The flames rushed into Xinán's palm. When they met the layer of white aura, the fire dispersed and transformed into pure energy, which was then absorbed by Xinán. Immediately, Xinán felt his severely depleted stamina replenish.
This was Xinán's other ability, demonstrated after vibration, electrocution, and lubrication: Energy Absorption.
More accurately, it was like charging or recharging.
The common elements of vibration, electrocution, lubrication, and charging don't seem like much on their own, but when combined, along with the Devil Fruit's pink color and cucumber-like shape, they suggest a certain sinister implication.
This wasn't even the full extent of the power; Xinán felt he could unlock more abilities once he got familiar with it.
It wasn't unheard of for a single Devil Fruit to grant multiple related abilities, like the Ope Ope no Mi having a suite of surgical powers. Xinán's abilities simply leaned toward the less-than-proper side.
The Energy Absorption power could absorb various forms of energy and convert it into the user's stamina. The energy included, but was not limited to, kinetic energy, electrical energy, light energy, heat energy, slashes, slash waves, and shockwaves.
The absorption power seemed invincible, but it came with two drawbacks: absorption efficiency and a storage limit. Overly strong attacks couldn't be fully absorbed, and high-intensity attacks could still injure the user, just as absorbing too much energy could harm the user.
The raging fire was completely absorbed by Xinán in just a few breaths. Before Xinán could do anything else, the impatient Nami rushed into the Captain's cabin, which looked ready to collapse.
Soon, Nami's delighted laughter echoed from the cabin.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Nami emerged carrying a chest larger than herself, showing no signs of weakness. The power of money was truly limitless.
Thump!
The chest hit the deck heavily, making the entire floor tremble.
As a professional thief, Nami possessed superb lock-picking skills and easily opened the chest's lock.
Because the chest was reinforced with iron plating, and the fire hadn't burned for long, the chest and the treasure inside were perfectly intact.
The faint firelight illuminated the gold within the chest, making it gleam. Nami squealed with joy.
Based on her experience, she estimated the gold and cash inside were worth at least 20 million Beli. This meant she only needed one more big score—about 10 million Beli—and combined with her years of savings, she could soon buy Cocoyasi Village and gain her freedom.
"That's fantastic, Xinán!"
Excited, Nami threw her arms around Xinán, burying his head in her chest. Xinán, who was still tending to the sex worker, wasn't sure how to react.
The wonderful feeling of warmth, softness, and elasticity pressing against the back of his head made Xinán certain that while Ms. Nami looked youthful, her assets were definitely no smaller than the full-figured Ms. Sex Worker.
After giving him a brief hug, Nami went back to counting her money.
Seeing Nami happily counting her haul, and confirming the sex worker was temporarily stable, Xinán walked over to her.
The chest contained a lot of cash, but mostly in small denominations, along with some gold bars and jewelry.
Xinán wasn't Nami and couldn't estimate the total value, but that didn't stop him from being excited—he'd never seen so much money before.
"Nami, I did a lot of the heavy lifting. At least give me half!" Xinán proposed.
As the saying goes, talking about money ruins friendships. The moment Xinán asked for money, Nami instantly bristled.
"Impossible! Don't even think about it. It's all mine!"
Nami immediately hugged the treasure chest, lying protectively on top of it, glaring fiercely at Xinán as if daring him to try and steal it.
She hissed, "I saved you from the sea, so your food, drink, and lodging for the past two days already puts you at 22 million Beli in debt! Worse, you swallowed that Devil Fruit, so you owe me another 500 million Beli for compensation!"
Well, it seemed his debt had only grown larger.
Xinán realized he had been momentarily blinded by greed. He had asked for money at the worst time and now owed even more.
But Xinán still countered, "You said it was only 11 million Beli this morning! How did it turn into 22 million?"
"Sorry, the price went up!" Nami replied greedily, her eyes still full of dollar signs.
Seeing Nami's obsession with money, Xinán understood that getting paid was impossible; he'd likely be working for Nami to pay off his debt.
After Nami packed up the treasures, she searched the pirate ship again but didn't find a new Devil Fruit. She then added another charge to Xinán's tab, claiming he made her lose money because he killed Butcher Bakal, preventing her from collecting Bakal's bounty from the Marines.
Xinán was unjustly saddled with more debt.
And so, the mission, which started as a theft but turned into a robbery, ended perfectly.
The sex worker was also quite lucky: her two other companions hadn't left. Of course, they hadn't left primarily because Butcher Bakal hadn't paid them yet. There's honor among thieves, and since Bakal had hired the women, even though he was dead, they needed to be paid.
It was late, and even though Xinán and Nami had caused quite a commotion, the dock was far from the residential area. The events were only discovered the next morning when workers arrived at the port. The news that the infamous Butcher Bakal was dead, his ship burned, and his crew wiped out caused a huge sensation.
...
Just a trip to Bahama Island to gather intelligence had turned into a massive profit. Nami's face was lit up with a happy smile as she looked at the growing pile of treasure in her chest.
Looking at the valuables, Nami then glanced at the locked cabin door, knowing Xinán was outside.
Nami thought about the effort of pulling Xinán out of the sea and felt it was the best investment she'd ever made.
The money she earned today would have taken her at least half a year of hard work, maybe even a full year if her luck was bad.
She was slightly angry that Xinán had eaten the Devil Fruit, costing her a billion Beli, but she also gained a free muscle. Xinán killing the Great Pirate Butcher Bakal, who had a 15 million Beli bounty, made Nami happy.
With Xinán by her side, Nami felt she wouldn't have to be sneaky anymore and could quickly earn the 100 million Beli needed to buy back Cocoyasi Village.
Arlong's bounty was only 20 million Beli. For a strong Fish-Man and a subordinate of the former Warlord Jinbe, that bounty was suspiciously low, and Arlong's strength was certainly greater than Bakal's.
However, Nami felt that Xinán's power could handle Arlong; his Energy Absorption alone would prevent Arlong from harming him.
Yet, Nami completely overlooked this option, showing how deep the trauma Arlong had inflicted on her was.
Observing Xinán for two days—his lack of misconduct toward beautiful girls and his aid to the injured sex worker—Nami realized Xinán was a genuinely good person. She almost felt cruel for making him sleep outside in the sea breeze.
But all of that was secondary. The most important thing was Xinán's new face; he was like a different person. Just thinking about him made Nami's heart pound wildly.
Remembering how the two sex workers' eyes turned to hearts when they saw Xinán, practically begging for him to touch them, made Nami feel incredibly annoyed.
Outside the cabin, Xinán wasn't thinking as much as Nami; he was just curiously experimenting with his new abilities.