At this time.
Looking at Nami, Natsuya felt a stir in his heart.
Shall I try eavesdropping on inner voices as well?
Yes, Natsuya had also developed the effect of eavesdropping on inner voices!
Therefore, his current Gate of Heart had a total of three effects.
One was the normal opening, the kind that allowed for surgical operations.
Another was to steal Devil Fruits.
And the final effect was eavesdropping on inner voices.
In fact, the effect of eavesdropping on inner voices had only been developed yesterday.
Natsuya intended to continue familiarizing himself with it.
At this thought, without a second word, he immediately pointed his finger forward.
Door-Strike Dog, Gate of Heart.
One of Natsuya's fingers instantly vanished, then appeared at Nami's back, giving her a gentle tap.
Under the influence of the Door-Door Fruit's power, a nearly illusory small door suddenly appeared on Nami's upper back.
Unlike when he first tested it, this small door did not flash and disappear; instead, it persisted.
And this was the reason Natsuya was able to hear the target's inner voice.
After activating it, Natsuya immediately said to Nami, "Let's find a place to rest first. Any recommendations?"
Come to think of it, Natsuya had been drifting on the sea for almost half a month and really needed to land on solid ground to rest.
However, his final question was clearly a probe.
Next, a magical thing happened.
Although Nami's mouth didn't move at all, Natsuya heard a voice.
Huh? He's asking me to recommend a place to rest?
In that case, would I be able to lead him to Arlong Park?
It just so happens that Olig and the others aren't around either. If I take him to Arlong Park, can I make him clash with Arlong!?
With his strength and such a high bounty, he should be able to get rid of Arlong, right?
But then again, maybe not. Arlong colluded with the Marines, his bounty hasn't gone up, and he has all those crewmates.
Still, it doesn't matter if he can't beat them. I can report his whereabouts to the Marines. Would I be able to collect the bounty then? If I could really get one hundred million Beli, the village would be saved!
But wouldn't that be too heartless?
Without a doubt, this was precisely Nami's inner voice.
Natsuya truly heard it.
However, the inner voice quickly grew faint and then vanished completely.
It wasn't that Nami stopped thinking, but rather that the Door-Door Fruit's ability had expired.
It was worth mentioning that there was a time limit for eavesdropping on inner voices.
This point was related to the amount of the Door-Door Fruit's power Natsuya poured in.
Pouring in less made the time short; conversely, pouring in more made the time longer.
Just now, Natsuya had casually used a minimal amount, so he could only listen for that brief moment.
Even so, this effect was extremely formidable.
If used in combat, Natsuya could entirely treat it as Observation Haki!
Just imagine, if an opponent had their Gate of Heart opened by Natsuya during a fight, it meant all their thoughts were completely within Natsuya's grasp!
The advantage this brought can be imagined!
To some extent, it was even better than the effect of Observation Haki!
Thinking this, Natsuya couldn't help revealing a trace of a smile.
"How is it? Have you decided?"
"Right, you seem to be from around here, right? Where do you live then?"
While asking, Natsuya began activating the Door-Door Fruit's power once more.
This time, he poured in a greater amount of the Door-Door Fruit's power.
Nami's inner voice immediately surfaced again.
He's going to Cocoyasi Village!?
Well, I didn't ask him to; he's the one who insisted on going!
In that case, even if something happens to him, he can't blame me, right?
Right, it's not my fault!
Thinking of this, Nami's expression turned firm. "I do have a place to live, called Cocoyasi Village."
"Shall we head over right now then?"
Saying this, Nami looked at Natsuya's calm gaze and for some reason suddenly felt a bit guilty.
Natsuya's expression remained unchanged as he nodded. "Sure, let's go there."
In fact, Natsuya could guess most of Nami's psychology even without listening.
The reason she, like Robin, drifted around various pirate crews and then betrayed them was because she had unavoidable reasons.
Robin did it for survival, while Nami bore the burden of an entire village.
To put it bluntly, she was just a kind-hearted little girl.
This could also be seen in the original story at Punk Hazard, when she risked her life for those children she had never met before.
It would be one thing if Natsuya hadn't run into her, but since he had, giving a helping hand didn't matter.
After all, Arlong and his crew posed not the slightest threat to him.
Most importantly, if he wanted to apply the ability of eavesdropping on inner voices in combat, Natsuya needed some practice.
Naturally, this required opponents with a bit of strength.
Olig, who originally possessed the Monkey-Monkey Fruit's power, would have barely sufficed.
However, his ability had been stolen by Natsuya, and his current combat power was probably inferior to that of an ordinary person, making him naturally unsuitable.
In that case, helping Nami along the way while using Arlong and the other Fish-Men as practice targets was naturally killing two birds with one stone.
Just like that.
Natsuya and Nami set off toward Arlong Park.
A few days later.
On the sea near Cocoyasi Village.
Kuroobi and Hatchan of the Arlong Pirates, along with several Fish-Men, returned with loud laughter.
They had just won a glorious victory.
While cruising around the outer waters of Arlong's territory, they happened to run into a pirate crew.
It was none other than the Beast Pirate Crew!
Kuroobi and the others had heard of this Beast Pirate Crew; it was a newly rising pirate crew whose captain, Olig, had a bounty of ten million Beli, went by the nickname Beast, and was a Zoan Devil Fruit user!
Unfortunately for them, Fish-Men feared Devil Fruit users the least!
So upon encountering each other, without a word of agreement, a fight broke out.
Yet what left Kuroobi, Hatchan, and the others puzzled next was that Olig, nicknamed the Beast, didn't use any Devil Fruit powers at all, nor did he undergo any transformation.
Naturally, this was a good thing for them.
Thus, Kuroobi, Hatchan, and the others didn't think much of it and continued the fight.
As for the final outcome, it went without saying.
With Olig failing to use his abilities, Kuroobi and Hatchan didn't even need to contact Arlong; they, along with a few Fish-Men, completely wiped out the Beast Pirate Crew.
And now, they were returning to Arlong Park to report this good news to Arlong.
Given Arlong's degree of hatred toward humans, they believed this news would keep him happy for days.
However, upon arriving in the waters near Cocoyasi Village, Kuroobi, Hatchan, and the others made an unexpected discovery!
Right here, they actually discovered a pirate ship!
"Huh, isn't that Nami?"
What surprised them the most was discovering the familiar figure of a little girl aboard the pirate ship.
It was Nami!
Upon spotting Nami, Kuroobi, Hatchan, and the rest all wore bantering smiles.
Then, after exchanging glances, they swam over one after another.
Before you continue