A Different Feeling Took Root in Her Heart

As far as Li Mingyuan was concerned, he had never intended to kill Carina in the first place. Going along with her request cost him nothing and could even raise Nami's opinion of him, so there was no way he would refuse.

As for Nami—

When she heard that Carina had targeted as much as fifteen million Beli, she was genuinely shocked.

Even for her, that amount might take a year to steal in the East Blue. During her first two years, she probably could not have stolen that much at all. She had never expected Li Mingyuan to be carrying so much money, much less that Carina would target him and fail.

This was indeed not something that could be handled easily.

Fortunately, Li Mingyuan was fairly easy to talk to.

Although she did not know what exactly Carina and Li Mingyuan had agreed upon, it at least did not seem like the kind of situation with no room for compromise. Besides, she was confident in the amount of her savings. Even if there truly was a serious grudge between them, once he received that money, it would probably disappear into thin air.

When friction arose because of money, the best way to solve it was with money.

After speaking with Li Mingyuan, Nami had relaxed a little. Though she still wanted to complain about that idiot Carina—making a mistake and then needing her help to clean it up—Li Mingyuan had already agreed to her request, so there was no point dwelling on it.

Now that she had confirmed the situation, she could finally put her worries aside and immerse herself in the joy of Arlong Park's destruction.

Nami turned her gaze back to the man beside her.

"By the way, speaking of Carina, where is she now?"

"How come I haven't seen her at all since earlier?"

Just as she was about to act, Nami suddenly remembered something and asked Li Mingyuan in confusion.

"Unlike me, girls always take longer in the bath."

Li Mingyuan responded.

"She's really unbelievable... Forget it! I'll just do it myself, then."

Nami thought for a moment, then said to Li Mingyuan, "Wait here for a while. Before the villagers arrive, I'll sort through the treasure here first."

"Those are all your spoils, but I doubt you can search through all of Arlong Park by yourself, right? And some of the treasure was hidden by Arlong and the others in very concealed places. I stayed at Arlong Park for a while, so I vaguely know where some of it is hidden. With my help, you should be able to save some effort looking for it."

"You're a guest now, and our benefactor. There's no need to trouble you with everything yourself. And not just this—if you ever run into trouble, it won't only be me. Everyone in Cocoyasi Village will lend you a hand. Just let us know if you need anything."

Watching Nami carefully consider what would be safest as she earnestly spoke to him, Li Mingyuan did not hear a single word she said.

At that moment, he was simply admiring Nami's face over and over, captivated by her beauty.

Sure enough, choosing to defeat Arlong was the right decision. In any other situation, could he have earned her trust so quickly upon their first meeting, enough for her to consider every aspect on his behalf? Impossible.

This was treatment only a true benefactor could receive.

Moreover, observing Nami from up close like this, Li Mingyuan increasingly felt that her current expression and demeanor resembled many scenes from the manga.

It was as though a two-dimensional female character had come alive and stepped into reality before him. Unknowingly, the Nami before his eyes gradually overlapped with the Cat Burglar from the One Piece anime in his memories, making it harder and harder for him to suppress the fondness in his heart.

"Handle it however you like."

Li Mingyuan came back to his senses, keeping a smile on his face as he nodded. "I'm not familiar with this place. If I searched on my own, I'd probably miss things."

"Compared to that, even though we had never met before today, I can tell you must have many stories of your own to have appeared as a member of the Arlong Pirates, only to betray them afterward. The fact that you were willing to stand up for your friend at a time like that makes you worthy of trust. I'll leave the rest to you."

Li Mingyuan spoke smoothly without hesitation.

He casually found an excuse and handed the entire matter over to Nami, hoping to extend the time and opportunities he would have to spend with her afterward.

Hearing Li Mingyuan's words, Nami gave an embarrassed smile without thinking. At this point, how could she possibly tell him that she was also a thief? If Li Mingyuan stayed in the village for any length of time, her deeds would probably reach his ears eventually. But right now, she was about to help someone manage their valuables.

She could only clear her throat and temporarily pretend to be an ordinary villager, accepting Li Mingyuan's words as though nothing were wrong.

"Then I'll head upstairs first. Feel free to look around here."

"If you're interested in searching for treasure, you can follow me and take a look. But besides gathering the remaining valuables for you, I also have some personal things upstairs in Arlong Park that I want to deal with. When the time comes, I may need you to give me a little privacy. Please don't mind."

After saying this to Li Mingyuan, Nami headed toward the main building, preparing to enter.

Only in the final glance before she turned and left—

Her gaze inadvertently fell upon Li Mingyuan's eyes, and their eyes met.

"Ah, come to think of it—"

Looking at Li Mingyuan's black eyes, Nami suddenly remembered that she had seemed to want to confirm something about his eyes earlier.

But during their conversation, his eyes had seemed so ordinary and natural, just like anyone else's, that she had unconsciously overlooked the matter and forgotten to ask.

Now, staring into Li Mingyuan's eyes again, a trace of confusion rose in Nami's heart.

If Li Mingyuan's eyes were completely normal now—

Then what exactly had been with those eyes she saw before...?

Burying her doubts in her heart, Nami said nothing more. She merely withdrew her gaze and continued in her original direction, entering the main building.

Perhaps her earlier reminder had worked.

Li Mingyuan did not follow her into the main building. He was still simply walking around near the entrance of Arlong Park.

Nami was grateful for that trust. Li Mingyuan was not only willing to let her handle what remained, but he also did not ask why she wanted privacy. Normally, wouldn't people worry that she intended to secretly take some of Arlong Park's treasure for herself?

Yet she saw no such suspicion in Li Mingyuan. It was as if he trusted others from the very beginning, accepting everything she said without question. It had been a long time since she had felt such trust from anyone. No wonder he had so readily agreed when she asked him to be lenient toward Carina.

He really seemed like a very kind man.

If Carina had not tried to steal his money, an ordinary person probably would not have provoked such a good man.

In a way, Carina had truly brought this suffering upon herself by forming a grudge with such a mysterious man.

After entering the main building—

Nami looked at the ruined structure before her but did not immediately begin sorting through the treasure.

Instead, she rushed upstairs at the fastest speed she could manage. After opening several tightly shut doors in succession, she found a room with a huge hole smashed through one wall.

Nami stared expressionlessly at the room before her.

In truth, the reason she had sent Li Mingyuan away was to deal with the things inside this room.

—These sea charts she had drawn for the Arlong Pirates.

Nami silently stared at everything in the room. Only after an unknown amount of time did her dazed awareness finally return. With trembling hands, she took a box of matches from her pocket.

Outside Arlong Park—

With nothing to do, Li Mingyuan casually found one of Arlong Park's own beach lounge chairs. Amid the corpses strewn everywhere, he lay down on it and waited for Nami and Carina to come out of the building.

He certainly wanted to spend more time with Nami and wondered whether he could get closer to her and raise her favorability somewhat.

But he was a perceptive man.

He knew very well when to step forward and when to stay quietly where he was.

The moment Nami casually mentioned that she had personal belongings to deal with and wanted him to avoid the area, he had not missed the unnaturalness on her face. His instincts told him that if he followed too closely, he might make things difficult for her.

"Hmm~ hmm-hmm."

He softly hummed the melody of the One Piece theme song.

At the moment, Li Mingyuan was in an exceptionally good mood.

The feeling of gradually interacting with characters from the original work and taking part in the story made him feel as though he had become the protagonist himself. And he was not merely watching from the sidelines—through his actions, he had drastically altered the plot.

The feeling that his every action could interfere with and change the future of this world always gave him a godlike sense that everything in the world was within his grasp. It was truly addictive.

No matter how many times he experienced it, he could never get used to it.

Just as Li Mingyuan was imagining a sweeter future in which he and Nami became even closer—

A burst of noise began approaching from not far away from Arlong Park.

The newcomers were the villagers of Cocoyasi Village.

After Nami spread the news that the Arlong Pirates had been destroyed, even presenting Arlong's head as proof, many people found it hard to believe. Yet they had no choice but to accept reality and erupt into ecstatic cheers.

Quite a few people wanted to head directly to Arlong Park to see the Fish-Men's current state. Others were curious about the mysterious bounty hunter Nami had mentioned and wanted to see what he looked like.

Only after Nami stopped them did the villagers refrain from swarming toward Arlong Park.

However—

That only applied to the other ordinary villagers living on the island.

The villagers feared the power of the Arlong Pirates, and they were even more afraid of the bounty hunter who had destroyed the Arlong Pirates all by himself. Since Nami had stopped people from going when she spread the news, the other villagers naturally assumed there was some reason for it. They abandoned the idea and did not dare approach.

But although the villagers of Cocoyasi Village had the same concerns and had been stopped by Nami from going to Arlong Park, when they discovered that Nami herself had returned alone to Arlong Park—where something might still be wrong—they worried about her safety. They told Nami they would not go, but secretly followed her anyway.

And now, they had arrived at the entrance to Arlong Park.

Before even entering, the villagers merely looked from afar and immediately saw Arlong Park, almost dyed red, with Fish-Man corpses scattered all over the ground.

The villagers looked at one another, unable to help feeling horrified by the sight.

The Arlong Pirates had been destroyed.

When they saw Arlong's head, they had indeed considered that possibility. But they had never expected that, upon witnessing it in person, the scene at the destroyed Arlong Park would look like this. Not only had the Fish-Men been wiped out entirely, they had been destroyed in an extraordinarily brutal and vicious manner.

Seeing this scene, the villagers naturally felt a certain satisfaction, as though their hatred had finally been avenged. Yet at the same time, the instinctive physical discomfort of being human made them shudder in fear, and their first impression of the mysterious bounty hunter became one of violence and bloodshed.

The villagers silently exchanged glances.

Not long afterward, one of them stepped forward and could not help sighing.

"Sigh, I told you it was best not to follow her. Since Nami said that, she must have had her concerns. But since she returned to Arlong Park by herself, there probably isn't any danger. She's not a child anymore—she has enough judgment to know that."

"Now that we've seen it, we should hurry back."

The man who stepped out from among the villagers looked like an ordinary middle-aged villager. He had a steady air about him, and the hat on his head had a small pinwheel attached to it, making him seem very approachable. Yet in contrast to that outward impression, his body was covered in vicious scars. He looked like a soldier who had survived a battlefield, his appearance striking at first glance.

Seeing the middle-aged man who seemed to be taking the lead step forward, one villager could not help muttering his name. "Genzo."

"What else do you want? Do you have to see that bounty hunter with your own eyes and confirm Nami isn't in danger before you're willing to leave? You can barely move after seeing this scene, yet you still want to act tough."

Genzo glared. "And speaking of which, this is far too rude to our benefactor! He came from who knows how distant an island and helped us wipe out the Arlong Pirates. Instead of thanking him, you're all here being wary of him. If you anger him and drive him away by crowding around here, let's see how you explain yourselves."