บท 376: Bribing a Clown
"This is a really simple matter, really. All you gotta do is keep your mouth shut about what you just saw, then rake in the benefits of being a good pal, you see." Cherry said.
"Er, what benefits are those?" Buggy asked, trying to look submissive but failing to keep the greed and anticipation from his eyes.
Cherry put a hand in a pocket that wasn't there before and turned it inside out. A deluge of gold coins, gems, jewelry, and other treasures poured out like a waterfall onto the floor.
Buggy's eyes got wider and wider as he saw the pile grow higher until it was taller than him himself.
"That ought to cover it, I think," Cherry said. "Don't you think so?"
Buggy shook his head up and down comically fast and wiped the drool from his mouth. He didn't concern himself with how he was going to explain all this newly acquired wealth that came from seemingly nowhere.
"Great. Now, where am I?" Cherry asked.
"Huh?" Buggy was confused.
"Where in the New World is this place? How far is it from, say, Totta Land?" Cherry asked again.
"Totta Land? There's no way I'd set up shop anywhere near Big Mom's territory, are you crazy?" Buggy snapped. "This is Karai Bari Island, nestled safely between that red haired bastard's turf and Whitebeard's territory, where it's nice and safe from the other two emperors."
"Oh, that sounds smart. You and Shanks go way back, I've heard, and Whitebeard wouldn't care what you do so long as you don't challenge him." Cherry rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
"Exactly! These dunderheads actually think I mean to attack both at the same time. Crocodile and Galdino are the only ones who really get it." Buggy felt a small relief to be interacting with someone else that didn't worship the ground he walked on.
It was very nice most of the time, don't get him wrong; but sometimes those guys run their mouths off and he has to play damage control while also maintaining his image. It was a really tough job!
"Galdino?" Cherry asked.
"The candle guy." Buggy clarified.
"Ah, yes, him…" Cherry really didn't care for the man. She briefly considered playing a 'prank' on the man before she left, but decided it wasn't really worth her time, at least not right now.
"Maybe I'll come by sometime and give you some pointers. You won't be able to keep that Crocodile under control with just your chop chop fruit, but if you're in a pinch then water will work wonders." Cherry said.
"Come back any time~!" Buggy said, with a big fake smile. He thought, 'And bring more treasure with you!'
Cherry gave him a casual wave and disappeared into the den den mushi.
Buggy ran over to it and examined it, but he couldn't find anything different about the sleeping snail, even after he woke it up.
"That's just spooky…" Buggy mused. "Should I set a trap for the next time she shows up? I bet she has a lot more treasure where that came from if she's willing to use this much to buy my silence. Maybe I should sell this information too?"
"I wouldn't if I were you." the den den mushi spoke in Cherry's voice.
"EEP!" Buggy squealed. "I-I was just joking! Promise!"
The den den mushi said nothing more, just staring into his eyes and perhaps, Buggy thought, his very soul.
Cherry hadn't actually heard him say that, but rather had sent the message from inside the snail-scape because she expected that Buggy might get funny ideas after she left. This way, he'd think she could be listening at any time.
She had a rough idea of where the borders of the emperors' territories lay, so she knew that she was at least heading the correct direction in the real world.
This time she did several large jumps in a row before taking a peek outside.
Cherry was more careful this time, using the den den mushi's own sense to look around after waking it up. The dream shifted from a bloody battle ground to a blank space with the den den mushi floating inside.
When she peered through its senses she found herself on a ship which was clearly one of Big Mom's judging by the confectionary style decor.
"Did I do all of that just to wind up right back where I started?" Cherry wondered, feeling irked.
"Hey, how long do we gotta stick around in this loser sea again?" a voice asked. Cherry saw it was a rather large man who was probably a subordinate rather than a member of the Charlotte family.
"I tolds you already! We're sticking around til the wedding's over and the orders pass down from Mama that we can leave. Or until we gets the order to kill that newbie's gramma, one or the other." Another goon spoke and spat into a spittoon.
"It's been a while since I've got to knife a weakling. I sure hope that girly doesn't show." The first goon said.
"Shut yer yapper. She might be an old lady, but she's a Kuja, remember? If it comes down to it, we'll sneak in a knife her when she's sleepin'." The second warned.
"I thought the Kuja was good at observation haki?" Soon-to-be-dead goon number one asked.
"Oh, yeah, yer right. Guess we can blow 'em to smithereens. That's always fun to watch." Soon-to-be-dead goon number two corrected himself.
"No, no, the best way to kill a Kuja, or anyone for that matter, is to sink them out at sea. The oceans are the great equalizer; it isn't just deadly for devil fruit users," Cherry said.
"Now that's a good idea! How'd you think of that one, Jules?" Goon two asked.
"It wasn't my idea…" Goon one said.
Both of the goons turned to see a woman holding their ship's den den mushi in one hand, and her other hand raised in a fist.
"Hey, don't I know… What's that sound?"
*thump thump* *Thump Thump* *THUMP THUMP*
"Have a nice bath~!" Cherry spoke as her heart roared like thunder in her chest.
*BOOM!!!!!*
Cherry skipped through the air away from the quickly sinking front and back thirds of the Big Mom ship. The center third had been reduced to mulch.
She bounded up higher into the air so that she could see much farther.
"Oh, there it is!" Cherry spotted her birth place in this world, Boulder Island, on the distant horizon.
Well, not exactly distant for Cherry. It took barely a few minutes to cross the distance, and even then that was purposefully moving slower than sound to prevent a shockwave.
Cherry touched down on a dock, a few people giving her strange looks. Pebbleton was somewhere between a small and large town, so it wasn't the sort of place where everyone knew everyone.
Of course, the island was home to a marine base, so naturally there were some marines milling about the docks. All of whom immediately recognized her, remembered what happened to the marines who confronted her last time she was here, and wisely decided that this was clearly a case of mistaken identity.
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