"This... is simply inhumane."
Boom!
Charlotte unleashed a flying slash, and in an instant, the ruins were reduced to rubble.
The crew had been searching for over two hours but had found nothing.
Frustrated, Charlotte resorted to brute force, slashing apart the terrain in an attempt to unearth the treasure.
He refused to believe that something so valuable could remain hidden even after turning the place upside down.
But the real issue was their lack of manpower—this method was a last resort.
Crude but effective!
Suddenly, an excited voice rang out.
"Boss! We found something! There's an underground passage here!"
Charlotte's eyes flickered. With a swift Soru, he vanished from his spot and reappeared beside his subordinate.
A half-collapsed underground passage lay before him, partially obscured by debris. A heavy iron door, covered in dust and age, stood firmly at the end.
His crew immediately sprang into action, clearing away the rubble.
As the passage was revealed, Charlotte's gaze locked onto the iron door—its surface bore the unmistakable crest of the Ukshire family.
A fallen noble house, once feared, now a forgotten relic.
Charlotte half-crouched, gripping his sword.
"Ittoryu—Kazekiri—Maiden's Dance."
The air trembled as multiple arcs of compressed wind slashed through the iron door. In an instant, it shattered into jagged fragments.
Stepping forward, Charlotte was followed closely by Beta.
They proceeded cautiously through the artificially excavated corridor until they entered a vast underground chamber.
The sight before them made Charlotte's heart pound.
Mountains of treasure.
Towering stacks of gold, priceless antiques, intricately painted scrolls, and dazzling gemstones filled the cavern.
And at the very center of the room—
An entire cube of pure gold bricks.
Charlotte felt his breath hitch. "This... is simply inhumane."
Even if this was only a fraction of the Ukshire family's wealth, it was enough to shake the world.
"Boss… we've struck gold!" Beta gasped, eyes gleaming. "Just think how much meat we could buy with all this!"
"…???"
Charlotte turned to Beta, dumbfounded. Good grief. Faced with an unimaginable fortune, and the first thing this idiot thought about was food?
Shaking his head, Charlotte snapped back to business.
"Start loading everything. Take it all!"
The crew roared with excitement, rushing to gather and sort the treasure.
As his men worked feverishly, Charlotte's gaze wandered through the trove. Then, something caught his eye.
A small, ornate chest, embedded with pearls and gemstones.
Click.
Carefully, he lifted the lid.
And then—
A Devil Fruit.
Charlotte's pupils shrank.
For the first time in his life, he was seeing a genuine Devil Fruit up close. Its surface bore the unmistakable curled spiral patterns unique to all Devil Fruits.
A treasure of the sea.
But what kind of fruit was this? Charlotte frowned.
He had never studied the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, so its identity remained a mystery. Some fruits had distinctive shapes, like the Ope Ope no Mi, which resembled a heart, or the Hana Hana no Mi, which resembled a blooming flower…
But without prior knowledge, guessing was meaningless. After all, who would expect the Awa Awa no Mi (Bubble-Bubble Fruit) to look like a cantaloupe?
There were too many unknowns.
Still—
Even the most underwhelming Zoan-type fruit was worth at least 100 million Berries on the black market.
A satisfied grin spread across Charlotte's face.
Carefully, he stowed the Devil Fruit away.
And then, something else caught his attention—
A record of Haki training.
Charlotte's fingers trembled as he flipped through the aged scrolls. These contained knowledge of Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki)—one of the most powerful abilities in the world.
This wasn't just treasure.
This was power.
Charlotte exhaled slowly, his excitement barely contained.
This haul had far exceeded his expectations.
A Devil Fruit. A fortune in gold. And the key to mastering Armament Haki.
This was just the beginning.