Following the direction indicated by the Log Pose, Will sailed for nearly half a month before finally spotting an island.
There was something strange about this island.
The harbor was almost completely packed with ships of all kinds, although most of them belonged to pirates.
The docks were crowded with pirates and dockworkers hauling cargo back and forth, giving the place an extremely prosperous appearance.
After securing his ship, Will headed straight into town without the slightest concern for its safety.
When he’d originally designed the ship, he’d made it so that a certain amount of electrical power had to be input through the controls in the helm before the ship could be activated.
Will had even modified the required power level himself.
The exact amount was known only to him.
In other words, Will himself was the key to the entire ship.
No one else could even get inside.
And the Adam Wood used to build the ship was reputed to be one of the finest shipbuilding materials in the world.
Its durability was unquestionable.
That was why Will was completely at ease leaving his ship unattended.
Looking at the fierce-looking pirates around him, Will found himself rather surprised.
They were actually haggling with the merchants at the docks.
He couldn’t hear what they were arguing about, but some pirates looked deeply troubled while others wore expressions of sheer delight.
After asking around, Will finally learned the reason.
The island was called Toto Island.
It was famous for producing gunpowder.
And where there was gunpowder, there was naturally a thriving weapons industry—cannons, firearms, ammunition, and all kinds of other weapons.
The sale of weapons represented enormous profits.
As a result, many pirate crews and nobles had established themselves on the island.
The pirates were one thing, but with nobles involved, even the Marines were unable to bring the island completely under control.
The World Government eventually sent a more powerful noble family to consolidate the various businesses into a single organization.
In the end, the nobles took control, forming a commercial organization known as a trade association.
Will entered the town of Toto Island.
It was far larger than Loguetown.
It could hardly even be called a town anymore.
It was practically a small kingdom—and an extremely prosperous one at that.
Will wandered through the streets.
Thanks to the island’s pleasant climate, there were large numbers of ordinary residents living here.
The commercial district alone seemed to occupy nearly half the island.
Naturally, Will wasn’t about to ignore all the street food and luxurious restaurants lining the roads.
After sampling some snacks, he chose an especially lavish restaurant.
The moment he entered, Will realized that the restaurants he’d visited in Loguetown were nothing compared to this place.
This restaurant was practically a miniature palace.
The receptionist warmly helped him find a seat, and a beautiful young waitress soon approached.
“Sir, do you have a reservation?”
“If not, I can first introduce today’s specials and the various cuisines we offer.”
The young waitress had a soft, pleasant voice.
“Oh?
Today’s specials?”
Will was intrigued.
He’d heard of restaurant specialties before, but this was the first time he’d encountered the concept of dishes specifically designated as the day’s specials.
After all, transportation between islands in the world of pirates was hardly convenient.
Will had been at sea for some time now, yet the amount of meat aboard his ship hadn’t decreased at all.
If anything, it had increased.
He’d lost count of how many Sea Kings had tried to attack him and ended up becoming his provisions instead.
Clearly, aside from the unpredictable weather, just about everything else in the Grand Line was dangerous too.
“Today’s specials include grilled meat from a massive Sea King, cannonball fish soup, and golden mutton chops with rice.”
After listing several dishes, the beautiful waitress waited for Will’s response.
Will was initially incredulous.
This restaurant actually had giant Sea King meat and golden sheep?
As for cannonball fish, he’d never even heard of it.
Without hesitation, he ordered all of them.
Then he sat back and waited for the food.
While waiting, he struck up a conversation with the waitress.
Through their conversation, Will learned that the largest auction house on the island would be holding its monthly auction tomorrow.
Exactly what would be auctioned, however, was unknown.
When Will heard that there was going to be an auction, he immediately became interested.
He asked how large it was.
The waitress answered proudly that even a Devil Fruit could potentially appear at the auction.
Will became even more interested.
He decided to attend the next day.
Before long, the food arrived.
The first thing Will noticed was an unusual, intensely savory aroma.
It was the cannonball fish soup.
He took a sip.
The rich flavor seemed to explode across his palate.
Will immediately understood why it was called cannonball fish.
He then proceeded to devour the rest of the dishes with gusto, thoroughly enjoying himself.
After paying the bill, Will slowly walked out of the restaurant.
When he returned to his ship, fortunately, no foolish pirates had caused trouble.
He first went to the training room and completed his basic daily exercises.
Then he went to sleep.
The following morning, Will woke up and grabbed a box of Beli.
There was more than 100 million Beli inside.
He headed straight for the town’s auction house.
He’d already asked around about its location the previous day.
When he arrived, he found a large crowd lining up outside.
The auction was scheduled to begin promptly at eight o’clock.
Will joined the line.
He hadn’t been waiting long when a man dressed in black walked out of the auction house and approached him.
“Sir, if there’s something at today’s auction that catches your interest, approximately how much do you intend to spend?”
The man bowed politely before asking the question.
“How much I’ll spend?
I don’t know.”
Will shrugged.
“That depends on whether there’s anything good.”
“If I find something I like, I can probably spend around 100 million Beli.”
Will assumed the man worked for the auction house, so he answered casually.
The man’s eyes immediately gleamed.
He leaned close to Will’s ear and whispered something before leading him toward a small side entrance.
The man had explained that anyone carrying more than 100 million Beli didn’t have to wait in line.
After their funds were verified, they could enter directly and take a seat in the VIP section at the front.
Once Will’s money had been checked and confirmed, the man’s attitude became even more respectful.
He personally led Will into the auction hall.
Inside, Will discovered that the auction hall was considerably larger than he’d expected.
The seating was arranged in tiers.
The man led Will directly to the very front.
Unlike the ordinary seating behind them, the VIP area consisted of several round tables surrounded by spacious sofas.
After settling Will into his seat, the man left to attend to the other guests.
From the front row, Will noticed that several people had already arrived.
There was a stern-looking blond-haired old man.
A middle-aged fat man covered from head to toe in jewelry.
Another person wore a black robe with a hood pulled low, completely concealing their appearance and age.
Finally, there was a woman who looked like a wealthy noblewoman.
Will glanced at them.
He quickly lost interest.
None of them seemed particularly impressive.
Especially the fat man.
One look was enough for Will to tell that he’d indulged in excessive pleasures for far too long.
His body was practically hollowed out.
After waiting for more than an hour, the auction finally began.
The seats in the rear were almost completely full, while more than a dozen people had now taken their places in the VIP section.
The auction’s host turned out to be a small giant.
He stood five or six meters tall, and his booming voice was so powerful that he didn’t need a microphone.
After stepping onto the stage, the giant introduced himself and immediately began warming up the crowd.
Will found the sight fascinating.
He’d known that many giants in the world of One Piece had rather eccentric personalities, but he’d never seen one this entertaining before.
He couldn’t help laughing.
After a while, when the atmosphere was sufficiently lively, the host cleared his throat.
“Ladies and gentlemen!
Enough with the unnecessary chatter.
Let’s begin with today’s appetizers!”
“Fifty cannons and ten thousand firearms!”
“No reserve price!”
“Let the bidding begin!”
The moment the giant announced the first lot, the entire audience erupted in an uproar.
The cannons weren’t particularly remarkable.
But ten thousand firearms were an entirely different matter.
That was enough weaponry to wage a small-scale war between kingdoms.
The people in the front row didn’t seem particularly interested.
The rest of the audience, however, immediately began bidding.
The lot eventually sold for 40 million Beli.
The successful bidder was a young man whose eyes remained fixed on a bald, burly man sitting some distance away.
Judging from his expression, these weapons were clearly intended to deal with that bald man.
Several more items were auctioned afterward.
Will only bought one thing: a black pocket watch made from rare metal.
A red W was engraved on its face.
Will liked it very much.
He paid 2 million Beli for it and showed no interest in the other items.
The host noticed that the audience’s enthusiasm was beginning to wane.
There was only one thing he could do.
Bring out one of today’s treasures.
“This was originally supposed to be auctioned at the Sabaody Archipelago, but our auction house managed to obtain it first.”
“A beautiful mermaid from Fish-Man Island!”
“Her name is Joanna!”
“Starting bid: 100 million Beli!”
The moment the host finished speaking, the audience erupted into cheers.
There were even occasional sounds of people swallowing hungrily.
“110 million!
I’m taking that mermaid!”
“130 million!”
“170 million!”
The crowd seemed to go completely wild.
The fat man covered in jewelry had remained silent at first.
After waiting for the right moment, he suddenly roared:
“300 million!”
The auction hall immediately fell silent.
The fat man’s face was flushed with excitement.
Mermaids were extremely rare at auctions on Toto Island.
As for mermaids being auctioned at the Sabaody Archipelago, he wouldn’t even dare dream of it.
Those auctions were practically the domain of the Celestial Dragons.
Even having the money didn’t necessarily mean you had the courage to buy one.
In the end, he purchased the mermaid for 300 million Beli.
Inside the tank, the mermaid’s expression didn’t change in the slightest.
Her heart was already dead.
What remained was nothing more than a walking corpse.
After that climax, the auction continued with several valuable but relatively common items, followed by several human slaves.
Then an item appeared that made Will unable to take his eyes away.
It was a relatively thin notebook.
The host introduced it simply.
“A method for cultivating Haki.”
After the host finished his introduction, most of the audience had no idea what Haki even was.
Only a small number of people showed obvious excitement in their eyes.
Will was one of them.
He felt incredibly lucky.
He’d never expected to encounter a method for training Haki at an auction.
“Now, because of the special nature of this item, there will be no reserve price.”
“Anyone may bid freely.”
The stern blond-haired old man sitting in the front row with Will was the first to speak.
“50 million Beli!”
“I, Gatte, captain of the Mad Lion Pirates, claim this Haki training method!”
After making his bid, he casually leaned back against the sofa.
He was clearly confident.
Confident in the reputation of his pirate crew.
Unfortunately for him, he’d encountered Will today.
Will paid no attention to his declaration.
He calmly raised the bid.
“60 million Beli.”
Gatte’s eyes widened angrily.
He studied Will with an ugly expression before raising his bid again.
“70 million Beli.”
Will glanced at Gatte.
He had no intention of wasting time haggling with the man.
His voice rose slightly.
“100 million Beli.”
After making the bid, Will looked directly at Gatte.
If the man raised the price again, Will wouldn’t have enough money left to compete.
Will didn’t place much value on money.
What he valued was strength.
And Haki was undoubtedly one of the foundations for establishing oneself in this world.
Without Haki, fighting Logia users was simply too difficult.
You needed an elemental advantage—but not every Logia user had an obvious weakness like Crocodile.
Therefore, if this guy dared to raise the bid again, Will would make sure the Mad Lion Pirates became the Dead Lion Pirates.
Unexpectedly, Gatte didn’t continue bidding.
His face turned incredibly gloomy.
He stood up and walked straight out of the auction house.
Watching Gatte’s reaction, Will smiled.
He wasn’t laughing because Gatte had given up.
Rather, he had a feeling that this matter was absolutely not going to end here.
The thought made Will smile wider and wider.
Eventually, he even revealed a row of gleaming white teeth.
Today was destined to be an interesting day.
As a saying from his previous life put it:
“Book discussion group: 534789565.
Everyone there is pretty interesting.
If you’re bored, come join us for a chat.”