The small boat docked at the pier. After securing the lines, Xinan let out a long breath.
"Phew, we're finally here?" Xinan sighed, looking at the Western-style town on the shore.
"Sailing is just that boring! Did you think you were on a sightseeing tour?" Nami retorted irritably.
Looking at Xinan's face always made Nami annoyed. Xinan, bored himself, had kept touching her, leaving her damp beneath her short skirt and chilly when the sea breeze blew.
"$\epsilon=(´ο｀*)))\text{ Ugh!}$" Xinan grumbled. "A monotonous life at sea really isn't for me!"
"Let's go!"
Ignoring Xinan's complaint, Nami said a word and walked toward the town.
"Coincidence? Or fate?"
Xinan glanced at a smaller, more rudimentary boat without a cabin, moored right next to theirs.
Of course, Xinan couldn't be sure if it belonged to Luffy and Zoro.
There wasn't time to think. Nami had already walked ahead, so Xinan quickly followed.
"Everyone in town has run away!" Nami couldn't help but exclaim as she looked at the empty streets.
"No choice. The Buggy Pirates are in town, so the residents can only flee."
The similar situation made Nami think of Arlong, and she cursed resentfully, "Those cursed pirates!"
The words had just left her mouth when a loud explosion rocked the town.
BOOM!
Hearing the sound, Xinan immediately pulled Nami into his arms to shield her.
Amidst the deafening roar, the ground seemed to shake. A house just one street away from them was instantly leveled.
As the impact and smoke slowly dissipated, Nami was dazed by the huge cannon blast. Shaken, she asked blankly, "Xinan! Wh-what happened?"
Xinan looked toward the center of the town and said, "Buggy the Clown must be testing his Buggy Ball cannon again."
Hearing this, Nami cursed angrily, "That hateful Buggy, using the town to test the power of his cannonballs!"
The Arlong Pirates also frequently caused great destruction to the villages surrounding Cocoyasi Village, so Nami deeply resented this kind of piratical behavior.
Among the East Blue pirates, while Buggy had the resume of an apprentice crew member on the Pirate King's ship, he had long since become a failure over the past decade or so.
Although Buggy was a Devil Fruit user, his personal combat strength was not high compared to other East Blue pirates; it was the power of his cannon fire that was famous.
Seeing Nami's angry look, Xinan comforted her, "Come on. Didn't you want to steal Buggy the Clown's treasure and the Grand Line map? Let's go teach him a lesson."
Hearing the words "money" and "sea chart," Nami's spirit immediately lifted.
It truly was Nami. Xinan didn't know if this was her first time in Orange Town, but the way she led him gave the impression of familiarity.
Under Nami's guidance, the two quickly circled around to the rear of the Buggy Pirates' location.
"Nami, have you been here before?" Xinan asked curiously.
Nami replied, "No."
"Then why are you so familiar with this place?"
"Intuition!" Nami answered simply and directly, looking confident. Xinan couldn't help but be stunned.
During the two days at sea, Nami's perception of the weather had already made Xinan very curious. She could accurately predict sea showers, wind direction, and currents based purely on her feelings.
And now, Nami led him winding through the town, successfully avoiding several pirates wandering the streets. She brought Xinan right to the floor below the roof of the tavern where the Buggy Pirates were stationed, without being spotted by a single pirate.
A fist naturally imbued with Armament Haki and Conqueror's Haki that leaves a lump with every punch.
A supreme talent for perception, almost able to sense all changes in weather phenomena and danger. This made Xinan suspect that Nami was a natural-born Observation Haki and Armament Haki awakening user.
This wasn't unheard of; people like Gildo Tesoro and Aisa of Skypiea were natural-born Observation Haki users.
There were no guards at the back of the tavern, and the noisy sounds of pirates could be heard from the roof. Just as Nami was about to lead Xinan inside...
BOOM!
Another loud explosion occurred, and the entire tavern shook violently. It sounded like a massive explosion on the roof.
Instinctively, Nami hid in Xinan's arms again. The shockwaves slowly faded.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
The sound of footsteps on the roof tiles was heard. When they walked out into the street and looked up, they saw a moss-headed man with three swords at his waist, his abdomen still slowly seeping bright red blood.
The moss-head was dragging a cage, and inside the cage was a rubber man wearing a straw hat.
If not Luffy and Zoro, who else could they be?
Based on their situation, Xinan could roughly guess what had happened. That idiot Luffy had been captured by the Buggy Pirates even without Nami betraying him.
As for Zoro? He had been careless and stabbed in the side by Buggy while trying to save Luffy.
The current appearance of the two made Xinan sigh at the power of destiny. Even without Nami, what was supposed to happen to Luffy and Zoro still did. Everything seemed predetermined.
They looked at each other. Luffy said dazedly, "Huh! Zoro, look, there are people down there!"
"Idiot, shut up!" Zoro sternly reprimanded him.
Seeing that the two seemed to be avoiding the Buggy Pirates' search, Xinan just waved at them and left.
Zoro breathed a sigh of relief, seeing that the pair had no intention of exposing them.
After the two left, Luffy asked curiously, "Zoro, those two are so strange! What are they doing?"
Having been stabbed and now having to drag a heavy iron cage, Zoro replied crossly, "How should I know? Shut your mouth and keep your voice down."
Luffy could only mumble an aggrieved "Oh."
Luffy wasn't the only one curious; Zoro was too. He had been startled when he saw Xinan.
Xinan's face, modified by the Devil Fruit, was simply too handsome—the kind that was hard to forget after just one look. Zoro never imagined a man could look so good.
Of course, as a man determined to become the world's greatest swordsman, the peak of swordsmanship was Zoro's pursuit. He was just surprised that a person could be so good-looking.
"Xinan, do you know them?" Nami asked curiously.
Xinan shook his head and replied with a smile, "No, I just thought they were interesting!"
With the explosion on the tavern roof, the entire Buggy Pirates crew became active, starting to search for Luffy and Zoro, which caused a bit of trouble for Xinan and Nami.
The Buggy Pirates were centralized at the tavern but occupied several surrounding houses.
After searching several buildings, they finally found the treasure in the basement of a house next to the tavern.
Xinan didn't understand how Nami could tell. The pirates were scattered in different houses, but Nami only needed one glance to determine if a pirate was guarding the treasure by observing the pirate and the room layout. Perhaps this was her experience from years of stealing pirate treasure at sea.
Xinan was speechless about the pirate guarding the treasure: he was passed out drunk on the floor, which was why Nami could easily succeed.
With Xinan by her side, Nami's actions were much bolder. She gave Xinan a look to take action.
Xinan walked over, touched the pirate's forehead, and a powerful current was emitted from his fingertip.
The powerful current instantly pierced the pirate's skull. The pirate died in his sleep, never to wake up, though his body still trembled instinctively.
Xinan took the key from the pirate's neck and opened the basement door.
Just as Nami expected, a large pile of gold coins and gold jewelry was stacked in the corner of the basement, reflecting an alluring golden light under the flicker of the torch.
Seeing the glittering gold, Nami happily jumped up and gave Xinan a kiss on the cheek. Then she rushed over, scooped up the coins, and grabbed a golden crown to place on her head.
They had already stolen 10 million Berries last night, and the current haul was only worth about the same. Xinan wasn't very excited. Instead, he went to open the treasure chest next to the pile of gold.
"Nami, look, what is this?"
Seeing the sea chart Xinan held, Nami asked excitedly, "The Grand Line sea chart?"
Xinan nodded and handed it to Nami.
Taking the chart, Nami examined it carefully; even the treasure pile next to her didn't seem so appealing anymore.
She glanced at the gold coins piled in the corner. Though called "gold coins," they were mostly just copper coins!
If a sackful of these coins were truly made of gold, they would be worth an incredible amount.
Even the crown Nami was wearing was merely gold-plated.
Xinan felt the prices in the pirate world were strange. Gold wasn't as valuable as it should be; the large pile of gold the Straw Hat Pirates got in Skypiea was only worth 300 million Berries.
Perhaps because this was an ocean world with many volcanoes, the output of gold and silver was high. Since scarcity determines value, Xinan could only use this to comfort himself.