Order

"Hey, you... there's a limit to how far you can take a joke, isn't there?!" Smoker's face was full of shock and disbelief.

Tashigi: Σ(°△°|||)︴

Nami: "The Human-Human Fruit must be a really powerful fruit... right?"

"That is the truth. What I ate was exactly that kind of fruit. It was completely different from the fruit I'd dreamed of, and because of that, my abilities never even reached the initial stage I'd envisioned." Ling Donglai calmly described his powers.

"Then the lightning... what was the lightning about?" Smoker could not hide his shock.

This guy... he probably wasn't lying, was he? It would be a completely pointless lie.

"Are you surprised? Or is your thinking simply too limited?"

Ling Donglai stretched out his hand and clenched it hard. His skin reddened, then burst into flames in an instant.

"Does that mean I'm a Flame-Flame Fruit user?"

"Fine. It seems people's development of fruit powers is still quite shallow. I never expected even the Human-Human Fruit to be developed to such a powerful extent..."

Smoker composed himself.

"Since your Haki, lightning, and flames all came from developing your fruit, I've asked about enough."

"Before I leave, I want to ask you one final question: what exactly do you seek power for?"

Smoker stood up, reached the door, and turned back to ask.

Ling Donglai said, "Smoker, I thought your final question would be more unexpected. I didn't expect something so devoid of substance. Does becoming stronger need a reason? On these seas?"

Smoker said, "Haha, all right. I was foolish. Then I'll go investigate why the Sixteenth Branch put a bounty on you. If it was the Marines' mistake, I still can't revoke the bounty. All I can offer you is an insignificant apology."

"You're right. The maintenance of authority must come at any cost. If you were in the Marines, I think we would have been friends... Tashigi, let's go. Give the East Blue Marines a surprise inspection!"

Smoker's expression carried a trace of mockery toward the Marines. That was simply the kind of man he was. It was precisely because of that that a Logia colonel trained at Headquarters had been assigned to a place like the East Blue. It was a complete waste of talent.

"Phew, they finally left. Seeing Marines the moment I opened the door really scared me..." Little Nami secretly stuck out her tongue.

Beep beep beep... Beep beep beep...

The Den Den Mushi sitting to one side suddenly began ringing.

"Who is this?" Ling Donglai picked up the Den Den Mushi and answered it. Its face began to change, mimicking the expression of the person on the other end.

The Den Den Mushi said, "Why is that Den Den Mushi in your hands? Who are you?" Its voice was calm and composed.

Ling Donglai said, "I took it. It's that simple."

The Den Den Mushi said, "That man was responsible for inviting the thirty-million-Beli martial artist at sea into our organization. So that must be you. You certainly act arrogantly, stealing things from our workshop."

Ling Donglai said, "Do you have a problem with that?"

The Den Den Mushi said, "Well... we'll let it go this time. Young people always like to rely on their strength and do whatever they please. Don't let there be a next time. When all is said and done, you're only worth thirty million... click!"

The call ended. The other party's number disappeared from the Den Den Mushi's record. It seemed they had already given up on contacting this Den Den Mushi again.

The Den Den Mushi in Ling Donglai's hand had become a truly blank Den Den Mushi.

"I thought these people would come looking for trouble." Ling Donglai put the Den Den Mushi back down and returned his attention to his ocean cookbook.

"Hahaha, Captain, you're an expert of the East Blue, after all. Taking a Den Den Mushi and a Log Pose is hardly a big deal." Nami leaned over Ling Donglai's shoulder, tilting her head as she looked at the ocean cookbook.

Nami said, "Captain really likes these books."

"Mm. I really like Sea Kings and other marine creatures." Ling Donglai nodded.

Nami said, "You mean in terms of eating them..."

"It's all the same." Ling Donglai did not care which meaning of "like" it was.

Either way, he was craving their bodies.

Rain began pattering outside the window. The storm Nami had mentioned had arrived. The sky was terrifyingly dark, and bolts of lightning roamed wildly through the clouds.

This was true heavenly might!

The storm raged for three days before finally subsiding. Nami and Ling Donglai also trained indoors for three days before leaving their room to explore Loguetown.

"I didn't expect even a prosperous place like Loguetown to have gangs."

The moment she stepped outside, Nami saw several knife-wielding men going from shop to shop collecting protection fees.

These were local bullies the Marines would not deal with, the local gang forces.

"Can these people who collect protection money actually protect you?" Ling Donglai asked the innkeeper beside him.

"Hahaha, we all do business with pirates, while these gangs do business with us. Their so-called protection just means they won't come harass us." The innkeeper tucked his sleeves together and leaned against the doorway.

"The greatest threat to businesses dealing with pirates is also pirates, but the Marines here deal with pirates who cause trouble.

"But the Marines won't deal with gangs causing trouble. Gang matters are handled by the constables.

"The constables can't beat the gangs, so all we can do is pay."

The innkeeper was full of resentment.

It meant that after working so hard to earn money, they still had to hand part of it over for nothing, just to keep others from disgusting them and wrecking their businesses.

"Our village had to pay pirates survival fees, but no Marines ever came to help us. You're so prosperous, and the Marines help you defeat pirates, yet forces like these gangs still emerged to oppress you..."

Nami folded her arms and bit her lip. "Is this world really normal?"

Ordinary people without power would forever be the ones oppressed.

"They're already used to living like this." Ling Donglai placed a hand on Nami's shoulder.

"Look, an absurd order has already been born."

In this world, there was no reason needed to become stronger.

Once, he had seen passion, struggle, hard work, friendship, love, stupidity, and comedy in this world.

But after coming to this world, everything Ling Donglai had once seen vanished.

All that remained was a dark reality that constantly clashed with his values.

At the moment he faced survival, Ling Donglai reconstructed his values.

Only by staying alive could he speak of everything that came afterward. Only then could he see what he wanted to see.

The moment he set sail, when he saw the first pirate ship, the boy holding a rusty katana spoke without hesitation:

"I want to join you—become a pirate!"

The captain said, "Is that so? Hahahaha, then get aboard!"

The first mate said, "Captain, why bring such a little brat aboard?"

The captain said, "Because I was like that back then, too. But I'm only responsible for giving him a chance. Whether he can continue being a pirate will depend on fate!"