Chapter 423: Cheeky Little Bribe
Cherry checked the seas surrounding the Goa Kingdom quite thoroughly, but she predictably didn't find any sneaky Big Mom pirates lurking about. The only reason that she and Sanji had some was because they had been invited to the tea party.
Still, she would check out the last few places in East Blue just to be sure. Also because she wanted to see the places her crewmates grew up in and meet the people they cared about.
Before leaving the Goa Kingdom, Cherry made one last stop at Dadan's hideout in the mountains. Naturally there was no one there, as Dadan and the rest of her mountain bandits had drunk themselves unconscious at Makino's bar.
Cherry popped a small chest out of her pocket, filled to the brim with the most lavish jewelry that money could buy. She left a note inside that said,
"A hot mama like you should have something nice to wear.
With love, Cherry"
Cherry tapped the pen on her chin before adding, "PS - I took this out of Luffy's share~"
She turned her attention to the den den mushi in the room. She was initially surprised to find one here since even though they weren't that expensive, they weren't that cheap either.
Then she noticed that it was actually a standard issue marine den den mushi wearing a curly orange wig. Garp must have given it to her to contact her regarding the kids. Though according to Dadan's drunken ranting, Garp barely ever checked up with them. Irresponsible old coot.
'Should I pay him a visit and give a good kick in the ass for Dadan?' Cherry pondered.
'No… but maybe later.' She had other business to take care of right now.
Cherry whisked herself away into psychic snail dreamland.
After a bit of gallivanting about, Cherry found a den den mushi in the shape of a man wearing a local sheriff's uniform and had a distinctive pinwheel hat and mustache. It stood guard in front of a big prison cell full of fishmen pirates.
Knowing that she had the right place, she appeared inside the sheriff's office of Cocoyasi village.
*speeew*
Sheriff Genzo, this time without a snail for a face, spat out a mouth full of coffee in a spectacular spit take.
"Oh, I should have checked if anyone was around before I popped out. Whoopsie," Cherry said. "Pretend you didn't see that."
"..." Genzo took a moment to try and understand what it is that he wasn't supposed to see before giving up. "Sure…"
"Great! Have a bribe," Cherry slapped a thick wad of 10,000 beri bills onto his desk. Genzo was glad he didn't try the coffee again because he would have spit it out again.
"You can't bribe an officer of the law!" Genzo protested, perhaps a bit more forcefully than he intended.
"Oh, I got ya," Cherry picked up the money, making Genzo relax somewhat.
That momentary relief didn't last, though, as Cherry slapped it down again and said, "Please accept this humble donation to help your efforts in maintaining peace and order."
Cherry finished it off with a wink and a knowing smile. Genzo felt like he was about to have an aneurysm.
Genzo pushed the wad of bills back towards her and asked, "Is there some reason that you're visiting Cocoyasi village?"
Genzo had naturally already worked out why she was familiar, but he didn't have the same connection with Cherry that he had with the East Blue originated crew of the Straw Hat pirates.
He didn't feel the need to give her a warm welcome, as from his perspective she was a stranger and a pirate at that. Hell, for all he knew, Cherry could have had a falling out with the crew and may be here with ill intentions!
Not that he could do anything about it if that worst case scenario was, in fact, reality. Genzo took a sip of his coffee as he had a feeling he was going to need it.
"I'm hunting Big Mom pirates. Making sure they don't have any designs on your quaint little village, that's all," Cherry didn't hide anything and Genzo spat out his coffee.
"WHAT?!" Genzo shouted.
"Probably won't find anything though. I didn't on the last island I checked out," Cherry said, only somewhat assuaging the man. "I'm going to go have a look around then."
Cherry was out the door before Genzo could even stand up. When he did stand up, he could feel there was something in his back pocket. Reaching inside, he pulled out the wad of beri that he hadn't noticed was no longer on the desk.
"What the fuck? I was sitting down!" Genzo couldn't even imagine how she managed to do that.
Cherry was surprised that she managed it as well. It had only been an idea, that perhaps the pocket devil fruit power of her armor could do more than make pockets and perhaps access other pockets as well. She snooped through Genzo's wallet as she considered the possibilities.
She tossed the wallet aside without taking anything from it.
"Hey, you can't litter in our village!" shouted a man behind her.
"This village is under the protection of-!" another man exclaimed.
""Johnny and Yosaku!"" the two of them cried out in practiced unison.
Cherry's head slowly spun 180 degrees, wearing a smile that would haunt the two men's nightmares until the day they died.
"I~ found~ you~!" Cherry sang.
Johnny and Yosaku screamed like little girls as they held each, seeking what little comfort they could find in the embrace.
A few minutes later, the two of them had calmed down and realized that she was one of Zoro's crewmates, and Cherry had managed to stop laughing at them.
"That was mean, big sis," Johnny complained.
"How did you even twist your neck that far…?" Yosaku didn't really want an answer to that question.
"Like this," Cherry spun her head around a few times. The distinctive popping and crunching sounds of breaking bones make them feel sick.
""STOP STOP STOP!!!"" They begged her, clapping their hands over their ears.
Cherry chuckled as she rearranged her bones in the proper places. She didn't have to break them to do that, but their reactions made it worthwhile.
"Do you two know where Zoro's hometown is?" Cherry asked the question that she had wanted to meet them for.
"Zoro-aniki?" Yasuko looked thoughtful.
"He was the disciple of the Isshin Dojo, wasn't he?" Johnny said.
"Yeah, yeah, from Shimo… Shimotsuki village?" Yasuko added unsurely.
"That's right! I'm sure that's it," Johnny concurred.
"I can work with that," Cherry nodded in understanding. "Here, have a treat."
Cherry held out her hands and placed a gold coin in each of their own hands.
"Gold? I thought you were handing us candy?" Yasuko was confused.
"Do I look like I'm made of candy? I'll take them back if you don't want them," Cherry said.
"No, we want them!" Johnny elbowed Yasuko in the ribs, but they both thought to themselves, 'Are you made of gold, then?'
The answer to that question was yes.
"Now, then. Show me which of these tangerine groves belongs to Nojiko," Cherry said.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone