Ah~, Nami

"Correct."

The Purple-Haired Girl nodded solemnly in reply.

"That guy is a Devil Fruit user. He can summon unbreakable chains from his hands to attack and defend."

"As for the rest, I don't know much."

"All I know is that this pirate crew seems to have just arrived in the East Blue recently, apparently searching for some treasure."

"Devil Fruit?!"

The Orange-Haired Girl beside her had already snapped back to her senses by now. Hearing this, she was once again stunned.

Because she had always thought Devil Fruits were just a rumor on the sea, not something that actually existed.

But that guy's special ability to summon chains out of thin air could clearly be explained by a Devil Fruit.

Thinking this, she couldn't help but glance at the Purple-Haired Girl, a flicker of contemplation in her eyes.

"I didn't expect this fellow thief, that Female Fox, to have gathered even more detailed intel than I have."

"No wonder I'd never seen those people in the East Blue, yet they had so much treasure and were this strong."

"So they only recently came from outside the East Blue."

"Chains?"

Will, upon hearing about this ability, suddenly thought of something.

So he directly asked:

"You two, what are your names?"

Suddenly asked for their names, the two girls were a bit surprised, but they had no intention of lying or hiding it.

Because neither of them were famous pirates.

And neither carried a high bounty on their heads.

So they weren't too worried about him recognizing them.

Thus, the two spoke in turn:

"My name is Nami."

"Carina."

Their answers immediately confirmed what Will had been thinking.

Looking at the Orange-Haired Girl who called herself Nami, he couldn't help but inwardly sigh:

"Ah~, Nami."

As an adventurer preparing to set sail and seek out strong opponents to fight, Will had previously tried to teach himself navigation-related knowledge.

Unfortunately, he had no talent in that area—the knowledge in the books just wouldn't enter his brain.

So he decisively gave up on self-study.

Instead, he planned to directly find a professional navigator to assist him.

Having seen the original story, Will didn't even think twice. He immediately decided to find Nami, who was still in the East Blue, to be his navigator.

But before he could even act, she unexpectedly appeared right in front of him.

What is surprise?

This is surprise—it practically fell into his lap without any effort.

As for the consequences and changes this might cause, Will didn't care at all.

He had finally made it to the world of One Piece.

Gained the chance to keep growing stronger and fight many powerful opponents.

And after surviving that accidental shipwreck by the skin of his teeth, There was no way he would deliberately avoid finding Nami as his navigator just for Luffy's sake.

Besides, Luffy had his Marine grandfather and Revolutionary Army father watching his back in the early stages.

Why would Will need to worry about him?

And without Nami's help, it might even indirectly change Luffy's future journey.

So that Luffy wouldn't have to be gradually "possessed" after the two-year timeskip.

So that he wouldn't uncontrollably laugh like crazy after awakening his Devil Fruit.

And with any luck, Luffy might even manage to reach the final island, Laugh Tale, with Zoro's help.

Wouldn't that be just perfect?

He withdrew the tangled thoughts from his mind.

Will decided that after dealing with the matter at hand, he would take Nami on as his crewmate.

So his thoughts turned inward, quietly pondering the identity of the person chasing Carina and Nami.

"Using chains as an ability."

"Must be that treasure hunter from some movie who once hunted Nami and Carina in the East Blue."

Thinking that this was a Devil Fruit user rarely seen in the East Blue, and that in over two years, he had never fought someone who had eaten a Devil Fruit, a glint of anticipation flickered in Will's eyes:

"A Devil Fruit user—should be at least a bit stronger, I'd imagine."

Carina saw that Will had fallen into deep thought the moment he heard their names, and she wanted to say something more.

But before she could, Will turned back around, his gaze fixed ahead, and cut her off:

"Enough. Let me deal with that Devil Fruit guy you mentioned first."

"We'll talk about the rest later."

Nami and Carina were momentarily stunned, then quickly snapped to attention, their expressions tense as they stared at the dense jungle ahead of them.

The next moment.

A large group of people strode out from the thick forest.

Over a dozen fierce-faced men gathered together, exuding an imposing presence.

Leading them was a man equally tall and burly, but with a wilder face.

He had coral-pink hair styled like a reef, and wore a pair of sunglasses.

His bare torso was tattooed with a gear pattern, and thick chains were wrapped around his neck and abdomen.

"Made Tolega..."

Carina muttered his name gravely, instinctively taking a small step back.

Though she felt that this man she'd met by chance was also very strong, she wasn't sure if he could match Tolega.

So if things went wrong, she planned to turn and flee immediately.

"Hm?"

Tolega had just stepped out of the jungle when he saw his men lying scattered on the ground, and he stopped in his tracks.

Then he shifted his gaze to Will, who stood in front of the two women, and his expression instantly turned cold:

"Kid, who the hell are you, daring to lay a hand on my men!"

He didn't think those two women could have taken down his eight men in such a short time.

So it had to be this man who'd appeared out of nowhere.

Before Will could answer, Tolega looked at Nami and Carina on his own, tilting his head with a confident guess:

"Or is this guy in cahoots with you two thieves?"

"Is this island where you were supposed to meet?"

Before Nami or Carina could reply, Will stepped forward, turning sideways to block the chain-wielder's line of sight.

Then, expressionless and with a serious tone, he deliberately picked a fight:

"Thieves?"

"Two such young and beautiful girls."

"Just because they took a few things from you, you slap them with a crime and chase them all the way."

"Driving them to the point of fleeing to this island out of desperation."

"Is there no justice?"

"Is there no fairness?!"

With that, Will's eyes turned icy:

"You pirates are utterly lawless!"

Tolega frowned deeply, feeling that these words were dripping with provocation, and instinctively retorted:

"We're not those low-level pirates who only know how to plunder—we're treasure hunters, forever chasing after riches!"

He stared hard into Will's eyes, unable to help pressing further:

"Just who the hell are you, you bastard!"

If he hadn't keenly sensed a faint, looming threat from the man before him, he wouldn't have wasted so many words—he'd have already strangled this guy with his chains.

The only reason he kept asking was to try and pry out more information.

Though he looked rough on the surface, he was actually quite cautious inside.