Finding a Place to Sleep

John's mind immediately went into overdrive at the potential applications of his ability. What possible limits could there be, how restrictive is it, what can be bought and sold, things like that.

There was so much to learn! So much to test!

A shiver went through John as another breeze hit his skin. For now, putting a shirt back on would a great idea.

Willing his Belly back inside him, John then requested his shirt back, and with it back in his hands put it on. Much warmer!

Speaking of warmth, John could not help but notice that the shadows on the trees were starting to get long, and the sky was changing color. Night was approaching.

John decided that the excitement from coming to this world and gaining new powers had to be put on hold for a bit, he needed to either find civilization or make a shelter and secure some food and water before it became nighttime.

And so, in the first time since arriving, John went into the tree line and finally left his little clearing, seeing what he could find.

He walked.

And walked.

And walked some more.

Unfortunately, after some time of travelling John could not seem to find any sign of civilization, or any things necessary for survival. No flowing water or random plants to forage, just the trees. He could hear the occasional creature scurry away when he walked by, probably a rabbit or the like, but nothing that screamed "food".

So, John continued. For quite some time. And after a long amount of time, just before the sun fully set and encased John in total darkness, John spotted what seemed to be a building in the distance.

"Heck yeah! I knew I wouldn't be dumped in the middle of nowhere!" John spoke as he started running towards the clearing that housed the building.

The building was a large wooden structure that held a large diagonal saw in the middle of it. Wooden logs flanked the building, as well as some circular wheels next to what seems to be a wood stove, connected in some way by what seemed to be thick rope to the blade. On the other side of the building was a small shed, hidden by view when John initially approached, where John could see what looked like small pieces of wood, probably for the stove, and a smaller hand saw poking out. Next to the shed was also a path cleared of brush, most likely a path the people who use the shed walk to and from.

After thinking about it, this was most likely a cheap sawmill, and noticing some sawdust at the base of the large blade implied that it saw recent use.

This was ultimately a good thing for John, a well-constructed building that used furnaces to produce lumber means that he was at least near a small town, or a specific logging operation. That, and it implied that the people that used this place had a certain technology level, which meant meaningful communication was possible.

Since it was nighttime, the people who worked here were probably done for the day, and while John could probably follow the path next to the shed to find them, he did not want to risk travelling in the dark, especially if it was a longer path. Plus, he did not want to startle any locals at night, less chances to surprise someone and get shot during the daytime.

Unless this was and outlaw town, or a pirate setup.

That was a problem for later though, survival now.

John's first order of business was to secure a roof over his head which the shelter would do nicely. There was not enough room to sleep on the ground with the wood strewn all over the place, so John decided to start moving the wood. When John picked up the first piece of wood, he suddenly got a positive affirmation ringing in his mind.

He could sell the wood!

He thought for a moment about this and had some questions about what he could and could not sell. Originally, he could not sell the tree, but he could sell this wood now. Is it because it was chopped down?

Additionally, John wondered if he should just sell someone else's property like this. If he were to meet the owners of this mill tomorrow, it would not make a great impression on them for a wanderer to show up and have half of their wood supply gone.

For now, John just decided to sell the wood and re-buy it outside the shed. It wouldn't be stealing then, just more efficient moving!

After about a minute of touching and selling, John started to feel quite full, and the bloated feeling was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable.

"If I feel this way all the time, this power may be a bit annoying." John complained as he left the shed.

Then, as if answering his complaints, John felt a new feeling in his stomach, like a sense of condemnation and mocking, like the fullness was telling him "then don't think about it". Then the feeling stopped.

John paused. Don't think about it? And so, John wished the feeling would go away.

And it did.

"Okay, so I can turn off the bloated feeling when I am not buying or selling. Neat!"

With a smile on his face with the uncomfortableness gone, John found a nice spot next to the shed, and decided to buy back all the lumber he could, replacing what he sold to move it. When he did so, the wood dropped in front of him all in one go. Was this because it could not fit in his hand, or could he designate where things he bought ended up? He decided to add it to his long list of things to test.

But there was a problem. He could have sworn there was more lumber in the shed than what was on the ground.

"Wasn't there twice the amount of lumber here when I started?"

John, confused, stared at the wood on the ground. No matter how he looked, there was less there than he started with.

"I know survival is important right now, but its time to experiment again."

John went over to one of the smaller logs that he just bought and sold it. Then rebought it. It was the exact same log, no change in amount. He then resold it, exchanged it for Belly, exchanged the Belly back, and bought the log back. Same log, no change.

"Hmm…"

Then John went over to one of the larger logs by the sawmill proper. He touched the log with his hand to sell it, and it sold. But then when he tried to buy it back, he felt a feeling of rejection. He could not buy the log back.

"Why can't I buy the exact same log back?"

The fullness had an answer for him. John suddenly felt a sting of guilt in his mind, a feeling of shame. It reminded him of when he stole a candy bar from the store when he was a child.

Stealing…

"…so, I don't get the full amount back because it was stolen, is that it?"

Testing the new theory, John asked to buy back as much of the log as he could afford, and on the floor appeared a log about half the size of the one he tested on.

John then took this half of a log, sold it again, and bought it back. It was still the same half of a log.

"So, it seems like when I steal things, or sell things that I do not own, I can only sell it for half of what it is worth. Then when I buy it back, I must buy it for its full 'true' price. Once bought though it becomes 'mine', so I can sell and buy it back for full price."

This would seem to answer this question for John, but now it led to more questions. If this selling worked like he thought it does, than what constitutes ownership of something? Is it the person who cut down that piece of wood, or was it the person who owns this sawmill? Or could it be the planet itself? Is that why a tree could not be bought?

Thinking again about the tree, John walks back over to the shed. Circling behind it, he sees a small tree sapling taking root. Putting his hand on it, he attempts to sell it. He receives a feeling of rejection.

"Hmm."

John then grabs a branch of the tree and gives it a good twist, separating it from the tree.

A feeling of acceptance, he can sell the branch. So, he sells it, and buys back the exact same branch with no loses.

"Current hypothesis, I can sell the works of others at a lower cost, and I can sell things from nature if I make it my own. Let's go with that until I can find a better time and place to practice my skills."

With that question now solved for now, John looks back at the wood on the ground. Since there is no way to get the original pieces back now, he decides to sell them again. He could only hope the previous owner of the wood would forgive him, or at least allow him to pay them back somehow.

Now that he decided to take the wood, John decides he may as well spend it on supplies to get through the night since he wasted all that time figuring out the stealing thing.

Looking inside himself, John decides to first buy a cheap little wooden mat to sleep on. This would be slightly more comfortable than the dirt on the ground and would give him a place to sit since he has been standing all day. If he needs to buy something more important later, he could always sell it again.

With that out of the way, John decides to test and see if he can buy something more necessary, food and water.

Starting with water, John just straight up asks if he can buy water to the feeling in his stomach, and gets a questioning feeling in return.

"Is it trying to ask what type of water I want?"

John thinks of fresh spring water. Another questioning feeling.

"What type of cup? Can't you just put it in my hand if I cup it or something?" A negative feeling returns. It seems like water needs a container of some sort to be purchased. So, John thinks of a water in a cheap, plastic cup and it appears, it doesn't seem to cost him too much of the feeling.

"I should really find a better name for this feeling inside me. Maybe just money, or even Belly?"

John decided to add it to the list.

"Out of curiosity, how about saltwater?"

This gives an incredibly large reaction from inside, a major negative. Mixed with that negative is a hint of fear. Thinking about it, seawater is one of a Devil Fruit users' weakness, so maybe it could not be bought? That would make a degree of sense.

"Does that mean I can't buy seastone then?" Another negative. "Well shoot, having anything seastone would be super handy if I ran into trouble."

Now a little downcast but with a glass of water, John downs the water in a few quick gulps.

"Good, it tastes like water! A bit warm though. Now let's see what we can do about food."

With the water taken care, John decides to tests out his power with some common foods to see what is possible to buy.

In short, it seems like all food is available to buy!

Sure John had to specify if he wanted it cooked or raw, warm or cold (which applied to drinks too, he forgot to ask for cold water) From fruits to vegetables to mushrooms to meat, it seems like there was no restriction on food. At least, 'dead' food. John when he asked for chicken was given the option of cooked or raw, but when he inquired if he could have it alive was rejected by the Devil Fruit outright. More testing was required, but that was for another day.

With the questioning done, John spent the last of his stored 'money' (tentative name) on a simple apple and sandwich with meat and cheese. When John took a bite out of the sandwich, he was incredibly surprised that it was both filling and tasted good! He knew that most Devil Fruits that were food based could only do one or the other, so this was a huge boon for John.

With his necessities out of the way and the sun completely down, it was now just John in a worn out little shed.

"I'm starting to get a bit tired." John stated as he felt his eyes droop. The excitement from the day coupled with finally eating really put his mind at ease. "Still, one more thing to do."

Since he knew meeting intelligent beings was most likely going to happen tomorrow, he needed to come up with a story, and it needed to be somewhat plausible. It's hard to explain to someone you are from a different world after all.

Assuming they speak the same language as John.

So, for John's story, he closed the shed door and started to sell all the close on his body. From there, he then started to re-buy them, asking for them to look ripped up and worn from travel.

That's right, John was going to claim he was shipwrecked!

He would claim to be a merchant at sea and his ship was hit by a colossal storm. From there, he would say he washed ashore, bumbled his way through the forest, and eventually found the sawmill, and thus their town.

Of course, there was the chance they would find him first, so ripping his clothes beforehand was a precaution just in case.

Hopefully, John would also get a chance to scavenge some more branches or something to buy a weapon or something on the off chance people are not friendly. John already tried to buy a sword earlier, so he knew getting a weapon was at least possible with his power.

The real challenge would be his Devil Fruit. John thought he could probably hide his abilities for a while, but if they ask where the wood went or try to dunk him in water than he would be screwed! So, the plan was simple, don't tell people he had a Devil Fruit unless he absolutely must, and then tell them it is a storage type fruit. He would get a lot less people giving him trouble if they thought he could just store things, not buy new things.

With the basics of his story hammered out, John decided it was time to sleep. John laid down on the mat, curled up into a little ball, and within a few moments was fast asleep in the little woodshed.

His last waking thought was curiosity about what tomorrow would bring.