It was noon in Orange Town, on the streets!
Luffy squatted next to the heavily injured Zoro, who was sprawled out sleeping on the road. Luffy gave Zoro's moss-head a few loud smacks.
"Hey, hey, Zoro! Wake up, we gotta go!"
Xinan's mouth twitched at the sight. Luffy truly lacked any sense of tact; no wonder Zoro often joked about killing him later.
Zoro, who had suffered a penetrating wound, endured a cannon attack, and fought a battle while injured, sat up and asked, "Ugh! Is it settled?"
"Yep! We got a navigator and the sea chart!" Luffy replied, smiling.
Unlike the original story where Nami hands Luffy over to Buggy, Luffy gives his speech about the resolve of a pirate, he fights for the little dog Chouchou, and various other interactions, the most important thing was that Nami now had Xinan as a strong bodyguard. The pirate-hating Nami did not agree with Luffy's statement.
As soon as Luffy said that, Nami immediately retorted, "We're just traveling together because it's convenient for now. I am not your navigator."
Luffy just laughed heartily at Nami's protest. "Got it, Navigator."
Once Luffy set his mind on something, no one could change it. Clearly, he hadn't heard Nami's words at all.
Seeing the pair, Zoro also greeted them.
"It's you two."
"Mhm."
Xinan nodded in response. He still regretted missing the fight between Zoro and Buggy Pirates Chief of Staff Cabaji.
Although Zoro would heal after sleeping, the penetrating wound caused significant blood loss. Zoro clutched his head and groaned, "Ugh, I can't walk anymore!"
Looking at Zoro's blood-soaked abdomen, Nami complained, "Of course not! If you could walk looking like that, neither of you would be human!"
Nami's complaint confused the straw-hat idiot, who countered, "Why are you including me in that?"
Nami turned into a shark-face to continue her complaint: "You're the least human out of everyone!"
As the group traded insults, several townspeople approached them holding sticks. Xinan warned, "I think you guys should wake up the Mayor. Looks like the townspeople are coming over!"
Clearly, Xinan's warning was too late. The townspeople spotted the fallen Mayor and mistook the group for pirates. Luffy, in his usual honesty, admitted that he was the one who knocked the Mayor out.
In the end, Xinan and the others were chased out of the town by the residents. The dog Chouchou, which Luffy had saved, even helped block their pursuers.
"We finally escaped! What bad luck. Good thing for the dog," complained Nami, who hadn't taken anything with her.
Xinan, who was carrying over a hundred pounds of treasure on his back, complained back at Nami, "You didn't take anything with you, that's why!"
Luffy, carrying Zoro on his back, also said, "It's fine, we escaped anyway."
Luffy's comment was immediately refuted by both Xinan and Nami: "You're the one who has the least right to talk!"
If that idiot hadn't confessed to knocking out the Mayor, Xinan and the others wouldn't have been chased by the townspeople.
But the rubber idiot paid no mind to their protests, instead saying admiringly, "Is that your ship? It's so cool and beautiful!"
"It was stolen from a stupid pirate," Nami replied.
"You plan to sail to the Grand Line on that little boat?" Xinan teased Luffy.
Luffy replied confidently to Xinan's taunt, "That's why we need to find a bigger ship so we can keep sailing the seas!"
Looking at Luffy's confident demeanor, Xinan, who had read the original story, couldn't help but feel that this guy's Observation Haki must be so strong that he could already foresee the future.
Soon, with the Mayor's grateful farewells, they left the pier.
Out on the sea, two small boats slowly sailed forward.
"Here."
Nami handed the neatly patched straw hat back to Luffy.
"Awesome, thanks! You fixed a hat this broken."
Luffy took the hat, then carelessly poked his finger through the patched tear. The hat Nami had painstakingly repaired was punctured again. Nami got so angry that she gave Luffy a few painful stabs with her needle, causing Luffy to yell in pain. This provided no small amusement to Xinan and Zoro in the boring expanse of the sea.
"Xinan, do you guys have any food?" Zoro asked.
Looking at Luffy's impoverished-looking boat, Xinan couldn't help but complain, "I have to say, you guys are brave! You dare to set sail without food or water."
While complaining, Xinan pulled a few pieces of bread from his cabin and tossed them to Zoro and Luffy on the other boat.
"Arigato! You guys are good people!"
Taking the food, Luffy and Zoro thanked them and immediately began to wolf it down.
"Nami, there's a small island over there!" Xinan said, looking through the telescope at the island he had spotted.
Nami, who was checking the compass, replied, "Forget it, it's probably just a deserted island. Let's stick to the route..."
"It's not deserted! There are lots of animals on it!" Xinan replied.
"Is that so?"
"There's an island?"
Before Xinan's group could decide, Luffy's group sprang into action upon hearing the news of an island.
Zoro, who was severely injured, had fallen back asleep. Xinan, Luffy, and Nami landed on the small island.
"Wow! What a strange snake!" Nami exclaimed, seeing a snake with rabbit ears.
Luffy pointed at a pig with a mane and said, "There's a lion-pig over there!"
Rabbit-ear snakes, lion-pigs, and foxes with chicken crests—seeing these bizarre creatures, Xinan felt an unprecedented sense of wonder. The appearance of these animals completely defied Earth's theory of evolution, looking like products of genetic hybridization.
As Luffy picked up the snake with rabbit ears to examine it, a gunshot broke the island's tranquility.
The bullet hit Luffy's body, stretching out a long trajectory before being bounced back by the elasticity of the rubber.
"Ah!"
A scream came from the bushes, and a poor man stuck inside a box tumbled out.
Finding an old man trapped in a box immediately piqued Luffy's interest. He started chatting with the box-man, Gaimon, talking about pirates, and Nami and the others also discussed the Grand Line.
Xinan, meanwhile, was more interested in the animals on the island. He stroked a cute little bear that looked like a bear but had giraffe-like stripes.
When Xinan read the manga, he only thought Luffy was an idiot. But watching them talk about the Grand Line and sharing their dreams, Xinan realized that Luffy was a truly charismatic guy.
Coming to this island was a moment of relaxation for Xinan. The past few days had been too tense, and he finally had time to consider his own path.
Should he follow the Straw Hat Pirates or start his own crew?
Before he ate the Devil Fruit and was powerless, he definitely would have chosen to join the Straw Hats. But now he had a certain amount of strength.
However, if he started his own crew, Xinan wasn't sure what he should even do.
More importantly, the One Piece was not something Xinan could just steal.
Did he think he had a system that could level up with a plus sign? Or did he have a Revolutionary Army father and a Navy Hero grandfather? To think he could reach the Pirate King's throne in just two years felt completely unrealistic to Xinan.
Compared to those predecessors who could reach the world's summit and become the Pirate King in about a year or two, Xinan could only say, "I'm embarrassing everyone!"
After much thought, the Straw Hat Pirates still seemed safer, plus he'd meet many beautiful women.
That was Xinan's thinking, but his personal philosophy simply didn't align with Luffy's group. He knew he wouldn't last more than a few days.
If he wants to build a harem, why join the Straw Hat Pirates in the first place?
Next, Xinan witnessed Luffy using a lie to conceal the truth that the treasure chest Gaimon had been guarding on the mountaintop for so long was empty. Xinan couldn't help but marvel that Luffy was a man of very high emotional intelligence; he wouldn't have known how to handle the situation himself.
Using the limited alcohol and food from the ship, combined with the island's fruit, Xinan and the others spent the night on the island filled with rare creatures.
Cluck! Cluck! Cluck!
In the early morning, Xinan was awakened by the crowing of a rooster with a snake's tail.
Looking at the girl's sweet sleeping face in his arms, warm and cuddled, Xinan truly didn't want to get up. But he still grabbed her pert little bottom and whispered in her ear, "Nami, time to wake up!"
The girl sleepily rubbed her eyes and sat up.
The blanket slid off her body, exposing her magnificent chest to the air.
Even though they had fought all night, seeing the girl's beautiful body immediately caused little Xinan to become aroused.
If time had allowed, Xinan truly would have wanted to have a morning workout.
After Xinan and Nami got up, Luffy and the others soon woke up. After bidding farewell to the old man stuck in the box, Xinan and his companions left the Island of Rare Animals.