January 23, Sea Circle Calendar 1504.
The southern waters of the East Blue.
Oykot Kingdom.
The damage inflicted on the kingdom by the pirate attack two years ago still affected the land.
In the northeastern part of the island kingdom, a merchant ship flying the Rum Trading Company's flag slowly docked at a berth in the trading port of Machi Port.
The port's sheriff and a dozen or so soldiers kept a wary eye on the armed merchant ship.
The sheriff relaxed somewhat after Anthony presented official documents from Rum Kingdom, but he still insisted on boarding the ship for an inspection.
Anthony had no objection. After all, they had come to Oykot Kingdom to search for Devil Fruits; trade was merely an excuse.
Anthony soon settled matters at the port.
That evening.
In a third-floor room at an inn by the port.
Anthony, Ray and Vic each shared what they had learned that day.
"According to Big Brother's divination, the Sound Wave-Sound Wave Fruit is somewhere in Oykot Kingdom, but that still covers too large an area." Anthony frowned at the map on the table.
It was an official map of Oykot Kingdom. The kingdom was not just one island, but a large archipelago consisting of one main island, Oykot Island, eight small inhabited islands and forty-two uninhabited islands.
Oykot Island alone covered more than three thousand square kilometers, making their search enormously difficult.
Ray thought for a moment before offering a suggestion. "According to Big Brother's divination, this fruit shouldn't have been eaten. That means there's a good chance no one has found it yet, so we should focus on the uninhabited islands first."
Anthony shook his head. "No, we should search the inhabited islands first. If the Sound Wave-Sound Wave Fruit is on one of them, there's a very high risk of someone finding or eating it. We have to rule out the high-risk areas first."
Ray immediately understood. "That's certainly possible. I agree we should search the inhabited islands first."
"But Oykot Kingdom has more than thirty towns. Won't it take a long time to check them one by one?" Vic felt a headache coming on as he looked at the map.
Anthony, however, was confident. "We can make use of our identities. Besides, Oykot Kingdom has a great many refugees after the pirate attack. We can also use them to ask around for local information."
Early the next morning.
Anthony posed as an underground merchant and hired dozens of locals, then had them spread a message through the towns and villages around the port.
Before long, word spread around Machi Port.
In the slums south of the port.
A young man with slicked-back hair and a pair of old glasses was shopping. He had just picked up a potato when he heard someone discussing something with the owner of the neighboring fruit stall.
"Luke, have you heard about that?"
The fruit seller, who was wiping an orange, looked puzzled. "What is it?"
"You don't know?"
"Old Jim, what do you know? Come on, tell me!"
"There's a merchant from out of town buying all kinds of exotic plants over in the port district. Seedlings, seeds, fruit-anything goes."
"Really?"
"Of course. Ask around in the port district and you'll see."
"Exotic plants? How much is he paying?"
"Apparently, the starting price is a hundred thousand Beli."
The fruit seller's eyes lit up, and he immediately asked, "I've got an unusual melon vine at home. I wonder if he'd buy it."
"Oh? You want to sell? I happen to know someone who knows that merchant, but if the deal goes through, I want a tenth as a referral fee." The man smiled and rubbed his hands together like a fly.
The fruit seller hesitated.
At the neighboring vegetable stall, the man with glasses involuntarily pushed his glasses up with the inside of his wrist, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes.
After the news had circulated for three days, quite a few people wanted to sell. Underground middlemen led them in secret to various trading locations, or Ray and Vic personally visited them to inspect their goods.
Although they had not acquired any Devil Fruits, Anthony had not told the two to turn everything down. Instead, they selectively bought some of the more unusual plants.
The hoodlum who had spoken with the fruit seller was approaching other people, unaware that he was being followed, and continued working hard.
Ray, who was inspecting some goods, suddenly frowned.
Vic also sensed something unusual.
The two exchanged a couple of sentences in code without showing any reaction, then continued inspecting the goods in front of them.
Anthony had not expected to find the Sound Wave-Sound Wave Fruit in Machi Port, but when luck came, nothing could stop it.
On the sixth day after the secret buying operation began.
Ray and Vic bought a Devil Fruit from the owner of a country general store. It was not the Sound Wave-Sound Wave Fruit they were looking for, however, but a Zoan Devil Fruit.
Ray casually teleported the fruit back to the secret base in Rum Kingdom.
After receiving it, Noah identified it as a Zoan Snake-Snake Fruit, Model: Rattlesnake.
Over the next three months and more.
Anthony and the other two traveled throughout Oykot Kingdom. On April 19, they finally bought the long-sought Sound Wave-Sound Wave Fruit from a farming household on North Wind Island, which belonged to Oykot Kingdom.
As soon as Anthony got the Sound Wave-Sound Wave Fruit, he ate it, since Noah had assigned it to him.
With the Sound Wave-Sound Wave Fruit found, Anthony and his companions immediately prepared to leave Oykot Kingdom for the waters north of the Organ Islands, where they would search for the Paste-Paste Fruit.
Just as the merchant ship was preparing to leave port.
The person hidden in the shadows could no longer contain his greed. Under cover of darkness, he quickly slipped into the merchant ship's captain's cabin.
Seeing Anthony fast asleep, the man produced a sharp, long-clawed weapon in his hand and slashed at Anthony's throat.
But the next moment, the man's eyes widened.
His ten blades, his pride and joy, had been stopped by Anthony's neck, even sending a string of sparks flying as they scraped against it.
What kind of monster is this guy? Damn! I have to escape!
The next second, before he could move, he felt dizzy, and an indescribable nausea welled up in his stomach.
Anthony switched on the light and quietly looked at the bespectacled man convulsing on the floor. "You've got courage, I'll give you that, but you overestimated yourself."
Vic pushed open the door and came in. He glanced at the man on the floor and shook his head in disappointment. "I thought he was some kind of expert. I didn't expect him to be just a little kitten. What are you going to do with him?"
"Let Mary take a look at him. If he has no value for modification, let him return to nature!" Anthony decided the man's fate without a care.