Chapter 423: Cheeky Little Bribe
Cherry checked the seas surrounding the Goa Kingdom quite thoroughly, but she predictably didn't find any sneaky Big Mom pirates lurking about. The only reason that she and Sanji had some was because they had been invited to the tea party.
Still, she would check out the last few places in East Blue just to be sure. Also because she wanted to see the places her crewmates grew up in and meet the people they cared about.
Before leaving the Goa Kingdom, Cherry made one last stop at Dadan's hideout in the mountains. Naturally there was no one there, as Dadan and the rest of her mountain bandits had drunk themselves unconscious at Makino's bar.
Cherry popped a small chest out of her pocket, filled to the brim with the most lavish jewelry that money could buy. She left a note inside that said,
"A hot mama like you should have something nice to wear.
With love, Cherry"
Cherry tapped the pen on her chin before adding, "PS - I took this out of Luffy's share~" She turned her attention to the den den mushi in the room. She was initially surprised to find one here since even though they weren't that expensive, they weren't that cheap either.
Then she noticed that it was actually a standard issue marine den den mushi wearing a curly orange wig. Garp must have given it to her to contact her regarding the kids. Though according to Dadan's drunken ranting, Garp barely ever checked up with them. Irresponsible old coot.
'Should I pay him a visit and give a good kick in the ass for Dadan?' Cherry pondered.
'No... but maybe later.' She had other business to take care of right now.
Cherry whisked herself away into psychic snail dreamland.
After a bit of gallivanting about, Cherry found a den den mushi in the shape of a man wearing
a local sheriff's uniform and had a distinctive pinwheel hat and mustache. It stood guard in front of a big prison cell full of fishmen pirates.
Knowing that she had the right place, she appeared inside the sheriff's office of Cocoyasi village.
*speeew*
Sheriff Genzo, this time without a snail for a face, spat out a mouth full of coffee in a spectacular spit take.
"Oh, I should have checked if anyone was around before I popped out. Whoopsie," Cherry said. "Pretend you didn't see that."
"..." Genzo took a moment to try and understand what it is that he wasn't supposed to see before giving up. "Sure..."
"Great! Have a bribe," Cherry slapped a thick wad of 10,000 beri bills onto his desk. Genzo was glad he didn't try the coffee again because he would have spit it out again.
"You can't bribe an officer of the law!" Genzo protested, perhaps a bit more forcefully than he intended.
"That was mean, big sis," Johnny complained.
"How did you even twist your neck that far...?" Yosaku didn't really want an answer to that
question.
"Like this," Cherry spun her head around a few times. The distinctive popping and crunching sounds of breaking bones make them feel sick.
""'STOP STOP STOP!!!"" They begged her, clapping their hands over their ears.
Cherry chuckled as she rearranged her bones in the proper places. She didn't have to break
them to do that, but their reactions made it worthwhile.
"Do you two know where Zoro's hometown is?" Cherry asked the question that she had
wanted to meet them for.
"Zoro-aniki?" Yasuko looked thoughtful.
"He was the disciple of the Isshin Dojo, wasn't he?" Johnny said.
"Yeah, yeah, from Shimo... Shimotsuki village?" Yasuko added unsurely.
"That's right! I'm sure that's it," Johnny concurred.
"I can work with that," Cherry nodded in understanding. "Here, have a treat."
Cherry held out her hands and placed a gold coin in each of their own hands.
"Gold? I thought you were handing us candy?" Yasuko was confused.
"Do I look like I'm made of candy? I'll take them back if you don't want them," Cherry said.
"No, we want them!" Johnny elbowed Yasuko in the ribs, but they both thought to
themselves, 'Are you made of gold, then?'
The answer to that question was yes.
"Now, then. Show me which of these tangerine groves belongs to Nojiko," Cherry said.