The Place of Beginnings and Endings

The next morning, a faint glow rose over the horizon, and the weak dawn shimmered across the sea.

Up in the crow's nest, Reiner's face was slightly flushed in the morning light. Feeling the warmth of the sun, he slowly opened his eyes.

"Ugh, my head hurts." Reiner got up while holding his head and rubbed his temples. He had drunk a little too much while competing with Zoro last night.

"Brush my teeth first. Forget it, I'll have a smoke first." Sitting on the crow's nest railing, he dismissed the undead he had summoned before bed to keep watch.

"Yo, Reiner, you're up early. You two sure drank a lot last night." Sanji was already awake. He emerged from the cabin below deck and looked up with a smile, greeting Reiner in the crow's nest.

"You're up early too. Why not sleep a little longer?"

"Well~, I have to get up and prepare a loving breakfast for Miss Nami."

"What about us?"

"If you want food, make it yourselves."

"What kind of thing is that to say?!"

"Hahaha, just kidding. As the cook, how could I let you go hungry?" Sanji laughed and waved his hand, heading for the second-floor kitchen.

The others gradually woke up as well. By the time they finished breakfast, the sun had fully risen.

"Everyone! There's an island ahead! It should be Loguetown!"

"We're here, we're here! Let me see!" Luffy excitedly ran to the bow and leaned over the sheep figurehead to look out.

After a full day of sailing, they had arrived at this place known as the town of beginnings and endings.

"Reiner, give me money! I want to go have fun!" Luffy grinned and held out his hand.

Reiner directly tossed Luffy one hundred thousand Beli. "That should be enough if you're only eating, drinking, and having fun."

"I want to buy two new swords too. Around two hundred thousand Beli, I guess."

Faced with Zoro's request, Reiner hesitated instead. Would giving him this money keep Zoro from obtaining Sandai Kitetsu and Yubashiri instead?

"Forget it. Who can say for sure when it comes to fate?" Reiner still gave Zoro the money.

Finally, he gave Nami and Usopp some spending money as well. Then Reiner carried a large bag of cash and entered the town with Sanji.

They planned to purchase supplies at the market together. Sanji knew more about ingredients than he did, so Reiner would be responsible for medicine and other daily necessities.

Although they had brought plenty of ingredients from the Baratie, Sanji had nothing better to do anyway.

If they happened upon anything rare, everyone could have a taste of the good stuff tonight.

"Come take a look! Fresh deep-sea fish delivered by North Blue merchants!"

"Giant mountain wolf pelts, a Grand Line specialty brought back at the risk of their lives by the Mountain Wolf Pirates!"

"Steamed buns! Goubuli steamed buns!"

Huh? What the hell was that?

Forget it.

Reiner and Sanji made a round of the market and had nearly finished buying supplies. Other than several high-quality green groupers, Sanji had found nothing else.

"Hey, hurry over and take a look! The cooking competition has started!"

"It's finally started? Hurry, hurry!"

"I heard the first prize is an Elephant Trunk Tuna!"

Several passersby ran past Reiner, seemingly heading over to join the excitement. Their shouting attracted quite a few other pedestrians along the way.

"Elephant Trunk Tuna? That sounds interesting. I'm going to give it a try. Want to come too, Reiner?"

"I'll pass. I have something else to take care of." Reiner handed him a backpack full of supplies as well.

"How about this? Once you're done watching, bring the stuff back to the ship while you're at it."

"Are you going somewhere?"

"I'm going to check out the black market."

"Alright, be careful." Sanji took the backpack. "Then I'll get going."

"Yeah, go win big." Reiner briefly said goodbye to Sanji and headed straight into an alley.

When he had taken out money to pay for his purchases earlier, he had noticed two punks watching him from a corner.

"Nothing beats finding local snakes for convenience."

Reiner strolled leisurely to the depths of the alley. At last, the two punks could no longer hold themselves back and sprang out to block his path.

"Hehehe, what's in that bag you're carrying? Open it up and let me have a look."

One of them, a blond man, pulled out a long blade with a ferocious grin and held it across his chest.

Why was it another soul clan member?

Reiner's expression remained calm. Without wasting a word, he reached into his clothes and pulled out a pistol.

Bang—!

The sword-wielding man was startled by the sudden movement and instinctively raised his blade while shrinking his neck.

Splat!

"Ahhh!!!"

"I hit your shoulder, so quit making such a fuss." Reiner slowly walked closer. "Where is the biggest black market in this town, and what force is behind it?"

The blond swordsman gritted his teeth and clutched his shoulder, trying to slow the bleeding as he watched Reiner approach step by step in panic.

His companion had already collapsed onto the ground in terror, at a complete loss. He gripped a dagger tightly in both hands, trembling nonstop.

"Sigh~, you two little fry, don't tell me you can't even speak?" Reiner sighed. "Then you'll be useless to me."

"Wait! I know!" the shot blond man hurriedly cried. "There are two largest black markets in this town."

"One is controlled by our boss, Bartholomew, and the other..."

"The force behind the other black market is a mysterious group. But there are rumors that they came from the Grand Line and call themselves people working for someone named Joker."

"Bartholomew?" Reiner suddenly remembered that the rooster-headed guy seemed to have come from this town.

But business came first for now. After learning the information he wanted from the two punks, he left directly.

Doflamingo's business stretched across the entire world. As one of the most prosperous towns in the East Blue, it was perfectly normal for Loguetown to have one of his bases.

He just did not know whether they had Seastone in stock. He could not stay here waiting forever; this was Smoker's territory, and even though the Smoke-Smoke Fruit was called the disgrace of the Logia type, Reiner could not handle him yet.

Before long, following the information he had obtained, Reiner arrived in front of a tavern, with the Sword Devil and Chainsaw Devil following beside him.

This was deep within a particularly secluded alley. There had been hardly anyone in sight halfway through.

"A good place for murder and robbery." Reiner could not help saying.

The tavern was deserted. There were only four men sitting lazily in front of the bar.

Across from them stood a white-haired old man wearing a monocle, wiping a wineglass with a handkerchief.

Deep wrinkles marked the old man's face, yet he remained vigorous and sharp. Dressed in a bartender's uniform, he stood straight and wore a red bow tie at his collar.

Creak~

The tavern door opened, and both the old bartender and the four men slumped in their seats looked over.

A handsome blond man walked in first, bent at the waist, and extended one hand as though ushering some great figure inside.

The old man's gaze lifted involuntarily toward the two figures who strode in.

"Hey, what are those things?"

"Are they human? Devil Fruit users?"

The sight of the two undead, with their vicious appearances and even stranger forms, made the men panic.

It's them? The white-haired old man was startled for a moment, but his expression did not change at all as he spoke in a low voice.

"A pair of big shots has arrived. The Sword-Chainsaw Duo of the Straw Hat Crew, the ones who defeated Arlong, the East Blue's number one villain, not long ago."

"It's them! I remember now!"

"Those were yesterday's bounty posters?"

"The Sword-Chainsaw Duo with bounties of twenty-five million!"

"They're way more terrifying in person than in the pictures, hey."