The Old Village Chief

"Whiskey? Mayor Woop Slap, your body won't be able to handle such strong liquor..."

Makino looked at the old man before her with a headache, then turned toward the liquor cabinet and took out a bottle of beer. "Please have this instead."

"You girl, always making decisions on your own." Though Woop Slap said that, he obediently accepted the beer and poured it into his glass. "If it weren't for those annoying pirates, I never would have taken a liking to alcohol."

"Shanks and the others are actually quite lovable people." Makino smiled gently.

"Don't you take their side! I'm truly worried about what we'll do if Luffy and Ace become pirates in the future. The whole village will be disgraced!" Woop Slap said with a dissatisfied look.

"Yes, yes, yes..." Makino replied with a helpless smile.

"That bastard Garp is always using his busy work as an excuse. He never stops making people worry. Can't he come back more often and properly discipline Luffy and Ace?!"

Woop Slap continued grumbling as he took a sip of wine. He had been born in this village and had grown up alongside Garp, so he naturally had the right to judge his old friend's faults.

"Hehehe..." Makino neither deliberately went against Uplasp nor agreed with him. She simply wore a faint, friendly smile.

"Old man." Duen leaned his head over. "You're the mayor of this village, right? I need to discuss something with you."

Through the yellow prism formed by his glass, Woop Slap saw a distorted face. He set down his cup and only then noticed Duen sitting beside him. "What do you need from me?"

"My sister and I would like to stay in this village for a few days."

Uplasp carefully examined Duen before asking, "You're not pirates, are you?"

Duen asked in return, "Do I look like one?"

"Mm... I suppose I was worrying too much..."

The alcohol had gone to Uplasp's head, reddening his cheeks slightly. He rubbed his warm forehead. "I've had a little too much to drink and said something presumptuous. Please don't take offense."

"Mm..."

Duen looked at the wineglass in front of Uplasp. He had not even finished one glass; the surface had dropped by two centimeters at most. How was that drunk? His alcohol tolerance was just ridiculously poor...

Naturally, Duen did not intend to say that aloud. He took out ten thousand Beli and placed it on the table. "Old village chief, my sister and I came to experience the countryside. I'll leave this matter to you."

Uplasp tapped the counter with his cane. "What do you mean by this, young man? Do you think I'm someone who only cares about money? Do you think I wouldn't uphold the customs of hospitality if you didn't offer payment?"

"I see." Duen added another ten thousand Beli, stacking it atop the first pile.

Two piles of Beli, seemingly radiating golden light, sat on the counter. Uplasp could not help glancing at them several more times as he stubbornly said, "You are insulting this old man's character. Take them back. I'll arrange lodging for you."

Though he said that, his left hand had already stretched toward them uncontrollably. With this money, the village's canal construction should progress a little faster.

"I understand." With incredible speed, Duen snatched back the twenty thousand Beli, cleanly and without hesitation, wearing an expression that said, "I get it." Nami, who had been anxiously watching the two piles of Beli, could not help sighing in relief. She gave Duen a subtle look. Nicely done!

Negative Emotion Points from Uplasp +101...

Uplasp's fingers froze on the counter before tremblingly withdrawing. He lowered his head slightly, letting the red-and-white striped round cap cast his twitching eye into shadow. "Young man, come with me. I happen to have spare rooms at home. If you don't mind, you can stay there for a few days."

He got down from his seat, leaned on his cane, and slowly walked out of the bar. Duen generously paid for the meal, then followed behind with Nami.

Foosha Village was not large, with only two or three hundred households at most. Uplasp lived slightly west of the village center. As they followed him along the way, enthusiastic villagers kept smiling and greeting them.

"Come in."

Uplasp pushed open his front door. His home was simple, and the furniture looked old. The worn sofa visible at a glance was almost as old as he was, but the place was overall very clean. It did not feel messy at all, unlike the home of an old man living alone.

Duen and Nami had never been particularly picky about their accommodations. After receiving temporary use of two rooms, the old village chief went out. According to him, he was going to oversee the village canal construction.

Perhaps because there was nothing valuable in the house, he had no worries about letting the two stay there. It was not as if they were going to haul away that sofa he had used for seventy or eighty years.

"Take it."

Duen took out a stack of Beli and placed it before Nami as payment for following him. He stretched, then entered one of the rooms arranged by the old village chief. "I'm going to rest. Don't disturb me."

Nami put away the Beli and nodded without hesitation.

After entering the room and removing the broad blade from his back, Duen lay down on the bed.

Before sleeping, he entered the system and checked the [Income Log]. In just a short while, he had accumulated more than 5,800 Negative Emotion Points.

Now he could draw a good batch of prizes. If he drew Haki and a few more Six Powers, he could probably rule the East Blue.

Before drawing, however, he opened [Abilities and Enhancements].

After examining all the status bars, he found upward arrow symbols beside [Phantom Mirror] and [Geppo]. The other status bars could not be selected, much less upgraded.

The upgrade conditions were probably insufficient. Since there was no system prompt, he could only explore them slowly on his own.

After thinking briefly, Duen tapped the upward arrow beside [Geppo].

[Do you wish to enhance it? This requires 4,000 Negative Emotion Points.]

Was Geppo worth spending 4,000 Emotion Points to upgrade by another level?

Duen began to hesitate. Four thousand Emotion Points was no small amount at present. Even if he upgraded [Geppo] from LV1 to LV2, the improvement in actual combat did not seem particularly significant. But if he put all of it into the lottery, nine draws might, with decent luck, yield [Iron Body] or [Armament Haki], which should better cover his weaknesses.

"No."

After hesitating for a while, Duen ultimately chose not to upgrade it, and the prompt disappeared.

He then tapped [Phantom Mirror]. The system prompt was the same: 4,000 Negative Emotion Points to enhance it by one level.

Duen decided not to upgrade it for the moment. He then entered the [Lottery Center] and confidently pressed the red switch.

The wheel spun, then finally stopped on an icon.

[Congratulations, you have obtained: 10,000 Beli]

Note: Money.

[Would you like to withdraw it?]

"Huh? So Beli can be drawn too?"

Duen paused in surprise, withdrew it, and inspected it in his hand. It looked exactly the same as ordinary Beli.

He tossed it aside and pressed the red button again.

The wheel spun, this time stopping on a perfectly square icon.