The cave fell deathly silent. To Nami and Carina, Aike's gentle smile looked exactly like a devil coming to collect their souls.
"Wait!" Carina shouted in panic. "I can trade treasure! All the treasure I've saved over the years, take it all! Just let us live!"
To make it believable, she even offered to leave one of them as hostage while the other fetched the money. Her voice dripped with desperate sincerity.
Too bad Aike didn't buy it for a second. In the original story, that's exactly how Treacher got scammed.
He looked at the hope in their eyes and replied calmly: "Treasure is the lowest form of currency to me. It's nowhere near enough to cover what you owe: the price for trying to trick me, plus the price for your lives."
His gaze was cold and indifferent as he towered over them. He liked Nami as a character, and Carina would grow into a stunning beauty later, but he was a businessman first.
"What… do we have to pay?" This time it was Nami who spoke. She bit her lip, staring at him with determined eyes.
She couldn't die here. Cocoyasi Village was still waiting for her to save it. No matter the cost, she would pay it.
"As I said before, only life is worth life."
"I accept." Nami's instant answer earned a flicker of appreciation from Aike. Even Carina was shocked; she had never seen Nami this decisive.
"And you?" Aike turned to Carina.
After a brief hesitation between survival and lifespan, Carina chose survival.
"Deal accepted!"
The same golden scale appeared again, but this time two contracts floated in front of the girls.
The terms were simple: In exchange for their lives, Nami and Carina would work for Aike for thirty years. During that time, everything they were and everything they owned belonged to him.
Nami read it once and signed without hesitation. Carina followed right after.
The price was steep, but they were alive.
"Contracts sealed!" "Any breach will be punished with the ultimate penalty!"
As the scale balanced, Aike's smile grew wider. Three deals today had netted him 21,000 transaction points. Nami alone contributed 20,000.
Now he understood the pattern: The value of the trading partner determined the points earned. Key characters like Nami (a main Straw Hat) started at tens of thousands. Supporting characters like Carina or Treacher gave around 500. Random nobodies? Less than 100.
"So from now on, I only deal with people who have names worth remembering."
After storing the cave's treasure (Treacher's years of savings, free for the taking), Aike glanced at the two girls and one cat whose eyes had literally turned into gold coins.
"Let's go. We'll talk about your job details back on the ship."
...
Libra — the name of Aike's ship. He had bought it from the system with the first transaction points he earned after transmigrating. It wasn't huge (a little smaller than the Merry), but for one man and one cat, it still felt empty.
That's why he had started recruiting crew. And when it came to choosing members, it took him exactly 0.01 seconds to decide: Why pick rough, sweaty men when he could have beautiful girls?
"Since you've signed the contracts, settle in and relax." "You've already felt the bond of the contract; don't even think about running."
First the stick, then the carrot: "As long as you work hard, you'll never lack money, power, or lifespan." "Even your deepest wishes can come true."
His meaningful gaze slid over Nami's left arm, lingering on the Arlong Pirates tattoo.
"For now, let Tom show you to your rooms. Clean up, then come find me."
Tom, who had been waiting impatiently, suddenly appeared in a perfect butler outfit. He bowed elegantly and gestured for them to follow, leaving both girls stunned.
Once they were gone, Aike lazily opened his status panel:
Host: Aike Physique: B- Soul: S+ Ability: Kyōka Suigetsu (S) Authority Level: 1 Transaction Points: 53,510 Dimensional Trade: On cooldown (8 days remaining)
Staring at his "fortune" of over 50,000 points, Aike sank comfortably into the sofa.
Three months had passed since he transmigrated. He'd arrived penniless on a deserted island and would have died without the Transaction System.
Thanks to the newbie gift (Aizen's Soul Reaper template from the Academy days), he adapted quickly and made a name for himself in the East Blue. A terrifying name, but still a name.
"Eight more days until the next Dimensional Trade. Hope I get a decent world this time."
Dimensional Trade was the system's once-a-month chance to visit a random other world for three days.
His luck so far had been awful. First draw: a post-apocalyptic wasteland where everything was already dead. He scavenged some supplies and left. Second draw: a normal modern world. The biggest haul? Adopting Tom after the cat got kicked out of the house. He never found Jerry, which he still regretted.
This time he just prayed for something usable. He wasn't greedy; anything from the Big Three jump series except One Piece would be perfect. Bleach would be ideal, considering his current powerset.
"As for points… I'll keep hoarding." Kyōka Suigetsu was already enough for combat, and thanks to sharing Tom's cartoon physique, his body wouldn't die easily. Better to save until 100,000 and upgrade his authority level; that's when the really good stuff unlocks.
Meanwhile, in the ship's bath…
Nami and Carina soaked in the hot water in silence for a long time.
"I never thought it would end like this," Carina finally muttered, looking lost. Her life motto had always been "a woman survives by her wits." But wits were useless against absolute power. She'd become a caged canary.
"At least we're alive," Nami replied calmly, accepting reality. Aike's words kept echoing in her mind: Even your deepest wishes can come true.
If he could steal lifespan itself… maybe Arlong wasn't such a big deal after all.
"Yeah… at least we're alive."
The bath fell quiet again.