"Oh?" Shakky's slender waist gave a graceful twist, her tone laced with flirtation as she looked at Luffy. "Little guy, that request of yours doesn't exactly follow the rules of intelligence trading, now does it?"
"Rules are dead things, but people are alive, aren't they?"
Seeing that Shakky hadn't outright refused, Luffy knew the deal still had potential.
Of course, he had another option too.
If he revealed his identity as Roger's son, he was confident that both Shakky and Rayleigh would trade information with him in a heartbeat.
But he wasn't about to do that. Something about it felt wrong, like he'd be using Ace.
Shakky exhaled a puff of smoke, her eyes narrowing with intrigue. "How about this, I'll give you a piece of info that you don't know yet, but won't be too hard to confirm."
Tossing her cigarette butt into a nearby bin, she continued, "A big name showed up on Sabaody Archipelago this year. Practically the whole island's buzzing about it. I'm guessing you two just arrived recently, huh?"
As she spoke, she reached into the mysterious "dimensional pocket" in her chest and pulled out a pristine bounty poster.
Seeing this oddly familiar move, Luffy instinctively turned to glance at Robin's own chest-pocket.
Under Luffy's curious gaze, Robin blushed and lowered her head shyly, avoiding his eyes entirely.
Shakky laid the poster flat on the table and tapped her finger against the wood. "This is this year's hottest new rookie in the first half of the Grand Line, 'Reaper' George. Bounty: 270 million."
She looked at the sheet seriously.
"He led his crew to take down an entire Marine base, and wiped out everyone inside. Slaughtered, gutted… the bounty's high not just because of his strength, but how brutally he operates. A real up-and-coming Supernova."
"He arrived in Sabaody just three days ago. Word is he recently ran into a Marine fleet and managed to escape from a Captain, though he lost a lot of crew. Right now, he's recruiting, prepping to charge into the New World."
With that, Shakky pulled out another paper from her chest, this one a bit wrinkled, and laid it beside the bounty sheet.
It was a simple flyer, showing a bloody pirate flag. Below it, a line of small text:
"February 14th, afternoon, tomorrow. Crew recruitment near Grove 32. Only accepting vicious pirates with bounties over 10 million or Devil Fruit users. Let's chase our dreams together in the New World."
Luffy picked up the bounty poster and studied it.
The man pictured was a bulky bald brute wearing only a fur vest, his chest bare. He held a silver crescent blade in one hand, while behind him rose a mountain of corpses, blood everywhere. His face wore a twisted smile of cruelty and satisfaction.
"Hm." Luffy thought for a moment, then set it down and picked up the recruitment flyer.
Robin took the bounty poster, brows furrowing at the pile of bodies in the background. After a pause, she shook her head slightly, returning the sheet to Shakky.
"Alright, it's decided then!" Luffy clapped his hands on the table with a grin and downed the last of his milk. "Thanks a bunch, Shakky-san!"
Shakky's forehead twitched at the word. A furious vein popped out, like a kanji character forming on her skin.
"Sh-shakky-san???"
But Luffy, oblivious, kept grinning cheerfully. "Oh, right, there's one more thing, Shakky-san. We're looking for a place to live, not too big. It should be easy for someone like you to arrange, right? Uh… you okay, Shakky-san?"
BOOM!
Suddenly, a huge hole exploded in the bar wall. A figure went flying through the air and slammed into a thick tree trunk outside.
"LUFFY?!"
It happened too fast, Robin didn't even have time to react. One moment, Luffy was there; the next, he'd been sent flying by a punch from Shakky.
Snapping back to her senses, Robin instantly crossed her arms.
"Treinta Fleur!"
"WAIT! ROBIN!"
Luffy, groaning, pushed himself off the ground and shouted desperately toward her.
Dozens of arms had sprouted from all over Shakky's body, ready to snap every joint she had, until a wave of Haki pressure hit Robin, making her stagger.
Her focus shattered. Her Devil Fruit powers vanished.
"Don't attack! Don't attack!" Luffy yelled, dashing back to Robin's side in a flash. He stood between her and Shakky, arms outstretched to block the next move.
Shakky didn't hesitate, she stormed forward, grabbed Luffy by the ear, and gave it a painful twist.
"You brat! Who are you calling?!"
"Ow ow ow! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Shakky-san! It's Shakky-san!!!" Luffy begged, finally realizing why he'd been punched so suddenly.
After giving his ear one last twist, Shakky let go and scolded him, "Kid, when you're talking to a woman, choose your words more carefully." She shot a look at Robin for emphasis.
Lighting another cigarette, she blew a smoke ring and added, "Fine. I won't shake you two down today. But! You're fixing that wall, and going forward, half of all your bounty earnings go to me. That's your payment for intelligence."
Robin now understood the situation, but she still couldn't forgive Shakky for hitting Luffy.
When Shakky glanced her way, Robin didn't hold back, she glared right back with equal intensity.
"Fine, fine, fine," Luffy said hurriedly, nodding like a bobblehead as he agreed to the terms.
Shakky returned to the bar, pulled a key from a drawer, and tossed it to Luffy. "Here. It's a place by Grove 14. Call it a rental. Rent is ten million a month."
Luffy caught the key with a sigh and shoved it into his pocket. He'd accepted the completely ridiculous rental agreement.
"There's a building supply shop by Grove 10. Go buy what you need and fix that wall before sundown!" Shakky barked, one arm folded under her chest, the other holding her cigarette, eyes glinting coldly.
"Yessir! I mean, yes ma'am!" Luffy responded, dragging Robin with him as they fled the scene.
Shakky took a long drag from her cigarette, letting out a thick cloud of smoke.
After a moment, she muttered, "Kids these days… really something else. I put my full strength into that punch, and the brat didn't even break a sweat."
The foul secondhand smoke drifted toward Rayleigh, who coughed twice before saying, surprised, "That girl's no slouch either. She only flinched for a moment under my Haki, then she was ready to strike again."
"Yeah," Shakky glanced at her own shoulder with a lingering chill. "That ability… was so fast, I couldn't even react."
A gust of wind blew through Shakky's Rip-Off Bar. Rayleigh sat there sipping his drink in silence, eyes unfocused, lost in thought.
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