The Straw Hat Pirates prepared to land. Nami, as usual, had already planned out a budget and was ready to go on a massive shopping spree. She wasn't worried about spending over 600 million since they had more than enough.
Carl took the opportunity while everyone was excited. "Before we go, everyone cut off a piece of your nail. I'll use it to make Life Paper. That way, it'll be a lot easier for us to find each other in the future and check on everyone's safety. Nami, I'll need some money from you, too. Life Paper isn't cheap, and I want to buy some information while I'm at it."
"Life Paper? You're going to make us some? Of course, Mr. Carl," Luffy said. He knew how useful Life Paper was, so he nodded without hesitation and told everyone to clip their nails. He made sure everyone's nails were wrapped in separate pieces of paper with their names on them so nothing would get mixed up. They even made Life Paper for Trafalgar Law and his crew, as well as for the Moomoo.
Nami wasn't stingy this time. She threw 100 million Berries to Carl and asked if it was enough, which surprised everyone. When did Nami become so generous?
After collecting the money and nails, Carl said, "I'll also arrange for the ship to be coated while I'm out. After you're done shopping, just meet me at the Sabaody Archipelago's Shakky's Rip-Off Bar on Grove 13."
With that, Carl stepped onto a huge sword and flew away. Everyone else didn't think much of it, but Nami was immediately suspicious of a place with a name like "Rip-Off Bar." It definitely didn't sound like a good place.
Even though the Straw Hats had plenty of money, she wasn't going to let them get ripped off. She promised herself she would find out the prices later.
They left Law and the Moomoo to watch the ship. The rest of the crew split up, since everyone had different places to go. Nami wanted to buy clothes and jewelry, Franky wanted to buy Cola, Sanji was in charge of stocking up on oil, salt, spices, and other ingredients, and Luffy just wanted to wander around.
Nami remembered Law's warning to be careful. Even though the Straw Hats were powerful, they still needed to be wary of the Marines, the World Government, and other pirates. They couldn't afford to be careless.
Although Law still maintained his cold attitude, he was relieved that Nami had at least listened to his advice. He hoped that with Nami's influence, the Straw Hats wouldn't be so reckless anymore.
But as soon as he thought that, Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper had already sprinted onto the island, leaving Law with a dark expression on his face. It was a fool's errand to expect the Straw Hats to be cautious.
Ignoring his crewmates, Carl flew directly to Grove 13 and easily found Shakky's Rip-Off Bar. The bar was quiet, with no troublemakers in sight. Carl pushed open the door and froze. Inside, there were two women: the bar's owner, Shakky, and to Carl's surprise, Boa Hancock, the Pirate Empress!
"Oh? Look at this! I never thought the great Lightning Swordsman of the Five Emperors would visit my bar. I'm truly honored," Shakky said, calmly flicking cigarette ash.
"The Lightning Swordsman, 'Lightning Carl'," Boa Hancock said, a look of fear on her face.
Carl was stunned for only a moment before he recovered. He acted as if Boa Hancock wasn't even there and found a seat, placing the money and the nails on the table.
"Ms. Shakky, I need you to make some Life Paper for my crew. I also want to ask Mr. Rayleigh to coat our ship, and I'd like to buy some information while I'm here." Carl spoke without any pleasantries.
Shakky glanced at the money and smiled. "As expected of the Straw Hats, you're quite generous. We'll handle the Life Paper and the ship coating. Just tell me what information you need, and I'll do my best to get it for you."
It didn't surprise her that Carl knew Rayleigh was here. The Straw Hat crew was now one of the legitimate Five Emperors, so it wasn't strange that they had access to some intel. Shakky was also curious about Carl himself.
She knew that he was a major reason the Straw Hats had reached their current status. Without him, they would likely still be just another Supernova crew. She was very curious to know how he did it.
"Is Mr. Rayleigh not here?" Carl asked, even though he already knew the answer.
"Oh, Rayleigh probably went gambling again. He should be back soon," Shakky replied calmly.
"Okay. I want to know the current situation of the Marines, the World Government, and the New World," Carl said.
"That's easy. I'll contact you as soon as the information is ready."
"Is the money I gave you enough? I heard your prices here are quite high."
"Hehe, our prices are high, but when you have a chance to sell information to the Five Emperors and save face in the process, why wouldn't I take it?"
Boa Hancock had been completely ignored, and an angry expression suddenly appeared on her face. But she knew how powerful Carl was, so she didn't dare to say anything. She seemed to be in a hurry and decided to continue her discussion with Shakky, ignoring Carl's presence.
"Shakky, Byrnndi World is too out of control. He keeps showing up around Amazon Lily and has captured many of my female warriors. He wants me to use my Warlord status to take him to Mariejois. I don't know what to do. He's crazy to want to go there with the Celestial Dragons around!" Boa Hancock said, her voice filled with anxiety.
Carl was surprised. He remembered that character from a movie. Byrnndi World was insane. He was hostile to the World Government, the Marines, pirates, and even civilians, claiming he would destroy everything. He was known as the "World Destroyer."
He was extremely powerful, and with the power of the Multiply-Multiply Fruit, he could destroy an island with a single cannonball. However, Byrnndi World had made too many enemies and was arrogant.
After being imprisoned for so many years, he was no longer aware of how many powerful people were out there. Although Luffy defeated him in the movie, even if Luffy hadn't, Byrnndi World wouldn't have survived for long. The Marines only needed to send a few Vice Admirals to take him down.
Carl felt something was off. The timeline was wrong. The Byrnndi World incident was happening too early. Akainu hadn't even become the Fleet Admiral, and the other Warlords hadn't been decided yet.
The Pirate Empress coming to Shakky for help made the timeline completely confusing. The plot had already collapsed, but other storylines collapsing like this made Carl a little bewildered.
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