Prepare to Set Sail

Samwell Island, docks.

Under the farewell escort of the local Peacekeepers, Garen, Nami, and Wallace together stepped onto their sea vessel.

Or rather, from this point forward, their sea vessel.

The ship's original owner was the Steel Cutlass Pirates, and it still flew their pirate flag—two crossed broadswords, a skull that wasn't particularly intimidating, and a composition that was utterly mediocre in design.

Garen wasn't a pirate, nor did he have any interest in becoming one, so the first thing he did upon boarding was to tear down that ugly pirate flag.

With Steel Cutlass himself already settled in a box, this pirate ship naturally became a prize for Garen to do with as he pleased.

But Garen himself wasn't satisfied with the vessel:

An ordinary two-masted, wind-powered wooden ship, its old sails stained with large patches of black and yellow grime, and the deck, long unwashed and unmaintained, was corroded into a sorry state by seawater.

Beyond the Steel Cutlass Pirates' hygiene issues, the ship was also in a state of severe disrepair:

One mast had clearly been broken off by an external force and crudely repaired with steel plates and nails—a write-off at best—while the deck and hull bore several large, scorched holes with blackened burn marks.

It was obvious the Steel Cutlass Pirates had been in a fierce cannon battle with some enemy before, and they hadn't finished repairs before rushing to Samwell Island to hunt down Nami, who had stolen their treasure.

The previous owner's poor maintenance left Garen, now the inheritor of this secondhand ship, with a major headache.

"Can't we just swap for another ship?"

Garen couldn't help but say to Nami:

"This ship is too shabby. I doubt it'll even make it out to sea before sinking to the bottom."

"Don't worry!"

Nami said, unconcerned:

"It's only the upper deck and port-side hull that are damaged. The mast, sails, rudder, and watertight compartments are all fine. It's perfectly seaworthy!"

"And besides,"

Nami's eyes began to gleam with two golden Beli symbols as she spoke:

"Double gun decks, an extra-long keel, spacious interior holds."

"Once this medium armed merchant ship gets a little touch-up, selling it off will bring in a huge profit!"

"I see."

Garen's eyes lit up as well:

"Counting it that way, my earnings won't stop at just ten million Beli!"

Garen emphasized the word "my" heavily.

"You're trying to hog it all? I clearly have a share too!"

Nami's face instantly darkened.

"While luring the monsters could barely count as a contribution,"

"I don't see why I have to split fifty-fifty with a temporary worker who owes me her life."

Garen said flatly, his petty hoarder instincts on full display:

"How about when we get to Loguetown, you try your luck at stealing both the ship and the money?"

"Hmph!"

Nami's face flushed slightly at his jab, and she could only respond with a harmless little snort.

As the Cat Burglar, always smooth and in control during her jobs, Nami was experiencing a feeling called "embarrassment" for the first time.

Because this "job" was different from the usual:

This Iron Can not only knew full well that she was a thief, but also seemed to have a vague understanding of her background and history.

Having your identity exposed was a thief's worst nightmare. In such a situation, the best solution was to flee far and wide immediately.

But Nami didn't want to leave.

Not just because of the ten million Beli she might get her hands on, but because—

For the first time, Nami had met a fool who knew she was a thief and still wanted to help her.

And for the first time, she had shed the identity of a thief and taken on a job called navigator.

Navigator, not Cat Burglar.

That was Nami's dream.

In just one day, she had felt a long-lost sense of warmth.

Thinking of this, Nami's lips unconsciously curled into a warm smile.

Then, Garen rudely interrupted her thoughts with a joke:

"Nami, if you want a share of the money,"

"Just sign on as the Knight's Lady. That's not a bad option either."

"Get lost!"

Nami's half-formed smile instantly froze on her face.

"Knight's Lady? Is this a proposal?"

Wallace, however, brightened, muttering to himself with a hint of excitement:

"So Lord Garen and Miss Nami's relationship has already developed to this stage?"

Wallace pushed up the frames of his glasses, then pulled out paper and pen from his bosom to silently record the moment.

Nami quietly leaned in to look, only to see that the earlier plotline of "the beautiful thief turning from darkness to light" had already been fleshed out by Wallace into a bizarre, twisting love story between a Knight of Justice and a villainous thief.

"Hey!"

Nami clenched her fists in shame and anger:

"Delete that part right now! Or I'll—"

Before her threat could leave her lips, Wallace replied without changing his expression:

"As a journalist, I will not abandon the truth just because of coercion!"

"Where's the truth in this?!"

Nami demanded, her face flushed red.

Wallace's demeanor remained calm:

"Appropriate plot emphasis can increase the readability of a news report."

"It's just a basic writing technique any reporter needs to master."

Nami was already too furious to speak.

Wallace, after finishing that passage, earnestly reviewed the manuscript in his hands, completely undisturbed by Nami's anger.

After a long while, Wallace snapped out of his focused work and asked with some concern:

"Miss Nami, which route are we taking this time?"

"How many days until we reach Loguetown?"

Garen's slaying of the ten-million-beri-class pirate Steel Cutlass was already a headline-grabbing piece of news in the weakest sea, the East Blue.

And the East Blue Daily, where Wallace worked, was a local newspaper specifically distributed throughout the East Blue region.

As an ambitious field reporter, having landed a big scoop, Wallace now only wanted to return to the newspaper as quickly as possible, using the fresh story of "the Knight of Justice, Garen" he had uncovered to prove his worth as a journalist.

A professional navigator at heart, Nami answered without hesitation the moment she was asked:

"This time I plan to sail along the route close to the Calm Belt. We can take advantage of the natural propulsion from the East Blue Current."

"Taking this route, we can reach Loguetown in two days—cutting the travel time in half compared to a passenger ship."

"Using the East Blue Current near the Calm Belt?"

Wallace, familiar with the customs and geography of the East Blue seas, immediately caught the hidden implications behind this, and couldn't help but praise:

"It seems Miss Nami has considerable skill in navigation!"

This route hugged the Calm Belt, where winds were capricious and weather patterns shifted unpredictably. One wrong move and a ship could be blown into the death zone of the Calm Belt to feed the Sea Kings.

Without a profound foundation in meteorology and oceanography, an ordinary navigator would never dare to risk leading a fleet along that route.

"Of course!"

"I'm the best navigator in the East Blue!"

Miss Nami accepted Wallace's praise without a hint of modesty.

"Excellent!"

Wallace said joyfully as well:

"News has a shelf life."

"With a navigator of Miss Nami's caliber leading the way, I can publish the Knight's heroic deeds as soon as possible!"

As he said this, Wallace pulled out paper and pen again, adding the trait of "genius navigator" to Miss Nami's persona of "the beautiful thief reformed by the Knight of Justice, who fell in love at first sight with the Knight."

Wallace couldn't help but mutter excitedly to himself:

"A powerful Knight of Justice and a beautiful thief with both brains and looks—this story has great selling points."

"Wait."

Nami finally came to her senses:

"What did you say you were going to publish?!"

Nami's fair cheeks flushed a deep crimson from shame and anger, and her clenched fist slowly approached Wallace's spotless gold-rimmed glasses:

"You actually want to put that kind of nonsense in the newspaper?!"

"Nonsense?"

Wallace calmly pushed up his glasses and said in a flat tone:

"I am a professional journalist. I naturally write truthful and thorough reports based on firsthand sources."

"So, I still have a few questions I'd like to interview Miss Nami about in person."

"Pfft!"

Nami disdainfully turned her head away: "I'm not answering."

The rest of her words suddenly caught in her throat.

Because a check with a long string of numbers was dangling leisurely before Nami's eyes.

"This is the interview fee. You can cash it at the East Sea Bank in Loguetown."

Wallace said without changing his expression:

"Of course, if there really isn't any story worth reporting between Miss Nami and Lord Garen..."

"I won't force it."

"Hmm—"

Nami hesitated for a moment, then a lovely smile immediately bloomed on her face:

"There is, there is—"

Nami took the check without a trace, then hid it in her chest's "Four-Dimensional Pocket" with lightning speed:

"Whatever story you want, I've got it."