Nami's eyes widened, and a shiver ran down her spine as she realized the situation.
She quickly said, "I'm not lacking in skill, I just misread it earlier."
"Then how much is it?"
Hiroto put on a face of 'innocent ignorance' and continued his compliance test.
"It's 500 million." Nami said, her heart aching.
"Speaking of which, the watchdog is also quite fierce and can't be let off. Mistakes must be properly punished." Hiroto said.
"It's 500,120,673 berries." Carina said, her voice sounding as if she were speaking through gritted teeth.
"What?!"
Nami looked at Carina with an incredulous gaze, then glared fiercely at Hiroto. However, upon noticing Hiroto's expression turning unfriendly, she immediately softened up again.
"That's quite a precise number."
Hiroto reached out with a satisfied expression, and with miserable faces, Nami and Carina took out their wallets and handed them over.
The duo's cold assets now became Hiroto's warm pockets.
'Ugh... my money.' Nami looked at the confiscated wallet with teary eyes.
'It's all your fault for trying to be greedy. If you don't go looking for trouble, trouble won't find you.' Carina glared at her companion in annoyance.
'You agreed to it too.' Nami glared back, refusing to back down.
"Alright, I'm not some kind of devil after all. Once the punishment is over, I won't mention it again."
Seeing this, Hiroto offered a word of comfort, "I'll give you a reward once the job is done. After all, I'll be collaborating with you later."
"Collaboration?" Carina asked.
"Reward!?" Nami focused on the reward.
"We'll talk about that later."
Hiroto walked into the treasure room and began packing up Ryder's treasures.
Since the shortcut was gone, he had to take the grand path if he wanted to gain enough Distortion energy.
What better way was there than to target Carina and one of the main protagonists, Nami?
By the time Luffy sets out to sea, most of his crew members in the East Blue would have been snatched away by him.
Especially Nami. Her absence would surely have a massive impact on the plot.
With Luffy's bizarre and terrible navigation skills, or rather, his lack thereof, relying entirely on luck, Hiroto could only say—Luffy, I've blocked you in the East Blue.
...
Ryder's assets were indeed 500 million. He had used a lot of cash to purchase munitions, and Ryder himself could only be described as a local tyrant, he wasn't much of a figure in the East Blue.
The only thing worth mentioning was his network of connections. Through his illicit businesses, he had connected with many aristocrats in need, as well as managers of various industries under his command.
It was even rumored that he used pirates to strike at his business rivals.
Hiroto had previously used Ryder's network to get a few things done, one of which was investigating the islands in the sea area near the Marine Base 153 under the guise of searching for treasure.
In the original plot, the encounter between the newly-embarked Luffy and Alvida occurred in that exact area.
Hiroto was interested in the Smooth-Smooth Fruit that Alvida accidentally found after her defeat. He wondered if [Gluttony] could devour a Devil Fruit. He didn't know the answer, but it was worth a try.
After handling the treasures in the treasure room, Hiroto made Nami and Carina carry the large bags on their backs as they left the room.
He dealt with a few guards along the way, but then he noticed something was wrong.
There were too few guards in Ryder's mansion, it was as if they had been redeployed... and the direction was toward the harbor.
'Are they guarding against me? No, not me... is it that old friend?'
Hiroto quickly thought of the reason.
Ryder had mentioned it to him several times. It was a pirate, and a very strong one at that. His implied meaning was for Hiroto to have a fight with that 'pirate friend.'
At the very least, he wanted to let the other party know that Ryder was not someone to be trifled with.
However, Hiroto wasn't sure exactly who it was, as he wasn't truly Ryder's confidant.
'The ship is also at the harbor. It's on the way anyway, let's see what's going on.'
The harbor was directly connected to the mansion, it was Ryder's private port.
Docks, warehouses, and cargo areas were all present.
As soon as Hiroto arrived, he saw a dense crowd of people gathered in the cargo area of the harbor, and there were even cannons pointed toward the docks.
Ryder's butler was in charge here, and seeing Hiroto's arrival, he quickly hurried over.
"Hiroto-san, you are..."
The butler looked at Nami and Carina behind Hiroto, and the large bags of treasure, momentarily filled with suspicion.
Hiroto said without blinking an eye, "Thieves from the treasure room. I saw they were pretty, so I asked the boss for them. He gave me these treasures, saying they were the reward for the work later."
"The boss will be over in a moment. Can you tell me who the opponent is now? Holding this kind of price makes me a bit scared, it's enough to buy my head."
'Ryder-san actually spent so much, he must have emptied the treasure room.'
Amidst his shock, the butler gave a very professional bow and said, "It's Iron Mace Alvida."
"Alvida? Isn't that the pirate with a 5 million berries bounty?" Carina couldn't help but speak out, shock visible on her face.
To a thief like her, anyone with a bounty higher than 1 million was a terrifying figure.
"Is it that Alvida? It's said she once used a spiked mace to sink a sea vessel." Nami seemed to recall something, clearly having heard of Alvida's fame as well.
"Yes."
The butler gave the two of them an surprised glance, then looked at the frowning Hiroto and said, "However, the part about sinking a sea vessel is exaggerated. Ryder-san investigated, it was a small single-masted boat, and it was already about to sink anyway."
"But Alvida is indeed very strong and has a tyrannical personality, she can swing a spiked iron mace weighing over a hundred kilograms."
"No wonder... this is going to be difficult." Hiroto said.
"Please do your best, Hiroto-san."
The butler bowed again and said with a bitter smile, "If we can defeat her, Ryder-san won't have to bow his head to anyone anymore."
Hiroto suddenly said, "If he doesn't have a head, wouldn't that mean he won't have to bow his head anymore?"
"Ah... hahaha."
The butler gave a forced, awkward laugh and then said seriously, "Even a joke needs to have a limit, Hiroto-san."
"I understand."
Hiroto sighed, "It seems Ryder-san won't be able to make jokes anymore."
The butler, confused, could only follow with a forced smile and withdraw.
The other party was a strong individual, after all, it was normal to be unruly. As a butler, he didn't dare and couldn't say anything.
'As long as Ryder-san comes, everything will be fine.' The butler thought to himself.
As soon as he left, Nami immediately whispered, "Aren't you going to run? That's Alvida with a 5 million berries bounty. I don't want to be smashed into meat paste."
"Run? Run where? Why?"
Hiroto asked three questions in a row.
"Because she's very strong. Even if it's exaggerated, she still sank a single-masted ship. Do you know how big a single-masted ship is?"
Carina said anxiously, "It's fine if you're not afraid, but could you let us go first?"
She had just looked around, it was full of Ryder's guards, and she saw the butler give some instructions after he went down. A dozen or so guards were casting their gazes toward them, seemingly keeping an eye on them.
There was no way to escape now.
Most importantly, despite having killed Ryder, Hiroto was talking nonsense with the butler as if nothing had happened.
What did he mean by a joke needing a limit? Where would Ryder even get a 'limit' now?
Hiroto didn't answer, his gaze fixed ahead.
The butler seemed to be saying something to the guards, and he noticed that the positions of some guards had changed.
They appeared to be watching Nami and Carina behind him, but based on his understanding, they might be guarding against him.
However, more than that, he was more concerned about the imminent arrival of Alvida, because she was the prey he had originally scheduled.
'What an interesting turn of events. I wonder if I can defeat her now. According to the original plan, I would have at least looked for the Smooth-Smooth Fruit before going after her.'
Hiroto glanced at his panel and the newly acquired [Thrust], and the thoughts in his heart instantly solidified.
No matter what, he didn't want to retreat here, even if it wasn't a sure thing.
Isn't the adventure he craved exactly like this?
In this world, there is never a hundred percent certainty, nor a plan that can be steadily achieved without change.
Hiroto looked toward the sea. The wind whistled past his ears, as if a gale were beginning to dance.