Just like that, Nami continued moving step by step toward the dream she had carried since childhood.
Step by step, she was tearing apart the cage that had imprisoned her for the past eight years.
“Karl, your fruit is here~~”
Nami narrowed her eyes into crescents and approached with a cheerful smile, carrying a platter of fruit.
The moment Karl heard her voice, he shuddered.
He looked down at his noticeably swollen stomach, then glanced at Luffy beside him before speaking helplessly.
“Give it to Luffy.”
Without hesitation, Nami walked over, grabbed Luffy’s mouth open, and dumped the entire platter inside as if she were emptying a trash bin.
“Mmph!
Mmph!”
Thankfully, Luffy had eaten the Gum-Gum Fruit.
Otherwise, being fed like this would’ve probably choked him to death on the spot.
In less than ten seconds, an entire plate of grapes vanished.
Nami nodded in satisfaction.
Holding the empty platter in one hand, she wiped the other on her apron before pulling out a small notebook from her clothes and eagerly presenting it to Karl.
Karl sighed.
Reluctantly, he picked up a pen and added another entry beneath the long string of numbers.
-2,000
Nami’s eyes widened.
“Only two thousand?”
“Only two thousand?” Karl exploded.
“This is the fifth time you’ve come over this morning!
Come back again and I’ll add twenty thousand instead!
Do you think fruit grows for free?!”
The outburst startled Nami so badly that her eyes instantly reddened, making her look pitiful enough to melt anyone’s heart.
“Come on, Karl, don’t say that!” Luffy quickly interjected after finally recovering from his near-death-by-grapes experience.
“Nami’s just trying to help!
If you can’t eat it, I can!”
“You’re part of the problem!” Karl pointed at him in frustration.
Such terrible acting might fool someone like Luffy.
No one else.
“If you want fruit, wash it yourself!”
“But—”
“No buts!”
Karl’s expression turned serious.
“And don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Since he’d chosen to board Luffy’s pirate ship, he intended to look out for him as much as possible.
Luffy was notoriously slow when it came to certain things.
He was the type who could get sold off and still happily help count the money afterward.
Karl naturally wanted to prevent that from happening.
His gaze settled on Nami.
The warmth from before disappeared completely.
“If I find out you’re harboring any bad intentions toward Luffy, then don’t blame me…”
As he spoke, Karl casually pointed at her neck.
Only then did Nami remember.
Her life was still in this man’s hands.
“Even though I don’t particularly like saying it, I should remind you of one thing.”
Karl’s voice turned cold.
“We’re pirates.”
“That’s right!” Luffy immediately perked up.
“I’m the man who’s going to become the Pirate King!”
“I told you not to say that to everyone!” Karl barked.
“You’re going to get us into trouble!”
After glaring fiercely at Nami, he turned his attention back to educating Luffy.
“Why?” Luffy asked blankly.
By that point, he’d already completely forgotten what they had been talking about.
Meanwhile, Nami kept a stiff expression on her face, snatched back her notebook, and turned away.
Only after she rounded a corner and disappeared from Karl’s sight did she finally let out a shaky breath.
Her chest rose and fell rapidly.
Large beads of sweat covered her forehead.
Everything about her revealed the immense pressure she had just endured.
Karl’s easygoing behavior over the past few days had made her forget who he really was.
As a result, she’d started entertaining a few dangerous thoughts.
But the look in Karl’s eyes just now had reminded her.
That’s right.
He was a pirate.
And pirates weren’t good people.
They wouldn’t indulge her.
They wouldn’t spoil her.
If she continued pushing her luck and tried manipulating that simple-minded captain, then Karl’s gaze had already made one thing clear.
He was absolutely capable of killing her.
“Haa…”
Nami exhaled slowly, trying to calm her emotions.
She also understood something else.
After today’s incident, Karl would almost certainly refuse to let her remain aboard indefinitely.
Perhaps the day this ship reached its next destination would be the day she had to leave.
And that brought another problem.
Because she still needed to earn 100 million Berries to buy back her village, she absolutely couldn’t allow herself to be handed over to the Marines.
The truth was that she had never had a very good impression of the Marines.
After all, if the Marines had truly fulfilled their responsibilities, her village would never have needed a little girl to save it.
Eight years.
No one knew how a young girl with no real means of protecting herself had managed to survive that long.
But one thing was certain.
Over those eight years, she had witnessed far too much pirate cruelty and Marine corruption.
That was why she knew that even if Karl honored his promise and spared her life by handing her over to the Marines for judgment, it still wasn’t something she could accept.
Because once she entered prison, her life would no longer belong to her.
What?
Should she place her hopes in finding an honest and just Marine officer?
Don’t make her laugh.
How would that help?
Considering the amount she had stolen, she’d probably spend the rest of her life behind bars.
And there was always the possibility of encountering something even worse.
She had worked toward buying back her village for eight years.
Eight years.
There was no way she could accept failing when she was so close to success.
As a result, the biggest challenge before her now was figuring out how to free herself from Karl’s control.
Devil Fruits were things she had only ever seen mentioned in newspapers.
They belonged to a world completely beyond her reach.
How was she supposed to deal with something like that?
The overwhelming sense of helplessness nearly suffocated her.
To be honest, if Nami had been brave enough, she could have simply run far away and cut off the collar with a knife.
Karl wouldn’t have been able to stop her.
But she didn’t dare.
Because she only had one life.
She couldn’t afford to gamble.
At the very least…
At the very least, she wanted to buy back her village first.
After that, no matter what happened, she could accept it.
Karl isn’t easy to fool.
He’s already suspicious of me.
From now on, he’ll definitely be even more cautious.
That captain, Luffy, may look simple-minded, but he listens to Karl almost completely.
If it comes down to choosing between me and Karl, he won’t choose me.
But…
if the two of them were separated, there might be an opportunity.
Then again…
only another devil can fight a devil.
And if that doesn’t work…
I’ll have to start preparing in advance.
Escaping while they’re handing me over might be my best option right now.
Nami thought quietly to herself, filled with anxiety about her future.