Roana Port, a secret room in the underground black market.
The pungent smell of cheap tobacco permeated the air.
A fat, fleshy black market merchant wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and pushed two extremely heavy black suitcases across the table.
“This is forty million Berries.
I have given you the highest possible rate for the liquidation of those jewels and gold items.” The black market merchant’s voice trembled slightly.
Across the table, the 2.4-meter-tall Sabo sat in his deep blue tailcoat, legs crossed with extreme elegance.
He didn’t bother to count the money; he merely glanced into the cases before closing them.
“Pleasure doing business.
Also, are the high-grade nautical medical kits and the special charts for the Grand Line that I asked you to prepare ready?” Sabo adjusted his top hat, his tone gentle yet carrying an air of pressure that made others afraid to act out of line.
“Everything is ready!
I’ve already had them sent to the port via the secret passage!” “Very good.” Sabo picked up the two heavy suitcases, stood up, and walked out of the room, which was filled with the stench of blood and greed, with a calm stride.
As the First Mate of the eclipse, he was already well-versed in handling such complex logistics and black-market transactions.
…
Half an hour later, at a top-tier private berth.
When Sabo returned to the deck of the eclipse carrying the cases, he stopped in his tracks.
Dozens of unconscious gang members lay scattered across the dock.
Buggy, the “Chief Steward” of the eclipse, was squatting among them, expertly searching their pockets.
“Poor wretches, they don’t even have a gold ring…
Ugh, they dare to be gangsters with this little pocket change?” Buggy grumbled while unceremoniously stuffing the handful of loose change and a few cheap pocket watches he had scavenged into his own pockets.
Even a mosquito’s leg is meat; this was the spoils of his “overtime” work in the middle of the night.
“Buggy, what happened?” Sabo raised an eyebrow slightly and stepped over the pile of grunts to approach him.
“Ah!
First Mate Sabo, you’re finally back!” As soon as Buggy saw Sabo, he immediately covered his money and put on a fawning face, looking for credit.
“Just now, a group of local gangsters who didn’t know any better tried to smash up our ship, but This Great Man swept them away like autumn leaves!
However, the Captain just brought a purple-haired woman into the living quarters.” “A woman?” Sabo’s eyes flickered.
He knew that Ace was never the type to be swayed by beauty.
Anyone Ace brought onto the ship definitely had special value.
Sabo pushed open the door to the living quarters.
An extremely rich aroma of roasted meat, accompanied by a shocking wave of heat, rushed toward him.
Under the bright lights, Sabo immediately saw the purple-haired girl kneeling on the leather carpet, her eyes glowing as she stared at a pile of gold bars.
Ace, with his toned upper body bare, sat cross-legged on an extremely large armchair.
His massive frame was constantly emitting scorching white steam.
This was a sign that the Vermilion Bird Fruit’s super-speed regeneration ability was operating at full capacity.
In the half hour or so since Sabo had been gone, Ace hadn’t rested at all; instead, he had been performing brutal, high-intensity muscle-tearing training in the room.
Relying on the perverse property of the divine fire to instantly repair damaged muscles, he had achieved in a short time the muscle density strengthening that would take ordinary people months to attain.
The price of this unconventional, self-abusive training was an incredibly terrifying consumption of energy.
At this moment, Ace was gripping a piece of roasted sea beast meat with bone, thicker than an average person’s thigh, chewing and swallowing it frantically like a whirlwind, using it to replenish the massive calories drained by his super-speed regeneration.
“You’re a bit slow, Sabo.” Ace swallowed hundreds of pounds of roasted meat in a few bites, tossed the giant bone into a trash can nearby, and wiped the grease from the corners of his mouth with a towel.
“Those guys at the black market always like to play tricks with the quality, so it took a bit more persuasion.” Sabo smiled and walked forward, carrying the two black cases.
“This is the forty million Berries in cash, plus some special charts essential for the Grand Line.” Upon hearing “forty million Berries,” Carina, who had been staring at the gold bars, instantly perked up her ears like a cat that had smelled fish, her gaze locking onto the cases in Sabo’s hands with extreme precision.
“Introduce her.” Ace raised his hand slightly, his intense blood energy gradually calming down, and the white steam faded into his body.
“This is Carina.
From today on, she is the Financial Manager of the eclipse.
However, she is currently on probation.” “Financial Manager?” Sabo looked at the excessively beautiful purple-haired girl, a flash of surprise crossing his eyes.
But he always unconditionally trusted Ace’s judgment, so he very gentlemanly placed the two black cases in front of Carina.
Maybe it’s not a big deal now… maybe it will be later.
“And If you’re enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!”