A/N: Onwards to new adventures!

Chapter 31

Merchant's Mine

After dinner, Harry and Spaz found themselves peeking into the navigation room where Beckman and another pirate, Todd, were using a sheet of tracing paper over a rough map of the East Blue to highlight where the crew has already traveled.

"Hey guys," Harry greeted, "looking for the Merchant guy?"

"That's right," Beckman confirmed around his cigarette. "He has a reputation of staying in place for two years before moving on, so he should be someplace in East Blue we haven't visited yet."

"Err, wow, I don't know much about sailing and stuff, but surely it's not possible to visit every corner of the ocean in less than a year?"

Todd blew an irritated sigh and ruffled his hair, uncaring of the ink he splattered as it wasn't exactly noticeable in his black locks. "It isn't, really. We mostly depend on the Captain's devil luck in situations like this, to be honest. This time is particularly irritating though," he admitted, "because the unexplored areas are spread out across the entire map. Thank Kami-sama the map itself is pretty reliable, unlike any of the Grand Line."

"Ne," Spaz interjected. "Who is this merchant, anyway? Like, do you know anything about him other than he's a legend that sells things at high prices and sticks to one place for two years before moving on?"

Beckman stood up from the map he was leaning over and stretched a bit before responding. "Old Man Merchant, as he's known, is a tradesman who deals in just about anything – information, bounties, and the traditional goods like food, weapons, and cloth. The payment he demands can be anything from information and money to favors and entertainment. He's most famous, however, for his power to change locations with all his stock without anyone witnessing his travel."

"That's neat," Harry commented. "How is his standing with the World Government? I mean, if Shanks wants to see him, this guy probably trades with pirates regularly, right? And the marines just let him?"

Todd snorted. "Yeah, right. The World Government hates him, but there's little they can do about it. They can never get solid proof of his black market dealings, all his pursuers die in mysterious accidents, and he pays his merchant's taxes. The marines, though, keep track of him to use as pirate bait, and occasionally even to trade for rare goods. Old Man Merchant is picky with his customers, really."

"Hey, then, then, do you think maybe Roxy knows where we could find him?" Spaz suggested. "We could always ask, yes sirree, 'cause Roxy resigned just a few months ago, y'know, so the place is still the same and if he knew then he could tell us now, right-right?"

The pirates looked at each other and shrugged. "Let's try it," Beckman agreed.

"Great," Harry smiled, "I'll go ask Shanks to track down Roxy's bug."

The wizard actually bumped into Yassop first, so using the sniper's superior sensing abilities through haki, a black Den Den Mushi was found crawling on the ceiling of the navigation room, surprisingly. Assuming the ex-marine overheard their dilemma, Spaz was sent to inform the look out to keep an eye out for the man's new ship.

An hour later, Roxy and Kor were climbing the rope ladders up onto the pirate ship's deck where Shanks awaited eagerly in the hopes the two had the information he wanted.

"One condition," Roxy smirked. "I'm coming with you."

Shanks, of course, had no problem with that, and so Kor joined Beckman and Tod in the navigation room while Roxy spent the rest of the day challenging Shanks to duels, every one of which he lost in a distressingly quick fashion.

Kor proved himself to be a talented navigator, and the sail to their destination halfway across the Blue took less than a week.

"Marine ships ahead! A whole fleet, displayed numbers of 56, 42, and 117!" the lookout called out below.

"Merlin!" Harry exclaimed, "why so many ships in the same place as the Merchant?"

"Of course," Roxy replied, riding the railing like a lady's side-straddle on a horse. "Pirates are often drawn to the goods offered by Old Man Merchant. A particularly favorite trade is in top-notch armors and weaponry. The government can't shut him down, but the marines have long since realized the prestige to be gained by rounding up a few dozen wanna-be crews simply by keeping a lookout in this area. You'll find plenty of bounty-hunters here for the same reason."

"Mona?"

"No," the former Vice Admiral gave a delicate shake of his head. "Mona has never frequented the Merchant's Mine – she claims the pickings are too cheap and easy."

Harry snorted. Merchant's Mine was a quaint way of summing up the money to be had for successful bounty hunters if it was indeed true that pirates flocked to this salesman.

Roxy squinted up at the sunny sky. "A good day for ice cream."

Harry scowled. Ever since the weather started getting warm as the ship sailed farther south, Roxy never failed to steal a bowl of ice from the freezer. Of course, the man was paying back with sword lessons, but the less than subtle requests preceding each serving got old after a while. "Didn't you already have your daily bowl?"

"Not for me this time," Roxy sniffed. "Too much and I'll get pimples. But this is Old Man Merchant's place. If you want to get past the outer areas you either have to sell goods or entertainment. Red Hair and his crew could probably join a battle tournament, but unless you want to openly use magic, you wouldn't last very long in such competitions. Setting up an ice cream stand will put you under the temporary protection of a tradesman."

"An ice cream stand, huh?" Shanks butt in, walking over with a grin on his face. "Sounds pretty cool. The crew and I have already agreed to enter the fights, but you might enjoy selling your work instead, yeah Kid?"

"As long as you don't mind, then, I suppose," Harry acquiesced.

"Dahaha," Shanks laughed. "Just save me some ice cream to celebrate my victory at the swordsmanship duels."

Roxy tutted. "Those poor competitors don't stand a chance."

"You won't be fighting then?" Harry asked. "Isn't this a good opportunity for duels?"

The ex-marine gave a shrug and flicked some imaginary dust off his shoulder. "Old Man Merchant doesn't cater to only legals, remember? And besides, I'll have more fun browsing the goods and helping you with your stand. Who knows, we might bump into the Merchant, himself."

As the pirate ship sailed closer to the wall of marine ships, the fleet slowly began to part, clearly having been ordered not to challenge the Grand Line pirate crew. Harry barely paid attention to it, having grown used to the marines in East Blue ignoring Shanks' existence

"I'm confused," the wizard admitted after a beat. "Is it normal to not see the merchant person? I mean, isn't he the person people go to trade with, in the first place?" In Harry's mind, he was picturing a merchant ship, a bit larger than Shanks', with goods like weaponry and silk available for trade set out on tables and stored under hatches. Talk of battle tournaments and soliciting ice cream wasn't quite fitting with that image.

"You seem to have a misimpression of what we're dealing with here," Roxy smiled, "which is normal. Old Man Merchant's 'ship' is something you have to see for yourself to understand. We're almost there, though. Shall we go find you friend and pack up for your first business day?"

Harry glared halfheartedly at the 'you'll understand when you experience it' speech before agreeing. They could use some of Spaz's enthusiasm to attract customers.

"Come one, come all! It's a warm sunny day today so how about a sweet and cold treat? We've got ice cream for a negotiable price!"

"I do hope you plan on helping with the negotiating," Harry murmured to Roxy as he organized the barrels of ice cream between blocks of ice while Spaz advertized. "I don't see why we can't just charge a flat rate."

"Don't be silly," Roxy replied with a flirtatious wink. "In Merchant's Mine, a negotiable price doesn't mean haggling for more or less beli. What we're looking for are customers who are willing to pay in limited goods or information."

"You honestly expect such things in exchange for a bowl of ice cream?" Harry said skeptically.

Roxy shrugged. "It's a large ship, and when traveling on the sea, the only thing one must always expect is everything."

A large ship indeed, Harry thought wryly, closing the ice cream crate doubling as their shop stand to glance around at the crowds milling around. It was more like a medium-sized island heavily populated by characters of all kinds. Most were unusually ordinary, like common travelers, including honeymooning couples stepping off at the dozens of docks off-shooting the ship. The ship itself was lined with stands of all kinds, many selling foods Harry only vaguely recognized from his world tripping, while others sold trinkets.

Of course, this was just the outer edge of the ship. Shanks and his crew ran off further towards the middle in search of the various stadiums available for the rumored tournaments. Looking around at the occasional people carrying swords, guns, and excessive muscles, Harry felt pretty safe confirming those rumors as based off fact and mentally wished the Red-Haired Pirates good luck. Not that they needed it. They were, after all, Grand Line pirates among those of East Blue which is known only for being the weakest of the cardinal oceans.

"But such a ridiculously large ship," Harry sighed. "Isn't it impossible for no one to have seen him sail elsewhere in it?"

"Not only impossible to travel without witnesses," Roxy added, "but impossible to travel without a permit through Mariejois. After all, the only way to visit all four Blues is through Mariejois, or by Reverse Mountain."

"Ehh?" Spaz interjected. "Ne, it's such a big ship, how can it possibly ride up Reverse Mountain, yeah Harry? It's just not possible, no sirree."

"Exactly," Roxy confirmed. "That's why it's such a mystery."

"In that case," interjected a new voice, "how about I tell you a theory to explain the mystery behind how Old Man Merchant does it in exchange for a bowl?"

The trio looked towards their first customer. It was a woman with a slim figure and a young face. Likely in her mid-twenties, the girl was nonetheless dressed in clothes expected of old housewives and carried a basket of delicately carved animals on one arm and another half-full of groceries in the other.

"Well?"

Harry smiled. "Why not? Though it is curious that you would know something like that when Roxy hasn't a clue…" he trailed off in question.

The woman smiled. "I've lived on this ship for many years now, thus I'm one of the privileged few who have actually experienced the Migrations. Old Man Merchant, of course, never explains it or even shows us exactly how it's done, but I can guess some parts easily enough."

"In that case, what flavor?"

"Vanilla," she replied, eyeing the menu displayed on the crate's front, "and I'll tell you my name for some maple syrup on top."

Harry blinked in surprise as he opened the box to scoop out a ball of vanilla ice cream. "Are names also used as currency here?"

The girl giggled. "Of course. This is Old Man Merchant's ship where information is just as valuable as beli. Isn't that why you have negotiable prices?"

"Actually, that's Roxy's idea. I've never even heard of this place until about a week ago," Harry explained, dribbling a generous amount of maple syrup into the bowl before grabbing a spoon and handing it over. "Perhaps it's good the three of us are starting out small with a stand like this. Merlin knows how much we'll lose out on due to ignorance before we catch on to things."

"Indeed," the woman agreed, spooning up a mouthful. "For example, you've already given away that one of your companion's name is Roxy. Since you seemed expectant of this Roxy to be more knowledgeable of this ship than you, I can only guess you must be referring to Mr. Tall and Broad over there who, by his outfit, likely has a marine background of some sort. If he is indeed a marine name Roxy, there are only so many people it could be. Such startling blue eyes are a further clue and I'm tempted to label him Vice Admiral Rock "Roxy" Blue of the Grand Line. Known quirks include acting like a woman and retiring from the marines recently at such a young age. I'm ever so curious as to why and I'm tempted to conclude you, Mr. Ice Cream Man, have something to do with it."

The three men stared at this woman in shock and mild horror.

"My name is Cantora," she introduced herself around her spoon, "and this dish is quite marvelous. Both the ice cream and maple syrup are crudely made, but it's mildly nostalgic that way. As for my theory, well, I believe Old Man Merchant has the power to create doors."

"Doors?" Harry asked weakly. He could ignore the comment about his "crude" goods since it was true he was no expert in ice cream or maple syrup, but felt a bit queasy at the thought that his slip with Roxy's name gave away so much.

"It's a power that allows the user to open up doors anywhere. The most commonly known use for that is opening doors in walls. There is no such thing as an impenetrable fortress for the Door Man," she explained, giggling at the silly sounding title she created. "However, mastery of this power includes opening doors in mid-air to distant locations. So, if Old Man Merchant creates a large enough door that opens up in a new ocean, he needs only sail through it – practically instantaneous movement."

"Awesome," Spaz gasped, "Ne, isn't it, yes sirree, Harry!"

"Isn't a large door opening up in space kind of, well, conspicuous?" Harry questioned.

"Well, yes," Cantora conceded, "and to be honest, I've never seen it. That's why it's just a theory, you know? But if he does it at night or in foggy weather, he can open a door below the ship and fall through, right?"

"Fascinating," Roxy muttered, absently patting his hair nervously at the new information. "What the marines wouldn't do for a power like that. What they wouldn't do to seal away a power like that from the hands of pirates."

"So," the girl chirped, scraping away at the last of her ice cream, "what's your story then?"

"What do you have to offer for it?" Harry countered.

"Kye-keh," she chuckled. "Quick learner. Alright then," she agreed, reaching into her basket, "a Sea Horse in exchange for a bowl of chocolate with fruit syrup and the story behind your presence here."

Harry reached a hand towards the figurine. "May I?" he asked, waiting for a nod before picking it up in his fingers. It was exquisite work, slightly larger than his hand, and almost an exact replica of the creature Shanks rode just months ago, the grain of the wood naturally transitioning from a pale tan color at the horse head to a rustic orange brown for the fish tail. "Amazing," he complimented, rubbing a thumb across the oiled wood. "What do you guys think?" he asked the other two.

Roxy shrugged. "She already figured out who I am."

"I don't mind either, no sirree," Spaz chimed in, "since, ya know." The teen ruffled his blond hair that represented his new identity. Even if Harry introduced him as Spaz and a fellow passenger of Shanks' ship, there was no past of such a person to unravel.

"But," Roxy interjected, "are you sure?" His eyes darted towards the inner grounds of the ship.

Harry smiled and turned back towards Cantora. "Deal," he agreed, placing the figuring carefully aside to scoop out the order. "I highly doubt Shanks will mind, especially since I plan on giving the sea horse to him."

"It does look an awful lot like Frank, yes sirree!"

"Shanks?" Cantora spluttered, hands frozen stiff around her bowl. "Red Hair is here? I mean, I heard the rumors, but for a Grand Line pirate to actually come!"

"Quite the rumor mill," Roxy muttered. "We only docked an hour ago."

"Rumors travel at viscous speeds," Harry stated dryly, having plenty of experience in the matter. "But yes, Shanks is here. He apparently grew bored of just randomly sailing around East Blue but isn't willing to leave yet either, so here we are."

"But you aren't part of his crew," she said with conviction, finally digging into her new treat. "Oh, this syrup is actually very good."

"No," Harry affirmed slowly and curiously. "I suppose you probably knew that from all the bounties Shanks' crew supposedly has, though really, that must be some memory you have."

Cantora smirked around her spoon. "You betcha'. So what's Shank doing on this ship?"

Harry raised an eyebrow. "I thought you wanted our story? But, well, I'm sure you'll know soon enough since Shanks is hardly a person who keeps out of the spotlight. He and the rest of the crew went farther in to join in some battle tournaments."

"What's that you say?"

The foursome at the ice cream stand turned abruptly towards the raised voice.

"Oi, oi, oi," the large man yelled at the person working a noodle stand. "Just what do you think you're doing, selling such crappy food to me, huh? If I get sick, I'll kill you." With a kick of his hefty foot, the stand was sent crashing to the floor, hot water splashing into the air. A few drops landed on the attacker's arm. "Ah! I've been burned! Hey, you," he called out, stomping closer to his victim. "You're going to pay up for my medical fees, right?"

A/N: So yeah, its a really big ship :) Think Thriller Bark.

Thank you to my beta, PyromanianBlackWings!

570 reviews, 10/27/11!

Whoo-hoo! Thanks everyone!