2 Counterfeit Beli Town

Edward stood on the beach in a stump.

"System?"

Nothing.

"System?"

Nothing.

"SYSTEM?!?!"

Nothing.

Edward sighed as he walked over towards his other rewards. "She could've at least given me the direction to go in..." He mumbled.

He crouched down and took hold of the wallet and Beli before pocketing it. Next, he slipped on the bright red flame retardant boots. Since his clothes automatically restored even after he burned himself, they held considerably less value to him, but they still looked nice.

He then put on the sunglasses and was surprised to find that they made him feel slightly more confident. "Must be that extra +15 charisma," he mused.

The fishing pole was downright disastrous; with rust all over the body, it looked like it only had one use in it.

The Compass wasn't in much better a condition. The needle would swivel like crazy before settling down, then swivel again.

The cookbook looked slightly ominous with a green skull and bones drawn on the cover.

The final item was a small rectangular map drawn on the skin of some animal. It showed two land masses and a small black line leading to an 'X'. There was a small circle on the map which seemed to indicate his current position.

He was pleasantly surprised to see there was a small town outline on the map titled, 'Beli Town.'

He quickly looked around and found a bush to stash the book and fishing pole under.

Studying the map, be began to run inland as he watched as his circle moved northwest. He adjusted himself until he saw the circle was heading straight for the town.

After several minutes of running, he broke free of the jungle and arrived on the outskirts of the small town.

He found himself out of breath as he approached the town. As the sun was going down, many torches on the street were lit; allowing Edward to see the line of people carrying crate towards the town center.

The line consisted of men, women, and children; all covered in dirt and whose clothes consisted of an inferior quality.

There was about 18 people in all, and each was standing still as a fat man shouted at them from the front.

"Lissen' up ye fat bastards! Big boss Bonzey is bein' lenient enough with you as is! We are protectin' your island an' all we ask is a measly 10,000 Beli a day. Ye can' even hit 10,000 beli a day? No, I says ye ain't tryin' hard enough!" The fat man stood on a podium shouting as his several chins quaked and shook.

He slapped his fat thigh as he raised his voice further. "Kuz of this, Big boss Bonzey has decided to lessen yer sleepin' hours to 4 hours a night. Ye have no problem makin' 15,000 Beli a day now, right?"

The people began to look at each other and shout out at the pirates. They only silenced themselves after several more pirates squared up and stepped forward.

That is to say most- without warning, a rock flew from behind Edward and hit the fat pirate straight in the nose.

"Drop the crates an' get back to- ghahdgh" The fat pirate fell right off the podium onto his back as he sputtered and waved his arms around.

"Ack! Vice captain!" Several of the other pirates shouted as they ran over to him. It took four of them to hoist him back up onto his feet.

Covering his nose, the fat pirate's eyes grew bloodshot as veins popped up in his head. "OH EN DE FACK TREW DAT ROCK?!"He shouted as he pushed the other pirates aside.

He stomped towards the villagers and puffed up his chest. Blood streamed down his chin as he leered at the mass of villagers.

The villagers took a step back in response. Edward glanced behind him to see a young girl cowering there. She glanced up to see him staring at her before she gave him a rye smile and raised her finger in a shushing motion.

Edward smirked slightly and gave a nod.

"Hmph, I sbee nobone bants to adbit it. Bine den. NOBONE GEBS ANBY SLEEB TONIBT!" The fat pirate shouted as he clenched his nose to staunch the flow of blood.

With one last glare, he stomped off, leaving the other pirates to grab the crates and follow behind him. The individual people murmured before eventually dispersing to their houses to continue with their work.

"Hehehe, thanks mister!" A mischievous voice sounded from behind Edward. He looked back to see her grab his hand and start to drag him off. "I haven't seen you around here, mister! Where are you from?"

He allowed her to drag him around as he stooped over and followed her pace. "Never mind," she said before he could answer. "Since you kept it a secret, I can give you dinner. Then you can tell me where you're from when we get home!"

Edward could only smile as she dragged him around like they were in a maze.

"..ko... oko... Koko... There you are!" The voice of a woman rung out, causing the girl to stop in her tracks, and Edward to bump into her.

A pretty woman in her early thirties came to a stop in front of them, slightly out of breath. "Koko, stop staring at the ground and look at me! I know you threw the rock!" The woman said as she planted her hands on her hips.

Edward took the chance to study her closely. Her hair was black, with the top covered by a handkerchief, a large smooth forehead, and had big black eyes much like the little girl. Her lips were light pink as well. Her bust wasn't anything close to the monsters that the post time-skip Straw hats had, but it was plentiful none-the-less. Her waist was narrow but had plump hips that led to what he assumed were smooth and attractive legs; although they were covered by her patchy dress.

It was then that the woman noticed Edward and gave him a quick once over. She gave him a nod and a smile; appreciating how handsome he looked with his sunglasses before she turned back to the girl.

"Koko, quit bothering this nice young man. Thanks to you, we have to work even harder now." The woman reached her hand towards Koko, and demanded with a frown.

"Ah! But mama, this Mister saw me throw the rock and didn't tell, so I promised him dinner!" The girl said with an excited expression.

The woman's eyebrows rose as she looked at him. "Is that so..." She pondered for a moment before she grabbed the girl's other hand and gave Edward a smile. "Thank you for that then. You should come eat dinner with us."

Edward smirked as he gave her a nod. "If you'll have me."

Their house was nearby and they reached it within a minute. Koko let out a giggle as she released both their hands and ran forward, pushing the door open. Edward followed the mother in.

"Please be seated at the table," she gestured towards the small wooden table near the kitchen. Edward gave her a nod before he walked over and sat down. A door opened and out ran little Koko with a stuffed animal in her arms.

She quickly made her way over to the table and dragged a chair beside Edward, causing a loud scooting noise.

"Don't run in the house!" Her mother said sternly as she glared at Koko. Koko stuck out her tongue in response.

Koko sat her stuffed bunny on the chair and pulled herself up before she plopped down with a sigh. "Hey mister, what's your name?" She asked with a bright smile as she hugged the stuffed animal.

Edward was trying very hard to resist patting her head. "Ah, my name's Edward," he replied with an equally bright smile.

Her eyes shone as she said, "Ohhh! Edwarldo?! Guess what? Mr. Fluffy is named Edwarldo too!" She lifted the purple bunny for Edward to see, clearly proud of it.

'Edwarldo? Wait. What the fuck?! Have I been talking Japanese this whole time?!' Edward began to sweat slightly when he realised he had been speaking a different language this whole time.

"Ah ha ha ha," Edward laughed awkwardly as he saw Koko staring at him, waiting for a reply. "He's very cute!"

She frowned at him. "Mr. Fluff- no, I mean Edwarldo is a girl!"

Edward was stunned in silence as he gave her a deadpan look. 'Do you not even know what Mr. means?'

"Caugh, cough, I see what you mean. She's* very cute..." He replied with lackluster enthusiasm.

"Mhm!" Koko chirped brightly.

"Ah, sorry to keep you waiting, Edwarldo," The pretty mother said as she walked up to the table lightly with a smile. She placed a large plate of cabbage and potatoes on the table and set down forks in front of Edward and Koko.

"Thank you, miss?" Edward said as he alluded to her never giving him her name.

"Ah? Oh, that's right, I never gave you my name!" The woman said as she brushed several strands of hair from her forehead. "You can call me Emiko if you don't mind, Edwarldo," she said as she offered him a kind smile.

"Ah, thank you for the meal Emiko!" Edward said as he returned her smile.

"I'm sorry the food isn't more," she said apologetically. "The pirates haven't been too violent with us, but they do take most of our produce. They leave us with enough to continue working."

"Mmm," Edward nodded as he bit into a potato. "What kind of work are they making you do that raises 10,000 Beli a day?"

Emiko sighed and watched Koko devouring the food. "We are each tasked with counterfeiting Beli. The Bone Pirates are only a small pirate band, but they're more than our little village can handle, so we can only do as they say and hope the Marines catch on."

"I do have another question," Edward said after he nodded. "Where is Koko's father?"

Both Koko and Emiko looked at him poinently before trading glances. Koko went back to eating with a downcast appearance as her mother leaned back in her chair and stared at the ceiling.

"Sorry," Edward stared before Emiko interrupted him.

"Don't be," Emiko said as she gave him a sad smile. "It's been five years, so it's not like talking about it will make me break down..." She leaned back in as she rested her elbows on the table. "Back then, he was a new enlistment in the Marines. At the time, Koko was only 1, and he would send a part of his paycheck back for us to survive... then one day we got a letter... it was just... he was dead. It was just like that."

Edward nodded and was about to reply before Koko interrupted. "Mom, I want to take a bath!"

Emiko looked at her daughter for a moment before she exhaled lightly and smiled. "Fine then, go and take your bath you little brat."

"Okay!" Koko shouted in excitement as she slipped off her chair. She ran behind it and grabbed Edward's hand as she began to tug on it. "Let's go Edwarldo, you can wash my back!"

Both Edward and Emiko were shocked. Edward because he wasn't too interested in bathing with a child, and Emiko because this stranger was going to bath with her little girl.

'I mean sure, he looks really cool in his sunglasses, but he might be the kind that like children!' she thought.

"You can't!"

"We can't!"

Both Edward and Emiko shouted out at the same time. Koko looked between the two and pouted her lip. "Eh? But why?"

"Ah-erm- well, that's because..." Emiko thought for a moment and came up with an acceptable answer. "That's because I like washing your back! What am I supposed to do then?"

Edward started to sweat as he heard her talk. 'Lady, that's one hell of a loaded question! Even I can see what Koko's reply will be!'

"OH!" Koko said as if enlightened. "Ok, then mommy can wash my back while Edwarldo washes yours!"

"EH?!"

"EHH?!"

"B-b- but thi-this... he's... new around here" Emiko stuttered as she blushed slightly and averted her eyes after she was the intrigued look on Edward's face.

Koko frowned at her and pouted. "What are you saying mom?" She rose her chin and planted her hands on her hips like she had seen her mother do so many times. "We're already best friends! You said Papa used to wash your back too! I want Edwarldo to wash your back!"