Orange Town has three main roads, intricately interwoven with countless other winding paths, forming a small market around the port.
Martin brought Senbonzakura, his sleeves and boots filled with throwing knives.
These days, the Marine has suppressed the pirates, and the town has become much more peaceful, with the roads being much safer.
Passing through the bustling Cross Street, one could see dried, fly-ridden bloodstains on the ground; most of the burly pirates that were once ubiquitous had disappeared, with few suspicious individuals loitering on the streets.
This indicated that the public order in Orange Town was improving, as it was a Marine logistics base, and even if the Marine was a bit lazy, they wouldn't just let things go unchecked.
According to his understanding, ever since the sound of cannons that night, the Marine had conducted a carpet-style search for pirates in the town, driving away many of those who were loitering on the streets.
Now, the market had fewer people, but it was still bustling, and most shops were operating as usual.
Marine soldiers maintaining order on the street were patrolling in small groups, creating a strange sense of order.
"Boss Kim, you have a customer!"
Stepping into Kim's general store, Martin placed the bag of knives on the counter.
"Ah, Martin, welcome, welcome! I've been waiting for you for a long time… It seems like you have a lot of goods this time."
Kim, from behind the counter, looked up with a smile, immediately weighing the cloth bag, his eyes shining.
He opened the cloth bag and glanced inside, finding a total of seven knives, and immediately swallowed, quickly counting the goods and preparing to pay.
Recently, with many pirates, many people would buy a sword or weapon for self-defense; it could be said that the worse the town's order, and the more intense the struggle between pirates and the Marine, the greater the demand for weapons, so there was no need to worry about sales.
This intermediate Knife Craftsman in front of him was as prolific as a sow; in less than a month, he had forged so many knives, making other Knife Craftsmen seem like turtles compared to him.
Presumably, he must have been accumulating strength and working diligently; Martin was not young either, having retired from the Marine and just recently married, with children to raise in the future, which was why he was working so hard.
Alas, a middle-aged man with a family to support truly carries several mountains!
Martin had no idea that by merely selling something, he had earned three consecutive waves of sympathy from Boss Kim.
"There are five Good Swords in total, all of good quality! They are 200,000 Berries each. The other two are exquisite Good Swords. There's a high demand for exquisite Good Swords recently, so I'll give you 350,000 Berries for each. Please take it; the total is 1,700,000 Berries."
Kim counted the banknotes and placed them on the counter.
1,700,000 Berries!
Martin nodded. As his knife forging skills continuously improved, his forging efficiency also increased rapidly. In the two months since he got married, he had already achieved monthly sales approaching over two million Berries.
After deducting various costs, additional expenses, and labor, he netted about 1,200,000 Berries in a month.
Although it wasn't as fast as earning bounties from pirates, it was safe and reliable, and made more money than being a Knife Craftsman in the Marine.
The average person's monthly salary in the East Blue was only 200,000 to 300,000 Berries, and a Marine Knife Craftsman earned only 400,000 Berries a month. His monthly income of over one million certainly made him a high-income earner.
Indeed, retiring was the right choice.
Martin took the opportunity to inquire, "How have things been recently? The port seems quite orderly."
Kim, however, shook his head, stroking his beard as he replied, "Actually, both pirates and the Marine have suffered casualties. A few bodies are found in the town every day, and the ground has been stained red."
"I heard that the Marine has brought in a powerful swordsman who can kill people from a distance with a Drawing Sword, he is very fierce, and many of the pirates, who originally had a numerical advantage, have been cut down."
"As long as that so-called treasure exists, the pirates won't settle down; they are just temporarily hiding."
He paused, then speculated, "The calmer it seems, the bigger the impending trouble. I estimate the pirates won't give up easily, so we need to be especially careful these days."
Martin nodded.
The Marine was in the open, and the pirates were in the shadows; these rampant pirates would definitely not give up for the treasure.
It really could be the calm before the storm.
But even if the Marine was bad, they weren't to be trifled with.
It's estimated that this battle will soon reach a fever pitch, and then a winner will quickly be decided.
He might as well continue to stay low at home.
Anyway, he had his wife to enjoy and money to earn, so he didn't care about any impending disaster; he'd just finish charging up his Senbonzakura first.
Consider it the justice of staying low!
"Kim, please prepare another portion of food for me, exactly like last time. It's fine if the price has increased; just deduct it from this."
Martin pushed the stack of banknotes he had just received back to Kim.
Buying from the market would be a bit cheaper than from Kim, but with Kim, there was no need to worry about quality, and it saved time on selection, so a higher price was acceptable.
"By the way, is there any jade steel in the nearby towns?"
Martin was preparing to strive for higher-level forging works.
As a Knife Craftsman, his goal was to create the legendary Twelve Supreme Good Swords, and he would never be content with anything less.
"jade steel? That's a controlled substance. I certainly don't have any here, and even if nearby towns did, they wouldn't dare sell it. You were in the Marine, so you must know how difficult jade steel is to obtain."
Kim paused, then hesitated, "If you really want it, I have a channel, but it'll cost a million Berries per hundred pounds, and you'll have to wait a month!"
Such a price made Martin curl his lips, inwardly thinking it was a rip-off.
The jade steel at the Marine logistics base was only 500,000 Berries per hundred pounds; his price of one million was absolutely outrageous.
However, Martin also understood how difficult it was for ordinary merchants to get jade steel.
"Kim, help me take a look at this knife and give me a price."
Martin then handed over the failed Zanpakuto.
Although this Zanpakuto had failed, it performed excellently in yesterday's sword trial, even cutting through a Good Sword, seeming to have great potential.
Kim took the knife and examined it carefully, his eyebrows slightly raised. "Oh, this is a rare item."
Closing one eye, Kim pulled out a magnifying glass and observed it closely, looking over the blade repeatedly, then shook his head. "Strange, its quality is ordinary, yet it has a bloodline… This must be a demon blade!"
"Martin, is this something you forged?"
Kim suddenly looked up and asked, his gaze as if he was looking at a monster.
Martin shrugged, "Sort of. I just forged it by accident."
"By accident?"
Kim's mouth twitched, an expression that said, 'Are you kidding me?'
Demon blades were incredibly evil existences, yet very rare. It was said that only forging masters could potentially forge legendary demon blades.
He didn't quite believe that an intermediate Knife Craftsman could forge such a legendary demon blade, so he was somewhat skeptical.
Moreover, whether this knife was a demon blade still needed to be confirmed, as he had never seen a genuine demon blade either.
Martin shrugged, preparing to put away the demon blade, even if it was just as a souvenir.
"Wait! I'm willing to buy this demon blade for 1,000,000 Berries!"
Kim quickly called out.
"1,000,000?"
Just as Martin was about to speak, a shout came from behind him.
Turning around, he saw a burly man holding a long knife being repelled by a Marine soldier's Drawing Sword. As he spat blood, the blade in his hand flew straight towards Kim, who was holding the demon blade.
This time, Martin didn't dodge. He suddenly drew Senbonzakura to block, lightly tapping the side of the blade with his sword, causing the blade to deflect and then shatter into two pieces with a crack.
Thud!
Half of the blade grazed Kim's cheek and plunged into the cabinet next to him, making the portly shopkeeper's face turn pale.
Kim's face was ashen, and his voice rose eight octaves, directly cracking:
"A de-demon blade!"