His Eyes Were Beautiful

Nami silently repeated the name to herself a few times. Only after making sure she would not get it wrong did she finally let out a sigh of relief.

Now that she knew her benefactor's name, she would be able to address him properly. Once the news reached the nearby villages, the name Li Mingyuan would surely spread through everyone's ears. Perhaps even the surrounding seas would one day echo with that name.

A smile appeared on Nami's face.

Without further delay, after exchanging information and confirming that nothing had been overlooked, Nami quickly left Carina's side and walked out of the main building alone.

As she was about to leave Arlong Park, Nami instinctively looked toward where Li Mingyuan had been resting.

Even now, Li Mingyuan still sat there with his eyes closed, his back against the wall.

Although his body was covered in blood, the outline of his physique beneath his seawater-soaked clothes showed that he had not suffered any injuries. His breathing was steady as well. He was clearly resting, not unable to move because his wounds were too severe.

She wondered how long it would take before this man spoke with her again.

There were mountains of questions in her heart now.

"Come to think of it, with his eyes closed, I can't see them anymore."

"This person has such beautiful, unusual eyes, doesn't he?"

Nami pondered inwardly. But I don't know if it was just an illusion. During that battle, why did it feel like I could see them one moment, then not the next...? Was I seeing things?

Though she was somewhat curious, it was not a major matter. By the time she had spread the news among the villagers and returned, he would probably have rested enough. She could ask about it then.

Lost in thought, Nami came back to her senses. She still did not disturb Li Mingyuan. Instead, she moved as quietly as possible and left the ruined Arlong Park.

Thirty minutes later.

After a fairly decent rest, much of his chakra had recovered.

Li Mingyuan opened his eyes again and looked ahead.

The scene before him was almost no different from what he had seen before closing his eyes. Fish-Man corpses still lay scattered everywhere.

Not far away, Carina was still dressed in those filthy clothes that made it impossible to see her face clearly. Hachi's ink had even darkened her another shade. She was currently sitting beneath a shady wall like him, hugging her knees and staring blankly at the sky, lost in thought.

Come to think of it, about ten minutes after he had closed his eyes to rest, he had vaguely heard some commotion from farther beyond Arlong Park. At one point, the noise had seemed to draw closer, but it had suddenly gone quiet again. Even now, everything remained peaceful and calm.

Now that Carina was the only one left in Arlong Park, Li Mingyuan could roughly guess what had happened. One person had gone out to spread the news while the other remained behind. As for the distant commotion that could be heard all the way here, it was most likely the villagers' joyful cheers upon learning that Arlong had been defeated.

After all, with Arlong's head in hand, it would not be difficult for Nami to prove the outcome of the battle.

That had been why he had deliberately tossed the head to Nami in the first place. He wanted her to handle the aftermath and avoid disturbing him for the time being. Otherwise, how could he casually hand over the head of a twenty-million-Beli bounty target to a Nami he had only just met?

But judging by things now, she had completed her task quite well.

Sure enough, it was comfortable leaving things to smart people.

Li Mingyuan rose from the ground.

He stretched lazily and let out a satisfied groan.

Noticing Li Mingyuan's movement, Carina snapped out of her daze and sprang to her feet.

"Um, you're awake?"

"Sorry, I could only sit beside you. I kept hesitating over whether I should wake you."

Carina looked stiffly at Li Mingyuan, her expression awkward. "Actually, I wanted to ask you to rest inside Arlong Park and change your clothes or something, but you told us not to disturb you earlier, so I didn't know whether I should wake you up..."

"Doesn't matter."

Li Mingyuan did not seem concerned. He replied casually, "More importantly, has the woman named Nami left with Arlong's head?"

"Did she tell you when she'd be back?"

"Huh? Ah, ah! The... the head? Of course Nami has it. She'll be back before long, so you don't need to worry."

Carina jolted, then stammered nervously, "Nami is informing the nearby villagers about what happened here. Maybe defeating the Arlong Pirates isn't a big deal to you, but Arlong ruled several nearby islands. The Arlong Pirates being crushed is enough to send the entire island into celebration."

"Before long, the whole island should be in the middle of a carnival."

Carina repeatedly emphasized what Nami had gone out to do, afraid Li Mingyuan would suspect that Nami had run away with the bounty target's head.

Inside, she bitterly regretted forgetting to tell Nami not to take the head with her.

That twenty-million-Beli head was worth even more than what she had stolen from Li Mingyuan. It was comparable to the ransom money she did not have. If it made Li Mingyuan suspicious, the consequences would not be something she could bear.

Fortunately, Li Mingyuan still seemed utterly unconcerned by Carina's explanation.

It was impossible to tell whether he had taken it in or simply did not care.

Li Mingyuan lowered his head and tugged at his damp clothes.

"They're completely soaked, and they're stained with blood. They probably won't wash clean now."

He seemed somewhat helpless as he muttered regretfully, "They were brand-new clothes, too. Now I'll have to buy new ones again."

He raised his eyes once more.

Carina was clearly more restrained and nervous than she had been before charging into Arlong Park.

Li Mingyuan observed the changes in Carina with interest, especially the way she looked at him.

"Are you nervous?"

Li Mingyuan suddenly asked.

Carina's pupils suddenly contracted at his words.

She reacted quickly, immediately forcing an innocent, unconcerned expression onto her face. She answered righteously, "Yeah, is there something wrong with that? You just killed a bounty target worth twenty million Beli. Thinking about how I almost ended up the same way, my legs are still shaking."

"Seriously, if you were this capable, couldn't you have said so sooner? Before we entered Arlong Park, you had me thinking we were going to die. What is someone like you doing in the East Blue? Wouldn't it be better to head to the Grand Line already?"