At that moment, Nami seemed to suddenly remember something. She turned to Will, who was standing nearby, and asked with a curious look:
"By the way, we still don't know your name."
Carina also looked over. She didn't say anything, but there was a hint of curiosity in her gaze.
"My name..."
Will fell silent for a moment, then answered calmly:
"I'm Will. Aster Will."
"Aster Will..."
Nami didn't recognize the name, but didn't think much of it. She smiled.
"Then I'll call you Will."
"Mm."
Will nodded slightly. He didn't particularly care. It was just a name, after all.
Carina, who had hoped to glean some information from his name, was surprised to find it completely unfamiliar.
"With his personality, he probably wouldn't deliberately give us a fake name."
"But I've never heard that name anywhere in the East Blue."
"How could someone this strong be completely unknown?"
"Did he only recently come here from outside the East Blue?"
Carina pondered silently, several possibilities crossing her mind.
Will had no idea what Carina was thinking.
When the two finished chatting,
he walked over to the four pirates bound together, his gaze thoughtful.
Anyone who kills often knows that killing is easy, but dealing with the bodies is hard.
Killing them right there on the ship would risk dirtying or damaging the deck.
Taking them back to the island to dispose of them would be too much trouble.
Fortunately, these men were vile pirates, so he could be a little less particular about how he dealt with them.
Once Will had decided what to do, he grabbed the rope and hauled all the pirates up together.
After spinning around twice on the spot, he suddenly let go.
The pirates shot through the air like shot puts, arcing straight into the sea.
"Since they're pirates, I'll let them return to the embrace of the sea."
Will said it casually.
Then he turned and headed into the cabin to inspect the ship and get it ready to set sail.
Seeing this, Nami nodded in approval.
"Exactly! That's how you should treat those awful pirates."
Carina didn't seem to care. She silently followed Will into the cabin.
Nami seemed to remember something and hurried after them.
"Wait! I almost forgot about all the treasure on board!"
The three of them disappeared into the cabin, and the sea grew calm once more.
Only the bubbles still rising across the distant water remained.
Before long, they disappeared, too.
The three of them entered the cabin and found it very spacious.
Even Will, with his tall frame, could walk around without feeling cramped.
That was probably because Treasure was also a big man.
The interior had been designed and built to better suit his size.
As it happened, that made things convenient for Will. He didn't have to stoop or hunch over and could move freely around the ship.
At the very back of the lower deck, Will pushed open a particularly heavy door.
Light spilled in from the side, revealing piles of glittering treasure to all three of them.
"Wow! There's so much money in here!"
Nami and Carina's eyes lit up at the sight. They couldn't help exclaiming in unison.
By comparison,
the small amount of treasure they had happened to steal from Treasure's men earlier was nothing.
Will was a little surprised, too, but he didn't show much excitement.
He knew perfectly well that
as long as he was strong enough, all the treasure on the seas could be his. He didn't need to worry about running out of money.
So as long as he had enough, money was all the same to him. More didn't mean much.
Seeing the two women dash over and start gleefully scooping up treasure, their eyes shining,
Will said, "Since you both like treasure so much,"
"you can manage all the money on the ship from now on."
"Huh?! You want us to manage it?"
Nami and Carina exclaimed together, looking surprised.
Then they both looked displeased and turned to stare at each other.
"That's right. You two can take care of it. I'm not interested in money."
Will paid no attention to their little spat. He finished speaking and left the Treasure Room.
He crossed the corridor and went up the stairs.
Will slowly made his way past one room after another, finally stopping in front of the Captain's Room.
He opened the door and went inside. The room didn't look particularly messy.
Will rummaged through the room, looking for anything of greater value.
Click—
The desk drawer was locked when he tried to pull it open. Will's eyes lit up.
He didn't bother looking for a key.
He simply poked a finger through the keyhole, easily breaking the lock, then opened the drawer and took out a rolled-up map.
He untied the cord and spread it across the desk, then leaned over to study it.
"This is... a Sea Chart of the Grand Line?"
Looking at the rough, jumbled notes on it,
Will realized that most of the information recorded on the chart concerned parts of the Grand Line and its sea routes.
"Great. With this chart and Buggy's, sailing through the Grand Line should be a lot easier."
A satisfied smile appeared on Will's face. He didn't continue studying it alone, but rolled it back up and put it away.
"I'll give it to Nami to study later. The professionals should handle the things they're good at."
Will didn't linger.
He opened the door and headed back toward the Treasure Room.
When Will returned to the Treasure Room,
he handed the Sea Chart to Nami, who was lying on a pile of gold coins, and asked her to study it.
He also asked Carina, who was counting money nearby, to sort through the documents about intelligence in the Captain's Room.
Meanwhile, he began tidying up the ship's assorted useless items.
He threw them all into the sea.
Night fell.
In a good mood because of the treasure, Nami volunteered to cook.
After the three of them finished dinner, they didn't chat much longer.
Each chose a clean room to rest in and ease the day's fatigue.
Will lay back on the bed and checked the Purity Points he had earned that day.
[Obtained 2000 Purity Points] [Purity Points: 23400]
According to the system,
the Purity Points earned after each battle depended on the target's strength and willpower.
And killing a target granted more Purity Points than defeating one.
So Will was fairly satisfied with what he had gained from this battle.
However, he had no plans to draw talents or skills for the time being.
After "hearing" that the two women in the other rooms had fallen asleep,
Will slowly closed his eyes, regulated his breathing, and quickly drifted off to sleep.
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