The so-called golden apples were nothing more than ordinary apples painted with gold-colored varnish, a scam designed to trick out-of-towners.
Only the gullible or overly naive would fall for such a ruse.
And yet, somehow, Shanks—a man who had lived nearly thirty years—seemed to believe it...
But Shanks had already given away all his money in the previous town. At this point, he didn't have a single coin left, not even enough to buy a bottle of water.
"Takumi, can you lend me 1,000 Berries?" Shanks immediately turned to Takumi for help.
Takumi refused outright, "No."
"Come on, it's a golden apple! Just one bite, and you can live for a thousand years..." Shanks mumbled, a bit disappointed but still unwilling to give up.
Takumi, uninterested, continued walking forward.
Shanks had no choice but to follow along.
The vendor selling the golden apples watched the two of them leave, a puzzled look on his face. "Are their roles reversed or something? The kid seems more like the adult..."
During their trek through the desert over the past two days, they occasionally encountered creatures that didn't fear death and would attack from beneath the sand. So, finding food wasn't really a concern.
Though Takumi had plenty of food stored in his system's inventory, with Shanks constantly watching him, he couldn't exactly pull food out of thin air in front of him.
As a result, they'd spent two days feasting on the natural 'meat buffet' provided by the desert.
Now that they were in a town, it was time to finally enjoy a proper meal.
Takumi chose a random half-tavern, half-restaurant.
He ordered a table full of dishes and two bottles of fine wine.
Shanks, not one to stand on ceremony, sat down opposite him, clapping his hands together with a grin. "Thanks for the meal! Let's dig in!"
Takumi ignored him and started eating on his own.
Shanks didn't waste any time either, shoveling food into his mouth as if he hadn't eaten in days.
Meanwhile, at the table next to them, two nervous-looking men were huddled together, speaking in hushed tones.
"Are you sure it's tonight?"
"Yeah, but I heard you need a ticket to get in. Heh, luckily, I managed to get two."
"Hahaha, I might not be able to afford anything too expensive, but it'd be cool just to see what that so-called treasure of the sea looks like."
Their voices were low, drowned out by the general chatter of the other patrons in the restaurant.
Nevertheless, Takumi and Shanks heard every word crystal clear.
"Takumi, do you think the 'treasure of the sea' they mentioned is what I'm thinking of?" Shanks asked, his mouth full of food, speaking with little regard for table manners.
Takumi remained silent, not bothering to respond.
As the last dish—a large plate of stir-fried noodles—was brought to their table, Takumi turned to the waiter and asked, "What's the name of this town?"
The waiter, puzzled, replied, "This is Yuba. You mean to say you didn't know where you were?"
No sooner had the words left the waiter's mouth than Shanks spat out his food, laughing. "Pfft, hahaha! This really is Yuba?"
"Uh, yeah," the waiter replied, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
Without saying another word, the waiter hurried off to attend to his other duties.
Shanks nearly fell over from laughing so hard. "Ahahaha! Takumi, don't you think this is a crazy coincidence?"
Takumi continued eating, indifferent.
He had to admit, it was quite the coincidence, almost as if it had been planned...
Could it be that there was a mission waiting for him in this town?
If so, it was probably related to that underground auction they had overheard.
As Takumi mulled this over, Shanks leaned in, speaking quietly, "Since we're here, why not check out that underground auction?"
Takumi glanced at Shanks, who was looking at him with eager anticipation.
After a moment's thought, Takumi nodded, "Alright."
Shanks was momentarily surprised, then broke into a broad grin and continued wolfing down his food.
To attend the underground auction, they first needed to get their hands on tickets.
While it wouldn't be difficult for Takumi and Shanks to force their way in, doing so would likely cause a commotion.
And that would only lead to more trouble... trouble Takumi preferred to avoid.
Better to enter through the proper channels and avoid drawing unnecessary attention.
So, when the two men at the next table finished their meal and prepared to leave, Takumi tossed a pouch of Berries to Shanks, telling him to handle the tickets.
"Eh? Can't you come with me?" Shanks caught the pouch out of reflex, looking a bit deflated. "It's no fun going alone."
Takumi replied calmly, "If you don't go, we won't be going to the auction."
"Hey, that's not fair! You already promised me we'd go..."
"How are we supposed to get in without tickets?"
"Which is why you should come help me get the tickets."
"I'm not going."
"Why not?"
"Too much hassle."
Shanks: "..."
Sighing, Shanks put on his straw hat and reluctantly agreed. "Fine, but you'd better not sneak off while I'm gone."
Takumi, exasperated, replied, "I know."
Grinning, Shanks said, "Great, I'm off then."
With that, Shanks got up from the table and followed the two men out.
As for Takumi, after paying for the meal, he left the restaurant and decided to take a stroll on his own.
When he passed a stall selling snake wine, Takumi paused.
He'd never tried snake wine before.
Gazing at the several snakes coiled inside the large, transparent jar, Takumi was considering whether to buy a cup to taste when he noticed a man and a woman walking past him.
The man had wavy green hair and golden eyes, his body wrapped in thick chains despite the desert heat. He wore a heavy, orange-yellow coat, and a pirate insignia adorned his teeth. The woman beside him had long, curly green hair, and wore a white dress.
Sensing that these two weren't locals, Takumi turned to get a better look.
Just a glance at their backs was enough for him to recognize them.
They were Monet and Buffalo from the Donquixote Family.
They were underlings of Donquixote Doflamingo, a man also known as "The Heavenly Yaksha"—a former Celestial Dragon who now ruled Dressrosa.
Given the timeline, Doflamingo had likely only recently taken over as the King of Dressrosa.
But what were his subordinates doing in Alabasta?
Clearly, they were here for the Devil Fruit that was going to be auctioned tonight.
If Doflamingo had set his sights on it, then this Devil Fruit must be something special.
"Hey, kid! You've been staring at this for a while. Are you going to buy some snake wine or not?" The vendor's voice snapped Takumi out of his thoughts.
Takumi refocused his attention on the large jar in front of him and, after a moment's consideration, asked, "How much?"
"It's 2 Berries for a cup, 20 Berries for a bottle. This is good stuff, lad—great for your health! Why not buy some to take home for the adults?" The vendor grinned.
Takumi handed over 2 Berries. "I'll try a cup first."
The vendor's smile faded slightly—he had been hoping to sell a whole bottle—but he poured half a ladleful of snake wine into a small paper cup and handed it to Takumi.
Takumi downed it in one go.
"Hey! That wine's too strong for kids like you!" The vendor started to protest, but it was too late.
The wine was bitter and had a strong, fishy taste—definitely the worst thing Takumi had ever drunk since arriving in this world.
"See? I told you it's not for kids," the vendor said, seeing the look on Takumi's face.
As Takumi was about to walk away, Shanks appeared in the distance, grinning and holding two golden tickets.
After a brief moment of thought, Takumi turned back to the vendor, pulled out 20 Berries, and with a slight smile, said, "I'll take a bottle."
******
Support me on Ko-fi at ko-fi.com/gered to read up to chapter 115!