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In the poor district of the West Blue, a damp smell filled the old wooden houses.
Aunt Masha sat before a rickety wooden table, clumsily using a mobile phone with her rough fingers. Her movements seemed hard, but her eyes held a look of focus.
She had bought the phone at a discount for a small sum while selling newspapers.
Her original plan was to buy this for her grandson so he could pass the time, as she couldn't afford toys, not even the cheapest ones which cost a thousand Berry!
But the phone only cost one hundred Berry.
Today, her grandson wanted to watch a live stream, so she watched it with him.
Just then, the phone suddenly vibrated, and a message popped up on the screen. "Congratulations! You've won a lucky bag, receiving 500,000 Berry!"
Aunt Masha's cloudy old eyes suddenly widened, and her cracked lips shook. "Fi... five hundred thousand?" Her voice was shaky, and her eyes were filled with disbelief.
When the phone notification sounded, she nearly dropped it into the vegetable washing basin.
Her grandson, a skinny little boy next to her, was chewing on a piece of black bread. He looked at his grandma's reaction in confusion, a little puzzled. "Grandma, what's wrong?"
Aunt Masha looked at the message on the screen, tears welling up in her eyes, and finally, they flowed down.
With shaking fingers, she gently touched the screen to confirm it wasn't a dream. Looking at her grandson, her voice choked up slightly. "Child... we... we finally won't have to starve..."
The little grandson saw his grandma in tears, a hint of confusion flashed in his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by joy.
He put down the black bread in his hand, threw himself into his grandma's arms, and excitedly said. "Grandma, we finally won't have to starve? Really?"
Aunt Masha hugged her grandson tightly and nodded, her tears soaking his clothes. "Yes, child, we have money now. We won't have to eat black bread anymore. We can buy delicious food, new clothes, and live a good life..."
A long-lost warmth and hope filled the small house.
For them, these five hundred thousand Berry were not just money, but a ray of hope, a start to changing their lives.
Aunt Masha was secretly grateful, this little phone had brought such a huge turning point.
"Thank you, phone. Thank you to the people who made the phone. Thank you."
....
The live stream room was buzzing, the comments scrolling rapidly across the screen, lively and busy.
Many people had won lucky bags, and the money they won could be taken out immediately or kept as a balance on the phone. When they needed to buy something, they could place orders from others' shopping carts.
This convenient feature made the live stream even more popular!
"Hello uncles, aunties, big brothers and sisters, I'm blind. Are you guys getting lucky bags? I didn't get one. Can a kind person send me one? I haven't eaten in three days."
Suddenly, a message appeared in the comments, immediately getting a lot of attention.
"Here he comes again? Saw you in Luffy's live stream yesterday too!"
"Poor Miss Nami, just recovered from her illness and was tricked out of 1000 Berry by a cheater."
"You damn cheater, give me back my 1000 Berry!"
"I can testify, I saw him faking a disability at the Marine base entrance two days ago!"
Among the comments, various accusations and insults rose and fell. Clearly, this "blind person" was not appearing for the first time, and his behavior had caused widespread annoyance.
Queen glanced at the arguing comments and curled his lip in disgust. He adjusted the microphone, the spotlight shining on his head, and started to get excited.
"Next up..." He spoke with his broken voice, "Let me sing you guys 'The Greatest Pirate'!"
The moment the music started, gift effects soared in the live stream, and the comments kept scrolling non-stop.
However, in a corner of the party, King silently turned off the sound, the corner of his mouth twitching under his mask. "This idiot..."
He watched Queen perform energetically in front of the camera, a hint of contempt flashing in his eyes.
Although he looked down on Queen's behavior, he had to admit that Queen had indeed driven up the popularity of the live stream.
...
The bonfire in the center of Onigashima suddenly flared up, flames shooting into the sky, lighting up the entire plaza.
A dragon's roar shook the heavens and the earth. In the air, a giant dragon a hundred meters long roared past, the powerful wind scattering the surrounding flames.
Right after, Kaido's massive figure descended from the sky!
His huge eyes swept over the live stream camera, and Kaido grinned, his voice like thunder. "Worororororo... My little ones, let's drink!"
The violent roar made the entire plaza shake.
The scene instantly erupted. The low-level crew roared and grabbed bottles of sake, drinking them on the spot!
Sake splashed everywhere, and laughter and cheers rose and fell.
The Tobi Roppo appeared right after. Black Maria breathed out smoke from her pipe, blowing a seductive wink at the camera, her eyes holding a touch of laziness and charm. Who's-Who, Sasaki, and others also appeared in the live stream one after another.
Suddenly, Orochi, who had been invited to the party, also arrived.
His palanquin slowly entered the plaza, and the surrounding low-level crew quickly made way for him.
Orochi lifted the curtain and suddenly saw the entire plaza filled with pirates grinning foolishly at small square objects. He couldn't help but rub his eyes.
"Wha... what is that?" Orochi's voice held a hint of confusion, his eyes showing a bit of bewilderment.
"I don't know, but looking at their expressions, they are very obsessed with this little square, even crazy!" A crew member next to him said, his tone carrying a touch of curiosity.
"Hmph!" Orochi casually took a phone from a crew member's hand. A heavily filtered image of himself suddenly popped up on the screen, scaring him so much that he let out a cry and threw the phone away. "An... an illusion!"
"Could it be some kind of ninjutsu?"
"Everyone's under ninjutsu? That shouldn't be the case."
The surrounding pirates saw Orochi's reaction and burst into laughter. Kaido also couldn't help but laugh heartily, his voice shaking the entire plaza. "Worororororo! Orochi, what's wrong with you?"
"Hmph! Nothing."
Orochi skillfully hid the confusion in his eyes and became even more curious about the square boxes in everyone's hands.
He remembered that when he came last time, there was no such thing. How did everyone suddenly have one?
Thinking this, he went up to the high platform, watching the party performance that he didn't particularly enjoy in the first place. If it weren't for Kaido's invitation, he wouldn't have come at all!
"Komurasaki, who do you think sings better, me or this guy Queen?"
Orochi looked at Komurasaki next to him, his expression changing back to a lustful one.
"Ah? Of course... of course..."
"Of course... they both sound terrible, garbage!"
Komurasaki hadn't answered yet when she was interrupted by King from the corner. Orochi was bewildered, watching King leave with a dark face.
Only after King was completely gone did he snap back to his senses. "Did I do something to make you angry?"
Orochi suddenly felt very hurt, feeling completely out of place and hostile at the entire party.