Chapter 17 - Sword!

After the heavy rain, the sky cleared up, and the sun shone as if it had been refreshed by the rain. The sky became clear and cloudless, and the air even carried a fresh and sweet scent. Rainbows adorned some spots in the sky.

Water 7, Commercial Street.

Sephiroth stood before the display window of a weapons store, gazing with interest at the array of knives, guns, swords, shields, and armor.

After a brief moment, he pushed open the glass door and entered the store, filled with an assortment of weapons.

Behind the counter stood a middle-aged man with a mustache, donned in trousers, a white shirt, a black vest, and a red bow around his neck. With a welcoming smile, he said:

"Welcome!"

"What would you like to purchase, dear customer?"

"I'd like to buy a good sword... preferably a renowned one."

Hearing this, the mustachioed man scrutinized Sephiroth before tentatively asking:

"Renowned swords, eh? I have a pair of swords here, but each comes with a price tag of millions of Belly..."

"I can manage a million Belly. Please show me the quality of the sword first."

The silver-haired boy nodded calmly, displaying little surprise at the high cost.

In truth, acquiring a quality sword for a million Belly wasn't exorbitant. In this weapon shop, full-body armor sets were priced from over two million Belly to five million Belly.

For most ordinary folks, the value of armor exceeded that of weapons. Besides protecting against sword cuts, armor also offered defense against bullet penetration.

Hence, in regular weapon stores, armor prices typically surpassed those of weapons.

To purchase a good sword, Sephiroth had scoured his house and found 2.6 million in cash in his father's bedroom. 

As for the more than 150 million in the bank deposits found in the passbook...

His father, Karl D. Pal, was officially listed among those killed at sea, though no body was recovered. According to Water 7 laws, to classify it as a death, one more year of waiting was necessary, allowing Sephiroth to inherit his belongings...

The mustachioed boss was efficient. He walked to a nearby shelf, retrieved two sheathed long swords, and placed them on the counter.

Sephiroth picked up one of them with a resounding "clang" and unsheathed the sword.

The straight blade exhibited strange purple patterns, inducing an inexplicable chill.

"This sharp sword is called Yugui. The blade is 84 centimeters long, 1.7 centimeters wide, and only about 0.8 millimeters thick. The handle is 23 centimeters long and 2.2 centimeters wide. The price is one million Belly..."

As he spoke, the mustachioed boss hesitated for a moment before continuing:

"However, I must caution you, young brother, that this sword is cursed. The first three owners who wielded it all met tragic ends..."

Uh-huh!

Ignoring the surprised look of the mustache boss...

The silver-haired boy remained expressionless, saying nothing. He swiftly sheathed the long sword, placed it on the counter, and picked up the other sheathed sword.

Mustachioed boss: "..."

Clang!

Sephiroth casually drew out the second long sword.

The fiery red straight blade resembled an autumn maple leaf, slightly heavier than the previous one.

"This sword is called Autumn Leaf. The blade is 96 centimeters long, 1.8 centimeters wide, and the blade is only about 0.7 millimeters thick. The handle is 25 centimeters long and 2.3 centimeters wide. The price is 1.5 million Belly..."

The silver-haired boy elegantly waved the fiery red sword a few times, then tentatively inquired:

"This one isn't cursed as well, is it?"

Hearing this, the mustached boss quickly shook his head and clarified:

"No... the quality of this sword is exceptional. In terms of sharpness, it's very close to grade swords."

Sephiroth pondered for a moment, extended his left hand to pick up a pencil on the counter, and held it in front of him. He took Autumn Leaf in his right hand and swung it towards the pencil.

He felt almost no resistance as the fiery red blade effortlessly sliced the pencil in his hand into two pieces.

Not bad!

It surpassed the long sword he used for practice, which struggled to cut through a wooden stake...

Unable to resist any longer, the silver-haired boy had come to this weapons store to spend money and buy a superior sword.

After all, the navy captain had already confirmed his identity with a call, assuring him of a smooth journey to the marine's G3 branch for recruit training in three days.

Therefore, he didn't need to hoard too much money. The marine would provide him with food, accommodation, and other necessities in the future...

"Alright! I want this sword."

Sephiroth opened the cover of his blue suit, retrieved two stacks of ten-thousand-Belly bills, counted out one and a half stacks, and handed them to the weapon store owner.

"Hehe! Brother, it's refreshing doing business with you! ...By the way, I have other exceptional weapons here, including high-power firearms. As the saying goes, ten years of martial arts training is not as good as one bullet... Are you interested?"

The mustachioed boss swiftly counted the money with both hands while smiling at the remaining half a million Belly in the hands of the silver-haired boy.

"I just acquired a revolver named Python. Even an elephant can be taken down with one shot at close range. The price is only 150,000 Belly. Purchase it now, and I'll throw in sixty rounds of ammunition for free..."

"Huh!? No need..."

Sephiroth shook his head, rejecting the boss's offer, showing no intention of making the purchase.

He had confiscated a bunch of firearms and other items from the slave ship, all left to collect dust at home. While firearms were immensely helpful to him currently, over-reliance on them would make him complacent and neglect his physical training.

The world's top experts typically possessed extraordinarily robust bodies and Armament Haki protection.

For instance, under normal circumstances, Big Mom could withstand gunshots and explosions with little visible damage unless she suffered a mental breakdown. As for Kaido of the Beasts, he frequently attempted suicide by leaping from 10,000 meters, experiencing only slight dizziness...

As Sephiroth's mind wandered, he approached the vegetable market area.

Considering it was almost noon and time to buy food for cooking, he seized the opportunity to purchase ingredients...

While passing by a mutton shop, Sephiroth paused and entered. He pointed his right index finger at an iron cage housing three white goats.

Turning to the blond young man standing in front of the slaughtering table, wielding a kitchen knife to process an entire sheep, he inquired:

"Excuse me, how much for a live sheep?"

"If you purchase it with the head, it's 500 Belly per kg."

"Lilith, I have a customer wanting to buy a live sheep. I'm occupied right now. Can you come out and assist me?"

"I got it, brother!"

A slender blonde girl entered through the back door of the store. Despite a few freckles on her cheeks, her youthful and lovely appearance couldn't be concealed.

Overall, she was a charming beauty.

Lilith opened the iron cage, tethered a white sheep with a rope, and guided it to the large iron scale.

While adding weights to the balancing rod, the blonde girl inquired with a smile:

"Customer, do you need our assistance in slaughtering this sheep...?"

"No, I just want it live."

The silver-haired boy shook his head, dismissing the offer. In truth, when he bought the live sheep, he intended to extract lifespan from it to replenish the vitality lost during recent training.

During this period, through his exploration and study of the Devil Fruit, he discovered that the range of vitality he could extract was not limited to humans. As long as it was a creature with blood, he could extract life force, including fish, chickens, dogs, and other animals. However, the amount was significantly less than that of humans.

Additionally, he found that compared to consuming food conventionally to restore energy, using blood to satiate his hunger was more efficient.

Observing the balanced weights, Lilith announced with a smile:

"Exactly one hundred kg... a total of fifty thousand Belly!"

"Good!"

Sephiroth nodded, withdrew a small stack of banknotes from his suit, and was about to count out five notes with denominations of 10,000 Belly to hand to the blonde girl.

"Why did pirates suddenly appear on Commercial Street?"

Bang! Bang...!

Several gunshots rang out successively, shattering the peaceful atmosphere on the street. Panic engulfed the people.

"Pirates are attacking!"

"Run!"

"Help!"

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