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"They're all dead?!"
Nami froze. She'd been so focused on hoarding the gold and silver that she hadn't even noticed when the sounds outside had stopped.
While relief washed over her, Nami's gaze snapped back to Logan, instantly filled with suspicion. If he wasn't one of the pirates from the two ships, his identity was obvious.
A rival.
Definitely a rival thief.
"These are my spoils! Don't you dare think about taking them," Nami warned, shooting Logan a sharp look as she reached for the bundle on the ground.
Soru!
Logan blurred, vanishing from his spot and reappearing to snatch the bundle just an instant before Nami could reach it.
"So fast?!" Nami thought, shocked.
"It is pretty heavy," Logan noted, testing the weight in his hand and nodding with satisfaction.
"That's mine! Give it back!!"
Seeing her hard-earned treasure fall into another person's hands, an infuriated Nami swung her arms, claws outstretched, ready to scratch him.
"Too noisy."
Logan shook his head, instantly overpowering her with sheer force.
Realizing the massive difference in strength, Nami immediately dropped her aggressive stance, adopting the guise of a helpless young woman.
"Sir, I risked so much to get these. Please, have a heart, don't take them from me." Nami pressed her hands to her cheeks, her voice turning soft and pleading.
Seeing Logan remain completely unmoved, Nami gritted her teeth. "If you just give me the money back, I'll do anything you ask."
Anything I ask?!
Logan smiled.
Just what I was hoping for.
Logan nodded, pleased. "That's a good attitude. From now on, you are the navigator of the Logan Pirate Crew. If you join my crew, I might consider letting you take care of this money."
"I'll join!!"
Without a moment's hesitation, Nami loudly and clearly agreed.
It was just a verbal promise, so she didn't need to think about it. The moment she got her hands on the money, she would ditch him.
Logan noticed the cunning glint in her eyes and simply chuckled.
Joining his pirate crew wasn't going to be as simple as a verbal promise.
He was already looking forward to the reward he'd get for officially recruiting Nami.
A flash of white light, and the bundle in Logan's hand disappeared.
"Huh?!"
Nami's eyes comically bulged out of her sockets.
It was gone.
The gold and silver treasure, worth ten million Berries, had just vanished right in front of her eyes?!
"Where did it go?!"
"Where did all my money go?!"
"Bas—... Logan-sama, where is all my money?!"
Nami panicked, nearly swearing in her frenzy.
Where on earth did this bastard hide her money? That was a whole ten million Berries!
"First, this is the Logan Pirate Crew's money, and I haven't agreed to hand it over to you yet."
"Second, as a newly joined navigator, shouldn't you be carrying out your duties?!"
Logan calmly corrected Nami's misconceptions one by one.
As for the disappeared treasure, he knew exactly where it was.
Hello, System Storage.
"Duties?!" Nami paused, quickly figuring it out.
He meant navigation, right? That was as easy as eating and drinking to her.
Wait.
Why did Logan look at her so strangely?
"What duties are you talking about?!" Nami asked tentatively, swallowing hard and crossing her arms over her chest.
Though she was inexperienced, she wasn't a child anymore. She was eighteen.
Logan shrugged, a light laugh in his voice. "Between a man and a woman, what do you think they would be?"
Before Nami could refuse, Logan quickly added, "That's ten million Berries, you know."
The refusal she was about to blurt out caught in her throat. Logan was right—that was ten million Berries. If she missed this chance, her plan to buy back her village would be delayed by months.
Thinking of Arlong's cruelty, she really couldn't bear to wait any longer.
It's just a little bit of fun.
After a quick internal pep talk, Nami took a deep breath, plastered a sweet smile on her face, and moved closer to Logan, cooing seductively: "Captain, you said it yourself. When this is over, you have to let me take care of the money."
Logan smiled, wrapping his arm around Nami's slender, easily encircled waist.
He led her to a relatively clean room.
The moment the door closed, the pair began their "work," which lasted for nearly four hours.
In the beginning, the process didn't go smoothly. Nami was, after all, a novice, unfamiliar with the details and execution, making it difficult for her to cooperate fully with Logan.
But with Logan's intense guidance, Nami's natural talent was fully unlocked, and their collaboration quickly became much more seamless.
It must be said, Nami was truly gifted at this particular work, often understanding things instantly.
As they got into the swing of things, Nami even forgot that her initial motivation was just to go through the motions.
As the work neared its end, Nami took the initiative to wrap up, making sure every detail was perfectly attended to.
"It's late. Get some rest. We'll set sail tomorrow," Logan said softly.
Nami didn't try to argue; the high-intensity work had genuinely exhausted her.
After covering Nami with the blanket, Logan left the room.
He walked into another empty cabin. While the details of the previous work were unforgettable, in the world of Pirates, strength was the ultimate authority.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully recruiting Nami. You have received a reward. Would you like to claim it?]
"Claim."
Logan didn't hesitate. Wasn't recruiting Nami the whole point of the reward? Did they really think he was just a pervert?
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining the power of the Shennong Beast. It can be optimized based on the One Piece world view. Would you like to optimize?]
"The Shennong Beast?" Logan mused, rubbing his chin.
If he remembered correctly, the Shennong Beast was a healing-type weapon beast from the anime Weapon Kids, and its divine weapon, the Shennong Ruler, could heal all injuries.
A valuable asset.
The world of One Piece was fraught with danger, and getting injured was inevitable. With the healing power of the Shennong Ruler, as long as he wasn't instantly killed, he could take risks as he pleased.
"Start optimization," Logan confirmed.
The optimization function, as the name suggested, kept the essence while removing the flaws.
[Optimization successful! Congratulations to the host for obtaining the Healing-Wound Fruit.]
"....."