[center][h2]The Library - Bonesword and Lilliana[/h2][/center] "I'm afraid this book comes from the rental section," the librarian clerk answered. "But if you'd like to become a member I can create a library card for each of you and you can check this book out to your heart's content." Dang, foiled by policy! Of course, that's what happened by asking permission. They were pirates, after all. Could they take the book and bolt? Check it out and never come back? Or maybe they wanted to actually make an offer of cash rather than just asking to buy? Who knew what might end up happening in the mind of two pirates with a thirst for knowledge. [hr] [center][h2]Clock Town Marketplace - Dirk and Slick[/h2][/center] The shady looking man was completely incapable of avoiding Slick's surprise attack and proved to be a weakling. He was knocked unconscious exactly as planned. Together the two thieves were able to loot anything from him that they wanted. In his coat with so many pockets he had a number of apples, a can of blue spray paint, 5,000 belli, a single house key, a knife (presumably for protection, not that he got the chance to use it), twenty different watches, and a locket with a family photo inside. Strangely enough, the man, his wife, and his daughter all wore the shady and creepy getup he had on. Peculiar. [hr] [center][h2]Marine Branch 203 - Feya and Caesar[/h2][/center] "Eeeeeh, the weird doggy dude knows what's up," the lazy lieutenant said, giving Caesar a thumbs up. Then Feya went off on her mini rant, and he scratched the top of his head with his baseball cap. "Eeeeh, you know, I'm giving them, like, hidden training? Like, real kung fu master type stuff, you know? Muscle memory movements? Wax on, wax off? Steal the grasshopper from my hand, that kind of thing? Everything in his tone sounded incredibly noncommittal, like he wasn't even buying it himself. "KUKAKU YOU LAZY JERK , YOU'RE JUST MAKING THEM DO THE CHORES THE CAPTAIN WANTED YOU TO DO! AND YOU'RE NOT EVEN GETTING THEM TO HUSSLE!" The two devolved into an argument (well, the loud one argued while the lazy one tried to deflect) that would go on for literal hours. So committed to this engagement were they that they ignored, or couldn't hear, anything Caesar or Feya had to say from that point on. Looks like there was nothing else to be done here for the two. [hr] [center][h2]Tock's Clocks - Boone and Kite[/h2][/center] The clock shop owner and Kite worked quite well together. The machine was incredibly complex, but Kite could grasp the mechanisms with little prompt from its owner, and together they spent less than ten minutes getting it all fixed up. As soon as it was done, Tock wiped some grease from his face, but only ended up comically smearing it around. "There we go! Time to see if she works as intended! Stand back boys, my inventions have a habit of, well, exploding." He flicked on a single brass switch. The thing whirred to life, clicking cogs and gears together to activate a steam piston, which launched a small ball along a track, striking multiple pressure switches along the way. A springboard launched a brick up, which landed on a see-saw lever, igniting an electrical current. Meanwhile, a single tin cup moved along a conveyor belt to a funnel, and juuuuust as it reached the bottom of the funnel a metal tea kettle (which had been warmed by the electrical current) tilted to pour its contents out into a small box. A glass tube connected the box to the funnel, delivering a brown covered liquid directly into the tin cup. "Ah, perfect!" Tock exclaimed with joy, snagging the cup and drinking heavily from it. "The perfect cup of cocoa! I knew I had it in me!" Once he finished chugging down his cocoa, Tock began to get into an explanation for Boone. "Now you see, I used to be part of the Fearless Frog Pirates back in the day, and we made it a little ways into the Grand Line before having to turn tail and run to save our own hides. Heheheh, guess we weren't living up to our name! But I digress, that there is a log pose and you'll never get anywhere in the Grand Line without understanding how it works. You see, those legends and wives tails about how the weather and even physics itself don't work normal there? They aren't legends! A normal compass will just go haywire! You won't know your north from your trousers, and good luck navigating by stars! Every island there has its own individual magnetic field, so that helps make the weather all kinds of crazy, but also means your compass won't know which way to point, but that log pose is a special thing it is. It'll automatically lock onto the island you're supposed to get to, so no matter where you go, it'll always point you in the right direction. Once you're there, it'll take some time to 'log' that island's magnetic field, then automatically point to the next one in the chain! Every island is different. The shortest one I saw was only about three hours, but I've heard tell that some islands can take years to log!" He restarted the machine, then drank another cup of cocoa. "There's more than one route, too. I don't know how many there are, but there's definitely more than one! But they all end up leading to the same place regardless. So that's it, you've gotta trust that little log pose with your lives, no matter what! And make sure you're strong enough, cause those seas will chew you up and spit ya right back out like a piece of tobacco, they will!"