"Ah, someone asked me that question before." Ace remembered the answer especially clearly because it had been Sabo who asked it.
"Actually, that doesn't hold true." Ace picked up a piece of fruit. There were plenty of these strange fruits that looked like Devil Fruits here—an entire large basket of them—and this was probably only one-thousandth of the merchant's cargo.
He smiled and asked the tall, burly, heavily bearded merchant across from him, "How much?"
"It was originally twenty Beli, but the Revolutionary Army eats for free." The tall, brawny, bearded merchant grinned.
"I want to buy your goods, yet you're trying to harm me. You're not a good person." Ace laughed and scolded him, casually handing over a banknote from his pocket before lowering his head and taking a bite of the fruit.
The next second, his face immediately scrunched up, turning into a mask of pain that startled the Whitebeard Pirates.
"Hahahahaha!" The merchant laughed heartily as he made change. His voice was loud and booming, as though people would not be able to hear his laughter otherwise. Those who lived on the sea needed voices like that; with the raging winds and waves, there was no other way to make sailors hear orders.
These merchants were merchants and captains in peaceful times, warriors when danger arose, and they would not mind playing pirates if the opportunity presented itself.
The world was simply that realistic.
Under the Revolutionary Army's powerful deterrence, they became law-abiding merchants. Marco and the others clicked their tongues in amazement as the merchant said, "This fruit is used for mixing drinks, brewing liquor, or adding to juice. If you eat it directly, this is what happens. Hahahaha..."
He had not seen anything this amusing in a long time. What was wrong with this Revolutionary