Meanwhile, Nami led Lu Linglong, Zhu Zhuqing, and Su Xiaoqi on a tour inside the cabins of the Going Merry.
"Su Xiaoqi, now it's time for the three of us girls to have a little private chat. You go to the deck and keep your Gin-san and Sakuragi company."
Su Xiaoqi gave Nami a look and said sarcastically, "Playing the 'use and discard' trick on me, huh? Fine, just wait and see."
Nami looked confused. "Discard what? Where's the donkey?"
Lu Linglong laughed, "Nami, 'use and discard the donkey' is an idiom from our place. It means after someone achieves their goal, they get kicked away."
At that moment, Zhu Zhuqing said, "Xiaoqi, I'll come with you."
Since arriving here, Zhu Zhuqing had been surrounded by Nami and Lu Linglong, barely getting a chance to speak properly with Su Xiaoqi.
Su Xiaoqi smiled, "No need, you three girls have fun. I'm going to check if that white-haired guy is still dead."
Alone on the deck, Su Xiaoqi saw Sakata Gintoki still lying like a dead fish. But Sakuragi Hanamichi's behavior was strange.
The basketball dunce who never seemed to care about studying was now seriously reading a book. Can you believe that?
"Could it be some kind of risqué book?"
Curious, Su Xiaoqi stepped forward and asked, "Sakuragi, what are you reading?"
"Big brother, I'm reading basketball rules. When school starts, I'm going to crush that sly fox Rukawa Kaede," Sakuragi smiled at Su Xiaoqi, then frowned, "But this stuff is really hard. I don't understand any of it."
Moved by his enthusiasm, Su Xiaoqi sat beside him and said, "Though I don't really play basketball, I know some rules. Tell me what you don't get."
Sakuragi immediately perked up and asked, "Big brother, what's offside?"
"Offside? That's when an attacking player—"
Wait a minute. Su Xiaoqi suddenly realized something was wrong. Offside is a soccer rule, what does it have to do with basketball?
Taking the book from Sakuragi, he flipped through a few pages. Sure enough, it was all about soccer rules.
"Sakuragi, who gave you this book?"
Sakuragi laughed, "Takamiya gave it to me. He said if I understand everything in it, I can become the god of basketball."
Now Su Xiaoqi understood: Sakuragi had been tricked again by his own 'Sakuragi Squad.'
Upon learning the truth, Sakuragi tore the book to shreds and cursed, "Damn Takamiya, playing tricks on a genius like me! When I get back, I'm going to beat him up."
Su Xiaoqi patted him on the shoulder, "Sakuragi, maybe I was a bit hasty before. I think you should just start playing basketball when you get back. That might suit you better."
"As for where to learn basketball skills, you can watch an anime called *Kuroko's Basketball*. The perfect imitation card I gave you is based on a skill from there."
Su Xiaoqi now felt it was better to let Sakuragi slowly understand difficult basketball rules in actual matches rather than forcing him to learn them first.
Sakuragi nodded and smiled, "Okay, big brother. After I earn points from this mission, I'll activate the monthly subscription feature."
Su Xiaoqi smiled, "Good luck. I believe you can definitely become your world's basketball god."
Meanwhile, the three girls were chatting about Su Xiaoqi.
Lu Linglong and Nami exchanged glances, then looked at Zhu Zhuqing with a smile, "Zhuqing, do you like Su Xiaoqi?"
"No, no, we're just pretending to be a couple," Zhu Zhuqing denied, though her explanation sounded weak to the other two.
Nami's eyes glinted mischievously, "Is that so? Then I can rest easy chasing after him. We're quite close in age, you know."
Lu Linglong laughed, "What a coincidence, I have the same plan. Nami, looks like we'll be 'rivals' from now on."
"No way!"
Zhu Zhuqing panicked. Were they really going to compete for Su Xiaoqi? That was unacceptable!
Lu Linglong had a sweet and cute appearance, and her figure was no less than Zhu Zhuqing's.
Nami wasn't fully grown yet, but both Su Xiaoqi and Sakata Gintoki said that two years from now, Nami would be a goddess-level beauty.
When Zhu Zhuqing realized she was getting too nervous, she quickly explained, "Sakata Gintoki really likes you two. If you act like this, he'll get hurt."
Hearing this, Lu Linglong and Nami laughed together.
Lu Linglong said, "Zhuqing, you don't really think Gin-san likes both me and Nami, do you?"
Nami gritted her teeth, "That deadfish white-haired guy is just after my body at most. There's no way I'll let him succeed."
Lu Linglong and Nami flanked Zhu Zhuqing, laughing, "Zhuqing, if you don't confess honestly, Nami and I will really go after Su Xiaoqi."
Cocoyasi Village wasn't far from the Navy's 16th Branch Base. After the Going Merry sailed at full speed for over two hours, they saw the navy base from the deck.
Since the Going Merry flew the Straw Hat Pirates' flag, although none of them were currently wanted, they were still pirates by name.
Su Xiaoqi told the others to wait there while he flew to the navy base to exchange the bounty.
"How can this be? Gin-san really wants to fly too. Why am I the only one getting seasick?"
Nami looked at Sakata Gintoki, who was still miserable on the ground, and said with no patience, "With you like this, you want to become Pirate King? I'd say you're more like the man *of* the Pirate King."
"Hahaha."
Nami's words caused everyone to laugh. Sakata Gintoki could only cry in despair:
"Nami-chan, how can you say that about Gin-san? Gin-san only has you in his heart."
Lu Linglong approached Sakata Gintoki, crouched down, and poked his cheek with a smile, "Gin-san, I was a little moved when I saw your brave figure, but since you like Nami so much, I'll quietly back off."
"Gin-san, keep it up! I'm rooting for you."
"No, no, no, Linglong-chan, listen to Gin-san's explanation! Gin-san can love both of you."
Sakata Gintoki's struggling only made the girls laugh more. Setting aside other things, Gin-san really brought a lot of joy to them.
Half an hour later, Su Xiaoqi returned to the Going Merry carrying a bag of Beli. Nami rushed up as soon as she saw the money.
"Xiaoqi, you worked hard. The money is heavy; let me help carry it."
Su Xiaoqi smiled, "Sure, I'll leave the money to you."
"Huh?"
Nami looked at Su Xiaoqi's smiling face suspiciously. This guy had just said to wait for him, but now he so readily gave the money to her. Could it be fake money inside?
Thinking this, Nami hurriedly checked the Beli inside the bag. After counting, it totaled 38.5 million Beli, and not a single note was counterfeit.
Nami looked at Su Xiaoqi and asked again, "You're really giving me this money so readily? No strings attached?"
Su Xiaoqi laughed, "What kind of demands would I have? How about you arrange a luxury bath package for me in Alabasta?"
Zhu Zhuqing saw that familiar mischievous smile on Su Xiaoqi's face and immediately understood—this rascal must have done something to trick Nami again.
"Keep dreaming."
Angrily, Nami threw out those words and turned to leave. What luxury bath package nonsense? Did he really think she didn't know the story?
But after a few steps, she suddenly turned back, looked at Su Xiaoqi with a pretty smile, and said, "If you want to see it, you'll have to earn points."