70 Certified to Work

For Sherwin, the biggest value in getting connected with Morgans was being able to learn the whereabouts of items that could unlock entries in his hunter guide. Whether or not he could get to them in time was another matter—at the very least, knowing where they were gave him a chance to obtain them.

"A collector, huh?"

Morgans grinned. He didn't think much of Sherwin request—after all, Sherwin wasn't the only one who had asked him for similar things.

Some wanted to use the information to boost their strength, some hoped to profit from it, and others were simply looking to retrieve items of sentimental value...

People like Sherwin—those who weren't particularly interested in money and had no specific demands about the items themselves, only general categories—were usually collectors.

So naturally, Morgans assumed Sherwin was one of them.

"That a minor issue. I've got plenty of intel on Devil Fruits and famous swords. But I can't give it all to you at once."

For Morgans, this kind of intel was practically overflowing. A lot of it wasn't even considered secret in the eyes of the underground world. Still, he wasn't about to hand over everything just for a fancy travel article.

Granted, Morgans actually enjoyed stirring the pot. Only when people started fighting over treasure could he publish the kind of big stories he loved. Even so, bargaining was still necessary.

Sherwin understood his reasoning and replied casually, "Of course. Even if you gave me all the intel right now, I couldn't change my route immediately. I haven't even finished touring the West Blue yet."

Morgans immediately caught the implication and laughed heartily. "No problem. I can give you some intel from the West Blue first, and it won't be too far from the Land of Flowers. Once your next article comes in, I'll send you the next batch of intel. How that?"

"Sure, but..." Sherwin agreed right away, then added another condition. "I also need a press ID from the News Agency. The Navy-issued pass is useless, and applying for it is a pain."

Originally, Sherwin had planned to apply for the pass Cody mentioned when turning in a pirate for bounty. But then Robin suddenly showed up and threw a wrench into his plans.

After sending her off, he didn't run into any Navy bases again, so he shelved the matter for the time being. It wasn't like he urgently needed it, and besides, Cody had already said the Navy pass wasn't nearly as effective as before.

Once the idea of submitting articles to the World Economy News Agency crossed Sherwin mind, he suddenly realized there might be a better alternative...

After all, Morgans had a number of cooperative dealings with the World Government, and even had some ties with Big Mom, one of the Four Emperors.

The reporters of the News Agency were spread throughout the seas—their press credentials were definitely more effective than standard travel passes.

If things didn't work out with Morgans, he could always apply for a pass later.

"No problem." But to Morgans, this was hardly a big deal—he agreed without a second thought. Soon after, he also gave Sherwin intel on a named sword.

The sword in question was called Morning Storm. Without a doubt, it was another one of the 50 skillfully crafted Grade Swords.

Since this was their first time working together, Morgans naturally wasn't going to offer up anything truly valuable.

After traveling for some time, Sherwin had come to understand these things quite well. Grade Swords usually went for around one million Beli.

Prices fluctuated depending on fame, quality, and other factors, but that was the general range.

However, the price of one of the 21 Great Grade Swords jumped to tens of millions, with some even having sales records close to a hundred million.

As for the 12 Supreme Grade Swords, they couldn't be measured in Beli at all—there weren't even any recorded transactions.

But to Sherwin, there was no difference between these three tiers. As long as they unlocked an entry in his guide, that was good enough.

Of course, better swords might push collection progress further once added to the guide—but for now, Sherwin wasn't in a position to be picky.

Unfortunately, those high-quality swords that were also of the "Grade Sword" level but not categorized among the named swords didn't count toward the guide. Otherwise, he could've picked up a sword with the quality of a Grade Sword for just around 500,000 Beli.

To confirm this, Sherwin had even spent over 400,000 Beli on a Western-style sword called Norm. But when he tried it, the guidebook didn't respond at all.

Still, that incident gave Sherwin an idea—what if he made these previously unknown weapons famous through his own actions? Wouldn't that allow them to eventually appear in the guide?

He thought it'd be pretty interesting if the Longsword could one day become a Great Grade Sword—or even one of the Supreme Grade Swords.

However, even though he had this idea, Sherwin didn't try to put it into action right away.

If he really wanted to pursue that path, it would mean constantly challenging well-known swordsmen—and might even require putting his own face on a wanted poster.

That didn't fit with his current low-key plan of traveling with the Felynes.

Besides, if he were going to make a name for himself, that should be something to think about after entering the Grand Line. How famous could someone really get just wandering the four blues?

Unless, of course, he picked a public fight with some soon-to-be Emperor who was still running their old liquor store, or with a certain Navy hero visiting his grandkid, or with one of the Warlords drifting around the seas on a bamboo raft...

...

Even though Sherwin had learned the whereabouts of a named sword, he didn't quicken his pace. He continued to follow his original route, taking things slow and steady.

In fact, because he was now writing the West Blue Travel Guide, their progress was actually slower than before.

On the other side, with the latest issue of the World Economy News now on sale, Sherwin article A Guide to Traveling the West Blue had won the hearts of many readers.

Morgans even called him personally to let him know, and as a friendly gesture, tipped him off about the whereabouts of a new famous blade.

However, this time the intel wasn't guaranteed to be reliable, and the exact identity of the sword remained unknown — Sherwin would have to confirm it himself.

"Mr. Sherwin, have you finished the next travel guide?"

After passing on the new intel, Morgans immediately began urging him for the next article.

"It technically done — I just need to finish the last few illustrations. But I wouldn't recommend publishing it so soon." Sherwin picked his nose as he explained,

"Not every island is worth featuring, and most towns aren't nearly as rich in content as the Flower Country.

I had to cobble together parts from a few places I visited before to barely make a complete article. As for when I'll have enough material for the next one, I can't say for sure.

So I think it best to take it slow."

To avoid giving Morgans the impression that he was trying to raise his price and strain their working relationship, Sherwin added 

"Of course, you're the professional when it comes to running a newspaper — I'm just giving a suggestion. Once the illustrations are ready, I'll send the piece over."

When Morgans sent over Sherwin press credentials, the News Bird also brought along the components needed for faxing.

That was when Sherwin learned for the first time that the receivers, dials, and other parts of a Den Den Mushi phone were all attached later — and could be removed at any time…

This world is seriously f***ing magical!

Sherwin couldn't help but marvel.

"No, no, no — your suggestion makes perfect sense!" The amazing Den Den Mushi could not only make calls and send faxes — they could even mimic the caller facial expressions.

Right now, the bird-faced Den Den Mushi in front of Sherwin looked extremely excited. "Interested in officially joining the World Economy News as staff? Not just that freelance 'reporter' title from before."

Although the World Economy News had many reporters, people like Sherwin — who could actually offer valuable insight into newspaper operations — were incredibly rare.

So even though Sherwin wasn't famous and his background was unclear, Morgans still extended him an olive branch… After all, it wouldn't affect his paper operations.

Sherwin hesitated for only two seconds before agreeing on the spot. He had nothing to lose — so why not?

Once he officially became an "insider" at the World Economy News, Morgans immediately gave him a set of ciphers.

These were used to contact field reporters and News Birds from the agency. Through them, Sherwin could share and receive firsthand information from nearby areas. And also...

He no longer had to pay for newspapers.

Of course, Sherwin didn't get all these perks for free. In the future, if the agency needed his help, he'd have to do what he could to assist.

Also, if he came across any secrets or news, he could contact Morgans via Den Den Mushi to trade it for intel or treasure in return.

"Oh… Now that you mention it, I think I do have a piece of information. Not sure if it'll be useful to you," Sherwin said, after thinking it over for a moment — and decisively sold out Cody.

"I happened to learn about a group called CP, and I know the identity of one of its members. But I don't know exactly what that group or that person actually does."

Sherwin still held something back — after all, how could an ordinary traveler like him possibly know what the CP organization was?

He had merely stumbled upon this piece of intel by accident, and was just hoping to trade it for some other useful information.

"C-CP organization?!"

Morgans hadn't expected to hear such an explosive revelation coming out of Sherwin mouth. His emotions and expression instantly lost control — and the Den Den Mushi mirrored all of it on Sherwin end.

Staring at the phone contorted little face, Sherwin couldn't help marveling once again at the wonders of the pirate world... It was uncanny how accurately it captured Morgans' exaggerated expression.

"Wait! Don't say another word!" Morgans snapped back to his senses and quickly shouted, "I'm sending someone to deliver you a wiretap-proof Den Den Mushi!"

Morgans wasn't reacting this way because he was particularly interested in the CP organization — but rather, he was worried Sherwin might suddenly blurt out some other earth-shattering secret down the line.

(As for the price of the famous blades, I based it on the numbers given by the shop owner in Loguetown and by Tashigi… Honestly, it way cheaper than I expected.

Less than a hundred of these swords exist in the world, yet their value is equivalent to just a single pirate bounty. I never really noticed that when reading the manga before.

But I guess that also has to do with how inflated bounty numbers get later in the story. Judging by early plot standards, the pricing actually not that unreasonable.)