Encounter Reward: Miss Goldenweek

Speaking of Miss Goldenweek, one had to mention an important character from the original story.

The Shichibukai, Crocodile, and the criminal syndicate he founded, Baroque Works—an organization whose surface goal was to build an ideal kingdom, but which actually lusted after the ancient weapon Pluton sleeping in Alabasta.

Everyone in Baroque Works went by codenames and operated in male-female pairs, such as Mr. 1 and Miss Doublefinger.

Miss Goldenweek was Mr. 3's partner. Mr. 3 was a wax man from the Wax-Wax Fruit, and Miss Goldenweek excelled at pigment painting, making them a relatively compatible combination.

However, Miss Goldenweek's abilities did not come from a Devil Fruit.

Aeneas had specifically looked into it in his past life; Miss Goldenweek's abilities came from powerful psychological suggestion.

What kind of people were there not in the pirate world?

This psychological suggestion and the Voice of All Things were both special types of talent.

Just, why is she here? Aeneas was completely baffled right now. Though there are still twelve years before the start of the plot, Miss Goldenweek is just the codename she uses later.

Marianne? Aeneas thought, looking at the expressionless little girl. It seems this was from before she joined Baroque Works.

Although Miss Goldenweek was a character who received little ink in the original story, the system still gave Aeneas a chance at an encounter draw.

Congratulations to the host for encountering a famous original character. The maximum fame value of "Miss Goldenweek" is 583, reaching the level of "Beginning to Show Talent". The host obtains one Silver-grade draw opportunity!

As expected! Just as Aeneas anticipated, Miss Goldenweek's identity could be considered that of an assassin; she wouldn't do anything flashy. Besides, being Mr. 3's partner, she was even less likely to be known to the public.

A Silver-grade draw opportunity. I'm satisfied!

The probability of Aeneas hitting a Silver reward right now was quite small, only four times a year.

"Draw directly!" Aeneas immediately had the system start the draw, and a large roulette wheel instantly appeared in his mind. The pointer spun rapidly, finally stopping in the artifact category section.

Congratulations to the host for drawing a Silver reward, the artifact category "Ma Liang's Magic Brush"!

"Huh?" Aeneas's heart shook violently. Ma Liang's Magic Brush? Is it talking about that magic brush that can turn everything into reality?

Ma Liang the Magic Painter was a fairy tale Aeneas had heard in his childhood during his past life, in which a man named Ma Liang was bestowed a "magic brush" by immortals in heaven, and this "magic brush" could turn everything Ma Liang painted into real, existing things.

Putting it that way, it seems there are people with similar abilities in the pirate world. The plot Aeneas had seen not long ago before transmigrating. A samurai in Wano Country named Kanjuro used a huge paintbrush to turn the things he drew into reality.

"But that should be a Devil Fruit ability." Aeneas looked at the "Ma Liang's Magic Brush" that had yet to be extracted in his mind. "Yet this 'Ma Liang's Magic Brush' can be used by anyone. Anyone can turn what they draw into reality."

"What would happen if I used this Ma Liang's Magic Brush to draw a Devil Fruit?" Aeneas had a sudden, whimsical idea.

The things drawn by Ma Liang's Magic Brush only exist temporarily. They have volume but no mass; they don't truly turn the false into reality!

The system reminded Aeneas at that moment, keeping him from letting his imagination run wild.

"Then it's actually pretty much the same as Kanjuro's ability!" Aeneas curled his lip. "To think I believed it was insanely awesome, but it's nothing much after all!"

A simple thought confirmed that this was indeed the case, since Ma Liang's Magic Brush was rated as a Silver reward.

So it definitely wasn't some groundlessly overpowered thing; it undoubtedly had restrictions.

"Is it going to the bottom of the box again?" Aeneas felt it was rather dull. His consciousness returned to reality, and he saw Marianne looking at him with a dazed and cute expression.

"Eh?" Aeneas came up with an idea. I won't use it myself, but I can give it to Miss Goldenweek.

Of course, Aeneas wasn't doing this just because Marianne was cute, but rather because Marianne's psychological suggestion was a terrifyingly abnormal ability.

Just then, the black painted on the doorway could cause a person to experience "betrayal" emotions—this person would involuntarily resist and rebel against things they ought to do, which in the original story caused Luffy to feel an aversion to rescuing his trapped comrades surrounded by wax.

The bearded man from just now heard his comrade's question, developed "betrayal" emotions, directly cursed loudly, and slammed the door as he left.

That had also indirectly allowed Aeneas to escape a disaster.

And the green paint Aeneas had stepped on earlier was precisely Leisure Green, which made Aeneas want to calm down and do nothing. In the original story, Luffy and the others directly wanted to sit down and drink tea.

For some reason, Aeneas hadn't felt the urge to drink tea—this should have had something to do with Marianne's current preferences.

"Thank you for saving me," Aeneas expressed his gratitude, though he felt it was somewhat strange to speak so solemnly to such a little girl.

"Don't mention it. I didn't do anything." Marianne shook her head, picked up the paintbrush in her hand, and scooped up the palette from the ground, wondering what colors to mix.

As for what Aeneas should do next, Marianne didn't care either.

"Ugh..." Aeneas felt a bit at a loss when he saw Marianne's cold and detached demeanor.

"Where is this? Are you the only one here?" Aeneas asked cautiously.

Marianne glanced at Aeneas and said indifferently.

"This is my home. My home is an art studio, and I'm the only one here." Marianne dipped her brush into the paint on her left side, dipped it again on the right side, and finally dabbed and smeared on the palette.

So aloof... Aeneas noticed Marianne didn't act shy around strangers at all. Was she living alone at such a young age?

"Then where are your mom and dad?" Aeneas asked.

"Dead."

"..."

Aeneas looked at Marianne's face from the side for a long time, yet he couldn't detect even a tiny trace of sorrow or unease.

"Dead?" The corners of Aeneas's mouth twitched wildly, and he wailed inwardly, How can you be so calm when they're dead?!

"They must have gone far away. You can leave now. Don't mess with those people from the underground syndicate; none of them are good people." Marianne blinked her large eyes, signaling that Aeneas could go outside.

"Oh, oh. Thank you." Aeneas suddenly remembered he still had things to do, and before leaving, he asked Marianne, "Do you really like painting?"

Marianne tilted her head slightly, then straightened it and nodded.

"I'll give this to you. Consider it thanks for saving me." Aeneas casually extracted "Ma Liang's Magic Brush" on the spot and handed it to Marianne. "This is called 'Ma Liang's Magic Brush'. It can draw every color you want without mixing, and it can even temporarily turn paintings into reality!"

Marianne stared with wide eyes, her cold, little expression finally revealing surprise.

"Can every color be mixed out?"

Marianne asked after a long pause, but when she looked up, Aeneas had already walked out the door.

Marianne looked at "Ma Liang's Magic Brush" in her hand. With a single thought, whether it was Betrayal Black, Laughter Yellow, Leisure Green, or Fighting Bull Red, all the colors emerged along the brushstrokes.

Marianne waved the magic brush rapidly, and a small bird quickly took shape. With a final dot of the brush to finish the eyes, the bird fluttered its wings, flew out of the painting, and circled around the room.

Gradually gripping "Ma Liang's Magic Brush" in her hand, Marianne unusually walked out the door to look into the distance, but Aeneas's figure had already vanished.

"Thank you..."