A Major Boost in Strength, a New Voyage

Ten minutes later.

Orange Town's harbor.

A medium-sized sailboat flying a ridiculous clown flag sat quietly docked at the shore.

Of course, it now belonged to the Straw Hat Pirates.

Luffy sat cross-legged in the VIP seat at the bow, swinging his legs as he laughed heartily.

Zoro hugged Wado Ichimonji and leaned against the mainmast with his eyes closed, resting.

On the other side of the deck, Victor and Nami were conducting a serious calculation regarding the "distribution of wealth."

"There's a total of five million Beli in cash, plus jewelry and gold worth roughly twenty million."

Victor held a small notebook in his hand, counting the treasure before him while scribbling down notes.

"Subtracting the costs of supplies we need to buy, ship repairs, and future food expenses... Hmm, and various other expenses."

Victor closed the notebook, raised his head, and flashed Nami an extraordinarily bright smile.

"Miss Nami, considering that you still owe me an enormous debt, and your current ability to repay it is negative..."

"These treasures will temporarily be kept by your vice-captain. Do you have any objections?"

"I object!!" Nami clutched the largest money bag in her arms for dear life.

"At least... at least leave me some! I worked for these too!!"

Nami pointed at the empty dock in the distance, so heartbroken that tears were about to spill from her eyes.

"And another thing! Why did you leave a bag of money on shore?! There were a full five million Beli in it!"

Before boarding, she had personally watched Victor casually toss an entire heavy bag of Beli into a conspicuous spot on the dock.

"Objection overruled."

Victor ruthlessly suppressed the navigator's resistance and casually took the money bag from Nami's arms.

Then he threw it, along with all the treasure on the ground, into the cabin behind him and locked it away.

"That money was left for rebuilding the town."

Victor clapped his hands and smiled at Nami.

"Of course, in exchange, the position of navigator on this ship is yours."

"Food and lodging included, and no salary. How about it? Isn't that a great deal?"

"A great deal, my ass!!" Nami was so furious she wanted to bite someone.

Just then, a chaotic barrage of dense footsteps suddenly came from the direction of the dock.

"They're over there!!"

"Get them! Don't let those pirates get away!"

Everyone turned to look.

Mayor Boodle came charging toward the harbor with bandages wrapped around his head and Chouchou held in his hands.

Behind him was a large group of townspeople armed with shovels, pitchforks, and wooden clubs, all charging forward fiercely.

"Ah! It's the mayor and the others!"

"Hey—!! Old man—!! Did you see that? We won!!"

"Won my ass!"

The moment Nami saw the furious townspeople, her face turned pale.

"It's over, it's over! They must think we stole Buggy's treasure, and now they've come to arrest us!"

She grabbed her hair in despair. "I told you we shouldn't have taken so much! Now we're wanted criminals!"

"Since we are technically robbing them, why not throw our vice-captain back?"

Zoro, who was leaning against the mast, opened one eye and casually remarked.

"Then what do we do? Fight them?"

Luffy clenched his fists and tilted his head uncertainly. "But that's the old man!"

"No need to fight."

Victor walked to the ship's rail and looked at the emotional townspeople, understanding flashing through his eyes.

He knew very well that these townspeople had not come to arrest them.

They had come to thank them.

But pirates did not need that kind of gratitude.

Besides, if the Marines learned that this town had been "saved" by pirates, it would only cause trouble for the ordinary people who still had to live here.

"If we're pirates, then we should leave like pirates."

A playful curve formed on Victor's lips. He took a deep breath and shouted toward the crowd on shore.

"Listen up, people of Orange Town!"

"The Buggy Pirates have been taken down by us!"

"As spoils of war, his treasure and his ship now all belong to our Straw Hat Pirates!"

Victor smiled and pointed toward the treasure hold behind him.

"If you want your treasure back, come chase us all the way to the Grand Line! If you've got the guts! Hahahaha!"

After saying that, Victor turned around and snapped his fingers at the still-dazed Luffy and Nami.

"Raise the sails! Set off!"

"Oh!! We're heading out to sea!!"

Luffy looked at Victor with a grin.

But the moment he heard the words "heading out to sea," he immediately jumped up excitedly, stretching out his arms to pull open the huge sail.

Whoosh—!

The sail filled with wind, and the ship swiftly departed the harbor, carving a white trail through the sea.

"Wait!!"

By the time Mayor Boodle and the townspeople rushed to the dock, the ship was already dozens of meters from shore.

They watched the pirate ship gradually sail away.

They watched the Straw Hat boy still waving from the stern, and the black-haired figure standing at the rail with his back to them.

Everyone stopped in their tracks.

They found a heavy bundle on the dock. When they opened it, it was filled with neatly arranged Beli.

"Bastards..."

Mayor Boodle clenched his fists, but tears would not stop flowing down his face.

Looking at the young figures aboard the ship, he used all his strength to roar at the sea.

"You brats... you brats... you brats!"

"Thank you!!! You pirate brats!!! Have a safe journey!!!"

Chouchou in his arms also barked loudly at the distant pirate crew.

"Woof woof woof! Woof!"

The other townspeople threw down their weapons as well, wiping away tears while waving and crying out their farewells.

"Take care!!"

"Thank you!!"

Their voices drifted to the ship on the sea breeze.

"Hehehe, I think they're saying thank you."

Luffy sat at the bow, holding down his Straw Hat and grinning so widely that his gums showed.

"Yeah, what a troublesome bunch." Zoro closed his eyes again, though a faint smile tugged at his lips.

Nami leaned against the railing, watching Orange Town grow smaller and watching the waving crowd with a complicated expression.

She turned to look at Victor, who was tidying the ropes as if nothing had happened.

"Hey, Victor." Nami could not help speaking up.

"Hm?" Victor turned around, looking completely innocent.

"You... You're actually a good person, aren't you?" Nami studied him suspiciously.

Victor's hands paused as he sorted the ropes.

Then he straightened up, wagged a finger at Nami, and wore that smiling expression again.

"A good person? Miss Nami, that's the greatest misunderstanding you could have about me."

"A good person wouldn't remind you that, including the five million we just left for the town, your total debt is now—three hundred and five million Beli."

"..."

Nami's expression froze.

Three seconds later, a furious roar echoed across the deck.

"Victor!! Go die!!!"

Ignoring Nami's flailing claws, Victor happily found a comfortable spot and lay down.

He closed his eyes, sank his consciousness into his mind, and skillfully opened the system panel.

He had gained quite a lot from that battle. With 1,450 points in hand, it was time to spend some.

"What should I exchange for...?"

Victor's gaze moved over the dazzling exchange list.

[Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique] B-rank ninjutsu. Exchange cost: 800 points.

[Shadow Clone Technique] B-rank ninjutsu. Exchange cost: 1,000 points.

[Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique] C-rank ninjutsu. Exchange cost: 500 points.

[Sharingan Advancement: Two-Tomoe Sharingan] Exchange cost: 2,000 points

His current offensive ability was the Great Fireball, his control was genjutsu, and his defense was substitution. What he lacked was more agile movement and sustained combat capability.

In the end, his eyes settled on several options.

[Ding! Consumed 600 Ninja Way Points. Exchanged for ninjutsu: Shuriken Manipulation Technique (C-rank).]

[Ding! Consumed 300 Ninja Way Points. Exchanged for ninjutsu: Body Flicker (D-rank).]

[Ding! Consumed 300 Ninja Way Points. Exchanged for attribute: Chakra Quantity Increase (Chunin).]

[Ding! Consumed 100 Ninja Way Points. Exchanged for attribute: Improved Chakra Control.]

[Ding! Consumed 100 Ninja Way Points. Exchanged for blade: Uchiha Standard Longsword.]

[Ding! Consumed 50 Ninja Way Points. Exchanged for ninja tools: Explosive Tag x5, several shuriken and kunai.]

As a series of crisp notifications rang out, streams of warmth surged into Victor's limbs and body.

His mind gained the exquisite techniques for controlling shuriken with threads, as well as the method of using chakra to explosively increase his speed in an instant.

Most notably, the chakra that had been somewhat depleted within him now became much more abundant.

"Phew... I worked hard for half a day, only to return to square one in a single moment."

Victor looked at his points, which had instantly dropped to 0, and shut down the system with a pained heart.

Accompanied by Nami's continuing roars, Luffy's laughter, and Zoro's snores.

Victor comfortably adjusted his position and closed his eyes.

And so, the Straw Hat Pirates' first official sailboat carried four companions with vastly different personalities, riding the wind and breaking through the waves.

It sailed toward that even broader sea...