Traits Acquired!

"Hahaha! We won!" Luffy cheered, throwing both hands into the air.

Since they had confirmed that Buggy knew nothing about Shanks, and Rubber Heavy Fist could not inflict any truly fatal damage on a Chop-Chop Fruit user, sending him flying into the sky had been the best choice.

"Oh? So people really do turn into stars in the sky when they get blasted away. That's quite an interesting phenomenon." Rayson shaded his eyes from the glaring light and gazed in the direction Buggy had vanished, smiling as he remarked.

As for whether Buggy would search for his scattered body parts like he had in the original story, that was no longer Rayson's concern.

The Straw Hat Pirates had faced the Buggy Pirates, and the Straw Hat Pirates had won a complete victory!

And Rayson, who had obtained Child of the Sea, was undoubtedly the greatest winner of this battle.

"Here, take it. You need this, right? A navigation chart of the Grand Line." Once the fighting had truly subsided, Nami handed the sea chart in her hand to Luffy.

"Huh? You're giving it to me?" Luffy looked at Nami with delighted surprise.

"After all, we did work together. And without you guys, I couldn't have gotten my hands on the Buggy Pirates' treasure by myself." Nami smiled and turned to look at the two bulging bags of treasure piled beside her.

If converted into Beli, this haul was worth a full ten million.

It was by far the largest sum of money she had ever acquired.

After all, without Rayson's group helping her, she would never have dared to barge alone into the lair of a notorious pirate with a fifteen-million-Beli bounty.

"But let me make this clear first. Even though we worked well together just now, all this treasure belongs to me!" Nami hurriedly spread her arms protectively over the treasure bags. After her brief excitement, her expression became guarded again.

"Shishishi! With this, we can go to the Grand Line, right, Rayson?" Luffy had no interest in treasure at all. He excitedly held the navigation chart aloft and called out to Rayson.

"Yeah, but right now, we still need a proper pirate ship and a real navigator." After carefully examining the complicated chart, Rayson answered calmly.

Even with the white Navigation trait alone, Rayson had found it extremely difficult just to understand the thing, let alone lead everyone to the Grand Line.

"The Grand Line, huh?" Zoro revealed a wild grin.

Ever since Rayson had awakened him to the state of the world, Zoro had been impatient to head to the Grand Line and temper his swordsmanship.

"A navigator? Isn't there a ready-made one right in front of us? Shishishi!" Luffy grinned as he pointed at Nami.

Nami stared blankly at the three boys before her.

It was the first time in her life that she had met pirates who could turn a blind eye to such an enormous fortune.

These guys... there was not the slightest trace of greed in their eyes. All they had was a pure passion for chasing their dreams.

Pirates who set sail for their dreams... did people like that really exist in this world?

Just as Nami was quietly mulling it over, Luffy's shouting reached her ears, and she immediately snapped back irritably:

"Hey! I told you already, I will never become a pirate!"

But right after that, Nami's crafty eyes spun, and her expression relaxed again.

"Still... joining forces with you is a pretty good deal. Maybe we can continue working together sincerely for a while."

"Shishishi! Then it's settled! Nami is our navigator!" Luffy cheered exuberantly.

"A temporary navigator," Nami corrected.

"Welcome aboard, Nami." Rayson smiled and elegantly extended his right hand to her.

It was the same gesture he had used when inviting her to dance aboard the passenger ship.

"..." Looking at that gesture, Nami's thoughts drifted, and the scene of first meeting Rayson aboard the ship immediately surfaced in her mind.

She had thought they had merely crossed paths once upon this vast sea, and that "see you again" had been nothing more than a polite farewell.

Yet she had never expected that they would meet again today, much less that she would become the temporary guide on their ship through a twist of fate.

"Mm." Nami took a deep breath, lightly bit her lip, and finally reached out to take Rayson's hand.

"Y-you defeated Buggy the Clown?!" At that moment, a startled voice abruptly interrupted them.

Rayson and the others looked toward the sound and saw a strange, white-haired old man with a somewhat thin build standing not far away, staring at them in utter disbelief.

"Its true. We sent Buggy and his crew flying. Old man, who are you?" Luffy admitted it frankly, then looked the man over curiously.

"I'm Boodle, the mayor of Orange Town. Who are you people? Townsfolk who have been freed? You don't look like Marines." Boodle's face was tense, and his voice still carried traces of the fright he had just endured.

The tyrannical Buggy Pirates... had actually been taken care of by these young people?

"The mayor's home was occupied by Buggy. He must hate pirates! Don't tell him the truth!" Nami anxiously lowered her voice and warned them in a rush.

"I'm Luffy! The man who'll become the Pirate King!" Luffy planted his hands on his hips and loudly introduced himself with imposing grandeur.

Thud! Nami nearly face-planted onto the concrete.

"Hahahaha!" Zoro slapped his thigh and burst out laughing.

Watching this iconic scene, Rayson could not help but laugh as well.

It was exactly the kind of thing Luffy would do.

"P-pirates..." Mayor Boodle's face twitched violently.

"Ah, I'm starving! Old man, can you treat us to a filling meal?" Luffy rubbed his flat stomach.

That intense battle had just consumed a great deal of his stamina.

"What kind of pirate actually asks people for food?!" Nami was completely speechless.

"It'd be even better if there was some good liquor." Zoro stroked his sword at the side and added a comment.

For him, a jug of fine alcohol after a battle was one of life's greatest pleasures.

"We really should celebrate properly." Rayson agreed with a smile. The exhilaration of obtaining the Child of the Sea trait still had him in an excellent mood.

"Why are you acting like this too, Rayson?!" Nami stomped her foot in frustration.

Did these guys have any awareness that they were pirates at all? They had indeed just saved the town, but this town was also supposed to be a pirate's target for plunder!

"Come with me." After a long silence, Mayor Boodle suddenly said softly.

"Yay! Food!" Luffy eagerly followed him.

Zoro and Rayson exchanged smiles and followed close behind. Left with no choice, Nami hoisted the bag full of gold coins onto her back and followed as well.

Boodle led them to his residence.

Along the way, they encountered Chouchou, the adorable dog guarding a little shop amid the ruins.

Since it had not gone through the events of facing the bizarre beast alongside Luffy like in the original story, the loyal dog remained highly wary of them until the mayor spoke to soothe it, whereupon it gradually calmed down.

Rayson merely smiled gently from the side. As long as they had driven Buggy away and helped it protect the shop that carried its master's memories, whether they shared that bond or not did not really matter.