章 68: Water 7
They docked the Going Merry on an out of the way cape outside of Water 7 on the advice of an old man who was rather nonchalant in asking whether they were here to steal or not.
Old man Wacko and Pepperjack said goodbye to the Straw Hats and went their own ways.
Nami, Usopp, and Luffy took some of their gold to exchange for Beri. Cherry and Cabernet came along to do the same for their own gold.
Zoro and Serene stayed on the Going Merry.
Chopper and Robin went to explore, Cherry figured she would meet up with them a bit later.
Sanji on his own went to purchase supplies.
Walking through the city, Cherry picked up on the latest gossip. She learned there was going to be a big masquerade in San Faldo soon, which could be reached by sea train.
'Hmm, I'd like to check that out. The anonymity is sure to draw some interesting characters and that makes it the perfect place to hold an underworld auction.' Cherry thought.
Cherry also took note of the fact that there were 3 other devil fruit users within Water 7. She made a point to keep an eye on these individuals.
Nami negotiated with the appraiser for the Beri she would receive for her treasure. She managed to squeeze 500 million Beri out of him remarkably.
She took her briefcases of cash from the man. "Do you need help with your exchange, Cherry?"
"No, I have it handled." Cherry said, then she piled up twice the amount of gold onto the appraiser's table.
The man's eyes shone with greed, then he looked up and met Cherry's eyes. In that instant he witnessed his entire life flash before his eyes.
Under Cherry's lifeless gaze, he went over each piece she had placed before him, sweating profusely all the while.
"I-" He gulped. "I-I'll give you 1.3 B-Billion Beri..."
He had only dared to leave a few percent of the value for his profit, lest he enrage the demon before him.
Cherry's maintained her cold eye contact with him for a few moments that felt like an eternity for the poor appraiser. Then she smiled sweetly at him. "Deal."
Cherry stuffed the money into Cabernet's chest cavity and left the building where the others were waiting.
"Tsk! Why did I have to be born so cute? If I had your eyes, I wouldn't even have to haggle..." Nami lamented.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you, we're being 'secretly' tailed by some amateurs. So don't leave your money unattended." Cherry warned. Luffy looked around in an obvious fashion, earning a fist from Nami and Usopp each.
""Don't let them know that we know!"" They loudly whispered.
Cherry decided to come along with them to the Galley La shipyard. Partly out of interest towards the supposed best shipyard in the world, but mostly because two of the devil fruit users were in that general area.
After a bit of hassle finding their way through the water ways, they finally managed to reach the Galley La shipyard.
Luffy, always the free spirit, tried to clamber over a fence clearly meant to keep non-employees out.
A man appeared out of nowhere in front of Luffy and stopped him with a tap on his head.
Cherry's pupils contracted. 'Those fingers are dangerous! And that movement technique, I'm pretty sure it's the same as that idiot who tried to sneak onto the Going Merry at Alabasta, only much, much better.'
Luffy wasn't at all nervous about or even aware that the man in front of him was a highly trained assassin.
"I'm afraid you're not allowed in here, young man. Employees only, let's talk outside." The man said, speaking a bit like an old man despite his youth.
"We're here to buy a new ship. Our old ship just can't take the punishment the Grand Line throws at her. Oh, and we have a recommendation from Kokoro to give to someone called Iceburg." Nami spoke her purpose plainly.
"Mrs. Kokoro, huh? Yep, this is her handwriting for sure. Oh, you can call me Kaku, by the way." Kaku said, handing back the paper.
He explained that Iceburg was the mayor and president of the Galley La company, so it may take some time to meet him as he's very busy.
"I'll go take a look at your ship. It'll be handy to know what you've got right now when addressing your needs in the new ship." Kaku said, then he was off, racing across the city.
"He's very convincing." Cherry spoke softly so only the others could hear him.
"What do you mean? Was he lying to us?" Usopp asked, concern visible on his face.
"Not really lying per se, more like pretending. That man is a world government assassin. And a damned good one at that. He could have poked a hole into Luffy's head just then if he'd wanted to." Cherry's words shocked them to the core. Luffy rubbed his forehead.
"What do we do?!" Usopp asked in fear.
"Well first of all, stop trembling like a newborn reindeer, it's suspicious. Second, he's not after us. He should be undercover for some mission of his." Cherry said, slapping Usopp on the back.
What are you guys whispering about? I'm hope your not looking to start any trouble, my shipwrights are perfectly capable of defending themselves." A man said as he approached with a secretary following behind him.
Cherry saw that the secretary was one of the 3 devil fruit users on Water 7, excluding her own group of course. She had a funny feeling about her.
"Is the report finished, Kalifa?" He asked the secretary.
"Yes, Mr. Iceburg. Straw Hat Luffy, Pirate Hunter Zoro, Nico Robin, and Cabernet. All together worth 489 million Beri. Most of them started in East Blue, but Cabernet's origins are unknown." Kalifa stated matter of factly.
Iceburg introduced himself and his new pet mouse, Tyrannosaurus.
Kalifa told him about his busy schedule, to which he replied that he "Didn't wanna!" and she canceled all of it.
After Luffy bluntly stated that he wasn't very reliable. Kalifa seemed to be angered by the disrespect and launched kicks at everything around her, though most of it only landed on Iceburg.
'Ah! There it is, that funny feeling I had. She's also a world government assassin, she even uses the same martial arts as that Kaku guy! She hides it very well, to constantly maintain an altered footwork and all that. Shame you had to go and reveal everything to me, and not just your panties, hehehe.' Cherry was satisfied to have found her answer so soon, though she showed no outward reaction to this revelation.
When Cherry came out of her thoughts she noticed something. "Hey, guys. I just told you not to leave your money unattended..."
"""Huh?!""" Nami, Usopp, and Luffy swiveled around to see a bunch of funny lookin fellowed rooting through the briefcases that Luffy and Usopp had set down.
Cherry didn't move to help them, as she felt it would be a good lesson to learn.
"The Franky family, huh?" Iceburg muttered.
The Franky family goons ran off with the suitcases, but were intercepted by one of the shipwrights, Paulie. When he realized there was money in the briefcases, though, he tried to run away with them too.
"Leave it to me." A man with a pigeon on his shoulder stopped Luffy from chasing after and disappeared, only to reappear on the boat and apprehend Paulie.
'Wow, another assassin. He's the other devil fruit user as well. A Zoan from the looks of it. I wonder if they're working with/for Iceburg, or if he's the target? Target is the most likely option, as they would be more spread out otherwise, I'd think.' Cherry thought.
Cherry sensed something else happening on the other side of the city at this moment. The third devil fruit user passed by Robin, then she followed them leaving Chopper behind.
'Now what's going on over there? This day is turning out to be very busy. Well, I'll just keep and eye on her, she's a big girl now so she can handle herself.' Cherry sighed inwardly.
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