"This kid has a thing for her."
The once-dilapidated smithy had now been transformed. Barn had paid to renovate it, making it resemble an old Beijing courtyard house. A huge contraption stood in the central courtyard: the "Barn-model Reinforcement Machine" he had developed.
The smithy's entrance was packed with people. Ever since they had discovered two months ago that the shop could strengthen weapons through "reinforcement," crowds had flocked there every day. Even after Barn raised the price of a single piece of terrabreeze coal to thirty thousand Beli, the number of customers only grew. His apprentices, Adam and Lia, bustled about greeting customers at the entrance, while Barn drank with a visitor in the back courtyard.
"I never expected you to come. You wouldn't be here without a reason, so tell me. What do you want?"
Barn poured a cup of wine and pushed it toward his visitor, teasing him.
The visitor was none other than Sengoku the Buddha, a current Admiral of Marine Headquarters.
Sengoku took the cup Barn had pushed over and gave him a complicated look before speaking.
"I never imagined you meant what you told me two months ago. Barn, are you really giving up piracy?"
"Heh, that's right. All I want now is to make money. As for being a pirate, well, not for now, at least."
Barn poured himself a cup as well, then spoke casually.
"You didn't come all this way just to confirm that, did you? Or did you simply want to drink my wine?"
Barn set his cup on the table and asked.
Hearing this, Sengoku turned and set his own cup on the table. He straightened in his seat and spoke solemnly.
"I hope you remember what you said!"
Then Sengoku abruptly rose and addressed Barn from where he stood in the room.
"The Marines have taken an interest in your ability..."
Before Sengoku could finish, Barn cut him off with an emphatic declaration.
"I won't join the Marines!"
Sengoku paused, then turned to look at Barn.
"I never expected you to join the Marines. To put it simply, we want you to reinforce the weapons of every soldier at Marine Headquarters!"
The corner of Barn's mouth twitched at Sengoku's words.
So I was getting ahead of myself? Sengoku wasn't here to recruit me?
With that thought, Barn adjusted his tone and spoke.
"Ahem. As you can see, there are plenty of Marines waiting outside my shop right now. I don't mind Marines coming here for reinforcement. But the key is 'coming here.' Do you understand, Sengoku?"
"You know what I mean, Barn. I don't want you reinforcing those pirates' weapons!"
"I've made myself perfectly clear! I'll reinforce weapons for anyone, provided they can afford it. As for who they are, I don't care."
Barn leaned back and crossed his legs, utterly unconcerned by Sengoku's bristling fury. He couldn't see it anyway. This was probably what people meant by "out of sight, out of mind."
Seeing Barn's attitude, Sengoku seethed but had nowhere to vent his anger. He couldn't afford to sour their relationship before his soldiers' weapons were reinforced, so he could only heave a long sigh and swallow his frustration.
"Master! A Marine whose equipment broke is making trouble out front!"
Adam's words interrupted Barn's drinking, and he turned toward Sengoku with an amused expression.
Sengoku's face darkened further, and he said flatly to Barn.
"I'll handle it..."
"Haha, sorry for the trouble, Admiral Sengoku. I'll see you out!"
At Barn's words, Sengoku's eyebrows twitched several times. But his side was in the wrong, so he could only endure it...
"Get your master out here to pay for my sword! That was a precious Skillful Grade Blade!"
"C-Captain, please don't get upset. My master will be out right away. Just wait a little longer, a little longer..."
That was little Lia's voice. She sounded very anxious. Faced with such an adorable little girl, the Marine captain couldn't vent his anger either. He could only sit on the ground and sulk, constantly peering through the doorway.
A figure appeared in the doorway, but it wasn't the man he had wanted to see. The captain immediately sprang to his feet, gave a perfectly proper salute, and shouted.
"Admiral Sengoku!"
The captain broke into a cold sweat, while Sengoku merely nodded coldly, his face still clouded with anger.
"I know what happened. Now, come with me!"
Sengoku spoke in a low voice, but his tone brooked no resistance.
"But..."
The captain still wanted to plead his case, but...
"Didn't you hear what I said, you fool?!"
This time Sengoku roared. The captain immediately ran behind him and stood respectfully with his head deeply bowed.
"Barn, I'll bring my men tomorrow!"
Sengoku turned back and gave Barn a cold look as he spoke.
Bring his men? Heh, he's the one asking me for a favor, yet he still has to get the last word in. Ah, what a stubborn fellow.
Despite that thought, Barn smiled as he answered Sengoku.
"I'll be right here, awaiting your arrival, Admiral Sengoku. Take care."
"Hmph!"
Sengoku flicked the cape bearing the word "Justice" over his shoulders, snorted coldly, and left.
After seeing Sengoku off, Barn began attending to the "customers" at the entrance alongside his apprentices...
"Congratulations, sir. The reinforcement succeeded. There's a Blade Testing Stone by the entrance. You can try out its power there."
Smiling, Barn handed a reinforced sword to a pirate. The pirate carried the long blade, now glowing pale blue, to the Blade Testing Stone at the entrance. With one powerful swing, he buried it all the way to the hilt!
The pirate left with his sword, thoroughly satisfied, while two people whispered to each other some distance away.
One of them, a boy with a huge red nose, spoke to the other.
"Hey, Straw Hat, did you see that? That sword became so powerful after that guy worked on it!"
"Yeah, this shopkeeper definitely isn't an ordinary guy. I want him to reinforce mine too, but it's just too expensive. I don't have that much money. Buggy, could you lend me some?"
"No way!"
Seeing Shanks's tearful eyes, Buggy broke out in goosebumps and rejected his request with a look of disgust.
"Heh, this shopkeeper certainly is no ordinary man."
"Mr. Rayleigh!"
Buggy and Shanks held their vice-captain in considerable esteem, and they bowed respectfully to him.
This composed, mature middle-aged man was the future right hand of the Pirate King, Dark King Rayleigh! He was the crew's second-ranking figure, surpassed only by Pirate King Roger.
Rayleigh nodded with a smile. He had high hopes for both apprentices, whether it was the calm, perceptive Red-Haired Shanks or Buggy the Clown with his red nose.
"Come on. Meeting him is exactly why we came here."
Rayleigh turned to Buggy and Shanks and spoke with a smile.
"He's that 'Asura'? How can he be so young? He looks about my age!"
"Idiot, I keep telling you to read the papers, but you never listen!"
Rayleigh looked at Shanks helplessly and explained.
"Barn ate the Life Fruit, so he doesn't age. And they say his bandaged left arm was cursed by the Wave Devil, but that misfortune turned into a blessing, allowing him to use the Wave Devil's power. He's the only person in the world with two Devil Fruit Abilities! Unfortunately, the curse also left him blind."
Rayleigh pointed at Barn as he spoke.
"Haha, what is it, kid? Getting scolded again?"
Hearing that voice, Shanks whipped around and exclaimed with delighted surprise.
"Captain!"
The man wore a typical pirate outfit. He didn't look as imposing as Whitebeard, but he possessed an indescribable presence. His long mustache curled slightly upward, and his narrowed eyes held a glint of shrewd competence. He seemed born with an air of authority-the qualities of a king!
It was this very man who accomplished what had been deemed impossible.
He dominated the Grand Line! He conquered the seas! And with the final few dozen seconds of his life, he ushered in the Great Pirate Era! This was a man whose entire life was steeped in legend!
The Pirate King!
Gol D. Roger!