"How much are you exchanging?"
Hearing the man behind the counter, Lucien simply lifted the bag of gold they had collected from the various pirate groups they had defeated and set it on the counter. Seeing the size of it, the teller's attitude changed immediately as he extended his shaky hands and peered inside.
"This much, I need to inform the owner. Please wait a moment, he will be right with you," he stammered, and took off into the building. Before long, he came back and asked them to follow him into the VIP room, where the owner would evaluate the gold himself.
Entering the VIP room, they were greeted by a short, very proud-looking man. He was pale with short black hair and a large pointed mustache, wearing a white shirt with purple overalls, and he stood up and came only to Lucien's waist.
"Ah, customers, welcome, welcome. Please have a seat. It has been a while since someone came to exchange this much gold at once, so I had to come and evaluate it personally. The tellers aren't experienced enough for something like this," he said, rubbing his hands together with a smile as he gestured towards the couch opposite him.
"If you show me the gold, I can evaluate it and give you an estimate of what we can offer," he continued before they had even settled into their seats.
"It seems like you are more eager than we are. Please go ahead and give us the best deal you can," replied Lucien as he upended the bag and let all the gold spill out onto the table between them.
The sleazy-looking man was also quite professional. He took out a magnifying glass and examined each piece in detail before going quiet and finally looking up at them. "I can offer you 50 million berries for all of this."
Lucien looked at the small man and smiled slightly, resting his elbows on his knees and leaning forward until his tall frame brought his face almost level with the man's, and said slowly, "You see, I ate a fruit that lets me read people's thoughts. It is generally useless, but very helpful when I want to know whether someone is being truthful or has other plans. So just be honest in your calculations and give me a more accurate number. Don't try to swindle me," and smiled widely right into his face.
The man leaned back as Lucien's face filled his vision and gulped, a thin sweat forming on his forehead. His smile tightened a little before he answered, "Sir, on second thought, I believe we can offer 25 million more. A total of 75 million berries for this gold. Are you satisfied with that?"
Lucien didn't move. He just continued to stare with the same smile, which up close made him look entirely unhinged.
The sweat grew more pronounced and the man's eyes watered slightly as he pressed on, "Sir, 75 million berries is the most we can offer. This gold looks old and looted from other pirates, which means we have to move it through the black market. We won't make much profit from it ourselves. Please understand."
Hearing that, Lucien finally leaned back. His smile softened slightly as he gave a small nod. "75 million berries it is then. Please get us the money quickly."
The owner took out his handkerchief, wiped his forehead, and replied with a recovering smile, "Of course, sir, we will have the amount ready right away," signaling the teller to collect the gold and bring in the promised sum.
As they settled back into their seats, the owner produced a visiting card and slid it across to Lucien, finally introducing himself. "Sir, my name is Ishigo Shitemanna. I am the owner of this establishment and have been an appraiser for nearly 20 years. If you ever come across more gold, please remember me. I will give you the best deal in all of the Grand Line."
Lucien took the card and handed it to Idris. About five minutes later the teller returned with a suitcase and placed it on the table, snapping it open to reveal rows of neatly stacked bills.
"Sir, please take a look and count if you need to. All 75 million berries should be accounted for."
Lucien simply closed the suitcase and stood up. "No need to check. It's not like this shop or you are going anywhere if we find out we were shortchanged. We can always come back," he said, and walked out with Idris and Law, leaving Ishigo sweating all over again.
"Tom's Workers?" asked Idris as they stepped back out into the sun.
"Yeah, let's go and meet this Tom before we get some rest. Better to have a conversation with him first."
"Then we should head to Dock 1. From what I gathered, among all the shipwrights and companies in Water 7, Tom's Workers sits at the top. They are the best."
"Oh? Why?"
"The owner, Tom, is considered the most famous shipwright in all of the Grand Line. Known as the best in the craft. He was the one who built Oro Jackson."
Lucien paused and looked at Idris with his eyebrows raised. "Oro Jackson? The same one used by the Pirate King?"
"The very same. The ship the Pirate King used to conquer all the seas. That's why he is treated like a celebrity here. When I asked around, people had this twinkle in their eyes just talking about him. I also heard he has stopped building ships for now and has been occupied with another large project for a while. I still can't believe Hendricks left all of that to come back to North Blue."
"Well, let's hope Hendricks' letter is enough to get this legendary shipwright to pause his important project and build us a ship," answered Lucien as they made their way towards Dock 1.
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