Are These Things Being Sold Wholesale?

Day 8 of recording the magnetic pointer's records.

Night fell over the edge of the town.

A small wooden cart stood there.

The old man busied himself while two people, one big and one small, competed in slurping noodles across from him.

Around the cart, a group of grown men squatted or sat, each holding a bowl. After abstaining for eight days, they chatted longingly about the beautiful women on the street, praising them without end.

"Hey, I heard that female owner was a famous courtesan on the island two years ago!"

"That's not all. I heard she has a very formidable older brother. That man named Xiluo killed quite a few pirates who tried to lay hands on Daisis."

"You're all out of the loop. I asked around, and apparently Daisis will be taking the flower girls under her command on a procession through the streets tomorrow!"

"What?! I'm going to see it!"

The people began discussing it among themselves. As Wude slurped his noodles, he recalled how, in his previous life, he had searched online out of curiosity for videos of courtesans' processions.

The real courtesans' processions: surrounded by attendants from beginning to end, the courtesans' faces covered in eerie white makeup, walking in wooden clogs that were both tall and heavy, taking two steps before stopping for one...

If the courtesan was pretty and had a good bearing, it was still bearable to watch. If she was ugly and walked badly, she might as well have been heading straight to the underworld.

Use your imagination: Zeng Xiaoxian in a kimono, turning around with a smile.jpg!

A courtesan like Komurasaki only existed in two-dimensional worlds.

He shattered the image of Zeng Xiaoxian in a kimono in his mind, wiped away his cold sweat, and continued slurping his noodles.

He told himself that there was nothing worth seeing.

Who knew whether the courtesans' procession in Wano Country would lead to heaven or the underworld?

"I heard that the female owner is personally dressing up as a courtesan and joining the procession. Tsk, I really want to see it."

"A woman like that, with money and looks, whoever marries her would really be..."

The man had not finished speaking when Wude kicked him.

"Go fantasize somewhere else. You're drooling all over yourself. It's disgusting." Wude waved his hand, and the unfortunate man led his companions away to chat about Daisis.

"Does Big Brother like women like courtesans?" the little girl asked curiously, looking up.

"I don't." Wude thought for a moment before answering.

"Courtesans are so beautiful. Why don't you like them?" The little girl gazed at him with watery eyes.

"Why do I have to like them?" Wude tapped her lightly on the head with his chopsticks. "In Big Brother's eyes, all girls are beautiful. Some are beautiful on the inside, and some are beautiful on the outside. But liking someone isn't something you can just say on a whim."

"Oh, I don't understand." The little girl shook her head, tugging on her braid. "Then what kind of girl would Big Brother choose to like?"

"..." Wude was utterly defeated.

He slurped his noodles and chewed on the fish as he pondered... and failed to come up with an answer.

"Why does a child have so many questions?!"

With that, he tapped the child on the head again with his chopsticks.

He admitted that he was a hypocrite too. In his heart, he liked pretty younger girls as well...

The little girl looked up thoughtfully, wearing an expression that said she had already seen through the truth. "So Big Brother does like pretty girls. You're just embarrassed to say it."

"..."

The next day.

Pleasure District.

Kuroh stood on a rooftop, occasionally flapping his wings twice.

To prove that he was not a "shallow man who only liked pretty girls," Wude resolutely brought his tools to the roadside to watch the spectacle.

The food-stall owner's granddaughter came along too, shouting, "I want to see what these bad women have that makes Big Brother so interested in them!" Well, both sizes of hypocrisy had arrived.

The sun shone brightly, and the streets teemed with people.

It had to be said that Stussy's Pleasure District had made competition in the industry fierce. The rivalry had driven Virgin Flower Street to turn its procession into a trendy new spectacle.

Wude stared in surprise at the procession emerging from the building. It was different from the procession he had seen in his previous life, and even from Komurasaki's procession in Wano Country.

The procedure was essentially the same, but the outfits... looked strange.

Two men at the front wore suits instead of kimonos and carried lanterns as they walked ahead. They were even wearing sunglasses.

Behind them were several girls known as "baldies," wearing extremely revealing clothes, red skirts, white...

In short, it was very mosaic-worthy.

Daisis, dressed as a courtesan, still wore the same strip-cloth outfit, though its color had been changed. She slowly approached in tall, heavy wooden clogs. With every step, her foot drew an elegant circle from the outside inward, like a swimming fish.

The courtesans acting as attendants and the owner acting as the courtesan—it was quite s... quite pleasing to the eye.

There was no ghastly pale makeup that sent people straight to the underworld. The chance of a heart attack was reduced by 100 percent.

"The purple strips are being blown up by the wind, exposing everything. There's nothing elegant about this at all..." Wude grumbled inwardly, judging Daisis with a critical gaze.

"Hmph, temptress, witch, shameless hussy, boohoo..." The little girl muttered in disgust, but Wude hurriedly covered her mouth.

It would be bad if she said that aloud and provoked the crowd's anger.

Although Daisis's procession through the Pleasure District had been deliberately made vulgar to attract customers, it had to be said—it was actually quite good-looking...

"Daisis, you alluring woman! Come aboard my ship and be my captain's wife instead, heh heh heh!"

The street was full of pirates, so nobody was surprised when someone openly tried to snatch her away.

However, a tall, pale-haired man in a suit stepped out of the crowd. He glared at the pirate, whose face turned deathly pale as he knelt among the people, not daring to rise.

"Continue." The sickly white-haired man coughed.

Wude looked at the man, frowning as he pondered.

How had he made someone kneel just by glaring at him?

Conqueror's Haki?

And how had he controlled Conqueror's Haki so precisely that it affected only one person?

Were there really unknown powerhouses in Paradise?

"That's Xiluo. He's amazing."

"Yeah. He once said, 'Anyone who lives on this island is my slave.' So domineering!"

"That's too exaggerated, isn't it? Couldn't he have been putting on a show for people?"

"It wasn't an act. There really were people who resisted those siblings once. The next day, several dried corpses appeared on the street."

Not far away, men and women discussed the sickly man with admiration and worship.

"I asked around. Apparently, he's a Devil Fruit user." The man who had left earlier returned and whispered to Wude.

"Oh?" Wude became interested.

He suddenly felt like having a little spar with Daisis's older brother.

What kind of Devil Fruit ability did he have? He was really curious.

Long, snow-white hair drifted in the wind, carrying a woman's fragrance before it.

Wude turned to look nearby. The exquisite and gorgeous woman gave him a slight nod, her red lips curling into a charming smile. After casting him a glance with her beautiful eyes, Daisis continued forward with the procession.

The restless wind lifted her white hair, revealing a smooth, jade-like shoulder.

"Boring. Fighting is still more interesting." Wude yawned and prepared to leave.

Although the procession's comically styled outfits were novel, they still maintained the pace of taking two steps and stopping for one.

"I get it. Fighting in bed at night, huh~" a passerby said with a lecherous grin.

"You misunderstood. I mean the kind of fight where fists hit flesh, vigorous and satisfying—the sparring kind." Wude explained himself.

"Sparring, with fists hitting flesh? That's right. First, you need enough Berry." The older passerby patted Wude on the shoulder with an expression that said, "Don't say anything—I understand everything."

"..." Wude was speechless. Had he only made things worse?