บท 6: The Barto Mafia
Being alone on a ship in the middle of the oceans only leaves you alone with your thoughts as company.
I began to think about my dream.
How long will it be before I am Pirate King?There are people like Kaido and Big Mom who spent their entire lives working for it and they were close to achieving it, but not close enough.
I began to think about all the greats in One Piece. Kaido, Big Mom, Shanks, Whitebeard, Shiki, Roger, and the greatest one of all, the forgotten Rock D Xebec.
Rock D Xebec was such a mystery. When I read the story back in my old life, Rock D Xebec was the most polarizing one.
His dream was to be King Of The World, something harder than Pirate King.To do that, you would have to overthrow the current ruler, Imu and the World Government, and sit on the Empty Throne in Mary Geoise.
What a joy being The King Of The World would be.
My thoughts were interrupted as I could finally see the island where Mahogany Town is located. It's in the same island region as Shells Town so it wasn't that far.
I readied knowing some of the Barto Mafia might attack an unidentified ship, even if it doesn't even have a Jolly Roger.
The attack doesn't come though. I guess the Barto Mafia are not as act first, think later like some other mafias.
I docked my ship on the island, and immediately, tons of what I assume Barto Mafia members swarmed my ship.
"Step out of the ship and identify yourself!", one yelled out.
I step out with my hands, not wanting to cause trouble and potential damage to my ship. I could easily beat any people here, it's just that I don't want to.
"Chill out, I'm a up and coming bounty hunter, Portgas Ace", I introduced myself."I'm not a pirate or an enemy wanting trouble".
The mafia escorted me through the town. As I walked through the town, I see the evidence of the Barto Mafia ruling this town.
Their flag was plastered over the whole town. The crew's flag consists of a red skull with green, spiky hair on its top, similar to Bartolomeo's own hair, and crossed spikes on its bottom.
They took me to a large building. This was probably their headquarters. They took me to a main office where the man I was looking for was there.
Bartolomeo, the kingpin of the Barto Mafia.
When Bartolomeo saw me, he grinned a devilish smile. It is insane how this man went from a kingpin to a fanboy of my brother Luffy. Truly unfathomable development.
"So this was the man who you all alerted me of", he laughed."Tell me rookie, what are you here on this island for".
"I'm here to sell something to you. Not for money, but for valuables. I know you're big in the East Blue black market", I informed him with a straight face .
He hissed at me."Wherever you got your information was right, I'm one of the biggest in the East Blue".
I didn't get my information anywhere. I just thought if there was a mafia, like Doflamingo and his crew, they must be at least well versed in the Underground.
"What do y-"
"I have a lot of ores, including the fabled Rose Steel and many more rare ores", I said, not letting Bartolomeo speak.
One of the men behind me let out a surprised gasp."We searched your whole ship and we didn't find that. Dont waste our time with lies"!
I let out a laugh before speaking."I hid it before coming here. I didn't you if you guys would confiscate it or not."
"I can offer you a new ship.With the ship you got now, you wouldn't be able to get through Reverse Mountain without you and your ship being destroyed. You can keep the rest of the ores, I just want the Rose Steel", Bartolomeo offered me.
The Rose Steel I have is worth around 130 million beli. To put that into perspective, the Thousand Sunny is worth around 200 million beli. I need to see the ship first though before any decisions are made.
"Can I see the ship", I said.
Bartolomeo nodded and led me outside and after a long walk, we were on the other side of the island.
Right there, was a massive ship. If I were to estimate, It was a little bit smaller than the Thousand Sunny. This would dwarf my old ship, the one that was massively smaller than the Going Merry.
"Can I go inside", I said marveling at the sight.
He nodded and I rushed inside. It had everything. An actual kitchen, bathroom, multiple bedrooms and more. I'm definitely going to accept this.
"Deal Bartolomeo. Nice doing business with you", I shook his hands. This gets me closer to my dream, whatever my dream is. I have been having conflicting thoughts about it.
I used Geppo to rush to my ship and grab the Rose Steel. I brung it over to Bartolomeo and our deal was done.
Is this what the Underground is? I have to learn more about the black market. I still have a ton more ores. I will sell those later.
As I was deep in my thoughts, I was brought to the present when I heard Bartolomeo talking on his Den Den Mushi.
"Shit, evacuate the citizens to the east side of town.", he cursed through his snail.
"What's going on", I questioned.
" A hoard of bulls are rummaging through town. I told the citizens to evacuate. Nothing's worse than ruling a town with no people in it", he answered.
I hate rabid animals! Maybe I could get on Bartolomeo's good side if I beat the animals myself. Ace, your a genius!
I rocketed towards the town with my Geppo, surprising Bartolomeo and his men.
As I made it to the east of the town, I could see the chaos unfolding. The bulls were running through town, destroying homes.
I landed on the ground with a thud, alerting the bulls of my presence. They rushed towards me with killing intent, wanting to mutilate me and skewer me with their devil horns.
I closed my eyes, ready to blast them with my Conquerors. An image flashed through my mind.
It was me, same as always, but this time I was sitting on a throne. What could be seen was thousands of people bowing down to me. It was a pretty weird image.
I opened my eyes releasing my Conquerors. My black aura burst out, incapacitating all of the bulls in mere seconds. It covered most of the large town.That was probably my strongest Conquerors Haki feat yet and I had this for 8 years!
Having just arrived and seeing all the bulls unconscious, Bartolomeo's mouth was agape. He was amazed by such power I hold, and how strong was I?
__________
(3 days later:)
It has been 3 days since I have been here at Mahogany Town. I was called to the Barto Headquarters, as Bartolomeo said he wanted to talk to me before I left.
As I entered his lair, Bartolomeo was seated with his men.
"You arrived. Sit, I need to talk to you about an important business venture", he said being the most serious since I got here. I sat, wanting to know what he had planned for me.
"After your feat of power 3 days ago, I wanted to recruit you for a mission I had planned for a month already. The plan is to crash an auction and steal valuable products. It's being held in the East Blue in 3 months", he said, not a hint of his usual smile creeping up.
I was shocked.Crashing and stealing from an auction! What kind of a madman is Bartolomeo! Even though it was an insane idea, a part of me wanted to know more and possibly do it.
"Continue", I said, now getting serious.
" It's being held in the East Blue in 3 months. The main thing that is getting sold that I want is this Devil Fruit.It is called the Barrier Barrier No Mi. It can create impenetrable barriers. It's the ultimate defense. If you help me, I'll pay 300,000,000 beli.", he informed and offered me.
Oh, so this is how he gets his Devil Fruit? Batolomeo now sees me as someone he can trust. The price he's paying me for the task is beneficial to him, as the Barrier Barrier No Mi costs way more than that and you don't know what can happen in a auction.
"There is also plenty of stuff you might fancy yourself so you can steal that too. So Ace, will you help on this task" ,Bartolomeo continued and asked.
If it's being held in the East Blue, then I don't think anyone important or extremely strong will be there. It a low risk, high reward so why not?
I reached my hands towards Bartolomeo for a handshake. He smiled for the first time in the conversation and shook my hand.
It's crazy in a week and a half out on sea, I met up with a Mafia member and we agreed to crash an auction together.
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The chapter is done. I consider this to be my best chapter yet.
Check in tomorrow for another chapter.
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