East Blue, the endless sea surface.
A medium-sized sailboat drifted with the waves.
At the bow, a young man reclined in a lounge chair, fishing rod in hand, leisurely angling.
At the stern, an eleven-year-old girl held swords in both hands, moving methodically and seriously, sweat flying.
In the kitchen, a charming girl in a maid outfit hummed while concentrating on studying love-filled cooking.
Finally, on the second deck, an orange-haired girl lay against the railing, observing attentively.
"Something's wrong! Very wrong! Ninety-nine out of a hundred things are wrong!"
Nami's eyes were firmly locked on the leisurely fishing Sora, her small head shaking like a rattle drum.
As the famous Cat Burglar who roamed the East Blue, finding profit from various wealthy people.
Nami's brain was naturally very flexible and useful.
Initially, because of the wallet incident, she had been provoked by Sora's few words and lost her temper.
But after calming down later, Nami quickly discovered something was wrong.
First.
The biggest problem was the method by which she had appeared in this sea area.
Having traveled extensively in the East Blue, she naturally knew that her current location was completely different from where the wealthy people's cruise party had been. The distance between the two was more than a thousand miles.
However...
She had been caught here almost instantly, like a miracle.
Then there was the entire afternoon.
Nami discovered that in Sora's few fishing attempts, he hadn't caught fish, but various strange and peculiar things.
"Could this man be a Devil Fruit user?"
Nami speculated.
Having ventured at sea for many years, Nami had some understanding of Devil Fruits.
She had fantasized more than once about getting lucky and finding a Devil Fruit, which she could sell to ransom her village back from Arlong.
Unfortunately, while imagination was beautiful, reality was far from satisfactory.
Over these years, she hadn't even encountered the skin of a Devil Fruit.
Of course, she had encountered Devil Fruit users.
"That's it, it must be like this! This guy must be a 'can catch anything except fish' fruit user!"
Nami fantasized wildly.
Pfft~
"How could there be such a strange ability~"
Nami shook her head and turned to enter the kitchen.
"Miss Tohru, I know some cooking too. Let me help with dinner!"
Rather than thinking about all that nonsense, the most important thing now was to build good relationships and increase favorability.
That night.
At the dining table.
Pop~
Tohru opened a bottle of champagne and filled it for herself, Nami, and Sora.
"Come on, everyone, let's toast to our new friend~"
Tohru said happily.
"Cheers~"
Kuina raised her milk.
Sora also raised his glass, smiling as he looked at Nami.
"Friend... you say?"
A moment of unnaturalness flashed across Nami's face.
Once, she had also had a friend, but...
"No, no, no."
Nami shook her head, dispelling the unnecessary thoughts from her mind.
"Cheers!"
Clink~
Time passed.
In the blink of an eye, it was a week.
After a week of getting along, Nami had completely infiltrated their group.
Especially with Tohru and Kuina—the three girls had become like sisters.
With Nami, who knew the East Blue very well, as a living map, the daily atmosphere on the ship became even livelier.
Another joyful day.
Eating barbecue and bragging, the tipsy Nami, Tohru, Sora and others each returned to their rooms.
Three hours later.
Time came to the late night.
Nami suddenly opened her eyes and carefully went downstairs barefoot.
After a week of reconnaissance, she had already figured out the ship's situation completely.
One minute later.
Nami stood in front of the room with a storage room sign.
"Hehe, my 100,000 berries aren't so easy to take. Teacher Nami will give you a lesson!"
Nami whispered with a smile, removed her hair clip, and began picking the lock skillfully.
Three minutes later.
"Oh ho, this lock has some substance, but it can't stump this Cat Burglar!"
Nami thought.
Ten minutes later.
Nami wiped the fragrant sweat from her forehead, grimacing.
"What the hell kind of broken lock is this? Why is it so hard to open?"
Should she give up?
Just as Nami was thinking this.
With a click, the lock opened.
Nami first froze, feeling something was off.
But the next second, her eyes and all her attention were completely occupied by the pile of golden objects in the room.
Gold!!!
So much gold!!!
She'd struck it rich!!!
This time she'd really struck it rich!!!
With so much gold, she could probably ransom several villages!
Nami pounced forward, lovingly making intimate contact with the gold, her eyes clearly taking the shape of money.
However...
Just as Nami was about to bag the treasure.
Her hand suddenly stopped, and she involuntarily recalled the bits and pieces of the past week.
Friends!!!
Tohru and Kuina's repeated calls of "friend" were like little hammers, beating against her heart.
Once upon a time.
She had also had a close friend.
But...
That friend she had trusted had ultimately 'betrayed' her.
Not only did they abandon her when disaster struck, but they also stole her treasure.
Since then, she no longer believed in so-called friends.
On this treacherous sea, she could only trust herself.
Nami had always believed this firmly, until her encounter with Sora and the others a week ago.
Initially, Nami was just putting on an act to gain their trust.
But even she didn't notice that without realizing it, she had become genuine and given her true heart.
It was precisely because she had truly come to regard Sora and the others as real friends that she was now hesitating.
Having once been betrayed by a friend, she deeply understood the pain of being betrayed by a trusted friend.
Compared to the pain of being betrayed by friends, the loss of money was secondary.
"Sigh, forget it, forget it!"
Nami sighed, abandoned the idea of robbery, and turned to return to her room.
Just after Nami returned to her room, a tall figure slowly emerged from the shadows of the cabin.
"Congratulations, your village will be saved!"