Takumi had no idea that Vivi had decided to help him move past the supposed loss of a companion.
He didn't even know when he got a companion…
Red-Haired Shanks, Zoro, Sanji, and Chopper—at best, they were just friends he made while passing through different islands. They weren't really companions.
Meanwhile, on the Red-Haired Pirates' ship…
Shanks was having a grand time throwing a party with his crew.
Suddenly, he sneezed out of nowhere.
"Hahaha, boss, you're so weak! You caught a cold?"
"Captain, your health isn't great, is it? I think you should drink more snake wine to boost your strength."
"Yeah, snake wine is good stuff. Next time, we should have that Takumi kid send over some more, hahaha…"
The crew was having a good laugh at Shanks' expense.
But Shanks just rubbed his nose and grinned, "A cold? No way! Someone must be thinking about me. Maybe it's Takumi, that rascal. Hahaha… Come on, everyone, let's keep drinking!"
After Takumi got back to the inn, he emptied his wine gourd, but it wasn't enough. So he pulled out two more bottles of wine from his system storage, ones he'd bought on another island, drank them down, and then finally went to bed.
The next morning…
Takumi got up early.
Alubarna's morning market was bustling with activity.
He found a random breakfast stall, ordered a bowl of noodles, and started eating.
At the table next to him, a man in a mask, dressed in plain clothes, sat with his back to Takumi. The masked man dropped a round, heavy sack on the table.
Sitting across from him was a chubby middle-aged man dressed in luxurious clothing, wearing an orange bowler hat.
The middle-aged man picked up the sack angrily, opened it to check the contents, and after confirming it was all there, snapped, "Do you have any idea how valuable this thing is? What if you had damaged it by dropping it like that? I'm not paying top dollar for something that's broken!"
The masked man chuckled, "This thing isn't that fragile. Even if it was damaged, you'd still get the powers you want from it."
The middle-aged man retorted, "Hmph, I'm planning to keep it as a collectible. If it's damaged, what's the point of collecting it?"
The masked man waved him off, "Anyway, it's time you paid me."
"The money is yours, but 2 billion for just one fruit? You must be out of your mind. Don't think I don't know the market price for this. 1 billion, that's the most I'll give you."
The masked man suddenly let out a cold laugh and slammed his modified gun on the table, pointing it directly at the middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man hesitated, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. "Hey, hey, you're just a bounty hunter. How many bounty targets do you need to catch to make 1 billion? How about this: 1.2 billion, and that's final."
The masked man sneered, "The Navy bid 3 billion for this fruit at the auction. I'm offering it to you for 2 billion, which is a fair deal. If you want to negotiate, ask my gun what it thinks."
The middle-aged man scoffed, "3 billion? You're joking! There's no way anyone would pay 3 billion for a Devil Fruit."
The masked man laughed and pointed over his shoulder at Takumi, who was still eating his noodles. "That kid was at the auction. You can ask him, or ask any of your buddies who were there."
The middle-aged man looked in the direction the masked man was pointing and saw Takumi. He was momentarily stunned, then burst out laughing. "Hahaha, Hoss, are you kidding me? That kid can't be more than ten years old. You expect me to believe he was at the auction?"
"Why not?" Hoss chuckled, "Never judge a book by its cover. That kid's tougher than he looks, isn't that right?"
As he spoke, Hoss turned to Takumi and flashed a grin.
Takumi wasn't interested in their conversation, but since they were right next to him, he couldn't help but overhear.
It wasn't hard to guess that Hoss had brought the Flame-Flame Fruit, the one that was auctioned off in Yuba, to sell to the fat man…
As for how this masked guy, Hoss, managed to steal the Flame-Flame Fruit from under Akainu's nose, Takumi didn't know, and he didn't care to find out.
He was planning to finish his noodles and leave, but he was drawn into the conversation before he could.
Takumi chose to ignore Hoss.
The middle-aged man sneered, "I bet you're just trying to inflate the price by dragging some random kid into this. Maybe that kid is in on it with you."
"So, you don't believe me?" Hoss reached out his hand. "Then the deal's off. Hand the Flame-Flame Fruit back."
"Not a chance!" The middle-aged man clutched the fruit tightly. "Now that it's in my hands, you're not getting it back! I hired you to steal this fruit in the first place. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't even know it was being auctioned in Yuba. I've changed my mind—I'll give you 500 million, no more. Take it or leave it. And remember, this is Alubarna, the most well-guarded, prosperous city. Do you really think you can kill me here?"
Hoss chuckled again, then calmly picked up his gun and aimed it at the middle-aged man's head.
The middle-aged man smirked and stared him down. "500 million, or you'll have the Alabasta Kingdom Guard chasing you. Make the wrong move, and you'll be…"
Before the man could finish his sentence…
There was a muffled bang.
A special bullet, three times smaller than a regular one, drilled into the man's forehead at high speed.
The man's eyes widened in shock as he collapsed face-first onto the table, blood pooling underneath his head.
"Ah! Murder!"
"Oh my God, someone just killed a man in Alubarna… This is terrifying! Where's the guard? Where's the guard?!"
Screams erupted all around them.
Hoss, however, seemed perfectly calm. He got up, snatched the sack containing the Devil Fruit from the dead man's hands, and turned to Takumi, who was just finishing his meal and wiping his mouth. Smirking, he asked, "Kid, interested in this Devil Fruit? It's yours if the price is right."
Takumi, looking indifferent, stood up and placed money on the table for his meal.
He didn't bother responding to Hoss. Ignoring the chaos around him, he turned to leave for the tavern. But as he looked around, he spotted Vivi among the crowd.
At that moment, Vivi's eyes were wide with terror.
Igaram, who had been chasing after Vivi, finally caught up and pushed through the crowd. When he saw the man slumped over a table in a pool of blood, the first thing he did was cover Vivi's eyes. Just as he was about to ask what happened, he noticed Takumi was also there!
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