After finishing their drinks, the group found themselves without any particular destination in mind, so they wandered leisurely through the streets. Yang Chan and Po were absolutely delighted—having never experienced the modern world before, even aimless wandering filled them with wonder and excitement.
As they strolled along, they came upon a large shopping mall. Gustave realized that Yang Chan's wardrobe consisted primarily of traditional ancient Chinese clothing, and he thought it would be nice to purchase some contemporary outfits for her to try.
Gustave led the group into the mall's bustling interior. The moment Shin-chan spotted a beautiful receptionist stationed at the children's play area, he immediately abandoned the group to pursue his latest romantic conquest.
Gustave initially considered calling Shin-chan back, but after a moment's thought, decided to let him go. After all, Shin-chan was a frequent "guest" at the mall's Lost Children Center, so after buying clothes for Yang Chan, they could simply retrieve him from there.
The mall's layout placed clothing stores on the second and third floors, while the ground level housed various electronics retailers.
Gustave's group had barely taken a few steps when they noticed a prominent sign at the Sony store entrance declaring: "New Products Released!"
"Ooh, new product launch!" Gustave exclaimed, his original plan to head directly to the second floor for Yang Chan's clothes suddenly derailed. He'd been wanting to purchase some gaming equipment to bring back to Bamboo Staff, and it appeared this Sony store carried exactly what he needed.
But he also needed to buy clothes for Yang Chan, and he definitely wanted to check out the gaming equipment. Such a difficult choice!
Noticing Gustave's dilemma, Ume Matsuzaka offered with a helpful smile, "Mr. Gustave, how about I take Chan'er shopping for clothes?"
"Oh, I couldn't impose like that," Gustave replied with embarrassment, scratching the back of his head.
"Brother Gustave can go buy whatever he wants. Chan'er can go clothes shopping with Sister Ume," Yang Chan interjected with mature understanding, having noticed Gustave's internal struggle.
"Chan'er, are you sure you'd be alright with that?" Gustave asked, crouching down to hold her small hands.
"Chan'er can handle it!" she nodded with determined confidence.
"Mr. Gustave, please leave Chan'er to me. I'm a kindergarten teacher—caring for children is literally my profession," Ume Matsuzaka added reassuringly.
"Then I'll have to trouble you, Ms. Matsuzaka," Gustave agreed, reaching into his pocket to extract a thick stack of bills. Most of the money consisted of 10,000 yen notes, and he handed the majority of them to Ume Matsuzaka—roughly a hundred bills by quick estimate.
"This really isn't necessary, Mr. Gustave," Ume Matsuzaka said, swallowing nervously as she stared at the cash Gustave was offering. She had never seen so much money in physical form at once. As someone who lived paycheck to paycheck and frequently worried about groceries by month's end, this was overwhelming.
"Ms. Matsuzaka, please take it. It's not that much—just over a million yen. Pick out some nice clothes for Chan'er. If you see anything you like, feel free to buy it for yourself as well. If you need more money, just come find me," Gustave said with generous nonchalance.
"Over a million!" Ume Matsuzaka gasped in shock. This represented most of her salary for the past half year! (While Ume Matsuzaka's exact salary is unknown, if we assume Hiroshi earns 300,000 yen monthly, a kindergarten teacher like Ume Matsuzaka probably makes around 100.000 - 200,000 yen per month.)
"Is something wrong, Ms. Matsuzaka?" Gustave asked, noticing her stunned expression.
"Mr. Gustave, isn't this too much money?" Ume Matsuzaka felt overwhelmed by the enormous sum.
"Over a million?" Gustave couldn't quite recall the Japanese yen exchange rate—he just remembered that yen values weren't particularly high individually, so naturally he didn't consider a million-plus yen to be excessive.
"Over a million? I remember Uncle Gustave took billion from Spandam last time," Luffy commented to Ace standing beside him.
Since following Gustave, Luffy had never needed to worry about money. Whenever he wanted something, he simply helped Gustave with tasks. Moreover, he regularly witnessed Gustave collecting tens or hundreds of millions from customers, and casually capturing pirates often netted tens or hundreds of millions in bounties. Consequently, Luffy had become rather insensitive to monetary amounts.
"It's fine. Over a million is neither too much nor too little," Ace agreed, nodding. Like Luffy, he'd grown accustomed to watching Gustave handle large sums and had lost sensitivity to money.
After hearing Ace and Luffy's casual remarks, Ume Matsuzaka was thoroughly defeated. Shin-chan had mentioned that Gustave was quite wealthy, but had never indicated he was THIS wealthy. With a "might as well spend it since it's available" mentality, Ume Matsuzaka finally accepted the money from Gustave and departed with Yang Chan toward the second floor.
With Yang Chan and Ume Matsuzaka gone, the group of males finally entered their long-anticipated Sony destination. (Well, technically Himawari in Chu Zihang's arms wasn't male, but she was too young to object.)
The store clerk had noticed Gustave casually producing that substantial amount of cash earlier, and since Sony's primary customer demographic consisted of men, when Gustave's group entered, the Sony employee approached them with a smile blooming like a chrysanthemum.
"Excuse me, gentlemen, what brings you in today? Would you like me to provide some product introductions?" the Sony clerk inquired with enthusiastic politeness.
"I'm interested in gaming consoles. Do you have any available?" Gustave asked directly.
"Absolutely, sir—you've come to exactly the right place! This is actually the perfect timing for our latest PS5 launch. Our PS5 features integrated..." The Sony clerk launched into an endless litany of PS5 advantages and specifications.
Standing behind them, Chu Zihang felt somewhat emotional hearing the Sony representative's presentation. Shin-chan's world was advancing remarkably quickly—his own world had only recently released the PS3.
"Alright, no need for extensive explanations. Just give me one complete PS5 disc version set. Do you have game? If so, include a selection," Gustave interrupted when he heard they already had PS5 available, deciding to make the purchase. Why choose the disc version? Obviously because Bamboo Staff lacked internet connectivity, making digital versions useless after purchase with no way to download. Additionally, according to the clerk's description, the disc version covered all digital version capabilities.
Of course, providing internet access to Bamboo Staff wasn't impossible. The Moral Lord certainly possessed methods to accomplish this. After all, he could forcibly breakthrough the Gate of All Worlds—enabling Bamboo Staff's internet connection would be even simpler.
However, convincing the Moral Lord to help establish Bamboo Staff's internet connection would depend entirely on Gustave's persuasive abilities.
"Yes, absolutely! Please follow me," the clerk responded. Rather than being annoyed by Gustave's interruption, he was even more delighted. After all, customers who placed direct orders without requiring extensive sales pitches were ideal.
When the clerk led Gustave's group to the PS5 display area, Gustave noticed several televisions (monitors) positioned nearby.
"What's the pricing on those TVs?" he inquired. After all, purchasing a PS5 without a proper display would be pointless.
"Sir, what price range television do you require? We at Sony offer..." the clerk began another comprehensive introduction.
"No need for detailed explanations. Just tell me which one works best with PS5—price isn't a concern," Gustave stated with clear objectives, naturally having no interest in listening to unnecessary sales presentations.
"Yes, certainly, sir! Would you also like speakers?" The clerk had confirmed that Gustave was definitively a wealthy customer who simply wanted the best regardless of cost.
"Give me a complete speaker system, plus any additional supporting equipment you can recommend," Gustave declared. Since he was making this purchase, he naturally wanted to pursue the highest quality possible—he'd buy everything available.
"Excellent, sir! I'll gather all the merchandise immediately!" The clerk was now grinning from ear to ear. He desperately wanted more customers exactly like Gustave!
"Sir, your total comes to 2,240,500 yen. For you, we'll make it an even 2,240,000 yen," the clerk announced. For such a premium customer as Gustave, he simply waived the 500 yen remainder. (about $15,000)
When Gustave prepared to pay, he discovered he lacked sufficient cash on hand—having just given most of his money to Ume Matsuzaka for Yang Chan's clothing shopping.
"Do you accept credit cards here? Specifically Chase bank cards?" Gustave asked. Chu Zihang had confirmed that credentials from the Dragon World functioned here, so bank cards should naturally work as well. The Chase card Gustave referenced was the one containing half the academy's dragon-slaying funds from his previous mission.
"Absolutely, sir! We accept not only domestic bank cards but also cards from major international banking institutions," the clerk confirmed, leading Gustave to the card processing station.
While swiping the card, the clerk naturally couldn't view the account balance, but when Gustave produced the bank card, the clerk immediately recognized it as a Chase VIP card—exclusively available to customers maintaining deposits exceeding $100 million USD.
Consequently, the clerk regarded Gustave with even greater happiness. He absolutely adored customers like this!
"By the way, do you know where I might purchase a racing simulator?" Gustave inquired. Beyond the PS5 gaming equipment, he also wanted to acquire a racing simulator, but despite thoroughly examining Sony's store, he couldn't locate any trace of such equipment.
"We do sell racing simulators in our mall, but the configurations probably won't meet your requirements," the clerk responded after hearing Gustave's question.
"I see," Gustave said, preparing to leave.
"Sir, wait a moment! While we don't carry them in our mall, I know a location in Tokyo where you can purchase world-class racing simulators!" the clerk called out.
"Oh? Where might that be?" Gustave asked with renewed interest.
"Sir, here's their contact information. You can reach them directly," the clerk said, handing Gustave a business card. Gustave examined the phone number and accepted it.
If anyone wondered why the clerk was being so helpful, it was naturally because the racing simulator vendor happened to be his brother.
"Take care, sir! We'll deliver your complete equipment set to your address tomorrow!" the clerk said with reluctant farewell as Gustave's group departed. Regarding where Gustave wanted today's purchases delivered, he'd naturally provided Shin-chan's home address.