It did not take long for Haredas to summon several other residents of the island, people just like him. Although they all looked different, they wore the same style of clothes in different colors, and each of them was quite short.
In a world like One Piece, where the average height was around 1.9 meters, calling them dwarves would not be an exaggeration. Even Shirakawa himself had not reached the world's average height.
"So this is the guy who wants to settle down here?"
A few relatively young old men gathered around Shirakawa and carefully looked him over. Some of them even pulled out magnifying glasses and leaned in close to inspect his face.
"Hey, are you done staring yet?" Shirakawa's mouth twitched a little after being observed like some kind of rare animal.
"No," one of them said in an unusually firm tone.
"Why not?"
"Because everyone here is a scientist who studies weather. You aren't, so you can't settle here."
"Is that so? But I have money."
Shirakawa said it casually, but he deliberately put extra emphasis on the word money.
"Money?"
The eyes of those scientists instantly began to shine.
"Well, if you have money, then I suppose it's not impossible to discuss," one of them compromised. After all, research needed funding too.
"But if you want to settle here, it'll cost quite a lot. And you'll have to pay every year."
"No problem. How much do you want?"
"Wait here. We need to discuss it."
After saying that, the scientists moved away and began whispering among themselves in the distance. If Shirakawa wanted to, he could easily hear what they were saying, but he did not bother.
Not long after, the scientists returned. The tallest among them looked at Shirakawa and said, "We need you to pay us one hundred thousand Beli every year."
"One hundred thousand Beli? That's not even that much."
Shirakawa had thought they would come up with some outrageously high price, but apparently he had overthought it and assumed the worst of human nature.
Then Shirakawa pulled out a thick stack of cash from his pocket. Every bill was worth ten thousand Beli, and that stack was probably around a hundred million Beli in total.
Ten thousand Beli was the largest paper bill in the One Piece world. That money was a farewell gift Buggy had given him before he left. To this day, Shirakawa still remembered the pained look on Buggy's face.
"He's actually this rich..."
As they watched Shirakawa slowly count out ten bills, the scientists were deeply shocked.
"No, we need to discuss this again," the tallest scientist said once more.
"Mhm, mhm."
The others all nodded in agreement. With that much money, who knew how many times over it exceeded what they earned from helping people?
Of course, Shirakawa knew exactly what they were thinking.
"No need to make it so troublesome. I can give you all this money, but I have one condition."
"What condition?"
The scientists practically had steam coming out of their noses. They were already desperate to get their hands on the money.
"As long as it's something we can do, we'll definitely agree to it."
What was dignity?
In front of money, dignity was worthless.
"It's simple. I originally planned to build a house myself, but on second thought, I'll leave it to you. I'm planning to leave in a little while anyway."
"No problem."
The scientists nodded immediately. Building a house was hardly a big deal.
"Good. Build it right next to Haredas's house."
"No problem. We'll definitely make it happen."
"Why does it have to be next to my house?" Haredas asked Shirakawa at that moment.
"If it's next to your house, then it's next to your house. Why are you talking so much?"
The tall scientist immediately spoke up again, and the other scientists followed suit, joining in to scold Haredas.
They did not want Haredas to ruin such a fat sheep for them.
"Fine then."
In the end, the minority had to obey the majority. How could Haredas possibly win an argument against so many people with just one mouth?
Shirakawa revealed a sly smile, like his scheme had worked perfectly.
If nothing unexpected happened, Nami would eventually still come here. Although Shirakawa was not particularly interested in Luffy's crew, out of curiosity toward the original characters, he might come back here to take a look at her.
And besides, Weatheria really was an excellent island. It constantly moved with the wind, making its whereabouts impossible to predict. As the Silver King who watched over the skies, how could he not have a home of his own in the heavens?
"So can you give us the money now?"
The scientists rubbed their hands together, wearing ingratiating smiles while staring fixedly at the money in Shirakawa's hand.
"Sure."
Shirakawa casually tossed the money into the air.
At once, the scientists went mad, scrambling and fighting over it. Even Haredas joined the fray.
Since he had already made such a great sacrifice, there was no reason he should not get a share of the money too. That was exactly what Haredas was thinking right now.
Not long after, the stack of cash had been divided up among them. But when they saw the torn and damaged bills scattered on the ground, their faces all turned bitter. If they had known this would happen, they would not have rushed in so recklessly.
Haredas got the smallest share, because he was the shortest and had been at a disadvantage the whole time. He stood there feeling sullen and depressed.
"Don't be so down. I still have money."
Shirakawa slung an arm around his shoulder and whispered into his ear.
"Really?"
Golden light burst out of Haredas's eyes.
"Really. Why would I lie to you?"
"That's great. Then does that mean you can..."
Haredas rubbed his hands together, and his meaning was already obvious.
"Of course."
The moment he heard Shirakawa's answer, even the wrinkles on Haredas's face seemed to bunch together with joy.
"Good, good, good."
Then the two of them walked off with their arms around each other's shoulders. From the back, the sight was honestly rather funny, because Haredas was simply too short.
So when Shirakawa straightened up, Haredas's feet were already off the ground, dangling in midair as they moved.
Once they were somewhere with no one around, Shirakawa pulled out another stack of cash and handed it to Haredas. This one was not nearly as large as before, only around ten million Beli or so.
Money was not particularly useful to Shirakawa anyway. He could make a fortune just by robbing any random pirate ship. And if that did not work, he could always kill a few wanted criminals, disguise himself, and go turn in the bounties at a Marine base.
So rather than that, he might as well spend some money building a good relationship with his neighbor.
Even if he probably would not need that neighbor most of the time.
Then Shirakawa reached over and plucked a hair from Haredas's head, making him hiss in pain.
"What are you doing?"
"That ten million Beli is payment for one of your hairs. Deal?"
"Sure! I've still got plenty more hair. Want to pluck a few more?" Haredas said with a shameless grin.
"Get lost. One is enough. This is going to be my compass for finding this island in the future."
Shirakawa planned to use something from Haredas's body to make a Vivre Card. Rumor had it that Vivre Cards were made from fingernails, but hair should work too.
After all, both contained genes.
/-\
Enjoying the story? Want to read ahead?
Support the novel and unlock early access to unreleased chapters!
~ +20 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon! (+1 Chapter daily)
https://p-atreon.com/Its_Zack
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access Patreon normally)