An unnamed deserted island, a tranquil bay.
On the beach, Carina sat cross-legged on a large waterproof tarp. Before her lay hundreds of exquisitely minted ancient gold coins and more than a dozen flawless rubies and sapphires.
They were all top-tier spoils plundered from a warlord's treasury in Steel Country.
Carina closed her eyes and passed her slender, fair fingers over the surfaces of the coins and gems, as if playing a piano. With every touch, a faint ripple imperceptible to the naked eye silently seeped into the object.
"Caw! Rich! Beli likes being rich!"
A vividly feathered macaw flapped its wings and landed securely on the edge of a treasure chest filled with gold coins. It tilted its head, fixed its bright black eyes on the glittering gems, and cried out with remarkable clarity.
"Be quiet, Beli. These aren't toys for you."
Carina opened her eyes and picked up a coin she had imbued with the Signal-Signal Fruit's radio waves. She examined it in the sunlight. Its surface looked perfectly ordinary, but as long as the coin was within a certain radius, every sound around it would be transmitted directly into her mind as brain waves.
Sabo walked over carrying a bucket of fresh water. Looking at the treasure scattered across the ground, he asked with a hint of curiosity, "Are these the 'bugging devices' you're planning to spread around? How will you get them into circulation?"
"Spending them directly would be too conspicuous and could leave a trail."
Carina's lips curled into a clever smile as she packed the treated coins and gems into several small leather pouches. "The Grand Line has no shortage of greedy scavengers and black-market merchants. We just need to 'accidentally' leave these pouches near some reefs or shipwrecks along the sailing routes. Within