A woman's scream rang out loudly.
A young girl appeared in front of Luffy, drawn in by his stretching arm. Her hair was orange, her eyes were brown, and she had a well-proportioned figure. She wore a white shirt with blue stripes and a short skirt with three decorative circles on the side.
Luffy's eyes immediately sparkled with joy. There she was, Nami.
Meanwhile, Nami's own eyes widened in horror. 'This man's arm... just stretched.'
'Could he be a monster?'
Actually, she had almost escaped after successfully stealing all of Alvida's treasure, but her steps had stopped when she heard the commotion on the deck. She was utterly shocked to see Alvida, a pirate with a bounty of five million Berries, defeated with just a single attack.
It should be noted that a bounty of that amount was already considered quite high in the East Blue, considering that the average pirate on this sea was only worth three million Berries. Compare that to the other three seas, where a five-million-Berry bounty was considered extremely low, because the average pirate there was worth ten million Berries or more. This striking difference was not unrelated to the presence of an old man who often stopped by here to visit his grandson, while also taking the opportunity to capture every pirate he encountered, until this sea eventually became known as the weakest sea.
"What were you doing hiding there this whole time?" Luffy asked, pretending not to know her.
According to the fragments of memories he possessed, Nami was someone who found it difficult to trust other people, and she was currently focused on collecting one hundred million Berries to buy something very important to her. If he suddenly admitted that he already knew her, that would only make Nami suspicious and cause her to immediately run away, similar to what would happen with Robin later. So for now, he had to play it safe and slowly invite her to join him. The problem was, as far as he knew, Nami currently hated pirates.
Nami spoke in the gentlest tone she could. "I'm not a suspicious person, really. I'll do anything, please don't kill me."
As she said that, she deliberately showed off her charm, trying to seduce him. Usually, this trick worked, causing lust to fill the other person's eyes and lowering their guard, giving her an opening to escape.
Luffy's eyes instead sparkled even more happily, like someone who was sleepy and suddenly handed a soft pillow. He stared into Nami's brown eyes without the slightest hint of lust, only pure happiness.
"You said you'll do anything, right?" Luffy asked once again to make sure, a wide grin plastered across his face.
"Yeah..." Nami replied hesitantly, confused as to why this man's reaction was different from most people's.
"You often sail alone?"
"Yeah," Nami answered unconsciously.
"Then from now on, you're my navigator. Shishishi." Luffy grinned widely, revealing his row of teeth while holding onto his straw hat.
"Eh? What do you mean?" Nami asked in confusion.
"I mean, you're now a member of my pirate crew."
"Pirate?" Nami's gaze immediately turned cold. "No, I refuse."
"I'm not the one refusing. You said you could do anything, and I've already decided that you're going to be my navigator. You only have two choices, agree or nod."
'Isn't that the same thing?' Nami thought to herself.
Right at that moment, the sound of cannon fire echoed from a distance.
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM.
Several cannonballs struck the ship, making it shake violently, while the rest fell into the sea, creating towering explosions of water.
Luffy turned around and saw a Marine ship approaching from the distance.
"Let's go." He immediately wrapped one arm around Coby's waist, then Nami's, and stretched his other arm once again to snatch the sack of treasure Nami was carrying before jumping back onto his small boat. He lowered both of them and the sack of treasure onto the boat.
"What are you two just standing around for? Come on, start rowing," Luffy said casually while biting into the apple he had taken from his inventory earlier.
"Hmph, you're really good at giving orders," Nami snorted coldly, though she still rowed together with Coby.
"Ah, thanks," Luffy laughed sheepishly.
"That wasn't a compliment, idiot!" Nami shouted in annoyance. She really could not understand this man. Despite claiming to be a pirate, he was cheerful and easy to talk to, completely different from the image of pirates she had known throughout the eight years she had been sailing since childhood.
Wasn't a pirate supposed to be fierce, difficult to talk to, and dislike having their orders questioned?
What frustrated her even more was that her reliable trick, which usually always worked, had absolutely no effect on this man. She took a breath, trying to calm herself down. 'Calm down, Nami. You just need to find an opportunity, then escape from here.'
She glanced at her sack of treasure lying behind Luffy. Just a little more.
"You want one too?" Luffy asked, thinking Nami was looking at him because she wanted the apple he was eating.
Before Nami could answer, Luffy reached behind the boat as if taking something, when in fact he was secretly taking two apples out of his inventory. For now, he did not want people to know about that ability, because he intended to use it for magic tricks later.
He threw one apple each toward Coby and Nami, then returned to devouring his own apple.
Coby fell silent for a moment, holding the apple Luffy had given him while looking up at him.
"Earlier, you said you wanted to become the Pirate King. Does that mean you're after the One Piece, the greatest treasure containing wealth, fame, and power, which is also sought after by every pirate in the world?"
"Yeah."
Coby's mouth fell wide open, his eyes widening. "B-But every pirate in the world is searching for it, and no one has found it yet!"
"I'm going to look for it too."
"Impossible, impossible, impossible!" Coby shook his head violently until his hair became disheveled.
BONK.
Luffy flicked him on the head. Coby looked at him with teary eyes. "Why did you hit me?!"
"No particular reason. I just felt like it."
"Listen, Coby. This isn't about whether it's possible or impossible." Luffy's voice sounded casual, with not the slightest hint of exaggerated heroism in it. "I just do whatever I want to do. And if I die halfway through chasing my dream..." He shrugged. "I won't regret it even a little."
Coby fell silent. The desire that had been buried inside him for two years aboard Alvida's ship slowly began to surface. "Luffy-san, do you think... I can become a great Marine?"
"Hmm, how would I know? Why are you asking me? If there's something you really want to do, then just do it," Luffy replied, staring deeply at him. "And if you fail, at least you tried, right?"
Those words ignited Coby's spirit. "I'll do it, Luffy-san! I'll become a great Marine!"
"Shishishi, that's more like it. Keep your spirits up," Luffy said while holding onto his straw hat.
Nami stared at Luffy strangely. Why was this man supporting someone who wanted to become a Marine? Weren't pirates and Marines sworn enemies? She really could not understand the way this man's mind worked.
"By the way, Nami, do you know where Marine Branch 153 is located?"
Nami turned to look at him. "Hmm, it's nearby. Why?"
"I want to find someone named Zoro there."