Little Nami

In the distance, a small figure hid behind an orange tree, her little face flushed as she watched Lin Qi and Bellemere's retreating backs.

Little Nami could not hear what they were saying, but seeing her adoptive mother being pinned to the ground, she vaguely seemed to understand something.

"Bellemere... found me a new dad?!"

"Hey, Nami, what are you looking at?"

A small figure suddenly patted Nami from behind, startling her so badly she jumped.

Nami hurriedly grabbed the girl and covered her mouth.

"Shh! Nojiko, don't make noise. Remember the picture book we read last time? Bellemere is doing embarrassing things with a man."

"What? In broad daylight..."

Nojiko's words came to an abrupt stop. The two of them were simply positioned far too suggestively.

Bellemere was lying facedown on the ground with her butt raised, while Lin Qi happened to be behind her, pinning down both her legs with his calves and gripping the back of her neck.

"Wah, Bellemere actually... how thrilling."

No, she could not let Nami learn bad things.

Nojiko grabbed Nami's arm and forcibly dragged her away.

Elsewhere.

"Madam, you don't want your daughters to go hungry, do you?"

"Madam, you don't want your daughters to keep living without enough food or warm clothes, do you?"

Bellemere's face went deathly pale at Lin Qi's words. "What exactly do you want?"

"Very simple. Come into the woods with me and do as I say."

Nami and Nojiko's adorable faces kept flashing through Bellemere's mind. She gritted her teeth. "Fine, I'll listen to you."

Bellemere was led into the woods by Lin Qi, and only then did Nami and Nojiko jump out from behind the orange tree.

"Sigh, Bellemere, honestly. It's broad daylight, and she's actually... that desperate."

"Pah! Don't talk about Bellemere like that. Maybe they're just going in there to talk," Nami retorted.

Do not let their young age fool you. Thanks to having a woman as open-minded as Bellemere around them, Nami and Nojiko were already far too worldly for their years.

"Tch. What kind of chatting requires going deep into the woods? Are they discussing state secrets or something?"

Nojiko was rather worried about her adoptive mother suddenly finding a man.

What if he was a bad person?

Half an hour...

One hour...

A full two hours passed, and Bellemere and Lin Qi still had not come out. Nojiko could not help worrying.

"It's been two hours. Can Bellemere's body even take it?"

Nami went wild. "Why is your little head full of dirty thoughts?"

At that moment, Lin Qi finally appeared again.

He recalled the information he had gotten from Bellemere.

Thanks to Bellemere's gossip-loving nature, she knew even more than he had expected.

The place where it would be easiest for him to become a King was actually the West Sea.

The West Sea, the most chaotic sea among the Four Seas, also happened to have no real experts.

To put it simply: a bunch of weaklings who loved to fight each other.

As a result, the people of most Kingdoms in the West Sea lived in misery. Whether King or commoner, everyone had a difficult life.

Many Kings who cared only about pleasure were even willing to sell their thrones. As long as you paid, they would sell.

And there were quite a few Kings like that in the West Sea.

He could become a King through entirely legitimate means.

"All right, it looks like becoming a King is easier than I thought."

He adjusted his clothes as he walked out of the woods.

His Justice Cape had been knocked crooked during his fight with Nojiko earlier.

Nojiko was in even worse shape. That earlier blow had left her clothes covered in mud, which had now dried and clung to her body uncomfortably.

She could not take them off, either. If she took off any more, she would have nothing left to wear.

"You two little ones, you've watched the show long enough. Come out."

With his Observation Haki, Lin Qi had noticed the two little ones immediately.

"That's amazing! How did you find us?"

Nami and Nojiko openly jumped out.

"You must be Nami and Nojiko. So cute."

Lin Qi smiled and rubbed their foreheads.

"What should we call you?" Nami asked, blinking her big watery eyes.

"Call me Dad."

So he really was their father!

The two little girls fell into utter shock.

"Da..."

Just as Nami hesitated over whether to say it, a fist swung in from the side.

"Bastard, don't teach children bad things!"

Bellemere said angrily, "Don't listen to his nonsense. Call him Big Brother."

"Haha, don't be so scary. It was just a joke."

Lin Qi crouched down and pinched Nami's little cheeks. "Little Nami is so cute. Big Brother has a gift for you."

A valuable Ruby Brooch was pinned to Nami's chest.

"Wow, it's so pretty."

Little Nami's eyes seemed to sparkle. She hugged Lin Qi and gave him a loud kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, Big Brother. Actually, I wouldn't mind if you wanted to court Bellemere."

"Idiot!" Veins bulged on Bellemere's forehead. This girl had been bought off with a single Ruby Brooch.

Nojiko, meanwhile, looked at Nami enviously.

"Oh, right. You two have gifts too."

Lin Qi handed two rings and a large handful of Gold Coins to Bellemere and Nojiko.

"Exchange the Gold Coins for Berries. It should be enough for you to eat for a few years. Buy the kids more food and clothes. Look how skinny they are."

Lin Qi had noticed that the mother and her two daughters were not living well. Their clothes were covered in patch after patch, and they were all very thin.

Nami's greed for money after growing up was probably because she had been terrified of poverty as a child.

He did not want to give them more, but he understood that possessing a treasure invited disaster.

There were no secrets that stayed hidden forever.

"Thank you, Big Brother," Nojiko said sweetly upon receiving her gift.

"Thank you. I won't stand on ceremony, then."

This money would help Bellemere greatly. She had always felt guilty for failing to provide Nami and Nojiko with a good living environment.

All of a sudden, the man before her did not seem quite so hateful.

"All right, we'll meet again if fate allows, little Nami." Lin Qi vigorously kneaded Nami's little cheeks.

It had to be said that Nami was far too adorable as a child.

He had nearly turned into a child trafficker.

Before leaving, he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right. If you ever meet a Fish-Man named Arlong in the future, tell him you're under Night Hawk's protection."

"Oh, okay."

Bellemere found the man's words baffling, but she still remembered them.

Lin Qi seemed rather mysterious to her.

When they left, the Warship was loaded with oranges.

"Can you even finish eating so many oranges?" Smoker asked, popping Sugar Oranges into his mouth one after another.

"It's fine. I'm rich. I'll eat one and throw away two."

Smoker: "..."

Could they still have a pleasant conversation together?

His mission in the East Blue was basically complete.

Next, he only needed to meet two more people, send Hina home, and then he could return.

As for Garp's gift for Luffy, Smoker could just have one of his subordinates deliver it.

"The Man Who Will Become a Marine Admiral."

There was no way Luffy would read this book.