Fruit Obtained and Little Nami

About half an hour later, aboard the Red Force, The crew of the Red-Haired Pirates watched as their captain, Shanks, returned by stepping through the air. His clothes were tattered beyond recognition, yet the straw hat hanging behind his neck remained completely unscathed.

"Shanks, how did it go?" Ben Beckman asked with concern.

"Hahaha, that mysterious person escaped. He has an ability similar to teleportation; I couldn't hold him down. But that fight was truly exhilarating!" Shanks felt his heart race just thinking about the battle. "Still, that temperament... he didn't seem like someone from the World Government," Shanks mused.

"Shanks, this is your item." Beckman produced the treasure chest Shanks had entrusted to him earlier.

Shanks took the chest and opened it immediately. A strange, pineapple-shaped fruit with a purple hue came into view, its surface covered in black spiral patterns, radiating a mysterious aura.

"Is this the Paramecia-type Devil Fruit you were aiming for this time, Captain?"

"That's right, this is the Devil Fruit that can turn a person into rubber." Red-Haired gently stroked the fruit, his mind drifting back to the words his own captain had told him after returning from Laugh Tale.

"Shanks, we were too early. Only that fruit can unlock the true One Piece!"

Knowing his time was running out, the Pirate King Roger had shared some information about the final island, Laugh Tale, with Shanks.

Shortly thereafter, Roger turned himself in to the Navy, and before his execution, he left behind those famous final words:

"Want my treasure? You can have it if you want. Go find it! I left everything I own in that one place." From that moment on, the world began to spiral into chaos, marking the dawn of the Great Pirate Era.

"Captain! Captain!" The voice of the fat chef, Lucky Roux, snapped Shanks back to reality.

"Hahaha, I was just thinking about my captain," Red-Haired said, scratching his head in embarrassment.

"Heh, could it be the Pirate King Gol D. Roger? Our captain was once a crew member of the legendary Pirate King Roger, after all!"

"Whoa~" ×N

"That's a long story. Boys, set sail! Let's have a banquet!" Shanks waved his hand, making the arrangements with high spirits.

"Drinks! Drinks!"

"Meat! Meat!"

"Squeak, squeak."

On an island not far from the Red Force, Minato Namikaze was resting to recover his strength.

He had fought Shanks for several hours, exhausting his stamina and energy, so he had opted to retreat.

Relying on the convenience of his space-time ninjutsu, Minato could fight when he wanted and leave when he pleased. Sensing the Flying Thunder God mark he had left on Shanks from afar, he remained calm, continuing to recuperate while waiting for the next opportunity to strike.

Late the next night, the Red-Haired Pirates were exhausted after a full day and night of partying and had all fallen asleep. Only Snake, the navigator, remained slightly tipsy, observing the sea conditions and steering the ship as it drifted slowly across the ocean.

In the captain's quarters, Shanks was already snoring loudly, a large bubble of snot on his nose expanding and contracting with his breath, looking exceptionally comical.

A subtle spatial fluctuation flashed, and a figure appeared in the bedroom.

The bubble on Shanks's nose burst instantly. He rolled over, his eyelids flicking open for a brief glance before he mumbled, "Beckman, don't wake me... sleeping, sleeping!" and continued to snore soundly.

"Beckman" didn't dare to breathe. Seeing that Shanks hadn't truly woken up, his eyes quickly locked onto the box sitting on the headboard. The box was half-open, revealing half of the Devil Fruit, which radiated an enticing aura.

[Mission item discovered: Mysterious Devil Fruit!] The prompt in his mind made Minato, currently transformed into "Beckman," feel a surge of excitement. He held his breath and reached his hand toward the treasure chest.

Just as his hand was about to touch the box, the chest shook violently as if resisting something, and at that same moment, a large hand clamped firmly onto his wrist.

"You're not Beckman. Who are you!" Shanks struck suddenly, his gaze as sharp as a blade.

Minato had already prepared for the possibility of being exposed. With his other hand, he threw a scroll with lightning speed, releasing a genjutsu sealed within.

"Demonic Illusion: Tree Bind Death!"

A phantom tree appeared behind Shanks, binding him tightly. But how firm was Shanks's willpower? Against a mere genjutsu that disrupted the five senses, a slight resistance of his spirit caused the manifested tree to crumble into nothingness.

But in the moment of delay, when he regained his focus, where was the enemy? Looking at the empty space on the headboard, Shanks's face turned livid. Enraged, he unleashed his Observation Haki to its full extent to perceive everything around him... but within a radius of dozens of miles, there wasn't even a shadow of the enemy!

"Teleportation technique... damn it!" Shanks was filled with frustration.

On a distant deserted island, after Minato successfully retrieved the Nika Fruit, the mission prompt appeared in his mind right on cue:

[Main Mission I "Mysterious Fruit": Seize the mysterious Devil Fruit from the Heavenly Tribute. Status: Completed. Reward: B-rank side quest reward, 10,000 points. Main Mission II "Pirate King's Legacy" initiated: Gift the Devil Fruit to Monkey D. Luffy in Foosha Village, East Blue, and become his guide. Time limit: Three months. Reward: 1 C-rank side quest, 5,000 points.]

Mission accomplished! Looking at the 10,000 points added to his total, along with the B-rank side quest he had been dreaming of, Minato felt he was only one step away from resurrecting his beloved! Calm down, calm down! There's still another mission, let's see what's next! Minato steadied his emotions and analyzed the upcoming task.

The mission was titled "Pirate King's Legacy." Could the target be related to the Pirate King? The specific content was to gift the Devil Fruit to Monkey D. Luffy and become his guide.

The mission was divided into two parts. The first step was easy to understand: find this Monkey D. Luffy and hand over the fruit. But the second step required some thought: becoming his guide.

What did it mean to be a "guide"? Literally, it meant someone who leads another into a certain field. Clearly, it meant guiding this Luffy onto the path of the Pirate King. This required careful consideration; what kind of guidance would qualify as being a "guide"? That was up for debate.

However, he figured this Monkey D. Luffy couldn't be very strong, otherwise, why would he only be worth a C-rank side quest? Still, 5,000 points was more than the usual reward for a C-rank side quest. Minato pondered quietly, deciding to take it one step at a time and head to the mission location first. With his mind made up, Minato left the deserted island and set sail for Foosha Village in the East Blue.

Inside the Main God Space, Zhu Shen's soul body watched the large influx of points on the system interface, feeling extremely pleased.

"The destiny contained within this Destiny Devil Fruit is truly astonishing, granting me 30,000 points directly. No, wait—a portion of this destiny must have belonged to Shanks. As the mentor who set the protagonist of the original story on his path, his share of destiny is naturally immense. Now that I've arranged for a Reincarnator to take his place, it's equivalent to directly seizing his destiny."

Zhu Shen analyzed the situation carefully. According to his observations, Red-Haired's fortune had indeed waned slightly after losing the Nika Fruit, causing the points required to mark him as a Reincarnator to drop by half. Zhu Shen decisively marked him, but since there were no suitable missions available, he refrained from issuing any, choosing to observe him for a while longer.

Three days later, at the docks of Cocoyasi Village in the East Blue, Minato Namikaze stepped off a ship.

Minato looked around and spotted a fierce-looking man wearing a sheriff's uniform with a pinwheel atop his head, so he approached him to ask for directions.

"Hello, excuse me, do you know if there is someone named Nami nearby?" Minato asked cordially.

He asked this solely because of a mission that had suddenly appeared in his Reincarnator Assistant:

[Hidden mission "Taste the oranges personally planted by Nami" detected near the Reincarnator. Reward: 500 points.]

Minato accepted it without a second thought and followed the map in his mind to Cocoyasi Village.

By the way, this map feature had cost him 100 points to activate; it could record visited areas and perform automatic laser mapping, and it even supported the input of local maps. Thus, he had uploaded several East Blue maps during his journey, giving him a clear understanding of the locations of Cocoyasi Village and Foosha Village.

Minato planned to complete this hidden mission and then head straight to Foosha Village to tackle the main quest, as it was right on the way!

"Who are you? Why are you asking about that?" the sheriff with the pinwheel on his head replied guardedly.

Minato smiled slightly. "I mean no harm. I'm just a traveling merchant. I heard the oranges in Cocoyasi Village are famous, so I came here specifically to purchase some."

However, Genzo, who considered himself an elder to Nami, remained vigilant. "Then how do you know little Nami's name? What is your objective?"

Minato immediately realized this man knew his target but was unexpectedly wary. He hesitated for a moment before saying, "I really am just here to buy oranges. I have no ill intentions."

Genzo's eyes glazed over for a moment. A sudden feeling welled up in his heart that he must know this person; his words were so convincing.

"Ah~ so you're here to buy oranges from Nami's family? I'll take you there!" Genzo laughed heartily and led Minato toward the village. Minato silently apologized in his heart and followed him.

Cocoyasi Village was a typical island town, with Western-style cottages scattered in an orderly fashion and various tropical trees dotting the landscape, as charming as a passionate, sun-drenched coast.

"This orchard is little Nami's home." Genzo led Minato into an orange grove.

"Bell-mère!" Genzo shouted, entering the orchard without standing on ceremony.

"Who is it? Genzo?" A tall woman with a pink ponytail poked her head out from an orange tree. Seeing someone had arrived, she climbed down from her ladder. This was Nami's adoptive mother, Bell-mère.

A moment later, "You're just here to buy our oranges?" Bell-mère looked at the sunny-faced, blonde man before her with surprise. He's actually quite handsome! she thought to herself.

"Yes, I heard from Genzo that your family's oranges are quite delicious, and that little Nami even planted a few herself. I was hoping to have the honor of tasting them."

Bell-mère glanced at Genzo, and seeing him just grinning foolishly without refuting it, she said, "Our family's oranges are fine, but the ones little Nami planted... that's not possible."

"Nani?" Minato was astonished. Only after Bell-mère explained did he understand: Nami was only eight years old, and although she had planted an orange tree, it had only been a few months ago. It would take at least three to five years before it bore fruit... Minato felt a wave of disappointment. "This is the first time I've encountered a situation like this. It seems this hidden mission can't be completed for the time being."

Minato expressed his regret and was preparing to leave when someone in the village shouted, "Pirates are here!"

Upon hearing this, Bell-mère turned pale with fright. "Nami is still playing at the harbor!" She immediately scrambled to her feet and ran toward the docks.

At the Cocoyasi Village harbor, the captain of the Steel Fang Pirates, "Steel Fang" Dick, stepped onto the land of Cocoyasi Village, brandishing brass knuckles and surrounded by his underlings.

"Boys, go ahead and take the treasures and women that belong to us! Hahaha!"

"Long live the Captain!"

Meanwhile, eight-year-old Nami was playing near the harbor. Seeing a group of vicious pirates arrive in the village, the clever girl turned and ran.

"I have to tell everyone about this immediately!"

"Captain, someone spotted us!"

"Haha, so what? They can't get away!"

Although Nami had discovered the pirates early, her young, short legs meant she was quickly caught. She was dragged to a square in front of the village, where hundreds of villagers were already crouching, guarded by dozens of pirates armed with swords and guns.

"Steel Fang" Dick looked at the villagers with satisfaction and laughed arrogantly. "Everyone in this village needs to pay 200,000 Beli to buy their own lives. If you can't come up with it, don't blame us for being merciless, heh heh heh heh..."

The villagers, hearing these arrogant words, were filled with fury, but faced with the suppression of the pirates' blades and guns, any sporadic resistance was ruthlessly crushed.

"What, no one wants to be the first?" Dick sat on a chair on the high platform of the square, looking down at the villagers. Seeing them dare to be angry but not speak, he gave a cold smile. "It seems you all need a little resolve!" He scanned the villagers and spotted little Nami in the crowd. "Bring that little girl to me!" Several pirates roughly pushed aside the villagers protecting Nami and dragged the young girl before Dick.

"What a cute little girl," Dick exclaimed, looking at Nami, who was stubborn but fighting back tears. "But it's a pity—because of your people's lack of cooperation, your short life will end here!" As he spoke, Dick's brass-knuckled fist swung toward little Nami's head.

"No, I'm willing to pay!"

"I'm willing to cooperate!"

Seeing the little angel in their hearts about to wither like a flower, the villagers' psychological defenses collapsed, and they all shouted their cooperation.

However, Captain Dick turned a deaf ear to the villagers' cries. Facing the adorable, tearful girl, he showed no mercy; he seemed to have already envisioned the beauty of that vibrant life being snuffed out.

Am I going to die? Little Nami's heart was filled with reluctance and fear. Bell-mère, Nojiko, where are you? I'm so scared! Drip, drop—the tears she had been holding back flowed slowly before the arrival of death.

Little Nami closed her eyes in despair, but the expected attack did not land on her. Just as she was confused, a warm voice appeared beside her.

"I cannot stand idly by while someone strikes an innocent, young child!"