At this moment, Can Yue and Luffy's group had already returned to the center of town.
Having personally witnessed Can Yue's terrifying strength, everyone reacted to him differently than before. Of course, Luffy was the exception. That guy was still bouncing around like a monkey.
Zoro walked up to Can Yue, drew Wado Ichimonji, planted it in the ground, and solemnly said to him, "Aside from Haki, I also want to learn swordsmanship from you."
Can Yue was not surprised. Zoro's goal in setting out to sea had been to pursue the pinnacle of swordsmanship; it was his promise to Kuina. It was perfectly natural for him to ask Can Yue to teach him so he could grow stronger.
Without much hesitation, Can Yue nodded in agreement.
When Luffy saw this, he ran over to join in. "Can Yue, aside from Haki training, can you train me in combat techniques too?"
"Sure."
After his fight with Buggy, Can Yue realized that this Pirate King world really was different from what he had known before crossing over. Buggy's combat strength was far greater than in the Pirate King world from his memories.
Thinking about it carefully, it made perfect sense. Buggy had been a crew member of the Pirate King and had spent so long making his way through the New World. How could he possibly not have learned combat techniques such as Haki?
Following that logic, any enemies they encountered later who had experience in the New World—or had been trained by powerful people—should be able to use Haki as well. Crocodile, Smoker, CP9, and the like.
The enemies they would encounter in the first half of the Grand Line should be considerably stronger than those in his memories.
Even with him around, their future voyage could not be called absolutely safe. To achieve their goals smoothly, training Luffy, Zoro, and the others to increase their strength had become very important.
Besides, Can Yue felt that he rather liked them. Helping them grow along the way would not be bad either.
After Luffy and Zoro, Nami also slowly approached Can Yue with awkward little steps.
Can Yue looked calm, but his body was already prepared to dodge Nami's grabby hands if necessary.
"Can Yue... Big Brother, could you please do me a favor? I've prepared the payment already. That bag of treasure Chouchou is carrying right now is worth about ten million Beli."
Can Yue realized she was not here to take advantage of him and immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Then he thought about it more carefully. Something was wrong. Betrothal gift!
Good grief, was she proposing directly? Sesshomaru's charm was absurdly high.
Can Yue suddenly became curious about how Sesshomaru had handled so many confessions from the opposite sex back in the Demon Realm. It could not be that he had killed them all, could it?
The atmosphere instantly became awkward, because everyone had heard the words "betrothal gift."
Zoro looked utterly bewildered, wondering where this woman had come from and how she could be so shameless.
At this moment, Luffy's unique train of thought kicked in again.
"Whoa, that's so much money! It could buy one whole me! What do you want Can Yue to help you with?"
Then Luffy stared at that huge bag of treasure like a monkey, drooling in excitement.
"Oh my god, how much meat could that buy? Can Yue, just agree to help her! Then our pirate crew will have money!"
Luffy defused the awkward atmosphere.
Taking advantage of Luffy's words, Nami gathered her courage and began to speak.
"It concerns my hometown, and a Fish-Man Pirates crew..."
As night gradually darkened, Nami finally finished telling her story. She asked Can Yue to wipe out the Arlong Pirates and save her village, offering that enormous bag of treasure as payment.
At that point, everyone present understood.
Even though Nami had left out many details, everyone felt intense anger toward the Arlong Pirates.
Can Yue naturally knew the whole story. Yet while telling it, Nami had omitted everything about herself and her adoptive mother. This woman was quite strong.
"Then, Big Brother Can Yue, can you help me?"
Just as Can Yue was about to answer, Luffy's voice rang out.
"Help her, definitely! I'm going to punch those bastard fish-men who bully the villagers into the sky. When this is over, Nami, you can be our navigator."
Hearing that, Can Yue smiled slightly and replied to Nami as well, "I was thinking the same thing. That little bit of money isn't enough to hire me. You can work off the rest by becoming our navigator."
The main reason was that Can Yue truly did not know anything about navigation. On top of that, they had two directionally challenged people. Going to the Grand Line would definitely be impossible without Nami.
Nami struggled for a moment. Because she hated pirates, her first instinct was to refuse. But when she thought of her experiences with Luffy and Zoro, that feeling of rejection immediately weakened.
Then several images of Can Yue fighting flashed through Nami's mind, and she instantly nodded, agreeing to it.
If I become the navigator on this ship, won't I get to see that seductive face every day? Oh my god! I'm so happy!
At that thought, Nami's gaze turned dreamy again.
When Can Yue saw it, he calmly shifted several steps away from Nami.
With the matter settled, the Straw Hat Pirates had accepted their first paid job.
At that moment, Zoro suddenly mocked her. "Hmph, this woman called payment a betrothal gift. What kind of love-struck logic is that?"
Hearing that, Nami looked bewildered at first, then immediately realized what had happened. Her face instantly turned red as an apple.
Oh no, what had she just said?
"Ahh, how embarrassing!" Nami shouted, then slapped Zoro across the face.
Zoro looked completely confused. Then green killing intent rose around him as he glared at Nami.
"You woman, you..." Before Zoro could finish his threat, Nami's embarrassed iron fist struck him again.
The cheerful atmosphere gradually subsided. The Mayor had finally caught his breath, and after sorting through everything that had happened, he realized that this group before him had defeated Clown Buggy and saved his town.
Although the island's terrain had changed, the town had indeed been restored.
Thinking of this, the Mayor walked before them, tears in the corners of his eyes, and bowed.
"To thank you all for your help, on behalf of every resident of Orange Town, I would like to hold a banquet for you."
The moment Luffy heard there would be a banquet, he eagerly agreed.
Can Yue and Zoro had no objections either, so the Mayor and the pig butcher couple ran toward the townspeople's shelter to have everyone begin preparing for the banquet.
Can Yue's group followed behind at an unhurried pace.
At that moment, Zoro asked Luffy, "How did you learn Armament Haki so quickly?"
Luffy laughed. "The situation was urgent then. I thought I had to use it, so I did. I can't do it now, though. Don't believe me? Look."
With that, Luffy used Armament Hardening as much as he could, but less than half of his hand could be coated in Armament Haki.
Zoro compared their results and found that Luffy was about at his own level. He let out a sigh of relief. "I knew there was no way you could be that much more talented than me."
Can Yue watched the scene, smiled faintly, and said,
"After the banquet, we continue training."
"Okay!"
Before you continue