"..."
Nami stared blankly at the wanted poster, her entire body seemingly petrified.
Xiano and Nojiko remained silent, sympathetically patting her shoulders.
But after just two pats, they exchanged a glance, then simultaneously turned their heads away, their bodies trembling slightly as they desperately held back their laughter.
"Meow?"
Nuomici, however, became intrigued. It climbed onto Nami's head, lay down, tilted its head, and carefully examined its own image on the wanted poster.
"Meow~"
Mochi nodded in satisfaction, extending its tail to tap the photo, as if saying—"Look, how photogenic I am!"
"..."
A vein slowly appeared on Nami's forehead.
She took a deep breath, trying to suppress the anger that was about to erupt, but her voice still trembled uncontrollably: "Mo...chi..."
"Get down—NOW!!!"
She suddenly reached up to grab Mochi from her head, but the little creature reacted swiftly, nimbly rolling away and landing on her shoulder, blinking innocently.
"Meow?"
"Stop playing dumb!"
Nami gritted her teeth, "Why is all the credit going to you? What, are you the Flame-Flame Fruit user now? Are you worth a hundred million Berries? Are all those bastards at Marine Headquarters blind or something?!"
Mochi was finally caught, its face being squished and twisted by Nami's hands. It looked pitiful, on the verge of tears.
Agin, lying by the railing, wagged its tail rapidly, gleefully watching the scene.
Hehe, great, now it's not me who has to endure this.
What's with the smug look, Agin?
Xiano couldn't stand it anymore and kicked Agin, sending it tumbling into the sea.
"You can't reason with it, it doesn't understand."
Xiano rescued Mochi from Nami's grasp, placing it on his own head with a chuckle, "See, you always let it cling to you like this, rarely apart. That's probably why the Marines thought the Flames that day came from it."
"So, the Marines mistook Mochi for a flamethrower, and you're just the one holding it," Smoker exhaled a puff of smoke, muttering, "Tsk, a cat perch..."
"Go to hell, Smoker!"
Thud! Nami couldn't take it anymore and punched Smoker on the head.
Smoker's face immediately swelled, his cigar flying out of his mouth. He clutched the large bump on his head, incredulous:
"How is this possible? You don't even know Haki, how did you hit me?"
"Didn't I tell you fire counters smoke?!"
Nami clapped her hands, feeling much better after venting. But when she saw her wanted poster with the same measly eighty-thousand Berry bounty, her face fell again.
"There's still a chance."
Nami clutched the wanted poster, walking to the bow of the ship, gazing at the distant sea with determination, "There has to be another chance. In the next battle, I'll prove myself once and for all..."
Prove what?! Nami suddenly tore the wanted poster into pieces, scattering them into the sea, shouting through tears:
"There won't be a next time! I'll never care about wanted posters again!"
Just you wait, Marine Headquarters!!!
One day, I'll personally follow my brother and storm Marine Headquarters, turning the entire harbor into a sea of blazing flames. Let's see if you can still mistake my abilities then!
"The resentment... it's reaching the heavens."
Everyone shivered involuntarily as they looked at the orange-haired figure ahead.
It seems that for the next couple of days.
It's best to avoid provoking her as much as possible.
"By the way, Smoker," Nojiko turned her head and asked, "What's your bounty? We skipped over it earlier, and you haven't mentioned it yet."
"It's gone up a bit."
Smoker glanced away from Nami's back and took a look at the wanted poster in his hand. "160 million now."
"Damn, it's still so much higher than mine!" Nojiko grumbled in frustration, then asked, "What about Zeff and Robin?"
"Like Agin, Zeff's bounty hasn't changed. After all, he didn't make a move that day, so it's normal. As for Robin..."
Smoker flipped through the posters a few times, then raised an eyebrow in surprise. "...Strange, it seems there's none for her."
"None? How could that be?"
Nojiko refused to believe it and started flipping through the posters herself, but indeed, she couldn't find one.
"It makes sense, though."
Smoker pondered, "After all, Robin didn't make a move that day either, and since we were in the desert, she was wearing a local-style sun hat and sunglasses the whole time. The reporters probably didn't recognize her, so they didn't take any photos. That's why Marine Headquarters has no way of knowing that Robin is on our ship."
Robin took a sip of her coffee, her gaze calm, and remained silent.
"What's the matter? Are you thinking, 'Ah, as expected, I still haven't been recognized as a member of this ship'? But that's fine. At least someone with a dark past like me won't drag these guys down or something."
Xiano sat down across from her at the round table and laughed heartily:
"Don't worry, it won't stay hidden for long. I'm actually quite curious about what expression the World Government will have when they discover you're on my ship. No matter how furious they get, it won't do them any good."
"..."
Robin's fingertips trembled almost imperceptibly, and tiny ripples formed in the black coffee in her cup.
She looked up at Xiano, wanting to retort something, but in the end, she was left speechless.
All this time, she had been the one quietly hiding in the shadows, silently observing others.
But this black-haired boy who had brought her onto the ship always seemed to see right through her thoughts.
Indeed, she had just started to feel a hint of self-pity in her heart...
"Where to next, Captain?"
Robin elegantly set down her coffee cup and smoothly changed the subject, smiling as she asked, "If I remember correctly, the next stop on the Alabasta route is Jaya Island. Are we heading there?"
"Jaya Island?"
Xiano thought for a moment.
If he remembered correctly, following the upward sea current near there would take them out of the Blue Sea and into the sky island region ruled by Enel.
But in the end, he shook his head.
"No, the World Government is now fully focused on us. Continuing along this route without change is too risky. We're likely to walk into an ambush. We need to adapt."
It's important to stay cautious.
He felt that Jaya Island was probably already swarming with Marine spies.
Perhaps pushing open the shutter door of a certain tavern, there would already be someone wearing a baseball cap waiting for him at the bar.
"I remember you have Eternal Poses for all the islands around Alabasta, right?"
Xiano looked at Robin, "Alright, let's remove Jaya Island and any that require backtracking like Drum Island. Cover the labels of the remaining ones, and let's draw a lottery."
Go wherever the draw takes us?
Nojiko's eyes lit up: "Great idea! I agree!"
"I agree too."
"Me too, after all, unknown adventures are more enchanting."
The rest of the crew also nodded in agreement.
"Wait here for a moment." Robin headed to her room and soon returned with a backpack.
Clatter—
Dozens of Eternal Poses with covered labels scattered across the round table, their glass casings refracting crystal-clear light in the sun.
"Come on, Captain."
Robin chuckled, making a gesture of invitation, "The choice of fate."
"My luck has always been good."
Xiano casually picked one up, examining it against the sunlight. The needle inside the glass case trembled slightly, then quickly stabilized, pointing northwest.
"Let's go! We're heading there!"
Xiano laughed heartily, tossing the pointer high into the air and catching it steadily, "To this... well, I don't know which island it is!"
...
The latest novel is first published at 69shuba!
In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.
The Sunset continued to sail at full speed on the vast sea.
And the weather on the Grand Line was always unpredictable.
One moment it was clear skies, the next, dark clouds like a giant beast devoured the entire sea.
Boom! In the distance, the sky began to flicker with faint lightning.
"It seems like a formidable storm is about to hit."
Nami stood up from the wicker chair under the sun umbrella, murmuring as she looked up at the sky.
By now, she had recovered from the blow of the bounty. She extended her fair hand, feeling the flow of the wind, her expression grave, "It's much more terrifying than the previous ones combined."
Just as Xiano had said.
His luck had indeed always been good. In the more than a month since entering the Grand Line, the Sunset had encountered very few natural disasters.
They had only run into a few storms, none of them particularly large, and with the sturdy hull made of Adam Treasure Tree, they had passed through without incident.
But this time, the situation seemed different.
"All hands, attention!"
Nami shouted back, "Furl the sails, both the main and the auxiliary masts, full left rudder!"
Before her words had even settled, raindrops the size of beans began to fall.
At first, it was just a few scattered drops, but in an instant, it turned into a torrential downpour. Amidst the flashes of lightning and the roar of thunder, the raindrops pounded on the deck with a deafening crackle, as if millions of pearls were shattering simultaneously.
"Damn it!"
Smoker hurriedly threw on a raincoat and rushed to the helm, "I'll take care of the rudder, Nami, don't stay on the deck, go somewhere sheltered to command!"
"Alright, it's up to you!"
Nami nimbly climbed up to the open-air dojo on the second floor, taking shelter under the eaves.
Her soaked orange hair clung to her cheeks, and she casually brushed it aside, squinting her eyes to peer into the distance through the rain. The strong wind whipped against her face, but it did nothing to dull her sharp gaze.
"Break through from the ten o'clock direction! The clouds are thinnest there! Heading this way will allow us to escape the storm-covered area at the fastest speed!"
"Understood!"
Everyone immediately sprang into action.
Smoker, without hesitation, swiftly turned the helm wheel in the direction Nami had indicated.
Nami's navigational talent had long been recognized by everyone.
Even Smoker, who had emerged from the elite camp of the Marine Headquarters, had to admit that among all the colleagues he had seen, Nami's navigation skills were second to none.
Whoosh! Suddenly, the wind intensified, howling and tearing at the waves. The once calm sea suddenly became furious, raising waves over a hundred meters high that crashed towards the deck.
Swish! A shadow flashed by as Kuina appeared at the bow of the ship.
"Wind Barrier."
She murmured calmly, gently pushing the tsuba with her thumb.
Clang—
Wado Ichimonji was unsheathed, and a sharp sword wind erupted instantly! The air in front of the ship twisted and vibrated, forming a translucent wind wall over ten meters wide that stood in front of the deck.
Boom!!! The hundred-meter-high raging wave crashed into the wind wall. The impact that should have been devastating was instantly absorbed, disappearing without a trace.
Only a small portion of the seawater at the edges turned into a light drizzle, sprinkling on both sides of the ship, causing no harm to the Sunset.
"Huh? It just vanished?"
Nojiko widened her eyes, "Is this also from that Wind Control Swordsmanship? It's amazing!"
She had been ready to freeze the oncoming wave into ice and snow.
The wave had come so fast and fierce that she wasn't very confident about it.
But unexpectedly, Kuina had easily resolved the crisis with just one sword stroke.
"Yes, I just mastered this move yesterday, so I thought I'd give it a try."
Kuina smiled.
Though she appeared calm, she was slightly out of breath. It was clear that compared to "Steel Tempest," this move consumed much more of her stamina.
She still needed to practice more.
Kuina sighed inwardly; Wind Control Swordsmanship was too profound. She had only just grasped the basics.
Absorbing a single wave was nothing.
If she could fully master the "Wind Barrier," as described in the manual, it could swallow all forms of long-range attacks.
She wondered when she would reach that level...
She shook her head, refocused, and looked up.
Under the eaves of the second floor, Nami didn't relax even though the wave had been easily neutralized. Instead, she stared intently into the distance, her expression growing more serious.
Was it because the storm was intensifying? Kuina turned her gaze to the sky.
In the dark clouds, lightning danced wildly, each flash illuminating the entire sea as bright as day.
The roar of the waves grew denser, like the bellow of a deep-sea beast, and the surrounding currents suddenly became chaotic and violent, swirling like a vortex.
"No, no! These abnormal currents shouldn't appear simultaneously..."
Nami stared at the sea, suddenly realizing something, her pupils contracting sharply as she shouted:
"It's a super-sized Sea King! The storm is too intense; it has disturbed the giant lurking in the depths, and it's venting its fury!"
As if to confirm her words, the sea suddenly bulged with a massive swell over a kilometer in diameter, and the surrounding waters began to churn violently as if boiling—
Boom!!! A colossal green tentacle, a hundred meters thick, burst out of the water, carrying millions of tons of seawater, and angrily slammed toward the Sunset!
Oh no!
Kuina's face turned pale with shock. She immediately drew her sword, trying to block it, but the moment she made contact, the tentacle sent her flying, and she crashed hard onto the deck.
"Kuina!" Nami screamed, her face ashen.
At this critical moment—
Bang! The door to the training room was suddenly kicked open, and a black figure shot out like a cannonball, leaving spiderweb-like cracks on the deck as he soared into the air!
"Elbaf's Spear…"
Xiano's figure collided head-on with the tentacle, yet he stood firm. A grin spread across his face as his right fist, wrapped in Haki, smashed toward the colossal figure that blotted out the sky.
"Might Nation!"
(End of Chapter)