"Keep a close eye on this matter," Luffy nodded, grabbing the dish of ice cream as soon as the girl set it on the table. "Sooner or later, real heavyweights will appear, don't let them slip by, or it could turn into serious problems for all of us in the future."
"Don't worry, Luffy-senpai, I'll handle it excellently," Bartholomew puffed up with pride.
By this time, Zoro had already managed to get into one of the bottles of wine.
"And what about my order?" Luffy continued after a couple of spoonful of ice cream.
"One moment, it'll be here shortly!" Bartholomew said, pressing one of the buttons under the table. "In a few minutes, your order will be here, Luffy-senpai!"
"Then let's discuss what else I need."
"Tell me! I'll do everything in my power!"
"So, I need a couple of dozen kilograms of explosives," Luffy began counting on his fingers, "a piece of canvas, about twenty to thirty meters long and ten to fifteen meters high, a couple of buckets of paint, ten boxes of fireworks, a spool of rope, and three naked virgins and a black goat."
"It will be done!" Bartholomew responded without batting an eye.
"Why do you need naked virgins and a black goat?" Zoro asked, momentarily distracted from his bottle.
"Okay, no naked virgins and goat, but make sure to prepare everything else, Zoro approves!" Luffy said without missing a beat.
"It will be done!" Bartholomew again did not blink an eye.
Zoro realized that Luffy mentioned the naked virgins and black goat just to distract him from the rest. He should have asked about the explosives and fireworks. The problem was that, unlike the goat and virgins, the rest was pretty clear. Luffy was undoubtedly planning something explosive, and fireworks were to add a 'festive atmosphere' to the explosion. As for the canvas and paint, Zoro had a couple of plausible guesses. The only important question remaining was: 'What exactly is Luffy planning to blow up?' There were marine ships in the harbor, but Zoro wasn't sure if Luffy intended to blow them up.
At that moment, a couple of Bartholomew's aides entered after knocking on the door, carrying two large boxes which they placed at opposite ends of the table after clearing a space from the numerous papers.
"Here, Luffy-senpai, your order!"
Luffy stood up from his chair and opened one of the boxes to reveal a thin red velvet-lined box. Such boxes are usually seen in jewelry stores, where they sell necklaces. Luffy sat back down and opened the box. Indeed, inside was a necklace—rather thin, made of gold, but instead of a pendant, it had a skull with crossbones and a straw hat. Everything was gold, and the skull's eyes sparkled with two small diamonds.
Luffy reached out, took the necklace from the box, admired the pirate symbol in his hand for a moment, and then grabbed it by the protruding bones and squeezed. One of the gold bones, under Luffy's fingers, slightly sunk into the symbol with a distinct click, and the next moment, the two small diamonds glowed an ominous dark red, shining about fifty times brighter than expected for something so small. Then Luffy pressed the bones again, and the glow from the diamond eyes immediately disappeared.
"Excellent!" Luffy nodded with satisfaction. "Zoro, take this," he handed the necklace to the swordsman.
"Why do I need this?" Zoro asked, though he took the necklace.
"Firstly, it's our symbol, and secondly, in the future, it will help all our allies recognize each other."
Nodding in understanding, Zoro put the necklace around his neck while Luffy began rummaging through the second box. He pulled out another velvet-lined box, usually used for rings. Indeed, when Luffy opened it, there was a gold ring with their pirate flag. A small press on the skull with crossbones, and, as with the necklace, the skull's diamond eyes lit up red. Another press, and the glow disappeared.
"Take this," Luffy handed the ring to Zoro.
"And what's with all this glowing?" Zoro asked as he took the ring.
"Upon activation, the diamonds in the skull will glow if another necklace or ring is within a ten-kilometer radius. For our crew, it's almost useless since we are almost always together, but for our future allies, this feature will be very useful. They will not only be able to recognize each other upon meeting but also know if an ally is nearby."
"And if these necklaces and rings fall into the hands of the patrol?" Zoro frowned.
"That's problematic but not fatal. Firstly, besides the necklace, there's also a secret sign. Each ally, upon meeting each other, will have to press the ring or symbol on the necklace three times. So, even if a necklace or ring falls into the marine's hands, they will give themselves away at the first meeting with another holder of our symbols."
"And if they extract a confession?"
"…Zoro, are you starting to doubt me?" Luffy stared at his first mate as if he had just declared that they no longer needed money. "I will never allow people who might crack under torture to wear our symbols."
To prove his words, Luffy stood up, took one box in each hand, and handed them to Bartholomew sitting at the table.
"Or do you think the orc might betray us?" Luffy asked with a smile when the now tearful and grateful Bartholomew accepted both boxes from Luffy.
"I have no doubts about Mohawk," Zoro nodded in agreement. "However, if we use him as a template for all our future allies, we'll be searching for them for years."
At these words, Bartholomew started crying even more.
"Are you in a hurry?" Luffy asked with a smirk as he sat back down. "If I were chasing quantity instead of quality, I would already be the captain of my own pirate armada."
"…Agreed," Zoro returned the smirk. "Better one Mohawk than a million potential traitors."
The mentioned 'Mohawk nearly died on the spot from such flattering words:
"Foro-fénfay!!!" — snot and drool flew everywhere.
"Alright, now that we've discussed everything, Zoro, you can head back to the ship in about an hour and wait for me there."