A Love Story of Mutual Devotion (?)

Why did she suddenly bring this up?

Li Mingyuan found it a little strange, but after thinking it over, he still responded, "I only took down a Fish-Man gang. What feelings could I possibly have about that? Pirates at that level wouldn't stand out even in the first half of the Grand Line, let alone the second. As for becoming famous across the East Blue, would anyone really feel proud of making a name for themselves in the weakest sea?"

"Compared to something so trivial, I'm more concerned about money right now. This rare windfall feels pretty good, but there won't be another opportunity like this in the East Blue. I'm short on cash, so rather than retiring or anything, I'd rather quickly find chances to trade the heads of more and higher-bounty criminals for rewards."

"Hmph~ What an insatiable man."

Hearing Li Mingyuan's answer, Carina gave a soft snort. "You actually look down on the reputation you have now. If you said that anywhere in the East Blue, who knows how many bounty hunters would make you their target."

"But speaking of which, what do you need so much money for?"

"Though it might sound strange coming from me, I think the money you have now would be more than enough for an ordinary family to spend in a lifetime. And like you said, there are no pirates in the East Blue with a higher bounty than Arlong. What happened today, exchanging all these bounties, can't happen a second time in the East Blue. Yet you still want the heads of criminals with even bigger bounties. If that's the case, then only the Grand Line can probably fulfill your ambitions."

Carina sat atop a crate, supporting her chin with one hand while holding a money pouch in the other. She looked at Li Mingyuan with curiosity and a hint of probing in her eyes. "What? Don't tell me you really want to go to the Grand Line?"

At that, Li Mingyuan's body paused slightly.

When he looked at Carina again, this time was different from their earlier casual conversation. Li Mingyuan began carefully observing her expression.

Carina's question sounded like an offhand bit of small talk, and under normal circumstances, it would have been difficult to spot any flaw. But he had once been the nominal leader of a nation. Even now, he keenly saw through the girl's disguise and sensed that something seemed to be hidden beneath her words.

At this point in time, she's asking about my next move and trying to find out whether I became a bounty hunter for fame or fortune. The timing was natural enough, but the content was still too deliberate.

I see. So she finally couldn't hold it in and wanted to test the waters.

Li Mingyuan chuckled inwardly.

He had thought she could hold out longer. He hadn't expected that she would become impatient just after leaving the island.

"I already told you before, you don't need to beat around the bush when you talk to me. If there's something you want to say, just say it."

Li Mingyuan stared at Carina's face. As his mindset shifted, his tone became more casual. "If you only want to know what my next goal is, then I can tell you. Just as you guessed, I'll go to the Grand Line and continue working as a bounty hunter, collecting the heads of wanted criminals."

"But I doubt that's all you want to know by asking me this now, is it?"

Carina blinked at Li Mingyuan's words.

"What do you mean?"

Carina's hand tightened slightly, but her face remained composed as she asked in confusion, "I was just curious why you've gained both fame and fortune, yet you look completely unconcerned about either. I finally felt like showing some concern for you, and now you're making me sound overly complicated."

"Fine, if you say so, then just assume I was being nosy. But you really are strange. You can have whatever you want in the East Blue, yet you insist on going somewhere more dangerous to make even more money. I think being a pirate would suit someone like you better. Still, if you keep this up, it wouldn't be surprising if you died someday."

Carina spread her hands and sighed. "It would just be a pity about all the money you have. If you die, it'll definitely end up benefiting those wanted criminals... If you really just want to get yourself killed, you might as well give the money to me instead."

"There! I'm giving it back. All thirty-four million five hundred thousand Beli!"

With a reluctant expression, Carina stared at the money pouch in her hand as if her heart were bleeding. Then she glared at Li Mingyuan and casually tossed it at his feet.

"If you ever want to enter the Grand Line but can't find anyone to entrust your inheritance to, call me beforehand. After you die, I'll find a way to steal the money back. At least we fought our way through Arlong Park together. I can't just hand over Arlong's bounty to some random pirates."

"Oh? Should I thank you, then?"

"Forget it. Instead of wasting time chatting, why don't you go up to the lookout and check the wind? At this speed, it'll still take a long time to get back to Cocoyasi Village. If you want to make it to tonight's banquet, get to work!"

Carina said irritably.

Seeing Carina pull the subject in every direction before turning it back onto him, Li Mingyuan found it rather amusing. But outwardly, he did not press her further. Once certain things were dragged completely into the light, the other party might not yet be mentally prepared to accept them.

Though this supposed uncertainty between life and death had actually already been settled without her knowledge.

Li Mingyuan said nothing more. Looking at Carina's tense expression, he shook his head slightly and then actually followed her instructions, quickly climbing up to the lookout to check the wind.

Seeing Li Mingyuan's reaction, Carina, who had been pretending to stay calm, quietly let out a breath of relief.

This guy is way too sharp! I thought the atmosphere had been pretty good just now. He'd only just collected the bounty, so he should have been happy and too busy to pay much attention to anything else. That was why I took the chance to ask. I didn't expect him to notice I was probing him from just one sentence.

Fortunately, she had changed the topic quickly enough, and Li Mingyuan had not pursued it. Otherwise, it would have been difficult to wrap things up.

Carina discreetly wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and continued looking out at the sea as though nothing had happened.

In truth, she did not even dare let the corner of her eye drift toward Li Mingyuan, afraid he might spot some flaw.

"Phew..."

"What should I do next?"

Carina stared worriedly ahead and muttered indistinctly.

Just as Li Mingyuan had seen through, Carina really had been testing him. She wanted to see whether his future goals left any room for her.

After all, she couldn't wait until she failed to produce the ransom before considering a way out. By then, she would be one hundred percent doomed.

Besides, the reason Carina had asked now was that during their earlier voyage, she had suddenly realized that Li Mingyuan genuinely knew nothing about sailing. Not only did he do whatever she told him to do, but even when some meaningless actions were mixed in, he still did them. Based on what she knew of Li Mingyuan, if he had known those actions were pointless, his personality would never have allowed him to move. In other words, he truly did not understand.

Just like now. If she had not suddenly told Li Mingyuan to go work, and he had not obediently gone to do it, she would not have had this time to regroup.

This guy talks about money, money, money all the time, but he's completely different from Nami and me. When the money actually lands in his hands, he doesn't look especially happy at all. And his material desires are faint too. Even though he has so much money, he mostly just saves it rather than spending it. Otherwise, he wouldn't have boarded that cargo ship as a guard in the first place, and the two of us wouldn't have run into each other so unfortunately. With that much money, couldn't he just hire a ship for a solo route?

He clearly doesn't lack money and isn't interested in it, yet he keeps risking his life to earn more. If he simply enjoyed the danger and thrill of hunting wanted criminals, that would be one thing, but it doesn't seem like that either. People like that usually become pirates, rather than taking this roundabout route and remaining bounty hunters. On the ship and in Arlong Park, he showed no sign of enjoying his fights with the Fish-Men. When I asked how he was about to become famous across the East Blue, he looked bored too. Neither money nor fame seems to hold any appeal for him.

Something feels off. Why did he even go to sea?

Carina silently pondered Li Mingyuan's situation.

For now, she had gathered enough information to confirm that even after obtaining her ransom, Li Mingyuan would continue sailing and hunting wanted criminals. In other words, he still had goals for the future and might even enter the Grand Line.

Though Carina found Li Mingyuan's behavior extremely strange after analyzing it, no matter how strange a goal was, it was still a goal.

Whether she wanted to or not, the two of them still had to retrieve her ransom next. They were bound to spend more time sailing together, and she believed that gave her plenty of room to maneuver.

She wanted to see whether she could demonstrate her value and make Li Mingyuan think she was worth bringing into his crew. Then, when the truth about the ransom exploded later, he might spare her life depending on the circumstances.

"No matter what, if I want to live, this is the only way."

Carina took a deep breath.

"If he really wants to keep sailing all the way to the Grand Line, he'll definitely need to gather crew members. In the East Blue, plenty of people dare to sail out on tiny broken wooden boats, but those people never live long once they reach the Grand Line. Coincidentally, Li Mingyuan realizes that he needs other people's help. He doesn't want to drift around the sea knowing nothing. Otherwise, he wouldn't have done whatever I told him before. He understands plenty about the dangers of sailing."

"Yet from what I've seen, this guy seems somewhat solitary. He doesn't like too much contact with people. If he didn't know nothing about sailing, he might even be a lone wolf. Would someone like that really gather a whole bunch of sailors whose backgrounds he knew nothing about? I can't imagine that scene at all. Given his circumstances, even if he keeps sailing, he'll probably only recruit enough people for a small boat at most."

"If I can build a good relationship with him in advance and make him feel that taking familiar people to sea is better than finding unfamiliar new crew members, then if that idea succeeds, I'll survive!"

She had actually been thinking about these matters ever since they were still at Arlong Park.

Unaware that Nami had already spoken up for her, and that Li Mingyuan would not kill her even without Nami, Carina had racked her brains in desperation and arrived at this plan.

Carina felt the chances of success were not low.

After all, even without this plan, she would still try to please Li Mingyuan during the voyage they would share. Now, she was only trying to make that ingratiation meaningful and valuable in Li Mingyuan's eyes.

As long as Li Mingyuan's situation truly matched the risk she had just taken in probing him—if he really still had goals and plans for future voyages—then by ordinary human nature, he could not possibly kill her without mercy.

Of course, if that truly happened, then she would accept her fate.

As long as she did not drag anyone else down and handled everything on her own, the great thief Carina would have lived a life she could be proud of.

Carina stared at the sea and made up her mind.

Meanwhile, Li Mingyuan stood in the lookout, watching Carina's back as she stared blankly into space, seemingly lost in thought.

"Very nice."

"Just like in the anime."

As time passed, the sun inevitably rose and set. When the last afterglow of sunset sank below the horizon, the moon rose into the sky.

Night had arrived, yet Li Mingyuan and Carina's pirate ship still had not returned to Cocoyasi Village.

Under the moonlit scenery, Carina stood by the rail with her back to him. The sight made Li Mingyuan's eyes carry a trace of admiration, and he had been watching her for quite some time.

A thought naturally arose in his heart.

Sure enough, compared to things like fame and fortune, he was still more interested in these female characters from the original anime.

Honestly, just talking with Carina for this short while had made him as happy as collecting the bounty—perhaps even happier.

Every expression she made while talking to him, every change in her demeanor, involuntarily reminded him of scenes from the anime. With every extra minute he spent around her, his fondness for her seemed to keep rising.

In some ways, it might be nostalgia at work, but even putting that aside, she's a beautiful girl in her own right. If she stays by my side for long enough, affection will naturally grow.

It would be great if there were some way to keep Carina on the ship.

Leaning against the lookout, Li Mingyuan rubbed his chin and muttered to himself.

Even if she did nothing, simply being pleasant to look at would count as completing her duties.

Not to mention that Carina's knowledge of sailing far surpassed his own.