Hello, please give me the latest issue of the literary digest.
— Do the watchmen love this magazine so much? You come to buy it every week.
- Hahaha, well, just because it's so interesting! It tells one story called Naruto, and believe me, it's incredibly exciting!
- Oh, so that's what you're talking about? Indeed, it's a very interesting story.
- You know about it too? Hahaha, I told you! Give me three copies, I need to grab some for my comrades.
- Only 1500 beli. Thank you for your purchase.
Murphy smiled as he watched the Marine's retreating figure. Along with the three magazines he had just handed over, two tiny button-sized Den-Den-Mushi had also set out. They had attached themselves unnoticed to the Marine's clothing, patiently awaiting the moment when he returned to Marine Headquarters to activate again.
Murphy spent exactly one month on the Sabaody Archipelago. During this time, through various contacts with the sentries, he gradually managed to deliver a total of 50 Den-Den-Mushi observations to headquarters.
Progress, although not fast, could not be called slow either. Mainly because he deliberately avoided contact with the officers of the Watch, choosing only the rank and file for his purposes.
After all, the staff officers were extremely powerful, and many had the Will of Observation. Even tiny button-sized snails could be easily detected if you weren't careful. In addition, if the staff were to conduct a serious inspection and root out all the snails that had already been planted, it would ruin all of his efforts.
For the same reason, Murphy abandoned attempts to penetrate the main headquarters building, where strong opponents were encountered at every turn. Instead, he focused on the road from the dock to the administration building.
Now 50 Den-Den-Mushi were secretly placed on both sides of the road, quietly watching and ensuring complete control of the entire road. They remained motionless so as not to be detected by passing sentries.
With the main road under control, Murphy was going to move on to the next stage: the warships. A few snails on each vessel would make his plan even more perfect.
These Den-Den-Mushies had cost him a pretty penny in points. The first 50 of them cost 10,000 points, and that wasn't counting the constant expense of buying more, which made his heart bleed.
However, without investment there is no profit. After all, if his plan worked, the benefits would far outweigh the costs, and such a small risk was definitely worth it. In addition, the rate at which he accumulated points had increased significantly. Even during his sea voyage, he had earned about 300 points a day, and over the past month, this figure had increased to about 500 points daily. Adding to this the 7,500 points he had when he arrived on the island and subtracting the 10,000 he had spent, he now had just over 12,000 points left.
The rapid growth was largely due to the publication of his novel Naruto. Judging by the state of the bookstore, the number of readers was constantly increasing, which meant that the influx of points should also increase.
This changed some of Murphy's plans. Serialization is a long-term venture that provides a steady income. Combined with news, the effect will be even greater. After all, there is no such thing as too many points, and Murphy certainly won't complain about having too many.
Boom!
The distant sound of someone fighting could be heard from far away, and Murphy immediately noticed how the guards who had just left his store rushed in the direction of the source of the noise.
It looks like the pirates have been on the rampage again.
He was used to it. Often, pirates who had just arrived on Sabaody, believing themselves invincible, would immediately start a loud riot, but it never ended well for any of them. The weaker ones were quickly rounded up and arrested by the Marines, while the stronger ones were met with high-ranking Marine officers, although the end result was the same.
Living here, he constantly saw such scenes and had long since ceased to be surprised.
Usually in such cases he would slowly leave the store, use the opportunity to contact the guards and throw them a couple of snails, while observing what was happening. After that, he would slowly return to work.
This time, it all started out the same way. He closed the store and headed toward the scene of the riot, but before he had even taken a few steps, he discovered that the two snails he had just handed over had stopped functioning.
It seems the pirate had the ability of mass destruction. How annoying that someone encroached on his 400 points...
After discovering this, Murphy returned to the bookstore with determination. Someone who could do area attacks was either a Devil Fruit user or someone with special skills, either way, not someone he could handle right now.
However, the sounds of battle were getting closer and closer, and soon he felt that things were bad.
- Shigan!
At that very moment, several holes appeared in the wall of the store, piercing it all the way from the front door to the back wall.
Without thinking, Murphy jumped out the side window, not wanting to stay in the same place.
It was an advanced version of one of the Marines' Rokushiki techniques, Shigan, which was only known to high-ranking officers. This meant that there was one or more of them in the fight, and the enemy was at least of the same level. It was too dangerous to stay nearby.
- Rankyaku!
As soon as he jumped out of the window, he saw a sharp, cutting wave rushing towards some figure.
However, the man easily dodged it and the attack continued on its way, hitting the second floor of the bookstore.
Bam!
Murphy watched in horror as a smooth cut appeared on the top floor of his shop. The severed portion began to slowly slide down the slope and crashed to the ground with a loud thud.
The combatants noticed Murphy jumping out of the window, and only then did the lookouts realize that the battle had quietly moved into a residential area.
"Get out quickly! Civilians, everyone leave the area!" one of the Watch officers shouted anxiously.
They hadn't expected the pirate to be so strong. Even fighting him as a group, they were at a disadvantage. The battle was dragging on, and now civilians were being hurt - the last thing the patrol wanted.
Following the officer's shout, many people ran out of nearby buildings, rushing away from the battle zone.
Murphy mingled with the crowd, but did not run too far, and in his hand appeared Den-Den-Mushi camera. He looked at the battlefield. Three officers in Marine cloaks surrounded the pirate. All of them seemed to have the rank of captain.
One of the officers with short hair had no weapon, his hands constantly emitting light, releasing Shigan from his fingertips. The other two, one with a sword, the other fighting with his legs, were constantly releasing slashing attacks. The large officer using the strength of his legs was probably the one who damaged the magazine with his Rankyaku.
All three of their attacks were accompanied by a slight black glow, which Murphy estimated to be a sign of the Will of Armament.
In addition to the three officers, there were about a dozen sentries with muskets standing at some distance. They held their weapons, but something seemed to hold them back, and they did not fire.
And the pirate... Murphy felt like he knew him.
Squinting for a better view, he saw shiny slicked back hair, an earring in his right ear, and a dead expression on his face. It was easy to recognize - standing before him was the future Shichibukai nicknamed Crocodile.
The Crocodile of today was different from the one Murphy remembered. His face was still free of the telltale scar, and his left arm was still intact. Now in his early 20s, he was at the peak of his powers and exuded incredible confidence.
"Is that all you can do? Useless!" he exclaimed with an arrogant smile, waving his right hand.
The grains of sand scattered in the air instantly gathered into a shield.
Bam!
Released by a large Rankyaku officer, it was immediately blocked by a sand shield. But the shield did not stop, but rushed along the attack trajectory straight to the sentry.
The officer, despite his impressive size, was not at all slow. Taking a step to the side, he easily dodged the flying sand shield.
However, Crocodile, watching his maneuver, did not look disappointed - on the contrary, a sly smile appeared on his face.
The next moment, streams of sand suddenly rose from under the sentry's feet, instantly filling the entire space around.
"Sand Sarcophagus!" Crocodile proclaimed.
After his words, even more sand appeared around, completely enveloping the officer, causing his massive body to become immobilized.
- What's happening?!
- Save him!
The other two officers immediately increased their attack, and the nearby guards raised their weapons and aimed at Crocodile. But the smile never left the pirate's face, and he easily dodged the officers' attacks.
As for the bullets fired by the sentries, he didn't even try to dodge, letting them pass through his body, scattering only a few grains of sand and causing no harm.
At that moment, Crocodile slowly raised his right hand and opened his palm, as if holding something invisible. Looking at the officer who was completely covered in sand, his smile grew even wider, and an ominous gleam flashed in his eyes. After that, in front of everyone, he clenched his right hand into a fist...
- Funeral Sand Waterfall!
Under the enraged gaze of the sentries, the sand enveloping the officer shrank like a bud, and the bloody flower with the officer in the center slowly blossomed.
Murphy stood there, camera in hand, watching the scene unfold. Crocodile was still Crocodile – same personality, same impressive fighting power. But something about the picture seemed oddly wrong…