Tannis's medicinal garden had been established six years ago, yet the old doctor at Tongfu Hall said the herbs Zhou Qi brought were at least forty years old!
That old doctor had practiced medicine for over forty years. He naturally would not spout nonsense. Besides, the older the herbs, the more expensive they were. Even if he were lying, he should have claimed they were younger, not deliberately made them older.
So six years of growth here equaled forty years on Earth?
It was not impossible. After all, Earth could not raise powerhouses capable of uprooting mountains with sheer strength. There had to be differences between the two worlds.
"Master!" An old man in a tailcoat approached. His hair was slicked back, and he wore glasses. Two attendants followed behind him, each carrying a tray piled with large-denomination bills.
"What's this?" Zhou Qi looked at Tannis.
"This is for you!" Tannis said with a smile. "How can you go out and have fun without money? There's one million Beli here. Take it and use it first."
This was actually money Tannis had prepared to smooth the way. Although Zhou Qi said he was not a pirate, there was no harm in befriending a Devil Fruit User.
"Works for me." Zhou Qi nodded. He did need money to shop, and he had originally considered selling some modern handicrafts. This saved him the trouble.
He did not think there was anything wrong with taking someone else's money. Whether it was favors or trust, both were built gradually through give and take.
He picked up the Beli. One million Beli sounded like a lot, but the denominations were large—ten thousand per bill—so it was only a one-centimeter-thick stack.
He tossed it behind him, and a Space Gate opened automatically. The money disappeared through it.
Tannis watched this with curiosity. Although he was a major merchant, Smoker was the only Devil Fruit User he had ever met, so he found it rather fascinating.
And how should he put it? This ability seemed especially suited to a merchant. He wondered how large the space beyond that gate was and whether it could hold bulk goods.
After seeing Zhou Qi out, Tannis handed the medicine to the butler. "Abbu, find someone to test this medicine..."
Then he explained its effects.
He spoke casually, and Abbu listened just as casually. How could there be medicine specifically for treating inflammation? They had always believed Zhou Qi was deliberately exaggerating its effects.
But it did not matter. What they valued was Zhou Qi himself.
Zhou Qi walked through the streets of Loguetown, looking around as he went. Loguetown gave him the feeling of traveling abroad. The people he saw had hair in every imaginable color, yet their facial features were uniformly Eastern, which felt quite strange.
As for appearances, most people were ordinary-looking. There were not many who were exceptionally ugly or exceptionally beautiful, fitting a normal distribution of attractiveness. It was not as some people claimed, where beautiful women filled every corner of a two-dimensional world.
The roadside shops differed somewhat from those on Earth. Restaurants and taverns made up the majority, followed by fruit shops, clothing stores, inns, and the like.
"The townspeople here basically travel on foot?" Zhou Qi blinked. Loguetown was not small; it stretched five or six kilometers across. Yet the locals coming and going all walked?
There were a few horse-drawn carriages, but ordinary people clearly could not afford them. Keeping horses was not cheap.
"So would opening a bicycle shop here have a bright future?" Zhou Qi recalled a news story he had seen before coming here. It said an old-established bicycle factory had made only a little over a hundred thousand in profits for the entire year.
Perhaps he could work with them.
"Boss, what's this?" At a fruit shop, Zhou Qi picked up a fruit resembling a strawberry, though it was clearly much larger and yellow in color.
"Oh, that's called a yellowberry. It's a specialty of Yellow Berry Town. Sweet and tart, very tasty. You can have a sample first."
"Is that so..." Zhou Qi put a yellowberry into his mouth. In an instant, a marvelous flavor spread across his tongue. Just as the owner had said, it was sweet and tart, and extremely delicious!
"Delicious!"
"Right? Want some?" the shop owner asked with a smile.
"How much is it?"
"Fifty Beli per jin!"
"This..." Zhou Qi was speechless. So one Chopper could only be exchanged for one jin of yellowberries?
"I'll take one jin!"
Zhou Qi took out his phone again, opened his notes app, and wrote down Yellow Berry Town.
Yellow Berry Town. Specialty: yellowberries.
His tastes were fairly mainstream. Things he liked would probably appeal to plenty of people on Earth as well, so yellowberries should be marketable there.
Unlike avocados, which could only be sold by relying on shady tricks to fool people.
A new type of fruit represented an emerging industry. Whether it was cultivation, sales, or processing it into juice and canned goods, it could generate enormous profits.
The only issue was that, since it was a specialty of Yellow Berry Town, it might not adapt well to Earth's environment.
But that was not a major problem. Earth might lack many things, but it certainly did not lack agricultural experts. Give them the seeds and fund them a little, and they would definitely get yellowberries sorted out perfectly.
"What's this one?" Zhou Qi picked up something round and dark green, somewhat resembling an untextured grenade.
"Oh, that's called a carved fruit. It's very sweet. Want to try it?"
"How do you eat it? Do I need to peel it?"
"No, just eat it directly. You can eat the seeds too!"
"A fruit like a muskmelon?" Zhou Qi tasted it. It was indeed quite sweet, though not overly so. Compared to a muskmelon, it still fell a little short.
But it also had an advantage over muskmelons: the flesh was soft, making it feel like he was eating jelly.
It should be suitable for elderly people who could not bite through muskmelons, right?
He let out a long breath and suppressed his excitement.
Of course, he knew a new world could bring incomparable wealth. Some countries had merely discovered a new continent and become the strongest nations in the world.
But only now that such an opportunity had fallen into his own hands did he truly understand just how terrifying the potential profits were.
This tiny fruit shop alone had displayed no fewer than a hundred unfamiliar fruits. Even if some did not suit Earthlings' tastes, what remained would still be incredible, would it not?
And this was only the fruit industry!
What did the One Piece World have the most of?
Seafood!
Just think about how huge the crayfish market was. Could the One Piece World have fish that did not exist on Earth and were especially delicious?
And with so many islands in the One Piece World, each with different terrain and scenery, might there be strange plants and medicinal herbs?
Could there be plants like rubber trees, plants that directly propelled the course of history?
Not to mention that this world's technological level was not low. Vegapunk had even created Blitzcrank with Artificial Intelligence. If that could be brought to Earth, what would Penguin, Raccoon, and Tesla amount to? They would all be little brothers!
What did it mean for gold to be everywhere? This was gold everywhere!
But...
Developing this world's resources would not be easy. If he merely raised fish and grew fruit, he would at most attract a few minor pirates.
But if he set his sights on Vegapunk, the one he would have to face would be the World Government!
He needed strength!
Not just in the One Piece World, either. Back on Earth, introducing a new kind of fruit would draw countless eyes.
After all, why would someone who studied microelectronics and spent several years tightening screws be capable of developing a new variety of fruit?
It would not be easy to introduce a new fruit in a plausible and reasonable way...
And if the fruit was to be promoted, processed, and sold, it would consume a considerable amount of manpower and resources. Just thinking about it, Zhou Qi knew the difficulties ahead would be immense!
"Now that I think about it, why am I getting a little excited?"
Zhou Qi clenched his fist. Unlike working for someone else, every step forward now was a step he took for himself.
And when he thought about how he could not only lead his family to wealth, but perhaps even influence the course of human history...
Ahem, he was getting ahead of himself. Chairman Mao had once said: seek truth from facts; do not indulge in empty talk.
He was getting carried away. Calm down, calm down!
Before you continue