Ah~, Nami

"That's right."

The Purple-Haired Girl nodded solemnly.

"That guy ate a Devil Fruit. He can summon incredibly hard chains from his hands and use them to attack and defend."

"As for anything else, I don't know much."

"I only know that this group of pirates seems to have arrived in the East Blue not long ago. They apparently came here looking for some kind of treasure."

"Devil Fruit?!"

The Orange-Haired Girl had already recovered from her shock. Hearing this, she was surprised all over again.

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

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

Thinking of this, she glanced at the Purple-Haired Girl beside her, a thoughtful look in her eyes.

I can't believe this fellow thief, the Female Fox, has gathered even more information than I have.

No wonder I'd never seen those people in the East Blue before, even though they have so much treasure and are so strong.

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

"Chains?"

Hearing about this ability, Will suddenly thought of something.

He immediately asked:

"What are your names?"

The two girls were a little surprised to be asked so suddenly, but neither intended to lie or keep their names secret.

Neither of them was a famous pirate.

And neither had a high bounty on her head.

So they weren't particularly worried that he would recognize them.

The two girls answered in turn:

"My name is Nami."

"Carina."

Their answers immediately confirmed what Will had suspected.

Looking at the Orange-Haired Girl who had introduced herself as Nami, he couldn't help thinking to himself:

Ah~, Nami.

As an adventurer preparing to set sail and search for powerful opponents to fight, Will had once tried to teach himself about navigation.

Unfortunately, he had no talent for it. The information in the books simply wouldn't stick in his head.

So he had promptly given up on studying by himself.

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

Having seen the original story, Will hadn't needed to think twice. He had immediately decided to seek out Nami, who was still in the East Blue, and recruit her as his navigator.

But before he could even get started, she had unexpectedly appeared right in front of him.

What did you call a pleasant surprise?

This was a pleasant surprise. It couldn't have fallen into his lap more easily.

Will didn't care at all about the consequences or changes this would bring.

He had finally made it to the world of pirates.

He had gained the chance to grow stronger and fight all kinds of powerful opponents.

Then he had survived that unexpected shipwreck.

There was no way he'd avoid recruiting Nami as his navigator just for Luffy's sake.

Besides, Luffy had his Marine grandfather and Revolutionary Army father looking out for him in the early part of his journey.

Why should Will worry about him?

And without Nami's help, perhaps Luffy's later adventures might change indirectly.

Maybe he wouldn't be gradually "possessed" two years later.

Maybe after his Devil Fruit Awakened, he wouldn't lose control and laugh maniacally.

And if he got lucky,

Luffy might even be able to reach Laugh Tale, the final island, with Zoro's help.

Wouldn't that be great?

Will pushed aside his tangled thoughts.

He decided that once he dealt with the matter at hand, he would recruit Nami as one of his crew.

Then he began wondering who the man chasing Carina and Nami was.

He uses chains as his ability.

He must be that treasure hunter from some movie who once chased Nami and Carina in the East Blue.

Thinking of how rare it was to encounter a Devil Fruit User in the East Blue,

and how he hadn't fought anyone who had eaten a Devil Fruit in the past two years,

a flicker of anticipation appeared in Will's eyes.

A Devil Fruit User. I hope he's at least a little strong.

Carina saw Will fall into thought as soon as he heard their names and was about to say something else.

But Will turned around again, fixed his gaze ahead, and cut her off before she could speak.

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

"We can talk about everything else afterward."

Nami and Carina were momentarily stunned. Then they immediately reacted, tensely looking toward the dense forest in front of them.

The next moment,

a large group of people strode out of the woods.

More than a dozen fierce-looking men had gathered together, making for an imposing sight.

Their leader was a tall, muscular man with an even wilder appearance.

A mop of coral-shaped reddish-pink hair covered his head, and he wore a pair of sunglasses.

A gear tattoo marked his bare chest, while thick chains were wrapped around his neck and waist.

"Made Tolega..." Carina murmured gravely, instinctively taking a small step back.

Although she felt that this man she'd encountered by chance was also very strong,

she wasn't sure whether he could defeat Treasure.

So if things went badly, she planned to turn and run at once.

"Hm?"

As soon as Treasure emerged from the woods, he saw his men sprawled across the ground and stopped in his tracks.

Then he turned his gaze toward Will, standing in front of the two girls. His expression instantly darkened.

"Brat, who are you? How dare you attack my men!"

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

That meant this man, who had appeared out of nowhere, had to be responsible.

Before Will could answer, Treasure turned to Nami and Carina and tilted his head, confidently guessing:

"Or are you working with these two thieves?"

"And this island is where you were supposed to meet?"

Before Nami and Carina could respond, Will stepped forward and blocked the chain-wielding man's view of them.

Then, with a stony face and a stern tone, he deliberately picked a fight.

"Thieves?"

"Two young, beautiful girls like them."

"You accuse them of a crime just because they took a few things from you, then chase them all the way here."

"You even drove them into hiding on this island."

"Is there any justice in the world?"

"Is there any fairness?!"

As he spoke, Will's gaze turned icy.

"You pirates are simply lawless!"

Treasure furrowed his brow. Will's words sounded provocative, and he reflexively retorted:

"We're not the kind of lowlife pirates who only know how to plunder. We're treasure hunters who are always searching for treasure!"

He stared straight into Will's eyes and demanded loudly:

"Just who are you?"

If he hadn't keenly sensed the faint threat emanating from Will,

he wouldn't have wasted so many words. He would have already strangled the man in front of him with his chains.

He kept pressing only because he wanted to try to pry more information out of him.

He might look rough around the edges, but he was actually very cautious.