Splash!
I jumped into the water after Conrad. Despite the complete darkness, I could see his body sinking like an anchor.
I grabbed his body and swam up, sticking my head out to breathe while holding onto the ship's side. I left his body floating in the water.
After some time - making sure he was dead - I pulled his body out.
59 million berries! How could I let him sink so easily? His head alone would let me live in luxury for a long time.
I returned to the pirate ship and checked if any other pirates were still alive.
I searched thoroughly everywhere I could think of:
- Under tables
- Inside cabinets
- In barrels
But I found no one. It seems I'd completely wiped out this pirate crew. Now, let's see what I can get from this ship.
I searched the storage and found some supplies and essentials. I checked random rooms but found nothing interesting. So I looked for the main room - the captain's quarters - where I assumed the treasure would be.
The captain's room is always at the top, so no one disturbs his rest.
I went up the stairs to the only room at the top. The door was locked, so I broke it down.
What appeared before me was a fairly large room. In the corner was a big bed (fitting for Conrad's size), a refrigerator in the room (what a weird guy to have a fridge in his bedroom!), and a wardrobe too.
I opened the fridge to see a huge quantity of wine bottles in all flavors. Well, I might keep these - who knows, I might want to drink someday.
I checked the wardrobe and lost interest when I saw it only contained clothes.
"Strange. This room must have treasure hidden somewhere," I thought as I began searching every corner carefully.
The first place I checked was the bed. After searching around it, I lifted the entire bed - and to my surprise, found wooden panels attached underneath, forming some kind of box.
Boom!
I destroyed the wooden panel to see jewels and gold coins scattered inside. "Hahahaha! My financial troubles are officially over!"
I got a sack and started filling it with gold, jewels and cash. Half the sack was full and there was still more left.
While gathering the money, I noticed a carefully wrapped cloth bundle. I grabbed it and felt it - it felt like a fruit inside. "Don't tell me..."
I opened the cloth to see a white fruit with strange patterns resting there. I picked it up. "Hahaha... How lucky! I've been at sea for less than eight months and already found my Devil Fruit!"
As I examined the fruit, I noticed a folded piece of paper still inside the cloth. Out of curiosity, I opened it.
On the paper was a drawing of the same fruit in my hand. Under the drawing it said:
Zoan-type: Falcon Model
At the bottom of the paper was a drawing of a large white falcon. The moment I saw it, I remembered a character from the original story - Pell, who worked for Cobra, the king of Alabasta.
"This is the fruit Pell ate in the original story. Looks like it fell into my hands before he could get it."
This fruit gives you the ability to transform into a large white falcon, allowing you to fly. This ability alone makes it extremely valuable.
In addition to flight, it gives you extremely strong talons and sharp vision. "It's truly an amazing fruit."
Even with all its abilities, I don't plan to eat it. Neither this nor the Flame-Flame Fruit can compare to the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
As long as there's hope of getting the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, I won't consider any other powers.
Now, what should I do with this ship? If I take it with me to sell, it would be a burden and delay my journey further.
So it seems I'll abandon it. I took the cannons and ammunition and put them on my boat. I also took the large supply of provisions and put them on my boat too.
I took that fridge the captain kept in his room, with all the alcohol inside, and put it in my room. I might consider drinking if I fail to get the Rumble-Rumble Fruit and drown in sorrow.
All that remained was dealing with Conrad's body so it wouldn't rot and stink up my boat. I happened to know a simple preservation method.
First I removed his clothes and threw him in the sea to wash his body, then dried him thoroughly.
I cut up one of the ship's sofas and took out the cotton stuffing. I soaked the cotton in alcohol and plugged all his orifices with it.
After this, I doused the corpse thoroughly with wine and vinegar, then wrapped it like a mummy in cloth full of salt.
"This way I can preserve him temporarily until I find a Marine base to exchange him for money."
After taking everything valuable from the ship, I decided to test my skills with the cannons I'd recently acquired. But right now, all I want is to return to bed and finish my sleep.
"It's extremely cold. Next time I fight at night, I'll make sure to wear some clothes."
So I went back to sleep.
The next day, I tested the cannons by blowing up that pirate ship, then continued my journey to Alabasta.
---
Twenty days later, I arrived at the desert kingdom of Alabasta - one of the largest islands in the world, if not the largest.
But despite its enormous size, most of it is barren desert.
This time I didn't dock my ship at the port. Instead, I flew it into the desert and hid it when I found a good spot, using my powers to move some rocks and sand to conceal it properly before leaving.
My destination is Alubarna. Since I need a Log Pose set for Jaya Island, I think I'll find it in Alubarna. If it's not there, it won't be anywhere else in Alabasta.