Chapter 11: Bonfire Party
A gold ingot appeared in front of the three.
"Here you go," Cheng Lang said, tossing it to Alvida.
She caught it in a panic—then realized it wasn't hot.
Alvida inspected it, then bit down with her upper teeth, leaving a mark.
"It's real gold!"
She was nearly overwhelmed with joy.
The ingot wasn't huge—just a standard long, prismatic bar.
But at 25 jin, it was heavy.
And the purity? Off the charts.
Alvida had robbed caravans before.
Most of the gold she'd taken was low-grade—just surface plating.
But this?
She could feel the purity in her hands.
She swallowed hard.
Her eyes locked onto the box of gold.
Kuya Mi stared too—completely stunned.
She'd never seen so much gold in her life.
"This… this!!"
Neither of them could speak.
Meanwhile, Cheng Lang was already worrying.
Smelting iron ore into ingots was painfully slow.
Especially with all those iron boxes.
Just thinking about it gave him a headache.
Luckily, he'd mined plenty of coal on the last island—enough to keep the furnaces going.
"Should I build a furnace cluster?"
He scratched his head, torn between setting it up here or on the boat.
Then he turned around—and saw the girls frozen like statues.
"What's wrong with you two?"
"This… this…" Alvida pointed at the gold ingot.
"If you want it, take it. I don't need it."
Hiss!
Alvida felt like she was drowning in a sea of Berry.
Her brain was short-circuiting.
"You're just… giving it to me?!"
She stared at the gold brick in disbelief.
"By the way, can I modify the boat?"
"No problem! Do whatever you want! Anything's fine!" Alvida replied instantly.
Cheng Lang blinked.
When he'd first modified the boat, he'd wanted to expand it.
But the sails couldn't support a ship that big.
So now, he decided to shrink some unused rooms.
He'd designed way too many at the start.
He got to work.
By the time he finished building the furnace cluster and connecting it to the warehouse, Alvida was still dazed on the shore.
"Oi!"
"Aren't you hungry?"
Only then did the girls snap out of it.
Their stomachs growled.
They hadn't eaten all day.
Cheng Lang walked over to the furnace—two sets of gold ingots were ready.
"So slow…"
He tossed the ingots into his bag.
Kuya Mi watched with envy.
Cheng Lang smiled and tossed one to her.
She panicked and tried to catch it—but her hands were trembling from exhaustion.
It hit the ground.
Mud splashed.
---
Kuya Mi dropped to her knees, frantically digging out the gold ingot.
She held it up with trembling hands.
Cheng Lang found her cautious expression amusing.
Alvida wasn't jealous.
She looked at Cheng Lang, emotions swirling.
Since meeting him, she'd gained beauty—and that alone was worth following him.
Sure, money was a problem.
But she was a pirate.
She could always plunder.
Still, Cheng Lang was clearly kind-hearted.
He wouldn't rob people.
But she wasn't worried.
If they ran out of money, she'd find a way.
She wasn't about to get a job.
Sooner or later, this world would push Cheng Lang to act.
Or maybe he'd discover new ways to earn.
But she hadn't expected him to casually hand out wealth beyond imagination.
That box of gold alone was priceless.
No wonder he'd given her a Devil Fruit so easily.
Watching Cheng Lang carry supplies, she stepped forward to help.
"Where should I put this?"
"On the deck. I placed a plywood hatch—just drop the minerals in there."
"Got it."
Kuya Mi joined in too.
She was exhausted—but the sight of gold gave her strength.
"Hold on. Eat first," Cheng Lang said.
He wasn't a slave driver.
He pulled out the Cha Cha Fruit—an MC-transformed fruit with magical effects.
It restored hunger and healed injuries.
That's how Alvida had recovered so quickly.
He'd discovered another hidden effect:
It also restored stamina.
That's why they could work all day without feeling hungry.
The girls ate without hesitation.
Kuya Mi had a small appetite—three fruits and she was full.
Alvida ate over twenty before stopping.
Cheng Lang was stunned.
In One Piece, strong characters were always big eaters.
If it were shown in stats, Alvida probably had double the chicken legs of Cheng Lang.
After eating, they got back to work.
The three moved quickly.
The moon rose high.
By nightfall, they'd finished their harvest.
Cheng Lang and Alvida hauled most of the cargo.
Kuya Mi opened boxes and transferred items.
Shrunk items weren't heavy.
They only returned to full size outside the box.
But when Kuya Mi swapped them between boxes, they stayed compact—making transfers easy.
Cheng Lang occasionally visited the warehouse to compress iron ingots into blocks.
If this were a game, he'd use a mod.
But here, it was manual.
Even so, after compressing everything, they had over thirty large boxes.
Kuya Mi's stomach growled again.
Cheng Lang pulled out another Cha Cha Fruit.
"You can eat later. Look over there."
Alvida was getting tired of Cha Cha Fruits.
She'd eaten too many over the past week.
Cheng Lang looked at her curiously.
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