I Sell Gacha Jars in One Piece

Hiriluk moved through the jars with care, taking longer than most people would, holding each one briefly before setting it aside. He was looking for something, some small certainty that this was the right one. When he finally reached for the pink jar, his hand didn't waver.

"This one."

He held it in both hands and stood very still.

Thirty years. Thirty years of research, of failed experiments and adjusted formulas, all of it aimed at a single impossible-seeming goal: to make something bloom on an island that had forgotten what flowers looked like. An entire kingdom had grown cold and bitter, not just from the snow, but from something deeper, a loss of faith in their own home. If he could change that, if he could give them back some small, bright proof that this land was worth loving, it would mean everything.

That was what was sitting in his hands right now.

"You'll open something good, Doctor. I know it." Chopper rested a paw against his arm and looked up at him with complete conviction.

Hiriluk nodded, but his courage fell short at the last moment. He held the mallet and couldn't bring himself to swing it.

"Chopper, you do it."

"No." Chopper shook his head firmly, his voice carrying a steadiness that was older than his face. "You do it, Doctor. Trust yourself."

Something settled in Hiriluk's expression. He raised the mallet and brought it down.

The jar cracked open with a clean sound, and a small bundle tumbled out onto the table.

Hiriluk picked it up and held it as though it might break.

"Mr. Amon. Please, could you tell us what it is?"

"Fast-Growth Plum Blossom Seeds" - A product of future high-technology, created by synthesizing plum blossom seeds with extracted characteristics from other plant species. The resulting seed produces plum blossoms with dramatically accelerated growth, a rich and powerful fragrance, and exceptionally abundant blooms. Flowers that would ordinarily require an entire winter to develop will appear within one day. Native to cold climates; thrives in snow.

Amon read it twice.

Then he read it a third time, and the quiet satisfaction that settled over him was genuine. Fast-growth plum blossom seeds, cold-hardy by nature, designed for exactly the kind of environment that surrounded them on every side. One day to bloom. He had hoped the jar might produce something useful for Hiriluk, but this was exactly what was needed.

The system, when it was in a generous mood, was very generous indeed.

"Well?" Chopper was already at his elbow, practically vibrating.

"See for yourself." Amon handed over the item card with a small smile, keeping the answer to himself just a moment longer.

Hiriluk read it. His brow furrowed at first, unfamiliar with the name.

"Fast-Growth Plum Blossoms? What are plum blossoms?" He read further, and his expression changed. "Rapid growth, strong fragrance, abundant blooms... flowers within a single day?" He looked up. "Seeds this powerful truly exist?"

"Mr. Amon," he continued, a thread of worry working its way in, "can these blossoms really open on Drum Island? The conditions here are harsh. Snow, low temperatures, very little sunlight..."

"You don't need to worry about that," Amon said simply. "What you need to do now is spread these seeds. All across the kingdom, every corner you can reach." He let the quiet confidence in his voice carry the rest of the message. "Wake up tomorrow morning, and I promise you'll have your answer."

He saw no point in explaining plum blossoms to people who had never seen one. The flowers would explain themselves better than any description could.

Hiriluk held the seeds for a long moment. Then he nodded, and something in the set of his shoulders was different from how it had been all day.

"Then we start now."

"I'll help scatter them," Robin said. She had been watching Hiriluk throughout all of this, and something about his thirty years of quiet, persistent hope had gotten under her guard.

"Me too!" Lily bounced slightly on her heels, deeply curious about what winter flowers actually looked like.

Hiriluk accepted both offers. The Drum Kingdom was large, and between just him and Chopper, covering the whole of it evenly would have been difficult and slow.

"Let's go then. Thank you, all of you."

Amon fell in as well without being asked, and the five of them spread out across the kingdom as evening came on.

Hiriluk and Chopper threw themselves into the work with everything they had, moving fast and covering ground with the particular energy of people working on something they love. This was their home. This had always been their home, and they wanted it back.

The other three worked differently, but no less effectively.

Amon opened his Observation Haki wide, mapped the terrain ahead of him in moments, and scattered seeds across his entire section in one sustained effort without breaking stride.

Lily directed hers through telekinesis, her training under Amon having expanded her range and precision considerably. The seeds moved in controlled arcs, finding soil and settling into it as if guided by careful hands.

Robin spread her arms and summoned Tres Fleurs across a wide radius, each bloom-hand carrying a seed and placing it with accuracy across every patch of ground within reach.

Amon had moved to help cover the sections Hiriluk and Chopper couldn't reach, but they had stopped him.

"This is our country," Hiriluk had said quietly. "Let us plant these ourselves."

So Amon stepped back and let them.

...

High on the mountain peak, Dr. Kureha appeared at the rim of a cliff path with a bottle in one hand and a raised eyebrow on her face, watching Chopper work far below with a sack nearly as large as he was.

"Chopper! What in the world are you doing down there?"

"Dr. Kureha!" Chopper called up, not slowing. "We're planting seeds! These seeds, by tomorrow they'll have bloomed into flowers!"

Kureha squinted.

"Flowers? By tomorrow?" She let out a short, sharp laugh. "That's impossible. Is this another one of that quack's schemes?"