"Say, aren't you being a bit too generous? Dropping two hundred million Berries just to recruit underlings. Pirates aren't worth that much in a place like the Grand Line. You've even got my men wanting to jump ship and join you," Bellamy said with a wide grin. He sat up, poured himself a glass of wine, and placed the bottle in front of Allen.
"That's just how it is when your reputation isn't loud enough. Besides, I've been worrying about having too much money and nowhere to spend it. If you're willing to let your men go, I'll take every single one of them on my ship." Allen picked up the bottle, poured himself a glass, and downed it in one gulp. Setting the glass back down, he added, "There's one more thing. I have information on a Devil Fruit located on an island near the Calm Belt called Erast. Do you have any reliable partners or channels that could help me search for it?"
"Erast? If I remember correctly, that place has become a deserted island. I heard everyone fled due to a sudden, drastic change in the climate." Bellamy looked puzzled, taking a moment to recall before answering, "Finding something isn't hard. As long as your intel is accurate, we can commission Shipping Magnate Umit or Giberson the Concealer. Those two channels are definitely reliable."
"They are both emperors of the underworld with business networks spanning the globe. If you can't get in touch with them, I can help you out. I'll waive the introduction fee, but the commission fee will depend on how detailed your information is," Bellamy said.
Allen pulled out a rough sketch and tossed it to him. "The fruit's appearance isn't recorded in the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia. It looks roughly like this, and it's white. That's all the intel I have."
"Not in the encyclopedia? That's actually a good thing. If it were a known rare fruit, they'd definitely fleece you for a fortune before you even had a chance to get your hands on it." Bellamy took the sketch, glanced at it, and pocketed it. "Is there a time limit?"
"For something like this, the sooner the better, of course."
"Fair enough. Then I'll commission both of them for you. You're not short on cash anyway. If they don't find it, it'll cost one hundred million Berries per month for each of them. If they do find it, you'll pay an additional fee equivalent to the market price of a Devil Fruit."
"Since it's an unrecorded fruit, we'll calculate it at the market price of three hundred million Berries. That going rate shouldn't be a problem for you, right?" Bellamy chuckled.
"Spending five hundred million Berries to find an unknown fruit... this deal doesn't sound very cost-effective. Whatever, I'll leave this matter in your hands," Allen said, waving his hand dismissively.
"Alright, I'll go contact them. Honestly, you really have a soft spot for Devil Fruits. With that kind of money, you'd be better off enjoying life." Bellamy shook his head in incomprehension. He stood up, signaled his men to leave, and waved without looking back. "I'm off. Wait for my news."
...
Meanwhile.
A small caravel with a white sheep's head figurehead slowly sailed into the port. Several figures disembarked and walked into Mock Town.
"Why are there so many pirates here?" Walking down the street, Zoro looked around at the surrounding figures, while Usopp and Chopper cowered and shivered behind him.
Luffy grinned, humming a tune as he took large strides at the very front of the group.
Vivi followed timidly behind, her hands tightly gripping his red vest as she looked around nervously. "Luffy, shouldn't we find a place to ask about the Log Pose first?"
"Huh? Did you say we should find a restaurant to eat?" Luffy turned his head back blankly and asked.
Vivi rolled her eyes and yelled angrily, "I said we need to ask about the Log Pose!"
"Honestly, I only came aboard because I was worried you guys didn't have a navigator, and now we run into this situation the moment we set sail." Vivi dropped her head in disappointment. "I feel like such a failure..."
"Um... don't say that, Vivi. You're already amazing."
"Yeah, yeah! If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have even made it to Alabasta." Usopp and Chopper quickly stepped forward to comfort her.
Zoro suddenly noticed something and looked toward the end of the adjacent street. "Luffy, it looks pretty lively over there."
"Eh?" Luffy turned his head curiously. Suddenly struck by a possibility, his eyes lit up. "Could it be a free food tasting? Let's go check it out!"
...
In front of the Tropical Hotel.
Luffy and the others reached the end of the street and squeezed through the tightly packed crowd. At a glance, they saw pirates engaging in martial arts and combat in the open clearing ahead.
Off to the side, others were demonstrating their cooking skills, carpentry, acrobatics, and various other performances.
"What are they doing?" Vivi watched these people with curiosity.
A nearby pirate glanced at her. "They're taking the crew entrance exam. Aren't you guys here to sign up?"
"An entrance exam? Ah, no, we just came over to take a look out of curiosity," Vivi said with an awkward laugh, waving her hands repeatedly.
Hearing this, Luffy immediately felt disappointed. "What the heck? I thought it was a free food tasting. I got excited for nothing," he said with a bored expression.
"Free food tasting? Hahahaha! If you manage to join, you'll never have to worry about food or drink again! The moment you board the ship, they hand you one million Berries," the pirate said with a loud laugh.
"One million Berries!" Hearing this, Luffy and the others widened their eyes in astonishment. Looking back at the clearing, they suddenly understood why the place was so bustling.
"Damn rich people."
"I'm so jealous."
"Why don't we just have Luffy join them? We can barely afford to feed him on our ship anymore."
"Makes sense."
Usopp and the other three pulled long faces, staring at Luffy in utter speechlessness. Feeding this massive glutton who ate ten people's worth of food in a single meal had left them completely flat broke.
Right at that moment.
Nami and Robin, who had just returned from shopping, were carrying bags of all sizes. They bypassed the crowd taking the exam in the clearing and walked toward the entrance of the villa hotel.
"Eh, Nami?" Seeing the familiar figure, Luffy's eyes lit up. He jumped up excitedly, waving his hands and shouting, "Hey—! Is that Nami? Over here, over here!"
"Hm?" Hearing the voice, Nami turned her head in confusion. Her gaze pierced through the crowd, and she was instantly pleasantly surprised to see the conspicuous, bouncing figure. "Luffy?!"
...
A short while later.
Inside the villa's open-air restaurant, the hotel was providing an unlimited supply of various delicacies and fine wines. Countless pirates were lively singing and dancing.
There were singers, dancers, jugglers, magicians, and even beast tamers putting on shows.
They were all members of a crew called the Circus Pirates. A while ago, they had the misfortune of running into a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral on patrol. After suffering heavy casualties and losing their captain, they had drifted to Mock Town.
The remaining dozen or so members had been living on the streets here for some time. After hearing the news of Allen's pirate crew recruiting last night, they rushed over today and successfully got accepted onto the ship thanks to their outstanding performance skills.
In addition, they had also recruited over thirty lone or defecting chefs, doctors, showgirls, and shipwrights.
At the same time, there were over ninety combatants. It wasn't that fewer than a hundred people had applied, but rather that only these ninety-odd individuals had passed the combat assessment.
In just a single morning, the number of people on the *Freewill* suddenly surged to just over three hundred.
However.
"Why did you recruit so many women? I can understand the showgirls, but why are more than half of the lifestyle professions filled by women?"
Sitting on the sofa, Allen narrowed his eyes and stared questioningly at Sanji. "This was definitely your idea, you idiot."
"What kind of accusation is that! What are you saying!"
*Smack!*
Sanji slammed his large hand on the table and shouted his rebuttal with righteous indignation. "Didn't you say there were no restrictions on lifestyle professions?! They applied, so I accepted them! What's wrong with that?!"
"Then why are they all young girls? Is it just a coincidence that everyone who passed the assessment happens to be young?" Allen gave him a speechless, sidelong glance.
Sanji guiltily turned his head away but remained stubborn. "So what? Is there a problem with being a little more accommodating to young ladies?"
Allen: "..."
"Forget it. What's done is done. It's fine to have a few more girls on the ship; there's still an empty floor in the crew dormitories anyway."
"We'll plan out the management details later. I'll leave that part to Robin," Allen sighed helplessly, tossing the recruitment roster to Robin.
Then, Allen looked at Nami. He pointed across the table at Luffy and his crew, who were wolfing down food like starved beasts, and asked with a speechless look in his eyes, "And what's your situation? Where did you pick up these beggars?"
"Hehe, we just happened to run into each other. I saw it was almost mealtime, so I let them come in together," Nami said with a playful giggle. She twiddled her fingers, looked up, and gazed at Allen with feigned pitifulness. "You won't blame me for acting on my own, will you?"
Allen: "..."
*You're just using every trick in the book on me, aren't you.*
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