Norton raised a hand to stop the seven pirates.
Turning around, he took the lead and headed toward the coast.
“Let’s go.
There’s no point wasting any more time on this island.
We still have to track down the pirates who stole Zoro’s swords.”
Without looking back, he continued walking.
Zoro pushed himself off the wall and silently followed.
The seven pirates exchanged glances before hurrying after him.
Seeing this, Nami quickly whispered a few words to Nojiko before chasing after the group.
“Hey!
Nami!
Where are you going?!”
Ajii shouted after her.
“I’m going to visit Bell-mère…
and then I’m setting sail with Norton!”
Nami called back over her shoulder.
“Stop right there!
How can you become a pirate?!”
Ajii panicked.
“Save your breath.”
Nojiko walked over and gently patted his shoulder.
“Nami isn’t going to change her mind.”
“What did she tell you just now?”
Ajii asked with a troubled expression.
“She asked me to distribute the rest of the treasure to everyone on the island who suffered under Arlong.”
Nojiko smiled softly.
“And she also said…
she’d already promised to become Norton’s navigator.”
Ajii fell silent.
After a while, he suddenly asked,
“How long has it been since that day?”
“Five years?”
“Ten?”
“Five.”
Nojiko lowered her head.
“It’s been five years since Arlong brought disaster to this island.”
“So…”
Ajii rubbed his forehead.
“Nami is only fifteen years old…”
He let out a long sigh.
“I still can’t stop worrying about someone so young sailing out to sea.”
But children eventually grew up.
And once they did, there were paths they chose for themselves—
Paths no adult could stop.
…
The following morning…
At dawn.
The White Pearl set sail from Cocoyasi Village Harbor.
When word spread that the heroes who had defeated Arlong were leaving, not only the villagers of Cocoyasi but also people from neighboring villages gathered at the harbor to see Norton off.
The ship’s cooks and shipwrights carried crate after crate of supplies aboard.
They were all gifts from the grateful villagers.
Life under Arlong had been harsh for everyone.
Now that freedom had finally returned, they wanted to thank their saviors in whatever way they could.
One thing was worth mentioning.
Before leaving…
Nami gave everyone a farewell in her own unique style.
She stole everyone’s wallets at the harbor.
Fortunately, the villagers of Cocoyasi didn’t seem to mind.
The people from the neighboring villages, however…
Their curses could be heard all the way down the pier.
As the White Pearl slowly departed from the dock, Nami happily waved the stack of banknotes in her hand before sticking out her tongue playfully.
Furning emerged from the cabin with a book tucked under her arm.
“Norton!”
“Where are we headed next?”
Norton thought for a moment.
“Let’s hold a meeting first.”
He casually draped an arm around Furning’s soft shoulders and guided her back inside the cabin.
The rest of the group followed them into the meeting room.
The White Pearl consisted of five decks in total, with the main deck being the fifth level.
The meeting room was located on the third deck, two levels below.
Directly beneath the helm.
It was incredibly spacious.
A huge round table occupied the center of the room, surrounded by more than a dozen plush red velvet chairs trimmed with gold.
According to Furning, she had designed this room as a place where the ship’s leaders could gather to discuss important matters.
On the dangerous seas, sharing information quickly was essential to keeping such a massive ship sailing safely.
“Furning.”
Dropping into the largest chair, Norton looked around approvingly.
“This room is great.”
“We should improve it later.”
“I want to turn it into an aquarium.”
He remembered the aquarium aboard the Thousand Sunny in the original story.
Transparent glass walls surrounded the room, allowing everyone inside to admire enormous fish swimming outside.
The White Pearl was even larger than the Thousand Sunny.
There was no reason they couldn’t build something similar.
“An aquarium?”
Furning’s eyes lit up.
“That actually sounds amazing.”
“I’ll start thinking about how to make it.”
“Later.”
Norton grinned.
“We’ll need the proper materials first.”
“We don’t even have our own pirate flag yet.”
“We can take our time.”
Sanosuke, Zoro, and Nami entered one after another and took their seats.
Norton looked around.
There were still plenty of empty chairs.
The room felt rather spacious.
He deliberately hadn’t invited the rest of the crew.
From now on, this room would belong exclusively to the officers of the ship.
No one else would be allowed inside.
“Starting today…”
Norton raised his glass.
“The Norton Pirates are officially established!”
“Yeah!”
“I’m only joining temporarily.”
“Hahaha!
Doesn’t matter!
Cheers!”
Sanosuke, Zoro, Nami, and Furning all raised their glasses.
The cups clinked together, splashing drinks across the round table.
“My lord.”
Sanosuke finished the water in his glass.
“What are your orders?”
“Simple.”
Norton slammed his glass onto the table with a grin.
“Now that we’ve formed a pirate crew…”
“We’re going to become the greatest and strongest pirate crew in the world.”
“The White Pearl is still severely understaffed.”
“We don’t have nearly enough capable people.”
“I want more subordinates.”
Even defeating someone as insignificant as Arlong had resulted in considerable casualties.
They simply lacked enough manpower.
Norton had no intention of personally handling every battle.
He came to become a king—
Not a hired fighter.
If his subordinates encountered an enemy they truly couldn’t overcome, he would gladly shoulder that burden himself.
But if every insignificant nobody required him to step in personally…
That would be beneath him.
He intended not only to become the greatest king—
But also to build the strongest organization.
A team capable of overcoming nearly every obstacle without requiring his direct intervention.
“We’ll begin with the East Blue.”
“I will conquer the East Blue.”
“I’ll bring every famous pirate crew under my banner…”
“And build the greatest pirate fleet in the sea.”
Building a nation required people.
Otherwise, even if he conquered vast territories in the New World, there would be no one to govern them.
The pirates of the East Blue weren’t particularly impressive.
But with proper discipline…
They could still be useful.
To Norton, those villains were merely expendable assets.
The true core of his organization would always be the officers he personally acknowledged.
“So…”
Zoro raised an eyebrow.
“You plan to dominate the East Blue first?”
“Exactly.”
Norton smiled confidently.
“As far as I know…”
“The most notable pirate crews in the East Blue right now are…”
“The Spade Pirates.”
“The Black Cat Pirates.”
“The Buggy Pirates.”
“The Krieg Pirates.”
“And the Arlong Pirates.”
Furning dipped her quill into ink and wrote the names onto a sheet of paper.
“The Arlong Pirates have already been defeated by us.”
Nami proudly puffed out her chest.
“Then these are the only major pirate crews left.”
Furning tapped the feather pen against her chin thoughtfully.
“I’ve heard that thanks to the Hero of the Marines, Vice Admiral Garp…”
“Most pirates in the East Blue worth several tens of millions of Berries have already been eliminated.”
Hearing Garp’s name, Norton’s eyes flickered.
He actually hoped Garp would come after him.
The CP0 agent from before had been far too weak.
He hadn’t even enjoyed the fight.
Why was finding a worthy opponent so difficult?
“So our next objective…”
Furning tapped the table.
“Is to recruit these pirate crews?”
“Exactly.”
“We’ll actively search for each of them.”
“And bring them under our command.”
“We already possess the strongest ship.”
“Now we’ll build the strongest pirate crew in the East Blue.”
“The strongest companions.”
“Oh, and one more thing.”
Norton swept his gaze across Sanosuke, Furning, Nami, and Zoro.
“Calling me ‘Captain’ is too ordinary.”
A confident grin spread across his face.
“From now on…”
“Call me…”
“King!”