Garen's Brainless Fan

"Good and evil clearly distinguished, actions measured!"

"Truly worthy of a righteous Knight!"

The young reporter had somehow already sidled up to Garen, speaking again in a tone brimming with reverence:

"Sir Garen, greetings!"

He uttered the name he'd heard earlier from Nami, then introduced himself with utmost respect:

"I am Michael Wallace, a field reporter for the East Blue Daily."

"Wallace, huh."

Garen's expression twisted oddly as he said, "Sounds like someone who chases big scoops."

Wallace's eyes lit up, and he replied:

"Sir Garen's insight is truly sharp!"

"Reporting earth-shaking news that stuns the world—that is the dream I've pursued my entire life!"

Wallace's opening words were sincere praise, leaving Garen's big face unsure where to put itself.

Having barely escaped death, Wallace had already tidied up his appearance, twisted by terror moments before; though dust still clung to his clothes and his short golden hair was slightly disheveled, he still carried himself like an elegant, elite gentleman.

Being flattered and fawned over by someone like this was indeed a strange sensation.

But Wallace's admiration wasn't over yet.

He gazed at the pirate corpses strung up on the dock's flagpoles and said with some emotion:

"Not only are you, Sir Knight, wise and valiant, but you also treat money like dirt!"

"To deter those petty pirate scum, you willingly forgo such a generous reward."

"What?"

Nami, who had been quietly fuming on the sidelines, suddenly perked up. Her beautiful, watery eyes instantly sparkled with the golden gleam of cash.

From Wallace's praise, she caught a keyword that struck the very core of her soul:

"Money? Where?"

Wallace pointed at Steel Cutlass, already hoisted onto the flagpole, and said casually:

"Miss, didn't you know?"

"Turning in that Steel Cutlass's head can fetch a bounty of ten million Beli!"

"What? Ten million Beli?"

This time it was Garen who yelped in shock.

Garen didn't yet know the purchasing power of Beli.

But the staggering number of ten million surely meant he could escape the tragic fate of surviving on stolen meals.

Nami and Garen exchanged a glance, and a silent understanding was reached in that meeting of eyes.

A moment later...

"Ahem."

Garen stepped forward and said to the middle-aged Peacekeeper busy hanging bodies:

"On second thought, this is still a public place with people coming and going."

"Steel Cutlass's death face is too ugly; it'll ruin the city's appearance."

"Better take him down."

More bustling ensued.

Garen dragged the unseeing Steel Cutlass back, his face brimming with excitement as he asked Wallace:

"Where do I cash in this bounty?"

"Uh..."

Wallace's expression turned a bit odd, but he answered seriously:

"Ten million Beli is no small sum; you'd need to go to a Marine branch of sufficient scale to exchange it."

"Although there's a qualifying Marine branch nearby, considering all the factors involved..."

"I'd recommend you sail a bit further to Loguetown, where Marine Headquarters troops are stationed, to claim the bounty."

Loguetown was far away, and with a Marine base nearby, going out of one's way to claim the bounty there seemed unwise.

But as a reporter familiar with the East Blue's situation, how could Wallace not know what those so-called local Marine branches were really like?

Because the World Government and Marine Headquarters had weak control over the grassroots, local Marine branches effectively became independent kingdoms for the local Marine officers—a system not unlike the Ming Dynasty's local garrison system.

With power in hand and no oversight, nine out of ten local Marine officers would degenerate into greedy, tyrannical, and lawless petty warlords.

Any seasoned Pirate Hunter wouldn't risk cashing in a bounty at such a black shop bearing the Marine sign; even if they were strong enough to avoid being cheated, they might still be framed as attacking Marines by those corrupt officers and forced to become pirates.

"Loguetown?"

Garen was still unaware of the social context behind this, but the familiar name piqued his interest:

"Is that Loguetown, where the Pirate King met his end?"

"That's the one!"

Nami, however, quietly sidled up to Garen and added with a slight smile:

"You don't know the sea routes, do you?"

"No worries—I'm the best navigator in the East Blue!"

As she said this, Miss Nami's eyes were fixed intently on the corpse dangling from Garen's hand.

Or rather, the ten million Beli.

Nami's smile grew more genuine, her large eyes curving into shallow crescents:

"Hire me as your navigator—the price is very reasonable."

"Just four million—no, five million Beli will do!"

"..."

Garen silently turned his head away: "Can't afford it. No money!"

"I don't care!"

Nami, unfazed by the grime, grabbed hold of the Steel Cutlass corpse's clothing and pressed on stubbornly:

"I helped out just now too—half that bounty should be mine!"

"Half for you?"

Garen retorted flatly:

"You only helped make the game harder for me, didn't you?"

"You!"

Nami puffed her cheeks into round, bouncy ping-pong balls.

She had only survived thanks to Garen's intervention, so she couldn't really argue that point.

But a few breaths later, a sudden tenderness crept into Nami's eyes, soft as water.

She gently brushed aside her slightly disheveled short orange hair, flaunting the feminine charm of her full figure, her voice turning syrupy and delicate:

"Knight, I am the 'Knight's Lady' you seek."

"Stop right there!"

"I barely know you!"

Having been tricked several times in a row, Garen flatly ignored Nami's acting:

"Besides, I can't even afford a meal—what use would a wife be?!"

After this exchange between the two money-grubbers, Wallace's gaze toward Garen grew even stranger.

The faint twitching of his facial muscles hinted at a crumbling faith.

"Ahem."

Garen felt a bit embarrassed under that stare.

He put on a bold face and started spinning lies:

"Wallace."

"Do you think I'm taking this bounty because I'm greedy for wealth and obsessed with pleasure?"

"Huh?"

Wallace's expression froze, and the reverence in his eyes for Garen suddenly solidified again:

"Could it be that Lord Garen has a deeper consideration?"

"Exactly."

Garen's expression turned solemn and devout, his demeanor as noble as a saint's:

"True justice means that the wicked receive their due punishment, and the good receive their proper reward."

"That's true..."

Wallace nodded in agreement.

But Garen's lecture wasn't over yet.

He cleared his throat and spoke with grave seriousness:

"Wallace, I must tell you two little stories about 'the distinction between righteousness and profit.'"

"In the distant land of Lu, there was a great merchant named Duanmu Ci Zigong."

"And his teacher was the renowned sage Confucius Qiu Zhongni."

Garen mimicked the manner of a high school Chinese teacher, explaining the stories of "Zigong Redeems a Person" and "Zilu Receives a Cow" to Wallace in simple, vivid terms.

Wallace was instantly captivated by these concise yet meaningful little tales.

The look in his eyes as he gazed at Garen was even more reverent than before, and he excitedly pulled out his notebook to jot down Garen's every golden saying:

"I never imagined—"

Wallace exclaimed with tears of admiration in his eyes:

"Knight Garen, you are not only a moral paragon but also a giant of thought!"

"No!"

"I am merely a child picking up seashells on the shore, fortunate enough to stand on the shoulders of giants."

Garen casually dropped another famous quote, feigning profundity as he sighed:

"The petty man speaks of profit; the noble man speaks of virtue."

"Yet to practice great benevolence, the small lies in virtue, and the great lies in profit."

"The bounty is a great profit meant to encourage everyone to act righteously, not a small profit for me alone."

"If someone personally gave me money, I would naturally look down on it; but a bounty, I have no choice but to accept with pain in my heart!"

"All this is to uphold justice!"

So this was how great Knight Garen truly was!

Clearly a solitary knight who refused to blend in with the vulgar world, yet he bore humiliation and burden to practice great righteousness, willingly staining himself with the stench of coin!

Wallace was already choked up, unable to speak, hurriedly scribbling down Garen's noble words and deeds in his notebook.

He had completely taken the knight before him as a moral exemplar, and in his mind, the article reporting on Garen had already taken a long, detailed shape.

Nami watched from the side, the corner of her mouth twitching.

She wanted to crack open this young reporter's skull and see just how much water had seeped into his brain.

Once Wallace had finished recording all his lecture notes with swift strokes of his pen, he looked up at Garen again and sighed:

"My thinking was too shallow—I actually mistook you for a vulgar man greedy for wealth!"

"No harm done."

Garen had gotten used to dropping quotes in front of Wallace: "To know one's fault and correct it is the greatest good."

"I'm sorry!"

Wallace bowed his head in sincere apology, then pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and tore it to shreds right in front of Garen and Nami.

"What are you doing?"

Garen asked, puzzled.

Wallace tossed the shredded paper aside and said in a tone brimming with reverence:

"Just now, I was blind and misjudged Knight Garen."

"I had originally planned to use a check for one million Beli to repay your life-saving kindness."

"Now that I think about it, that kind of trivial 'small profit' is an insult to your noble righteousness!"

"A check?"

Garen was momentarily stunned.

"One million Beli?"

Nami clenched her fists.

The two exchanged a glance, and in silent agreement, their hearts ached at the same time.