NEWS
Gran Voyage Type: Item - Basic Cannon Ammunition
Gran Voyage Name: A Gentleman's Finest Explosives I
Gran Voyage Location: Jordsand
Level: 1
Gran Voyage Description:
Sofia finds Montgomery over at Jordsand, the gentleman who sold to her the Devil Fruit she has consumed. Like herself, he has also gotten interested in this seastone island, for business interests. He has expanded his business from just "magic" items to warfare, but he is just starting out. He was wondering if Sofia was interested in helping him out with this new entrepreneurship adventure of his, and he would compensate her with a sample of his wares.
NPCing: -
Registration: https://strawhats.rpg-board.net/t2277-a-gentleman-s-finest-explosives-i
Sofia was at on of the few restaurants on this island of the Jordsand area. Given the constant ambience of war and conflict, it seemed quite difficult to make this sort of business work.
However, there was definitely different sort of business that could make a lot of money here - warfare.
The noble sipped on a cup of tea, when she suddenly noticed a certain tall gentleman nearby, at the bar; ordering something - it was Montgomery! The man who had arranged a deal with her to give her a Devil Fruit, way back at Sabaody, where she started her adventure.
It had been quite a while since they had last been in contact, ever since she finished working for him and had left for Drum, she hasn’t heard from him.
She took a deep sip from her tea and swallowed it down, emptying the cup, to then approach the gentleman.
“Mr. Montgomery!” she called out with a cheery tone. “Such a pleasure to see you here!”
“Oh, hello. Do I know you?” he then asked, looking upwards to the overly tall woman. “You look familiar.”
“I’m Sofia, Lady Sofia.” she chuckled in response. “The one you sold the Devil Fruit to, remember?”
“Oh. OH! Of course I remember you. New hairstyle, huh? It suits you.”
“Thank you. So, how’s the family?” she asked, hoping that it wasn’t too rude of a question. She had managed to get her fruit from him by helping him out with that.
“Doing well.” he replied. “Just, taking a bit of a break from the usual again.”
“A break?” she wondered. A break from his family, perhaps?
“Yeah. Magic and all is great, but it’s getting harder and harder to make business with that, as much as I love it. So, I’m looking into the latest world developments to see what I can contribute with.”
“Ah, you’re here for the seastone too then?”
“Not exactly.” Montgomery chuckled, to then raise a finger. “Weapons, m’dear.”
Sofia rose her eyebrows.
“Yes, indeed.” the man continued. “And over here, that’s a lot of a need for it. People fighting all of the time for those special minerals. And it’s not like I haven’t been selling ‘weapons’ before, I sold to you the Devil’s Fruit, haven’t I? I’m just expanding my business horizons…”
The lady nodded. “I see. How is that going for you?”
“Eh.” he replied. “You know how it is at the start. Slow. I’m not known, so I don’t have much clientele.”
Sofia then grinned and held her chin. “I could help you with that.” she suggested.
“Help me? How?” the man replied. Sofia had helped him before, and it had gone pretty well, so she could detect the confidence he had in her. It allowed her to be less nervous about approaching this guy about setting up a deal.
“Simple: publicity.” she then stated. “I move around with a lot of people, so I could recommend you. A referral system, if you will.”
“A referral system, eh?” the businessman wondered as he stroked his chin. “Well, OK. It could work. I don’t have much money, though, I’ve spent most of it on my stock. So, what else could I do for you?”
“A portion of the profits, perhaps?”
He shook his head. “I need the money, sorry. You already know how it is.”
And so she did. It was because of money that he got into his problem in the first place way back. Sofia then scratched her chin and looked to a side as she thought.
“Oh!” Montgomery then said. “I could get you a sample of my stuff, what do you say? I’ve got quite a lot, maybe you’re interested in something.”
“Like what?
“Cannons? Ammunition? Guns, perhaps?” he asked.
She could get all of the gun she could ever need from her Marine contacts over at Sabaody, though. Sofia hoped that she would never have to actually use them, though.
“Cannon… Ammunition?” she asked. Probably she could resell it later.
“Sure thing!” Montgomery then chuckled, and offered a handshake to her. “Deal?”
“Deal when we finish clearing out all of the details of what I’d have to do.” she replied, and shook his hand.
“Aaah, I see that you’re one who likes to have every nitty gritty thing planned out, huh?” he then said with a grin.
Sofia shrugged. “Sort of. Just to avoid misunderstandings later between us, you know how it is.”
“Very well.” the businessman then said. “How about I invite you to a drink here then. Mind you that it won’t be wine like last time at the Archipielago, heh.”
“Oh. Why not?” the girl asked, tilting her head slightly. She thought this guy was very fond of wine. At least, that was the sort of impression that he had given her when they met for the first time and arranged business.
“Pirates took it all!” he exclaimed, raising his eyebrows. “Those alcoholics, I wouldn’t expect less of them, honestly.”
“Oh, they took it from here, this restaurant?”
“Yeah. I was talking to the owner before to see what we could arrange, and he told me all about it. Those bastards just came in, got all of the drinks that they could - alcoholic, of course, and then: boom. They left. Just like that.” Montgomery replied.
“I see.” Sofia replied. “Do you know where they left to, perhaps? Or who they are?”
“The Cream Pirates, I believe?” he said.
“Got it.”
After discussing their deal further, Sofia eventually was at a Marine station as usual.
“So, those Cream Pirates have been causing some ruckus around, haven’t they?” Sofia asked, as she sat in the cafeteria with the uniformed staff there, eating a sandwich.
“Yeah.” one of the Marines replied. “They’re not… Bad people though? Just really annoying. They haven’t killed anyone yet or anything, they just go in and start to party real hard or they start to be a nuisance in some other way. So, we haven’t gotten after them yet, y’know? They aren’t a real threat. Just, a real nuisance. We got more than enough with those Miner Pirates anyways, with the seastone stuff over the hill.”
“I see.” Sofia mentioned, to then rub her chin. “I’ll try to figure something out about them.”
“What, you are going to go after them?” one of the Marines asked.
“Sure, why not?” Sofia then replied.
“Isn’t it going to be dangerous for you?”
“No? Why would it be.” the girl asked.
“Well, you do have that bodyguard and all, and I was wondering if it might be… A bit too challenging?” the Marine clarified.
Sofia shrugged. “It could be. But I think that I’ve grown since the start of my travels. I might be able to take this on myself, you know? I helped hand in Hunter Jacquelin, didn’t I?”
“Well, yeah…”
“Then leave it to me!” she chuckled. “I’ll be alright, besides, don’t underestimate Anna Blue. She’s pretty amazing!”
It wasn’t too hard for Sofia to find where the Cream pirates were. All she had to do was to follow the trail of debauchery by asking the locals about where they may be, and soon enough she managed to reach one of their members, apparently drunk and sitting on the floor, looking out to the sky without an apparent concern for anything.
“Hello there.” she said, approaching him. “You’re a Cream Pirate, right?”
“Eeeyup.” he replied.
“I’ve got a proposal for you.” Sofia said. “But, how about you show me where the rest of your crew is first? Like that we can talk better.”
“Whyyyyy do you care about….My crew?” he answered.
“Well.” Sofia started off. “I’d just like to get to know them, you know? You seem like fine people. Fun people. The sort of people I enjoy.”
It was getting hard for her to lie with this. She honestly didn’t like that sort of people too much, personally.
“Heh. You like parties, huh?” the guy replied with a smirk. “Don’t worry bae. I gotchu. You can always find us over at the Red Cat. Well, at least some of us. Drunk! Bwahaha!”
Sofia nodded. That was all she needed to know.
She arrived to the Red Cat, apparently some kind of strip club for the mercenaries that were here and frequenting the area of constant warring that was around her. Within, there were a lot of men drinking and wasting their time with women who were showing a lot of skin. It disgusted Sofia, but she knew that if she wanted her plan to work, she would have to deal with these people in order to get it done.
The noble walked inside, with chipper steps, as if she wanted to be there, and then she sat down and waited for a tender to arrive.
“Would you like something to drink?” the scantily-dressed waitress asked. “Or maybe a special request, perhaps?”
Sofia shook her head. “Just a... “ she started off, to then look at what the others were drinking. It was beer.
“...A beer.” she then said.
“Coming right up!” the waitress replied, to then arrive with a can of it in a few seconds. No glass, just the can. Sofia stared at it for a moment, and then looked at the person who brought it, expecting her to come back eventually with a cup or something, but there was none to be seen.
Then, she looked at the pirates. They were also without cups, and were drinking straight from the can.
Sofia sighed.
She cracked the can open and then gulped down a chug of the musty liquid, to then walk over to the group of pirates with a smile.
“Hello!” she greeted, raising a hand.
“Oy, hello thar!” one of the pirates yelled out to her with glee. “We got a newcomer here, aye? Come roight on ovah.”
Sofia had a bit of a hard time understanding their thick accents, but believed that she could nonetheless make out the meaning of what they were saying. And, as they suggested, she got over to them with a happy demeanour.
“So, you guys are the Cream Pirates, right?” she asked, straight up, figuring that she could go right to the point here.
“Ooof course we are!” the man replied with joy. He was dressed in a fancy coat, unlike the others. He was the captain?. “What brings ya to us?” he added.
Sofia smiled. “I’m here to propose to you guy a small deal.”
“Roight. What sorta deal?”
“Do you know Sabaody? It’s a pretty swell place for pirates - not like Jordsand, am I right?” Sofia started off.
“Ye. But it ain’t no Jordsand!” he replied with a chuckle, to then look away for a moment. Sofia narrowed her eyes. There was something here.
Jordsand was not the sort of place for someone to party at. It was a warzone, not Sabaody Park.
She had suspected this was odd from the very start. Jordsand is the opposite of the place for the usual party animal - because it’s hardly got any restaurants, any bars, anything of the sort! The place is nearly devoid of any sort of proper entertainment establishment. They were here for different interests!
And Sofia had a good idea of what.
She just needed to make them open up about it, and not go too harsh about it, so that they wouldn’t suspect she was a Marine in disguise or something. She had to earn their trust, but at the same time, be savvy enough as to avoid any sort of trouble if she was totally wrong. She had to fish, while having a plan to avoid losing her bait, metaphorically.
The noble grinned. “Ah, yes. Jordsand.” she started off. “I love it too, it’s why I’ve come here, actually. There’s a lot to be done here.”
“Indeed.” the captain started off. “Who are you, anyways?” he then asked, making a half-smile at her. Sofia could feel his concerns and skepticism start to grow.
“Phillipa Sofia.” she stated. It wasn’t like it was supposed to be some sort of secret anyways, so she didn’t mind conceding that fact to him.
“Lars Cream” the man replied. “A pleasure.”
Then, there was silence. They just stared at each other. Apparently Lars wanted to get something out of her too.
“So, why are you here at Jordsand specifically, Sofia?” he asked.
“Ah, I was interested in seastone actually.” the girl replied, lying. She was here for the side-business that she could create from that activity, but nearly everyone was here for the seastone anyways, so it was a very believable excuse, or so she hoped.
“I see.” he replied.
“And you?” Sofia insisted.
The captain looked at her with a straight, serious face. Then, he smiled, and took a sip of beer.
“Parties” he replied.
That was just their cover-up, and Sofia knew it. Some distraction that they were using so that people wouldn't’ realize their real purpose here. She probably needed something else, a reason for this man to open up to her. She had to steer the conversation into another direction.
“Well, a party now and then definitely does the soul good.” Sofia mentioned, trying to use that as a springboard to lead into the following. “It definitely works for me as a break with business. I’ve been into warfare lately, you see. It’s a bit of a side-thing.”
“Oh, really now?” Lars started off. “How has that been going for you?”
Sofia shrugged. “Very well actually.” she mentioned. “I’ve got some quality products - cannons, ammo, the works. Just looking to spread further out now.”
Lars rubbed his chin. And Sofia hoped that was a good sign.
“You know, we party in a lot of places.” he said. “If you know what I mean.”
She didn’t know what he meant.
“I see.” Sofia replied. “Interesting.”
“Say, if you want to party sometime with us, you could, you know? I’m quite interested in those… Products of yours. It’s not everyday that I find someone that has something interesting like that and goes straight to me about it.” he mentioned. “Were you… Referred?”
The noble shook her head with a smile. She had actually figured it all out on her own.
“I see.” Lars replied. “That’s the sort of talent that’s going to be useful in our circles. I like you, Sofia.”
“I appreciate that.” she replied with a short bow, to then sip another dose of beer.
“We’ve got to arrange a small… Party.” he then said, to then pass her a card he pulled out of his coat. “Here’s the invitation. I hope you can make it”
Sofia took the card and then looked at it. It had a map of a sort, that was the Red Cat, and then it had an arrow pointing to a part of it, along a little quote that said “Party forever, always.”
“When is it?” she then asked, looking up from reading.
“Does right now work for you?” he asked.
“It does, actually.” Sofia chuckled.
Together, they exited the Red Cat through the main entrance, to then re-enter it through the secret door outlined in the card that Sofia had just received. After saying the password to an otherwise totally average wall, it rotated, and the nearby floor with it, bringing them inside to a dimly-lit hallway.
“It’s further down.” Lars mentioned.
Sofia nodded. And she started to sweat. What if all of this was a trap?
“Don’t worry Sofs.” Anna Blue then whispered to her from her insides. “I got you, girl. Don’t forget about that. If they try to get you - I’ll get them first. Don’t doubt it! Now go get them. You can do it!”
Sofia wanted to reply to her Navigator, but she knew that she couldn’t. It would reveal that she was the Castle Castle user in the worst case, or make her look like she is just a bit mad and talks to herself at times. So, she just held her fists closed tight, and followed the man down the hall, until they arrived to a room with a pool table in the middle, with seats around it. There was a map of Jordsand on the wall too, with arrows drawn over it.
“Welcome to the VIP area, Sofia.” Lars then told her, spinning slowly with his arms extended, flaunting the place. “It’s my pleasure to have you here.”
“So.” the man then said, stopping to look at her. “I’m curious about that ‘warfare’ business of yours. You’re a supplier?”
“Pretty much, yes.” she replied.
“That’s quite interesting.” he then said. “You see, we’re the sort of people who really like weapons. I guess I don’t have to tell you why.”
Jordsand was a massive war zone, of course. Sofia nodded.
“So, someone like you is going to be useful for us.” Lars added. “We’ve been waiting for a chance like this, so that we can finally take over this area!”
“This area?” Sofia then mentioned, and scratched her chin. “With the Marines and all?”
“Yeah.” Lars replied. “What about it? We can take them on. Especially if we’ve got your gear.”
“Let me rephrase that.” the girl then said. She had to dissuade them from attacking this place so that she could be in a better position with the Marines. “Just this area?”
“What do you mean just this area?” Lars replied.
“With my weapons, you could aim for bigger. This place has got a city on it, right?” Sofia said.
“Yeah, of course.” he said.
“And it’s working because of World Government support. The Marines are here to protect that investment - why would they be here otherwise?”
“So?”
Sofia drew in closer. “What I’m saying is, you don’t need to take over this town.” she whispered. “Let it continue as it is, and control it without direct confrontation. The Marines aren’t going after you guys, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Keep it that way.” Sofia then mentioned. “It’s working in your favor. You get to benefit from the town, while not having to maintain it yourself!”
“Oh. I see!” Lars then exclaimed. “I like your thinking!”
And she wasn’t over just yet. “And my main point is, with my weapons, you could go for the real value around here.”
She then pointed to the map, to then walk towards it and slam a finger against a nearby mining area - the conclave of the Miner Pirates. At least, that was what the map said it was.
“Taking over the Miner Pirate’s mines.” she stated. “With my weapons, that place can be yours. And all of the seastone in it.”
Lars rubbed his chin, looking at the map. “Yes. Yeeees, I like that. I like that a lot.”
“So, how much for the stuff?” he then asked. “We got to know - taking over that place is an investment, after all. I need to know the numbers.”
“This much Beli.” she then replied, and onto a small paper, she wrote down the values. “But.” she then stated “If you get… This many cannons, I’ll give you a 30% discount. On all of them.”
“40%” He then asked. “And you’ve got a deal.”
She already expected him to lower the price. Back at Sabaody, she did the same, she always proposed something for them to lower. So that now, she could accept reluctantly and do them the “favor” of accepting their price, when she had set up this whole situation from the start - she already expected to sell it at 40% discount, because the initial price she had put was so high.
It was a negotiation trap.
Sofia sipped air through her teeth. “Aaaye, I don’t know about that - but for you, Lars: I can make that exception.”
Lars then smiled. “Thanks, Sofia! I owe you one.”
The noble shrugged. “No problem. So, deal?”
“Deal.” the Creme Pirate’s captain replied. “Let’s get that artillery rolling in!”
“The what now?” the Marine captain then exclaimed out, towering over Sofia. She had gotten back to the Marine Station to report what she had done, with each Marine she had told it to requesting a higher and higher ranking officer to deal with it. Because the news weren't pretty, and they expected they had to incarcerate Sofia for what she had done, yet they didn't want to. So they kept passing the mess upwards.
“I sold weapons to the Cream Pirates.” Sofia admitted. “To solve your problems.”
“You’re selling weapons to PIRATES?” he boomed.
“Yes.” the noble said back, shrugging. “You can thank me later.”
“Sir Captain, Sir!” a Marine troop then said, interrupting them, to then salute.
“What is it?” he man replied.
“T-the Cream Pirates’s and the Miner Pirate’s effective forces are… Lowering drastically! And there hasn’t been reports about the Cream Pirate’s causing problems in town for the last three days!”
“H-How?” the large man demanded.
“They are fighting… Each other!” the troop explained.
The Captain stared at the underling with wide eyes. Then, he turned to Sofia.
“This… Is your doing?” he asked.
“It sure is.” the noble chuckled, a bit playfully. "Now do you see why I sold them the weapons? So that the Creams would have the confidence to go after the Miners - because they wouldn't do it otherwise. To have them do your job for you, and since they're too busy doing that, they'd stop being a nuisance over here too. Pirates fighting pirates happens all the time. You just got to set the situation just right."
The massive captain stared at her for a while. Eventually, his lips started to move again.
“I owe you an apology then, for yelling at you before.” he said, relaxing his stance. “Also, private, you’re dismissed.”
“Yes sir!” he replied with a salute, then left.
“So, Sofia. How did you do it?” the captain asked.
“I was friendly to them.” she said. “You see, I help pirates in ways that help the World Government. I don’t have to fight to help us win. In fact, I prefer to avoid it.”
“So, if you’re a pacifist like that, why did you get the Cream pirates to attack the Mines?” the man then wondered.
Sofia smirked. “I’m a doctor too.” she stated, and you could almost see the Beli signs in her eyes as she said that.
The captain stared at her back, with impression, and fear, as he realized this whole scheme set up by Sofia. He wanted to question why she would want to go heal pirates, but after her explaining her whole "helping pirates ends up actually helping the World Government" idea, he opted not to ask to avoid further embarrassment.
“I truly appreciate... To have you with us.” the captain then said, concerned with how things might’ve been if Sofia didn’t have that good dose of bonhomie nature. How much of a threat she could’ve been for them, if she had a pirate's passion instead.
“And that’s how you got so many orders for weapons.” Sofia then explained to Montgomery as she sipped some tea, in their small celebratory tea party over on her ship a few days later.
“I would say that it’s surprising.” Montgomery mentioned. “But considering it’s you, I’m not.”
“Is that a compliment?” she chuckled.
“Yes, actually.” Montgomery mentioned back with amusement. “You’re quite incredible - it’s why I was so open to you helping me out in the first place.”
“Ooh, thank you Mr. Montgomery.” she cooed. “Always a pleasure to help you out.”
The man then rose his cup of tea.
“A toast! To us!” he announced.
“To us!” Sofia cheered back, and clanged her cup against his.
[EXIT]
Gran Voyage Name: A Gentleman's Finest Explosives I
Gran Voyage Location: Jordsand
Level: 1
Gran Voyage Description:
Sofia finds Montgomery over at Jordsand, the gentleman who sold to her the Devil Fruit she has consumed. Like herself, he has also gotten interested in this seastone island, for business interests. He has expanded his business from just "magic" items to warfare, but he is just starting out. He was wondering if Sofia was interested in helping him out with this new entrepreneurship adventure of his, and he would compensate her with a sample of his wares.
NPCing: -
Registration: https://strawhats.rpg-board.net/t2277-a-gentleman-s-finest-explosives-i
Sofia was at on of the few restaurants on this island of the Jordsand area. Given the constant ambience of war and conflict, it seemed quite difficult to make this sort of business work.
However, there was definitely different sort of business that could make a lot of money here - warfare.
The noble sipped on a cup of tea, when she suddenly noticed a certain tall gentleman nearby, at the bar; ordering something - it was Montgomery! The man who had arranged a deal with her to give her a Devil Fruit, way back at Sabaody, where she started her adventure.
It had been quite a while since they had last been in contact, ever since she finished working for him and had left for Drum, she hasn’t heard from him.
She took a deep sip from her tea and swallowed it down, emptying the cup, to then approach the gentleman.
“Mr. Montgomery!” she called out with a cheery tone. “Such a pleasure to see you here!”
“Oh, hello. Do I know you?” he then asked, looking upwards to the overly tall woman. “You look familiar.”
“I’m Sofia, Lady Sofia.” she chuckled in response. “The one you sold the Devil Fruit to, remember?”
“Oh. OH! Of course I remember you. New hairstyle, huh? It suits you.”
“Thank you. So, how’s the family?” she asked, hoping that it wasn’t too rude of a question. She had managed to get her fruit from him by helping him out with that.
“Doing well.” he replied. “Just, taking a bit of a break from the usual again.”
“A break?” she wondered. A break from his family, perhaps?
“Yeah. Magic and all is great, but it’s getting harder and harder to make business with that, as much as I love it. So, I’m looking into the latest world developments to see what I can contribute with.”
“Ah, you’re here for the seastone too then?”
“Not exactly.” Montgomery chuckled, to then raise a finger. “Weapons, m’dear.”
Sofia rose her eyebrows.
“Yes, indeed.” the man continued. “And over here, that’s a lot of a need for it. People fighting all of the time for those special minerals. And it’s not like I haven’t been selling ‘weapons’ before, I sold to you the Devil’s Fruit, haven’t I? I’m just expanding my business horizons…”
The lady nodded. “I see. How is that going for you?”
“Eh.” he replied. “You know how it is at the start. Slow. I’m not known, so I don’t have much clientele.”
Sofia then grinned and held her chin. “I could help you with that.” she suggested.
“Help me? How?” the man replied. Sofia had helped him before, and it had gone pretty well, so she could detect the confidence he had in her. It allowed her to be less nervous about approaching this guy about setting up a deal.
“Simple: publicity.” she then stated. “I move around with a lot of people, so I could recommend you. A referral system, if you will.”
“A referral system, eh?” the businessman wondered as he stroked his chin. “Well, OK. It could work. I don’t have much money, though, I’ve spent most of it on my stock. So, what else could I do for you?”
“A portion of the profits, perhaps?”
He shook his head. “I need the money, sorry. You already know how it is.”
And so she did. It was because of money that he got into his problem in the first place way back. Sofia then scratched her chin and looked to a side as she thought.
“Oh!” Montgomery then said. “I could get you a sample of my stuff, what do you say? I’ve got quite a lot, maybe you’re interested in something.”
“Like what?
“Cannons? Ammunition? Guns, perhaps?” he asked.
She could get all of the gun she could ever need from her Marine contacts over at Sabaody, though. Sofia hoped that she would never have to actually use them, though.
“Cannon… Ammunition?” she asked. Probably she could resell it later.
“Sure thing!” Montgomery then chuckled, and offered a handshake to her. “Deal?”
“Deal when we finish clearing out all of the details of what I’d have to do.” she replied, and shook his hand.
“Aaah, I see that you’re one who likes to have every nitty gritty thing planned out, huh?” he then said with a grin.
Sofia shrugged. “Sort of. Just to avoid misunderstandings later between us, you know how it is.”
“Very well.” the businessman then said. “How about I invite you to a drink here then. Mind you that it won’t be wine like last time at the Archipielago, heh.”
“Oh. Why not?” the girl asked, tilting her head slightly. She thought this guy was very fond of wine. At least, that was the sort of impression that he had given her when they met for the first time and arranged business.
“Pirates took it all!” he exclaimed, raising his eyebrows. “Those alcoholics, I wouldn’t expect less of them, honestly.”
“Oh, they took it from here, this restaurant?”
“Yeah. I was talking to the owner before to see what we could arrange, and he told me all about it. Those bastards just came in, got all of the drinks that they could - alcoholic, of course, and then: boom. They left. Just like that.” Montgomery replied.
“I see.” Sofia replied. “Do you know where they left to, perhaps? Or who they are?”
“The Cream Pirates, I believe?” he said.
“Got it.”
After discussing their deal further, Sofia eventually was at a Marine station as usual.
“So, those Cream Pirates have been causing some ruckus around, haven’t they?” Sofia asked, as she sat in the cafeteria with the uniformed staff there, eating a sandwich.
“Yeah.” one of the Marines replied. “They’re not… Bad people though? Just really annoying. They haven’t killed anyone yet or anything, they just go in and start to party real hard or they start to be a nuisance in some other way. So, we haven’t gotten after them yet, y’know? They aren’t a real threat. Just, a real nuisance. We got more than enough with those Miner Pirates anyways, with the seastone stuff over the hill.”
“I see.” Sofia mentioned, to then rub her chin. “I’ll try to figure something out about them.”
“What, you are going to go after them?” one of the Marines asked.
“Sure, why not?” Sofia then replied.
“Isn’t it going to be dangerous for you?”
“No? Why would it be.” the girl asked.
“Well, you do have that bodyguard and all, and I was wondering if it might be… A bit too challenging?” the Marine clarified.
Sofia shrugged. “It could be. But I think that I’ve grown since the start of my travels. I might be able to take this on myself, you know? I helped hand in Hunter Jacquelin, didn’t I?”
“Well, yeah…”
“Then leave it to me!” she chuckled. “I’ll be alright, besides, don’t underestimate Anna Blue. She’s pretty amazing!”
It wasn’t too hard for Sofia to find where the Cream pirates were. All she had to do was to follow the trail of debauchery by asking the locals about where they may be, and soon enough she managed to reach one of their members, apparently drunk and sitting on the floor, looking out to the sky without an apparent concern for anything.
“Hello there.” she said, approaching him. “You’re a Cream Pirate, right?”
“Eeeyup.” he replied.
“I’ve got a proposal for you.” Sofia said. “But, how about you show me where the rest of your crew is first? Like that we can talk better.”
“Whyyyyy do you care about….My crew?” he answered.
“Well.” Sofia started off. “I’d just like to get to know them, you know? You seem like fine people. Fun people. The sort of people I enjoy.”
It was getting hard for her to lie with this. She honestly didn’t like that sort of people too much, personally.
“Heh. You like parties, huh?” the guy replied with a smirk. “Don’t worry bae. I gotchu. You can always find us over at the Red Cat. Well, at least some of us. Drunk! Bwahaha!”
Sofia nodded. That was all she needed to know.
She arrived to the Red Cat, apparently some kind of strip club for the mercenaries that were here and frequenting the area of constant warring that was around her. Within, there were a lot of men drinking and wasting their time with women who were showing a lot of skin. It disgusted Sofia, but she knew that if she wanted her plan to work, she would have to deal with these people in order to get it done.
The noble walked inside, with chipper steps, as if she wanted to be there, and then she sat down and waited for a tender to arrive.
“Would you like something to drink?” the scantily-dressed waitress asked. “Or maybe a special request, perhaps?”
Sofia shook her head. “Just a... “ she started off, to then look at what the others were drinking. It was beer.
“...A beer.” she then said.
“Coming right up!” the waitress replied, to then arrive with a can of it in a few seconds. No glass, just the can. Sofia stared at it for a moment, and then looked at the person who brought it, expecting her to come back eventually with a cup or something, but there was none to be seen.
Then, she looked at the pirates. They were also without cups, and were drinking straight from the can.
Sofia sighed.
She cracked the can open and then gulped down a chug of the musty liquid, to then walk over to the group of pirates with a smile.
“Hello!” she greeted, raising a hand.
“Oy, hello thar!” one of the pirates yelled out to her with glee. “We got a newcomer here, aye? Come roight on ovah.”
Sofia had a bit of a hard time understanding their thick accents, but believed that she could nonetheless make out the meaning of what they were saying. And, as they suggested, she got over to them with a happy demeanour.
“So, you guys are the Cream Pirates, right?” she asked, straight up, figuring that she could go right to the point here.
“Ooof course we are!” the man replied with joy. He was dressed in a fancy coat, unlike the others. He was the captain?. “What brings ya to us?” he added.
Sofia smiled. “I’m here to propose to you guy a small deal.”
“Roight. What sorta deal?”
“Do you know Sabaody? It’s a pretty swell place for pirates - not like Jordsand, am I right?” Sofia started off.
“Ye. But it ain’t no Jordsand!” he replied with a chuckle, to then look away for a moment. Sofia narrowed her eyes. There was something here.
Jordsand was not the sort of place for someone to party at. It was a warzone, not Sabaody Park.
She had suspected this was odd from the very start. Jordsand is the opposite of the place for the usual party animal - because it’s hardly got any restaurants, any bars, anything of the sort! The place is nearly devoid of any sort of proper entertainment establishment. They were here for different interests!
And Sofia had a good idea of what.
She just needed to make them open up about it, and not go too harsh about it, so that they wouldn’t suspect she was a Marine in disguise or something. She had to earn their trust, but at the same time, be savvy enough as to avoid any sort of trouble if she was totally wrong. She had to fish, while having a plan to avoid losing her bait, metaphorically.
The noble grinned. “Ah, yes. Jordsand.” she started off. “I love it too, it’s why I’ve come here, actually. There’s a lot to be done here.”
“Indeed.” the captain started off. “Who are you, anyways?” he then asked, making a half-smile at her. Sofia could feel his concerns and skepticism start to grow.
“Phillipa Sofia.” she stated. It wasn’t like it was supposed to be some sort of secret anyways, so she didn’t mind conceding that fact to him.
“Lars Cream” the man replied. “A pleasure.”
Then, there was silence. They just stared at each other. Apparently Lars wanted to get something out of her too.
“So, why are you here at Jordsand specifically, Sofia?” he asked.
“Ah, I was interested in seastone actually.” the girl replied, lying. She was here for the side-business that she could create from that activity, but nearly everyone was here for the seastone anyways, so it was a very believable excuse, or so she hoped.
“I see.” he replied.
“And you?” Sofia insisted.
The captain looked at her with a straight, serious face. Then, he smiled, and took a sip of beer.
“Parties” he replied.
That was just their cover-up, and Sofia knew it. Some distraction that they were using so that people wouldn't’ realize their real purpose here. She probably needed something else, a reason for this man to open up to her. She had to steer the conversation into another direction.
“Well, a party now and then definitely does the soul good.” Sofia mentioned, trying to use that as a springboard to lead into the following. “It definitely works for me as a break with business. I’ve been into warfare lately, you see. It’s a bit of a side-thing.”
“Oh, really now?” Lars started off. “How has that been going for you?”
Sofia shrugged. “Very well actually.” she mentioned. “I’ve got some quality products - cannons, ammo, the works. Just looking to spread further out now.”
Lars rubbed his chin. And Sofia hoped that was a good sign.
“You know, we party in a lot of places.” he said. “If you know what I mean.”
She didn’t know what he meant.
“I see.” Sofia replied. “Interesting.”
“Say, if you want to party sometime with us, you could, you know? I’m quite interested in those… Products of yours. It’s not everyday that I find someone that has something interesting like that and goes straight to me about it.” he mentioned. “Were you… Referred?”
The noble shook her head with a smile. She had actually figured it all out on her own.
“I see.” Lars replied. “That’s the sort of talent that’s going to be useful in our circles. I like you, Sofia.”
“I appreciate that.” she replied with a short bow, to then sip another dose of beer.
“We’ve got to arrange a small… Party.” he then said, to then pass her a card he pulled out of his coat. “Here’s the invitation. I hope you can make it”
Sofia took the card and then looked at it. It had a map of a sort, that was the Red Cat, and then it had an arrow pointing to a part of it, along a little quote that said “Party forever, always.”
“When is it?” she then asked, looking up from reading.
“Does right now work for you?” he asked.
“It does, actually.” Sofia chuckled.
Together, they exited the Red Cat through the main entrance, to then re-enter it through the secret door outlined in the card that Sofia had just received. After saying the password to an otherwise totally average wall, it rotated, and the nearby floor with it, bringing them inside to a dimly-lit hallway.
“It’s further down.” Lars mentioned.
Sofia nodded. And she started to sweat. What if all of this was a trap?
“Don’t worry Sofs.” Anna Blue then whispered to her from her insides. “I got you, girl. Don’t forget about that. If they try to get you - I’ll get them first. Don’t doubt it! Now go get them. You can do it!”
Sofia wanted to reply to her Navigator, but she knew that she couldn’t. It would reveal that she was the Castle Castle user in the worst case, or make her look like she is just a bit mad and talks to herself at times. So, she just held her fists closed tight, and followed the man down the hall, until they arrived to a room with a pool table in the middle, with seats around it. There was a map of Jordsand on the wall too, with arrows drawn over it.
“Welcome to the VIP area, Sofia.” Lars then told her, spinning slowly with his arms extended, flaunting the place. “It’s my pleasure to have you here.”
“So.” the man then said, stopping to look at her. “I’m curious about that ‘warfare’ business of yours. You’re a supplier?”
“Pretty much, yes.” she replied.
“That’s quite interesting.” he then said. “You see, we’re the sort of people who really like weapons. I guess I don’t have to tell you why.”
Jordsand was a massive war zone, of course. Sofia nodded.
“So, someone like you is going to be useful for us.” Lars added. “We’ve been waiting for a chance like this, so that we can finally take over this area!”
“This area?” Sofia then mentioned, and scratched her chin. “With the Marines and all?”
“Yeah.” Lars replied. “What about it? We can take them on. Especially if we’ve got your gear.”
“Let me rephrase that.” the girl then said. She had to dissuade them from attacking this place so that she could be in a better position with the Marines. “Just this area?”
“What do you mean just this area?” Lars replied.
“With my weapons, you could aim for bigger. This place has got a city on it, right?” Sofia said.
“Yeah, of course.” he said.
“And it’s working because of World Government support. The Marines are here to protect that investment - why would they be here otherwise?”
“So?”
Sofia drew in closer. “What I’m saying is, you don’t need to take over this town.” she whispered. “Let it continue as it is, and control it without direct confrontation. The Marines aren’t going after you guys, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Keep it that way.” Sofia then mentioned. “It’s working in your favor. You get to benefit from the town, while not having to maintain it yourself!”
“Oh. I see!” Lars then exclaimed. “I like your thinking!”
And she wasn’t over just yet. “And my main point is, with my weapons, you could go for the real value around here.”
She then pointed to the map, to then walk towards it and slam a finger against a nearby mining area - the conclave of the Miner Pirates. At least, that was what the map said it was.
“Taking over the Miner Pirate’s mines.” she stated. “With my weapons, that place can be yours. And all of the seastone in it.”
Lars rubbed his chin, looking at the map. “Yes. Yeeees, I like that. I like that a lot.”
“So, how much for the stuff?” he then asked. “We got to know - taking over that place is an investment, after all. I need to know the numbers.”
“This much Beli.” she then replied, and onto a small paper, she wrote down the values. “But.” she then stated “If you get… This many cannons, I’ll give you a 30% discount. On all of them.”
“40%” He then asked. “And you’ve got a deal.”
She already expected him to lower the price. Back at Sabaody, she did the same, she always proposed something for them to lower. So that now, she could accept reluctantly and do them the “favor” of accepting their price, when she had set up this whole situation from the start - she already expected to sell it at 40% discount, because the initial price she had put was so high.
It was a negotiation trap.
Sofia sipped air through her teeth. “Aaaye, I don’t know about that - but for you, Lars: I can make that exception.”
Lars then smiled. “Thanks, Sofia! I owe you one.”
The noble shrugged. “No problem. So, deal?”
“Deal.” the Creme Pirate’s captain replied. “Let’s get that artillery rolling in!”
“The what now?” the Marine captain then exclaimed out, towering over Sofia. She had gotten back to the Marine Station to report what she had done, with each Marine she had told it to requesting a higher and higher ranking officer to deal with it. Because the news weren't pretty, and they expected they had to incarcerate Sofia for what she had done, yet they didn't want to. So they kept passing the mess upwards.
“I sold weapons to the Cream Pirates.” Sofia admitted. “To solve your problems.”
“You’re selling weapons to PIRATES?” he boomed.
“Yes.” the noble said back, shrugging. “You can thank me later.”
“Sir Captain, Sir!” a Marine troop then said, interrupting them, to then salute.
“What is it?” he man replied.
“T-the Cream Pirates’s and the Miner Pirate’s effective forces are… Lowering drastically! And there hasn’t been reports about the Cream Pirate’s causing problems in town for the last three days!”
“H-How?” the large man demanded.
“They are fighting… Each other!” the troop explained.
The Captain stared at the underling with wide eyes. Then, he turned to Sofia.
“This… Is your doing?” he asked.
“It sure is.” the noble chuckled, a bit playfully. "Now do you see why I sold them the weapons? So that the Creams would have the confidence to go after the Miners - because they wouldn't do it otherwise. To have them do your job for you, and since they're too busy doing that, they'd stop being a nuisance over here too. Pirates fighting pirates happens all the time. You just got to set the situation just right."
The massive captain stared at her for a while. Eventually, his lips started to move again.
“I owe you an apology then, for yelling at you before.” he said, relaxing his stance. “Also, private, you’re dismissed.”
“Yes sir!” he replied with a salute, then left.
“So, Sofia. How did you do it?” the captain asked.
“I was friendly to them.” she said. “You see, I help pirates in ways that help the World Government. I don’t have to fight to help us win. In fact, I prefer to avoid it.”
“So, if you’re a pacifist like that, why did you get the Cream pirates to attack the Mines?” the man then wondered.
Sofia smirked. “I’m a doctor too.” she stated, and you could almost see the Beli signs in her eyes as she said that.
The captain stared at her back, with impression, and fear, as he realized this whole scheme set up by Sofia. He wanted to question why she would want to go heal pirates, but after her explaining her whole "helping pirates ends up actually helping the World Government" idea, he opted not to ask to avoid further embarrassment.
“I truly appreciate... To have you with us.” the captain then said, concerned with how things might’ve been if Sofia didn’t have that good dose of bonhomie nature. How much of a threat she could’ve been for them, if she had a pirate's passion instead.
“And that’s how you got so many orders for weapons.” Sofia then explained to Montgomery as she sipped some tea, in their small celebratory tea party over on her ship a few days later.
“I would say that it’s surprising.” Montgomery mentioned. “But considering it’s you, I’m not.”
“Is that a compliment?” she chuckled.
“Yes, actually.” Montgomery mentioned back with amusement. “You’re quite incredible - it’s why I was so open to you helping me out in the first place.”
“Ooh, thank you Mr. Montgomery.” she cooed. “Always a pleasure to help you out.”
The man then rose his cup of tea.
“A toast! To us!” he announced.
“To us!” Sofia cheered back, and clanged her cup against his.
[EXIT]