blindness in the pirate world.
He pointed at the bounty poster. Brandon looked down, comparing it for four or five seconds before suddenly standing up, pulling out a flintlock pistol with a look of excitement:
"You're the 1,000 berry guy!"
The accomplice often seen with the Devil Child—79 million and 1,000 berries, here we come!
"That's rude. I'm not called '1,000 berries.'"
Dier raised his hands leisurely and said:
"I'm Kali Dier. I had a falling out with the Devil Child."
Tick~ tick~ tick~
The sound of the second hand kept turning as Brandon grew more and more excited, eagerly asking:
"You said you had a falling out with the Devil Child?"
"That's right, I'm tired of this life of hiding and running."
Dier leaned against the sofa, his face filled with sincerity:
"As long as Nico Robin is captured, no one will care about a small fry like me worth just a thousand berries."
"You take the bounty and live freely, while I disappear and live a peaceful life. We both get what we want."
"However," he straightened up, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the table,
"You'll have to tell me your plan of action first."
Tap~ tap~ tap~
Thud~ thud~ thud~
The sound of the second hand ticking, the faint scent in the air, the spiral pattern on the table.
Brandon's excitement gradually settled as he muttered,
"You... why do you want to know this?"
"To use this information to gain the trust of the Devil Child and achieve our goal faster, of course."
"...Makes sense."
His consciousness growing hazy, Brandon felt as if his mind was shrouded in fog, responding dully:
"Bullet has asked for our help in capturing Nico Robin alive. Right now, we're deploying our men to search the island."
"Bullet? Aren't they one of the Five Families? They shouldn't be short on money like this."
Dier was puzzled. He had a general understanding of the West Blue's underworld.
The mafia culture thrived here—gangs were everywhere, and many small nations were even formed by one or multiple syndicates.
The Five Families referred to the five largest mafia groups. While 79 million berries wasn't insignificant, it wasn't worth their deliberate effort—at most, they'd grab her if they happened to run into her.
Brandon shook his head and continued:
"Not sure. I heard through the grapevine that they plan to use the Devil Child to bribe the Marines and expand their business."