He pulled out his rough, salt-stained map from a waterproof pocket and unrolled it on the cabin roof.
With one bloody finger, he traced the marked line indicating the Calm Belt.
"If that monster was just a gatekeeper on the edge," Argentus muttered, looking back at the still, silent black water that had nearly become his grave, "then the nest deeper inside..."
He paused.
"...is a graveyard."
He wasn't afraid—fear had been burned out of him on the cannibal island.
But he wasn't stupid either.
"East," he decided, finding the nearest marked landmass on his chart. His finger landed on a name. "Oykot Kingdom."
He moved to the sails with mechanical efficiency, untying the lines with hands that still trembled slightly.
As he worked—
Snap.
The sail caught wind.
Finally.
The canvas fluttered, then filled, billowing out with a satisfying whump as air pressure built.
Argentus locked the rudder in position, trimmed the sail to catch the wind at the optimal angle, and let Sylvia surge forward.
The sloop cut through the water cleanly, picking up speed, leaving the silent nightmare of the Calm Belt behind.
Several Days Later
The moon hung high over the East Blue, full and bright, casting a silver path across the gentle waves that looked almost like a road.
Sylvia rocked rhythmically.
Inside the small cabin, Argentus was deep in sleep. His breathing was slow and even.
But his Observation Haki never truly slept. It remained active at a low level—a thin, invisible mist of awareness covering the ship like a security blanket.
Old habits from the cannibal island. Paranoia that had kept him alive.
Argentus's eye opened—just one, squinting against the moonlight filtering through the cabin window.
He didn't scramble for Regulus. Didn't panic or assume combat stance.
Instead, he sat up slowly, stretched his back with a loud, spine-cracking yawn that echoed in the small space, and scratched his bare chest absently.
"Can't a man get eight hours of sleep?" he grumbled to no one.
He stood, padding barefoot across the cabin and out onto the deck. The wood was cool under his feet, slightly damp from evening mist.
He moved silently to the starboard railing and leaned against it, resting his chin in one hand, looking down at the dark water with mild curiosity.
Let's see what we have here.
A few seconds later, right on schedule, a wet hand slapped onto the gunwale. Then another. The intruder grunted softly—a feminine sound—struggling to find leverage on the slippery, dew-slicked wood.
Argentus sighed, the sound carrying amusement rather than annoyance.
He reached down, grabbed the intruder's forearm with casual strength, and hauled them up with effortless power.
"Here," he said lazily, his voice thick with interrupted sleep. "On three. One... two..."
The intruder flew over the rail on "two" and a half, landing on the deck with a wet splat.
It was a girl.
She appeared to be roughly his age—maybe thirteen, possibly fourteen. Short, bright orange hair was plastered to her skull by seawater, framing a heart-shaped face with sharp, intelligent eyes. She wore a simple striped shirt and a blue skirt, both soaked through and dripping onto his freshly swabbed deck.
"Thanks!" she chirped immediately, wringing out the hem of her shirt without even looking up to see who'd helped her. "Current was stronger than I thought. Nearly lost my boat back there."
She shook her hair like a dog, sending droplets flying, then confidently started walking toward the cabin door.
Her eyes were already scanning—looking for valuables, calculating what might be worth stealing, planning the quickest route to the most expensive items.
"No problem," Argentus replied casually, leaning back against the rail to watch the show.
She took two confident steps toward the cabin.
Then one more.
Then...
...she stopped.
Her foot, which had been moving forward to take a third step, froze in midair. It hovered there for a second—trembling slightly—before slowly, mechanically lowering back to the deck.
The only sound was waves lapping against Sylvia's hull.
Her entire posture screamed a sudden, terrible realization:
Wait. I'm robbing a ship. If the owner is asleep below... then WHO JUST PULLED ME ABOARD?
Slowly—painfully, mechanically slowly, like a rusty door hinge—she turned around.
Argentus was still leaning casually against the rail, arms crossed over his bare chest, watching her with an amused smirk that showed teeth.
The moonlight caught his silver hair, making it seem to glow.
All the color drained from her face in an instant. A massive bead of sweat formed on her forehead and began to slowly roll down her temple.
Her eyes darted from his relaxed posture, to her own hands which had been reaching for his cabin door, and back to his face.
"I..." she started, her voice coming out as an embarrassing squeak. She cleared her throat and tried again. "I'm the... inspection committee! Yes! Just checking if your locks work properly. Maritime safety regulations and all that."
Argentus raised one eyebrow. "And? Do they work?"
"Well," she stammered, taking a subtle step backward toward the rail and escape, "since the owner is apparently awake enough to pull burglars onto his own ship and watch them incriminate themselves... I'd say the security system is extremely top-notch."
She forced a laugh that sounded like breaking glass.
Then, in the blink of an eye, the awkward, caught-red-handed burglar vanished entirely.
Her shoulders slumped. Her eyes welled up with big, glistening tears that caught the moonlight. She clasped her hands together in a pleading gesture and fell to her knees on the wet deck.
The transformation was so sudden and complete it was almost impressive.
"Oh, thank goodness you're not a pirate!" she cried, her voice breaking perfectly on the word "pirate." "Please, you have to help me! I'm not a thief, I swear! I'm just a... a survivor!"
Argentus raised an eyebrow but didn't move from his comfortable position against the rail.
"A survivor?" he repeated, his tone completely flat.
"Yes!" She sniffled loudly, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand in a gesture of perfect vulnerability. "My ship... it was attacked! By terrible, ugly pirates! They took everything! My family... my precious navigation charts... all my gold!"
Her voice trembled with what sounded like genuine anguish.
"I only just managed to escape on a small lifeboat, but it capsized miles back! I've been swimming for hours through these freezing waters!"
She looked up at him through wet lashes, projecting an image of absolute helplessness.
"I saw your light and... I was just so cold and hungry and desperate, I didn't know what I was doing! Please... surely a strong, handsome captain like yourself wouldn't throw a helpless girl back into the dark, freezing ocean where she'll certainly drown?"
She shivered dramatically for emphasis, her teeth even chattering slightly.
Argentus watched the entire performance with the detached interest.
Not bad, he thought. She's actually pretty good at this.
He pushed himself off the rail and walked toward her with measured steps.
She held her breath, hoping the "strong, handsome captain" line had worked. That combination usually did.
Argentus stopped directly in front of her and crouched down so they were eye-to-eye.
"Swimming for hours, huh?" he asked, his voice devoid of sympathy.
"Yes," she whispered, throwing in a small, pitiful sob for good measure.
Argentus reached out.
She flinched, thinking he was about to strike her.
Instead, he simply grabbed her hand and turned her palm up toward the moonlight, examining it with clinical interest.
"Strange," Argentus mused, tracing the rough, calloused skin on her palm with his thumb. "For a helpless girl who's been swimming for hours, you have the calluses of a professional sailor who handles ropes every single day."
He tilted her hand to catch more light.
"And your clothes... they're wet, yes. But they aren't soaked to the bone from hours of exposure to seawater."
He leaned in slightly and sniffed.
"In fact, you smell like you just climbed out of a boat that's currently parked right next to mine. Within the last five minutes."
Her tears stopped instantly, like someone had flipped a switch.
"You're observant," she said, her voice dropping the high-pitched, helpless whine entirely. She yanked her hand back from his grip. "Annoyingly so."
Argentus stood up, dusting off his pants.
"Drop the act, thief. I know there's a small boat tied to my hull on the port side. I heard you dock. And honestly? Your acting needs work. The tears were good, but you overdid the shivering."
Nami clicked her tongue in annoyance, standing up and brushing off her knees.
The damsel-in-distress persona evaporated completely, replaced by confident irritation.
She put her hands on her hips and cocked her head, radiating a completely different energy.
"Fine. You caught me," she said with a shrug that was more annoyed than apologetic. "I'm Nami. And since you've completely ruined my robbery with your creepy observation skills, the least you can do is offer me something to drink. Climbing that hull was actually tiring, and I did just swim a quarter mile."
Argentus didn't move to get water.
Instead, he slowly raised his left hand, in which he held a coil of thick, rough hemp rope he'd grabbed from storage.
Then he raised his right hand, in which he gripped the jet-black shaft of Regulus. The golden feather carvings pulsed faintly in the moonlight like a heartbeat made visible.
The legendary spear seemed to drink in the darkness, the black metal reflecting nothing.
"So," Argentus asked calmly, his silver eyes catching the moon and seeming to glow. "Do you want to tie yourself up? Or should I help you with that?"
His gaze flicked meaningfully from the rope to the spear, then back to her face.
"Fair warning—I'm not very gentle when I help."
Nami's confident smile froze completely on her face.
Her eyes darted from the rope to the absolutely terrifying black-and-gold weapon that looked like it could cut through reality itself.
All the color that had briefly returned to her cheeks drained away again.
"You..." she muttered, taking an involuntary step backward, "have a seriously twisted definition of hospitality."
"I have a realistic definition of burglary prevention," Argentus countered, tossing the rope at her feet.
It landed with a heavy thud, coiled like a snake.
"Wrists. In front of you. Make it tight. And if I see even a hint of a slip knot or any clever sailor's trick..."
He tapped Regulus's shaft against the deck meaningfully.
"...I'll be using the spear to tighten it. And unlike rope, Regulus doesn't give second chances."
Nami glared at him, her cheeks puffing out in indignation.
But she knew when she was beaten.
With a heavy, put-upon sigh, she sat down on a nearby crate, picked up the rope, and begrudgingly began wrapping it around her wrists.
"You know," she muttered while working, "most people at least offer a girl breakfast before the bondage."
"Most girls don't try to rob me in the middle of the night," Argentus replied without missing a beat.
"Touché."
(END OF CHAPTER)
"Can't wait to see what happens in the next chapter of One Piece: World domination?
You don't have to wait! I am already 7 chapters ahead on Patreon.
Link: patreon.com/xxSUPxx
Special thanks to all my EPIC members and,
MYTH: Dutchviking
MYTH: Christopher K Wright