Upon arriving at the port, Allen and Nami went their separate ways. He had no intention of forcing the girl to stay if she refused to join him.
What surprised Allen was that Nami didn't take the boat and flee back to sea. Instead, she headed into town, apparently having intended to come to Shells Town from the very beginning.
As for Allen, he took the Chest with him. Apparently, it could change size, though the smallest it could become was about half a meter—roughly a foot and a half. At that size, Allen was able to tie a rope around it and carry it like a bag.
Allen's plan from here on out was simple:
– Get a ship.
– Get money.
– Get a crew.
He may have been lenient with Nami, and while it was true that she didn't have the eyes of a ruthless criminal, part of the reason was also that she was pretty, and Allen was no saint.
Unfortunately, Nami had not fallen in love with him.
No matter.
Allen would become King of Everything, so he firmly believed that one day all princesses and queens would fight over him.
First, Allen decided to conduct tactical reconnaissance—or, if one preferred accuracy, sneak into an alleyway and secretly observe the townspeople.
This allowed him to discover several things.
Shells Town had a strange atmosphere.
Whenever groups of armed Marines patrolled the streets, the people would avert their eyes or simply hide.
The Marines were supposed to be the force of law, but instead of inspiring admiration and security, the people of this town feared them.
Realizing this, Allen entered a restaurant, discreetly sat at a table, and ordered food while listening in on conversations.
[Hey.]
"W-What do you want?! Don't bother me!" Allen snapped while biting into a massive chunk of meat.
In front of him was a towering stack of empty plates. Allen looked like a starving ghost who hadn't eaten in centuries.
[What kind of subtlety is this?! Everyone is staring at you!]
"Shut up! Can't you see I was dying of hunger?!"
From the very beginning, Allen had been on the verge of starvation after being stranded at sea. Then he had been captured by Alvida, which had been awful since he hadn't been able to eat properly.
Meanwhile, that bastard Luffy had been locked in storage and stuffed himself like a pig.
It was only thanks to the adrenaline of nearly dying and the fact that he had spent a coin to enhance his strength that he had managed to hold out this long.
[I know, but be careful. Remember, even if you're not wanted for the marine, we're in danger right now.]
"I know..."
As Allen argued with the Chest, making everyone around him stare at him like a lunatic, a group of Marines suddenly barged in.
"Hello, good citizens!"
Leading the group was an utterly unpleasant man.
He wore an absurd purple suit reminiscent of the Joker, had an awful bowl-cut hairstyle, an oversized jaw, and worst of all, an expression of arrogance and contempt.
Unlike Allen, whose arrogance at least carried some charm because he often seemed like he was joking, this man looked at everyone like insects beneath his shoes.
"You all know why we're here," he said with a grin. "Taxes."
"Helmeppo..." whispered a man sitting beside Allen.
'I see...' Allen thought.
Now he understood why the townspeople feared the Marines.
"We just paid this month's quota," said a woman who appeared to be the restaurant owner while shielding her daughter behind her.
"There's been a tax increase this month!"
The people clenched their fists, but the Marines immediately grabbed their weapons.
Knowing resistance was futile, the townspeople swallowed their anger and lowered their fists.
[Hey... these guys are worse than pirates...]
"..."
Allen narrowed his eyes.
Helmeppo laughed.
"All of you should be grateful! This town stopped being raided by pirates once the Marine base was established here! And that's all thanks to my father, Captain Morgan!"
Allen himself had his share of arrogance, but this man was simply disgusting.
"Hey, brat, who do you think you're glaring at like that?" Helmeppo noticed the hateful gaze of the little girl.
"S-Sorry! She doesn't know what she's doing!"
The mother immediately intervened.
"You think someone will save you again? That stupid pirate hunter did it last week, and now he's hanging on a post drying under the sun!" Helmeppo spat in the mother's face. "You're all idiots! Every single one of you! You should be grateful for the opportunity to serve us!"
Zass
A knife suddenly buried itself in Helmeppo's chest.
He froze, stunned, unable to comprehend what had happened.
Everyone was left in shock.
They all hated Helmeppo.
They all despised Morgan.
But for ordinary civilians, standing against a Marine captain's family was unthinkable.
Just as pirate bounties represented strength, Marine ranks did the same.
"W-Who dares?!" Helmeppo gasped as he fell to his knees, clutching his chest.
"I did it..."
The Marines immediately pointed their rifles toward the back of the restaurant, where Allen slowly stood.
It was curious that they used old-fashioned bolt-action rifles despite this world possessing advanced technology, though apparently such advancements were not globally widespread.
[What are you doing?!]
The Chest hadn't expected this.
It was true that Allen wasn't evil, but the Chest also understood his personality.
He was selfish enough to sacrifice Koby to save himself.
"A king knows that without his people, he is nothing. Therefore, in exchange for submission and obedience, he must protect them. To abuse, harm, or despise those you govern is disgraceful."
It was true.
Allen wasn't a saint.
He wasn't a hero.
He wasn't an ally of justice.
But he simply couldn't ignore Helmeppo.
His very existence was an insult to Allen's dream—to his worldview.
"Bastard! K-Kill him!"
The Marines fired without hesitation.
They knew that if anything happened to Morgan's son, their own heads would roll.
Allen raised his hand.
"Noro Beam!"
In an astonishing display, every bullet suddenly slowed to a crawl midair.
"Impossible..." one Marine gasped.
"D-Don't tell me he's a Devil Fruit user!" another shouted.
While Devil Fruits were considered fantasy by much of the common population in East Blue, the Marines knew they were very real.
And every user was a monster.
Helmeppo turned pale blue and tried to flee, no longer even caring about the knife wound in his stomach.
Allen looked at him with utter contempt and clenched his fist, which ignited into flames.
"You're not a ruler... just a parasite. Hiken!"
The flaming fist shot forward and slammed into Helmeppo, engulfing him in fire.
"Nooo! Help! Daddy!" Helmeppo squealed like a pig as he burned.
The Marines scrambled to extinguish the flames, and during the chaos, Allen slipped out through the back of the restaurant—the same route the mother had pointed out for him.
Allen smiled gratefully before vanishing into the alleys.
However, instead of fleeing the island...
He headed straight for the Marine base.
He had seemingly just killed the son of a Marine captain, and instead of escaping, he was going to his house.
[Are you insane?!]
"Of course not," Allen said while hiding behind a wall and watching fifteen armed Marines rush toward town. "Right now, everyone will be searching for the handsome murderer of their beloved young master, which means base security will be weakened. This is my chance to steal treasure and grow stronger!"
If the Chest had a mouth, it would've been hanging wide open.
[Who are you, and where is my idiot?!]
Allen looked offended.
"For the last time, I'm not stupid!"
Allen couldn't believe anyone thought he was an idiot.
Sure, he had nearly died stupidly three times already today, but that had only happened because his impulses had temporarily overridden his intelligence—not because he was completely stupid.
Ignoring the Chest, Allen vaulted over the wall and infiltrated the base.
With his strength enhancement and finally having eaten properly, Allen realized he had genuinely become powerful.
Strong enough to lift two or three times his body weight without issue.
Strong enough to jump nearly three meters.
"You're truly incredible..."
[Hehe, of course! We don't need the One Piece! I am the greatest treasure in the world!]
"Ironically, the greatest treasure really is a Chest," Allen laughed before moving like a phantom toward the central building.
Along the way, he spotted a man tied to a post.
But Allen was no saint.
Right now, he was risking his own life and didn't have the power to save others.
Still, in a small act of mercy, he threw a knife, embedding it into the ground between the legs of the green-haired man.
"Who is that?"
The man looked surprised and watched as Allen slipped through a nearby window.
Then he looked down at the knife.
For a moment, he considered freeing himself...
But he shook his head.
Doing so would break his promise.
He had made a deal with Helmeppo.
He would survive two weeks tied to the post without food or water in exchange for sparing the restaurant owner's daughter.
Unfortunately, he didn't realize Helmeppo had never intended to honor that promise and planned to execute him regardless of whether he survived.
"Hey, you..."
The green-haired young man lifted his head.
This time, he found himself staring at a black-haired boy wearing a straw hat, who smiled at him.
....
Meanwhile, Allen punched a Marine so hard that he sent him crashing through a door in the process.
Along the hallway lay over a dozen unconscious Marines—a feat that would've been impossible for him just yesterday.
Allen laughed and summoned the magical scroll.
There, his Skills and Strength were displayed.
Hiken from the Flame Logia (Mera Mera), Noro Beam from the Slow Paramecia (Noro Noro), and as for his "Strength," it was measured by levels.
He was currently at Level Two with only a single upgrade.
"What luck! The goddess of fortune hasn't abandoned me!"
It truly was luck.
Even pirates worth millions of berries weren't immune to bullets, though of course they weren't stupid enough to die to a random shot.
But for Allen, bullets were no longer as concerning.
Of course, had he not obtained this Skill, and had so many Marines not been absent, he would've never dared enter this Marine base so arrogantly.
[Idiot, stop playing around. Look carefully—you're already sweating. If you pass out from overusing your Skills, you're dead.]
"Thanks for the concern," Allen smiled, though he knew the Magic Chest was right.
Deciding to hurry, Allen soon entered a luxurious room.
The moment he stepped inside, he saw a portrait of Helmeppo hanging on the wall.
A malicious grin spread across his face.
Without hesitation, he shut the door, placed the Chest on the ground, and it instantly grew three times larger.
[Quickly!]
"I know."
Allen immediately began stealing everything that wasn't nailed down and tossing it into the Chest.
Expensive paintings, jewelry, decorations, vases, books, tailored clothing—
"Wait... that actually worked?" Allen asked when he saw Helmeppo's ugly suits vanish into the Chest.
Apparently, there was some sort of loophole.
The Chest could absorb anything considered "treasure."
It was bizarre, since the only real difference between luxury clothes and ordinary clothes was the type of fabric, the labor required, and the absurdly inflated price.
Yet somehow, the Chest respected the symbolic value people assigned to objects.
It made no sense.
If people suddenly decided gold was worthless, would the Chest stop accepting it?
[I wouldn't say that's how it works. Look.]
The scroll appeared before Allen again.
This time, it displayed three colored bars, much like loading bars on a computer.
Each had its own color:
Gold coins in gold.
Silver coins in silver.
Copper coins in brown.
[These progress bars indicate when the treasure's value is sufficient to produce a coin. Even the copper bar barely filled from Helmeppo's clothes, so their value wasn't equal to what he originally paid for them.]
"I see."
Allen quickly understood.
Only direct wealth—money, jewelry, and precious metals—would grant full value.
Inflated luxury goods would only provide a fraction.
"Not ideal," Allen said. even though he decided to turn all of Helmeppo's stuff, into food for the Magic Chest, just to screw with him.
[Hey, the guy is already dead. Is it really necessary to carry your grudge this far?]
"That disgusting bastard deserves no respect," Allen replied with an evil grin.
In the end, Allen kept only three katanas, a flintlock pistol, and a bundle of cash that Helmeppo owned.
On one hand, he needed weapons.
For now, he couldn't rely solely on his Skills, which exhausted him.
On the other hand, he needed physical money for himself.
Once he was finished, Allen noticed that the copper coin bar had fully lit up and now displayed a "3" beside it.
Meanwhile, the silver bar was only about thirty percent full.
"I see... so I can either claim three copper coins right now, or save the progress until I can obtain a silver coin..."
[....]
The Chest was speechless once again.
If it had eyes, it would've cried like a proud mother seeing her son finally understand things on his own.
"You're being rude, aren't you?" Allen said flatly. "Whatever. Give me the coins."
[Are you sure? There's still plenty of valuable stuff here, and we haven't even reached the base treasury yet.]
"It's tempting, but I don't want greed to get me killed."
[Says the guy who threw himself into the ocean without food or water.]
"Shut up! I was desperate back then!"
Allen paused and imagined the kind of rewards a silver coin might provide.
His eyes sparkled.
He instantly changed his mind.
"You're right. Whoever fears death shouldn't have been born!"
Allen grabbed the Chest, which shrank back down, and sprinted out of the room without using the coins yet.
[No, wait! I was joking! Don't do anything stupid!]
Unfortunately for the Chest, Allen was highly impulsive whenever blinded by desire, often failing to consider long-term consequences.
As Allen rushed through the hallway with the Chest slung over his back, he didn't get far before crashing directly into someone and falling flat on his back.
"How dare you get in my way?!" Allen growled.
But the words instantly died in his throat.
Standing before him was an enormous man with a metal jaw and an axe for an arm.
This was Morgan "Axe-Hand," Helmeppo's father and the infamous captain of Base 153.
The man who had risen to fame by capturing Captain Kuro, a pirate with a 16 million berry bounty.
"You... why aren't you wearing your uniform?!"
Allen froze.
He wasn't even sure he could defeat Alvida, who was worth only five million.
This man had supposedly defeated someone worth more than three times that.
There was no chance.
Allen immediately stood up and gave a flawless military salute.
"Captain, sir! My deepest apologies! My uniform was damaged, and I was just on my way to acquire a replacement!"
Allen lied without hesitation.
In the past, lies and shamelessness had been his greatest weapons, and he had no fear in using them now.
"A Marine without his uniform... disgraceful!" Morgan snarled. "As punishment, you'll be cleaning bathrooms for a month!"
Morgan walked right past Allen without sparing him another glance.
"...."
Allen silently watched him leave with cold eyes.
Base 153 wasn't that large.
There shouldn't have been more than fifty Marines stationed there.
And yet Morgan hadn't even realized he'd never seen Allen before.
That alone revealed how little he cared about his subordinates.
[Wait, Allen! Don't do it!]
"A ruler who doesn't value his subordinates... huh."
Morgan stopped and glared over his shoulder with fury.
"What did you say, recruit?!"
Allen slowly formed a mocking, contemptuous grin.
"I said I killed your bastard son... and trash like you disgusts me!"
[W... we're dead.]
....
Allen sprinted through the hallway for his life.
Behind him, Morgan smashed through walls in pursuit, his eyes bloodshot with rage.
"GET BACK HERE, YOU BASTARD!"
[This is all your fault!]
"I KNOW!" Allen screamed.
He fully understood he had done something incredibly stupid.
He just hadn't thought that far ahead in the moment.
"Do you have a plan?!"
[Run for your life!]
"I could've thought of that myself!"
Allen desperately searched the rooms and windows for something—anything—that could help.
Then he saw him.
Luffy stood in the courtyard below.
This guy had defeated Alvida, so he definitely wasn't weak.
A wicked grin spread across Allen's face.
He leaped through the glass window just as Morgan burst through the wall behind him.
Luffy and the tied-up green-haired young man both looked stunned.
"You!" Luffy pointed angrily at Allen, still upset over what had happened aboard Alvida's ship.
Allen inhaled deeply and shouted:
"Luffy! This guy says Pirate King Roger was a pathetic coward and that the One Piece doesn't exist!"
Morgan looked confused for a brief second.
But before he could react, Luffy's fury exploded.
"What did you say, bastard?!"
Morgan raised his axe-arm to kill Allen—
—but Luffy's kick slammed into his jaw, sending him stumbling backward.
"As expected of me, my plan worked perfectly," Allen said smugly as he crossed his arms.
[-_- One day, we're seriously going to die because of you.]
"Nonsense. Soon enough, my strength will rise above all others. Until then, there's nothing wrong with relying on my underlings," Allen laughed while watching Luffy fight.
He was so pleased with Luffy's performance that he almost forgave his earlier offenses and considered allowing him the honor of serving as his loyal subordinate.
Though Allen also thought that perhaps an all-beautiful female crew wouldn't be bad either.
Not far away, the green-haired young man stared at Allen with his mouth hanging open.
This shameless bastard had dumped all his problems onto Luffy without a second thought.
But then his gaze shifted to Allen's waist—
Where his katanas were hanging.
"Hey! Those are mine!" he shouted.
====
A/N: Poor Zoro. He has no idea his swords were dangerously close to becoming Chest food. 🗿
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