When Wapol saw the username "Queen the Plague" place an order yesterday, he thought it was just some bored impersonator.
That was until just now, in the latest video of Queen preparing for the banquet, he clearly spotted the robot he built, sitting in the corner of the screen!
"I'm gonna be rich... I'm gonna be rich!"
Wapol was ecstatic. He jumped up, and his bloated body crashed into a pile of scrap metal beside him, sending a loud clang echoing through the snow.
Ignoring the powdery flakes clinging to him, he excitedly opened the comments section and, using his oil-stained fingernails, typed out word by word:
"Respected Queen-sama! That robot you ordered was built by me! Wapol's Mechanical Workshop, at your service!"
After posting the comment, he stared unblinking at the screen, completely forgetting to breathe.
Ten minutes later, when he saw his comment getting liked again and again, eventually rising to the top of the hot comments list, the likes skyrocketing like crazy, he finally took a long, shaky breath. A feverish flush crept up his grimy face.
"Three thousand... three thousand followers!" he cried, twirling and stomping wildly in the snow, his cracked boots kicking up white powder.
Suddenly, he stopped. A shrewd gleam flashed in his beady eyes. He quickly scrolled to Queen's banquet announcement video and solemnly commented:
"For the Four Emperors' banquet livestream, Wapol will definitely arrive on time!"
After sending it, he leaned against the tree behind him with a rare sense of satisfaction, looking up at the falling snow and muttering:
"This is my golden chance to become famous across the Grand Line!"
Then, he turned and sprinted into the crooked shack hidden in the junk heap, rummaging through metal parts, stuffing everything he could find into his mouth.
"Gotta build more robots. If orders flood in, I'll be rich..." he mumbled with a wrench between his teeth. He bit down twice, crunch, then swallowed it. "I'll make sure everyone on the sea remembers the name Wapol! You dumb hippos!"
The kerosene lamp in the shack flickered, casting dancing shadows across his crazed, excited face.
Outside, the blizzard howled louder than ever, but Wapol didn't notice. His mind was already consumed by dreams of fame and fortune at the Four Emperors' banquet.
He occasionally let out eerie giggles of "Wehehehe…"
…
Night fell, and the grand banquet began!
The entire scene was brightly lit. A massive bonfire blazed in the center of the plaza, illuminating Onigashima like it was broad daylight.
Queen stood on a makeshift stage, his fat belly rising and falling with each breath. His squinty eyes were locked on the rapidly rising view count in the top-right corner of the livestream—already past 100,000!
"Chat!" Queen suddenly roared, his hoarse voice blasting through the speakers and showering the front-row cameramen with spit. "Don't leave just yet!"
To hype the crowd, Queen had spent the past few days studying up on livestreaming and was already pretty skilled with the basics. "Keep your eyes on the screen! A ten million Berries lucky bag! Three! Two! One! Go!"
A ten million Berries lucky bag! The chat exploded instantly. Comments poured in like waves.
> Beasts' Lackey: "Queen-sama is unstoppable!"
> Jonathan: "Hmph! Pirates sure are rich. If I can't catch you, I'll at least catch that lucky bag!"
> Blood Blade: "Daddy Queen, I'm broke, save me!"
---
In a remote fishing village in the East Blue, a young fisherman named Freelank was anxiously tapping away on his phone, eyes locked on the screen. His fingers trembled with excitement.
He fished every day. The routine had become dull and frustrating.
Luckily, having a phone added a little spark to his monotonous life.
Especially since the livestreams gave out real lucky bags with real Berries. He always tried to snag one.
Sometimes he'd win—usually around ten Berries—just enough to get him a meal. Being single, it was more than enough.
Tonight, as usual, he tuned into Yonko Kaido's livestream, just to try his luck. He wasn't interested in anything else.
After all, it was mostly about the lucky bags… but what if, just maybe, he hit the jackpot?
He prayed silently, fingers swiping across the screen, beads of sweat forming on his brow.
Suddenly, the screen flashed gold, and a notification popped up:
"Congratulations! You've won a lucky bag: 100,000 Berries!"
Freelank leapt off the warped wooden deck, slamming his knee against the boat's low railing. He didn't care. Eyes wide, he stared at the screen and muttered:
"Holy crap! Oh my god! 100,000 Berries?! That's like three months of fishing income!"
He was so overwhelmed with joy that he nearly burst. He stared at the notification over and over, needing to reassure himself it was real.
Then, unable to contain it, he shouted, "I won! I actually won! Hahahahaha!"
The nearby villagers, hearing his wild yelling, gathered around to see what happened.
They all knew Freelank had been obsessed with the little square device called a phone lately. It had something called TikTok. Word was, it was super fun, and he'd stay up all night glued to it.
Most of them wanted a phone too, but they cost 10,000 Berries. That was no small amount, and they'd rather buy drinks than waste it on a gadget.
Still, they often borrowed Freelank's phone to watch livestreams. They knew about the lucky bags too. But every time, it was just one or two Berries—not worth the hype.
But now, seeing Freelank's wild reaction… it clearly wasn't just one or two Berries this time!
"Freelank, you actually won?" someone asked, eyes full of envy.
"Yeah! I won 100,000 Berries!" Freelank shouted with pride written all over his face.
He looked at the phone in his hand, a deep sense of gratitude swelling in his heart. This little thing had brought him not just fun—but real money.
"WHAT?! 100,000 Berries?!"
A villager's jaw dropped, completely stunned.
"No way. That's gotta be fake. There's no way it's 100,000."
"Freelank, are you trying to trick us into buying phones?"
But then Freelank showed them his TikTok balance.
Everyone fell silent.
It was real.
There were really 100,000 Berries in there.
Holy. Crap.
> Buy a phone.
"Uh... I, uh, just remembered something I gotta do. Catch you later!"
One villager sprinted off toward the nearest phone shop. He heard a fresh shipment had arrived and the price had dropped by one Berry.
"My mom's calling me home for dinner. Not playing today."
"What a coincidence, mine too. Freelank, gotta go!"
"..."
Soon, the few villagers who had been borrowing his phone were all gone. Are you kidding? They were on their way to buy phones and grab lucky bags!
Freelank roared with laughter. Let them borrow his phone every day—now that luck had hit, they were out of the game!
He made a silent promise to himself: he'd work even harder at grabbing lucky bags from now on. As long as he had this phone, life would only get better and better.
(To be continued.)