One Piece: Starting by Refusing Shanks

Sabaody Archipelago.

Takumi was quite at ease leaving the coating of the ship to Rayleigh.

After departing the shipyard, Takumi noticed it was still early in the day, so he decided to stroll toward the section of Sabaody from Grove 40 to 49.

Grove 1 to 29 is known for its slave trading shops, auction houses, and unlawful activities.

Grove 30 to 39 mainly has recreational spots like the Soap Bubble Park.

Groves 40 to 49 are home to tourist attractions and specialty shops.

Grove 50 to 59 primarily consists of shipyards and coating engineers.

Groves 60 to 69 are where the Marine bases and government offices are located.

Groves 70 to 79 are primarily filled with hotels and lodgings.

Takumi headed toward Grove 40 to 49 with a single goal: to replenish supplies and restock his system storage.

After walking for nearly an hour, Takumi finally arrived at Grove 40 just before nightfall. He casually picked a restaurant to have dinner, and afterward, began his shopping spree.

First on his list was a shop that specialized in selling alcohol and beverages.

The moment he stepped inside, the shopkeeper greeted him with a "Welcome!"

Takumi immediately stated, "I'll take all the alcohol and drinks in your shop."

"Huh?" The shopkeeper blinked, eyeing Takumi from head to toe, and then asked incredulously, "Kid, are you sure you want to buy everything? Including the stock in the warehouse?"

Takumi gave a brief nod.

The shopkeeper snorted, giving Takumi a once-over before asking sarcastically, "I've got thousands of bottles here, are you sure you've got that kind of cash?"

Takumi pulled out a stack of Beli bills from his pocket and placed it on the counter.

The shopkeeper glanced at the stack of cash, roughly estimating it to be at least a few hundred thousand Beli. He thought to himself, This is a fat sheep!

With that realization, the shopkeeper's attitude quickly changed, his tone becoming cheerful, "You really want to buy out my whole stock? You're not joking, right?"

"I'm not," Takumi replied flatly. "How much for everything?"

"Alright, let me do some calculations. Hold on a moment," the shopkeeper said, immediately taking out pen and paper and getting to work. It took him nearly half an hour, during which Takumi started to lose his patience, but finally, the shopkeeper finished. "Since you're buying everything, I'll give you a discount, how about 10% off? In total, I have 936 bottles of alcohol and 365 bottles of other drinks. Altogether, the original price would be 9.5 million Beli, but with the discount, it's 8.55 million. Considering the large quantity, and that it's late now, if you want everything today, I'll need some time to pack it all. If you're serious, give me an address, and I'll have everything delivered tomorrow for free. Just pay a deposit of 1.55 million Beli for now."

Eight and a half million for just over a thousand bottles of drinks?

Takumi often bought alcohol, so he was quite familiar with pricing. Unless there were plenty of higher-quality drinks, there was no way it should cost this much.

Glancing at the shelves behind the counter, Takumi saw they were filled with average-quality bottles, with just one or two mid-tier ones and no high-end selections.

"Five million," Takumi countered directly. "I'll pick up the goods tomorrow morning."

"What?! Six million?!" The shopkeeper's smile froze. "Are you kidding me? I already gave you a 10% discount, and now you want to slash over three million from the price? The cost price alone is higher than five million! If you're just here to joke around, get out of my shop if you don't intend to buy anything!"

Takumi: "..."

Seeing Takumi remain unmoving, the shopkeeper grew irritated, "Didn't you hear me? Get out! I don't want your business!"

Before the shopkeeper could say anything else, Takumi drew the Sandai Kitetsu and struck him on the back of the head with the blunt side, knocking him out cold.

He then left five million Beli on the counter and began loading all the drinks into his system storage. As he left the shop, he thoughtfully locked the door behind him.

In the following hour, Takumi went around Grove 40, clearing out four more shops.

By midnight, Takumi had "politely" visited every open shop from Grove 40 to 49, filling about 70% of his system storage, before heading to Grove 70, where he found a hotel to rest for the night.

Later that night, Marine Headquarters was bombarded with calls, reporting the same complaint over and over.

All the shopkeepers said they were "forced" to sell everything to a young swordsman...

The officer in charge of taking the calls had no desire to disturb Sengoku, especially not in the middle of the night, but after so many reports, he was at his wit's end.

"Fleet Admiral, I have something to report," the officer finally approached Sengoku's room hesitantly, knocking gently.

When there was no immediate response, the officer knocked again and asked cautiously, "Fleet Admiral? Are you awake?"

After a few seconds, Sengoku's irritated voice came from inside, "What is it? Speak up!"

The officer straightened up, speaking respectfully, "There have been a total of fifty-one complaints from Groves 40 to 49 in Sabaody, saying that a young swordsman forced them to sell everything in their stores..."

"What?" Sengoku sounded half-amused, half-annoyed. "So did the swordsman pay or not?"

"He... he did pay."

"Did he pay significantly less than what the items were worth?"

"It doesn't seem like it..."

Sengoku: "..."

"And you felt the need to wake me up for this? Can't you handle it yourself?" Sengoku snapped. "If that swordsman hadn't paid or if he left an amount nowhere near the value of the items, then you'd report to me. This was a regular transaction. What's there to complain about? And in the middle of the night, no less..."

"Uh... Fleet Admiral, what should I do now then?"

"Do I have to spell it out for you? Handle it. If you can't, start preparing for a reassignment!"

"Uh, understood, Fleet Admiral. I'll take care of it." The officer braced himself, preparing to leave.

Before he could go, Sengoku's voice called out again, "Wait."

The officer stopped, now nervous, "Uh, Fleet Admiral, is there something else?"

"You mentioned it was a young swordsman who bought out fifty-one stores?"

"Yes, sir. Is that an issue?"

"Did any of the shopkeepers describe any distinguishing features?"

"Distinguishing features... Yes, they said he appeared to be in his teens, and he carried two swords. Oh, and now that you mention it, Fleet Admiral, could that young swordsman be Takumi? They said he carried one wooden sword and one real sword, which matches the description of Takumi, who is wanted by the government..."