"I was so foolish, truly..."
Roman raised his lifeless eyes and continued.
"I only knew Luffy was an idiot with zero navigation skills. I didn't know someone else was the same..."
"Early this morning, I set the ship sailing and told someone to steer. He looked very reliable, with sharp eyes and a serious expression. When I finished breakfast and asked where we were, there was no answer. I went out to look, and we were already in completely unfamiliar waters..."
Roman could only keep sighing, unable to form a complete sentence.
"HAHAHAHA~~~~"
Luffy rolled around the deck laughing. "What the heck, Zoro? So you're directionally challenged!"
The swordsman who had looked 'very reliable' widened his eyes. "How can you slander me out of nowhere...?"
"What slander? Didn't you say it yourself? You couldn't find your way home because you got lost, and you had no money, so you had no choice but to become a 'Pirate Hunter'..."
Zoro's face reddened, veins bulging on his forehead as he argued:
"Traveling doesn't count as getting lost... Traveling! ... Can a swordsman's business count as getting lost?"
Then came incomprehensible lines like "Death is like the wind, always by my side," and "The blade cuts the flesh, the heart cuts the soul"...
If I'd known, I would've kept that Koby guy around.
Rubbing his temples, Roman forced himself to ignore the two navigation idiots fooling around on deck. He spread out the sea chart, calculating their position while adjusting their course.
"No, I need to find a navigator as soon as possible. Otherwise, I'll be tied up with this bullshit all day long..."
Was he supposed to stop training? Stop developing his Devil Fruit?
"And we need to recruit a chef soon too. Every day, I have to sail the ship and cook for these two. Anyone who knows us says we're pirates; anyone who doesn't would think I'm their nanny!?"
As Roman sailed, he tried hard to 'recall' things. Navigator Nami, Chef Sanji...
Where were those two unlucky kids right now?
"Wow, Zoro, Roman,"
"Look, there's a bird in the sky!"
"Stop bothering me. Why don't you tell me there's an airplane in the sky too?"
"Gum-Gum..."
"Rocket—"
Roman could not be bothered with Luffy's antics. Instead, he seriously considered the 'dangers' they would face later: Loguetown, Crocodile, Gecko Moria, Sky Island, and... What a headache.
With so many powerful enemies, were they supposed to rely on Luffy 'getting plot armor' every time?
Absolutely not! Acting cautiously and preparing thoroughly was Roman's style. Otherwise, he would not have survived until now—
"Ahhh, I'm stuck~~~~"
"Help, Roman!"
?
"What are you two doing now—"
??
Fly, fly, flew away...
Following the sound, Roman looked up and saw Luffy being 'carried' away at high speed in the beak of a giant bird. He sharply drew another breath!
Numb. Numb...
His whole body had gone numb!
"Are you out of your goddamn mind, huh?!"
A Devil Fruit user—someone who would die if he fell into the water! Out on the vast sea, what the hell gave him the courage to fool around like this? A six-eyed flying fish?!
"Zoro, come steer the ship."
He had decided. Once he got that guy back, he would beat him senseless with the Chainsaw Shield!
Paper Dance—Wings!
Rustle, rustle.
Two pure white wings made of paper appeared behind Roman's back, instantly transforming him into a 'birdman' as he soared into the sky.
"Hey, hey, hey, I don't know directions~~"
The shout from behind nearly made Roman, who had just shot into the air, plunge headfirst into the sea. He was finally beginning to wonder whether he had boarded the wrong ship...
Whoosh—
Thunk!
A feather-shaped sheet of white paper flew back and embedded itself in the deck. As it swayed in the wind, it pointed like a compass toward Roman in the sky. His fading voice followed:
"Sail in the direction it points—I'm going after that idiot Luffy first!"
"I was so foolish, truly."
Having turned into a 'Sister Xianglin,' Roman desperately 'flapped' his wings, streaking through the sky like a giant bird. But:
He was human, not a bird. Even with the flight ability granted by the Paper-Paper Fruit, he could not compare with a real bird. Even at full speed, he could only trail far behind.
Besides, Roman had only obtained his Devil Fruit a few months ago. His development of it was not advanced enough to pull off many fancy maneuvers...
"I hope that bird has enough stamina to make it to land."
That was all Roman could do to comfort himself. If the bird 'carrying' Luffy ran out of strength and plunged into the sea... then Roman, another Devil Fruit-eating 'landlubber,' could only stare helplessly.
"How did I let such an idiot talk me into getting on this ship?"
Though Roman complained aloud, he kept beating his wings behind him while also thinking of a solution for such 'situations' in the future.
"Looks like I need to get hold of that thing as soon as possible..."
And so, Roman raced through the sky after the bird and Luffy ahead of him!
Along the way, he ignored three unlucky people struggling in the sea and flew for half a day. Just as Roman was drenched in sweat, exhausted, and lamenting that his life was over, a patch of yellowish-brown appeared in the distance.
Land!
In an instant, both the exhausted Roman and the bird ahead suddenly accelerated! As long as they reached there, as long as they reached that place...
Boom!
Hm?
As he drew closer, a small coastal town came into view. The bird that had just flown above the town fell straight down with a boom and a trail of smoke. It had apparently been shot down by a cannon—and that included Luffy, whom it had been carrying.
"Nice shot!"
Watching his own captain get blasted down, Roman landed on the dock, clapped, and loudly cheered. He wished the other side would fire a few more shots at him.
Wonderful~~
"Huff, huff~~"
"That idiot..." Roman caught his breath and looked in the direction of the 'crash,' then shook his head. "What danger could there possibly be once he's on land?"
He would get some water and rest first, then go see whether Idiot Number One was dead yet!
Come to think of it, whether Idiot Number Two could successfully sail the ship here was a truly serious question...
In only a few days, Luffy and Zoro's images in Roman's mind had fallen again and again, nearly breaking through the bottom line. It made Roman suspect that without anyone else around, the state those two ended up in would surely be beyond imagination!
"Hey, you're strong. How about we work together?"
On the streets of the town, several bruised and battered pirates lay sprawled on the ground, while Luffy, completely unharmed, dusted off his pants.
On a nearby rooftop sat a short-haired orange-haired girl, watching with interest as Luffy easily beat down several pirates.
"Who are you?"
In response to Luffy's question, the girl held a rolled-up sea chart in one hand and made a money gesture with the thumb and index finger of the other.
"I'm Nami,"
"A thief who specializes in stealing from pirates."
"I have a sea chart of the Grand Line. Let's work together."
The girl named Nami proposed, "I'll make the plans, and you'll handle the fighting. We split the profits seventy-thirty afterward... How about it, boss?"
Anyone would think this girl knew how to do business. He got seventy percent, while she only took thirty. Since she was so cute, it would not be impossible to give her another ten percent...
"I don't want to. I won't work with you!"
Unfortunately, the person she faced was not a 'normal person,' but a tough-as-steel... rubber straight man who truly regarded money and beauty as passing clouds!
Faced with Luffy's firm refusal as he turned to leave, Nami hurriedly jumped down from the roof.
"Wait, how about I give you another five percent? ... Fine, fine, an eighty-twenty split. I can't give you any less..."
"Huh, you got separated from your companions?"
"Yeah, Roman and Zoro."
On the second floor of an empty town restaurant, Luffy sat across from the girl named Nami.
"Zoro is a very powerful swordsman! Roman is a serious..."
The moment he thought of Roman, Luffy slumped onto the table like a deflated balloon.
"It's over, it's over. Roman is definitely going to beat me up~~"
And it hurt like hell when he did—
"Why? Aren't you companions?"
"Because I got carried away by a bird..."
???
What kind of bullshit reason was that... Nami was speechless. He might as well have said, "My bird got carried away," and it would have sounded more believable!
This Straw Hat Youth was clearly very strong, but there seemed to be something wrong with his brain...
If Roman were here, he would definitely tell Nami to be more confident and remove the "seemed."
"Forget that. Back to business:"
"With this sea chart, I can go to the Grand Line and steal those pirates' treasure. I'm sure I'll soon save up one hundred million Beli and buy my village..."
Hm?
"Do you have extensive navigation knowledge?"
With Luffy, if you called him stupid, he really did act like an idiot a lot of the time. But when it came to critical moments, he was always the best at grasping the key point! Just like now: after only a few words, he had already gained a clear understanding of the girl before him—her nature and her strengths.
"Of course." The orange-haired girl Nami wore an expression of absolute confidence!
"When it comes to navigation knowledge, I won't lose to anyone."
"That's great! We're going to the Grand Line too, so become our navigator!"
"Really?"
"Of course! Our pirate crew is definitely the World's Greatest—"
"No way!"
??
"Tch, so you're a pirate after all~~"
The girl Nami, who had been enthusiastic only moments ago, stood up with an annoyed expression and waved her hand.
"Forget it. I'm not working with you."
"Why?"
This time, Luffy wore an expression full of question marks. Why had the girl who had just been trying so hard to recruit him suddenly turned hostile?
Could it be—
"Listen carefully. In this world, what I hate most is pirates!"
"What I like is money and oranges,"
The girl planted both hands on the table, furious.
"Even if I die! Even if I die outside, jump from here—"
"I will never board your ship!"
PS: I received the contract notice. I'll mail the contract tomorrow. Please invest, recommend, or whatever...
Before you continue