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"Is that a starfish?" Usopp asked, squinting at the thing that had landed.
"Looks more like a seashell," Nami replied after observing it for a bit.
"It's huge! I bet it's edible, right Sanji?" Luffy, of course, only cared about whether or not it could be eaten.
"If it really is a seashell, then yeah, we could probably grill it," Sanji answered, totally serious.
"…Doesn't really look like a shell to me."
Robin offered a different take.
"I think I saw something like this in a book once."
She pointed out the screws and mechanical parts on the shell's surface.
"It might actually be some kind of… merchant?"
As soon as Robin said that, the shell actually opened up.
And right in front of everyone, a man in an orange-yellow jacket climbed out.
He even struck a pose and said loudly:
"Man, I really thought I was a goner!"
Then he bowed deeply to the crew.
"Looks like you all saved me! I can't thank you enough!"
Luffy's mouth hung open. "Who are you?!"
The man straightened up and grinned cheerfully.
"Apologies! Allow me to introduce myself properly!"
"I'm the always-on-call, always-on-time traveling vendor—Ladybug Express! You can call me Lesles!"
"Pleased to meet you all!"
He struck another dramatic pose.
"Ladybug Express? What the heck is that?" Zoro asked, suspicious.
But Lesles didn't answer directly. He kept going:
"I was on the Esca when a sudden explosion sent me flying. I really thought I was gonna die—but then I landed here, and you all saved me!"
Then he pulled out a stack of booklets from the shell.
"As a thank-you, I'd like to give you some catalogs! Just one phone call, and we'll deliver your order right to you!"
Zoro raised an eyebrow, suddenly curious.
"Wait, you can deliver stuff on the ocean?"
Lesles beamed. "Nope! Sorry, dear customer~"
Zoro's face went completely dark.
Yup… totally scammed.
Teasing.
"Ohhh! This place is awesome!"
"No kidding, look at how much cool stuff they've crammed in here."
At that moment, Luffy and Usopp had made their way up to the conch and were staring wide-eyed at all the products inside.
Luffy even reached out and grabbed a stick with metal balls on both ends.
"Ahahahaha! This looks super fun!"
He gripped the middle of the stick and gave it a quick shake—immediately, the iron balls on both ends started to swing violently.
"Ah—sir, please!"
Seeing this, the vendor, Lesles, rushed over to Luffy and quickly took the stick from him.
"Let me introduce this fine item to you all—this is our very popular Shake-Your-Welcome Baton, perfect for greeting customers!"
"It's one of our company's top-tier products. Pricey, yes, but definitely worth every penny!"
Luffy, meanwhile, stared at the wobbling baton in Lesles's hands, eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Not sure what he's saying, but it looks fun!"
Then, Lesles went on to enthusiastically recommend different products to Usopp, Luffy, Chopper, and Sanji—each one seemingly tailor-made for them.
The crew was just about ready to pull out their wallets when Robin calmly spoke up.
"Luffy, you might want to bargain a little."
Her expression remained cool as ever.
"From what I've heard, these merchants tend to seriously inflate their prices."
Before Luffy could even react, Lesles froze on the spot.
"Luffy…?"
Sweat beaded on his face as he stiffly turned his head toward Luffy.
"Wait a sec… Are you… the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates—Monkey D. Luffy?!"
"Yup, that's me," Luffy replied casually.
But Lesles was far from casual now.
Only now did he glance up at the mast.
"Crap… I totally forgot to check that…"
His voice trembled.
"That's the flag of that infamous pirate crew!"
Instantly, he went pale like he'd been dumped in ice water.
"I'm so sorry! My deepest apologies!!! I'll be leaving right away!!!"
Lesles bowed at a full ninety degrees, yelled his apology, grabbed the conch, and leapt straight off the Going Merry.
His whole exit was so smooth and sudden that the crew was left stunned.
"Did… did that guy just leave all his stuff behind?"
Usopp blinked at the pile of goods left on the ground.
"Judging by his reaction, I think Luffy really freaked him out," Sanji said.
"Maybe Luffy beat him up in the past?"
"Nah, I think it's because of the new bounty posters."
Just then, Bai Ye held up a stack of wanted posters.
"Here—Straw Hat Crew's latest bounty updates."
"Dr. Kureha, I think you'll want to take a look at this."
On the tallest mountain of Drum Island, Dalton handed the wanted poster to the old witch doctor.
"Oh? That's my dumb kid, isn't it?"
Kureha's lips curled into a small smile when she saw the familiar figure on the poster.
Then she looked at the bounty amount—and her grin grew even wider.
"Honestly, what an idiot. This amount must be a joke, right?"
[Pet · Ship Doctor] Tony Tony Chopper — Bounty: 50 Berries
"Miss Kaya, Usopp's new bounty poster just arrived."
The Merry household's butler opened the door and placed the paper in front of Kaya.
"I knew it," Kaya smiled as she looked at the poster.
"For someone who helped save a whole country, only a bounty like this could suit him."
[Elemental Sniper] Usopp — Bounty: 30,000,000 Berries
"Hey, Nojiko!"
Sheriff Ajian burst into the room, panting, clutching a wanted poster in his hand.
"What is it now?"
Nojiko took the poster. When she saw Nami's bright smile printed on it, she couldn't help but smile too.
"Geez… it hasn't even been that long, sis."
[Thunder Witch] Nami — Bounty: 35,000,000 Berries
"Sanji, that guy actually got his bounty raised again?"
"Guess we've gotta update the restaurant sign with a new photo."
"What a pain… Maybe we should just change the tablecloths while we're at it."
"Hahaha, honestly? Not a bad idea."
At Baratie, a bunch of chefs stared at Sanji's poster, grumbling while grinning from ear to ear.
Upstairs, Zeff looked down at the poster of the cigarette-smoking man and muttered:
"Not bad at all, kid."
[Black Leg] Sanji — Bounty: 60,000,000 Berries
"....."