Sky Map Can Wait, but Food Cannot

The sound of water echoed through the drainage canal, and Nami had already vanished.

Qi Hai grabbed a mooring rope from the shore, his gaze fixed on the canal entrance.

"She can't have gone far. Seal the eastern exit, and we can still catch her."

"Catch her for what?"

Su Hang turned and entered the lower hold. He took a silver-gray metal plate from a gap beside the keel and set it on a wooden crate.

Seven layers of cloud patterns glimmered blue beneath the lamplight.

Qi Hai stopped in his tracks.

Su Hang tapped the metal plate.

"What she took was Mia's rubbing. The original is still here. The rubbing has no date and no coordinates. Even if she sells it, no one can use it to reach the sky."

"It's still a high-priority clue."

"Maps won't starve to death. People waiting for food will."

Su Hang picked up the tidal chart Nami had dropped, sliding his finger from Greenleaf Island's eastern inlet all the way to Cocoyasi Village.

"Lorne, check this route."

Lorne had already opened the East Blue port registry he carried with him. Before long, he found a merchant report received half a month ago.

"The waters outside Cocoyasi Village are controlled by Arlong's crew. Over the past three months, six merchant ships entering the nearby waters disappeared. The rest had most of their cargo taken."

"What about food prices?"

"Five times the normal price. Medicine costs even more. Hemostatic drugs have been out for ten days."

Qi Hai looked toward the drainage canal.

"She stole the map on purpose to force us to bring food there."

"She doesn't trust pirates, and she doesn't trust merchants. She only trusts what she can hold in her own hands."

Su Hang spread out the tidal chart.

"But she left behind the route that actually matters. This chart avoids the main port patrols. That means she wanted the Dawnbringer to reach the village from the start."

Lorne lowered his voice.

"Getting the food in won't be hard. The hard part is that Arlong won't let us sell it at normal prices."

"Disaster relief grain is sold at cost. The rule is nailed to the ship."

"Rules won't stop fish-men from drilling through the hull."

Qi Hai tapped the deck with his scabbard.

"The Dawnbringer's bottom was just repaired. Fish-men can exert force underwater. If they pry off two outer planks, seawater will flood the lower hold, and you won't even be able to stand."

Su Hang did not argue.

The sea was an unavoidable fatal weakness for Devil Fruit users.

The last time he fell into the water, he had not even been able to lift a finger.

If the Dawnbringer was breached in deep water, the captain would be the first to lose his fighting power.

"So we won't take the deep-water main port."

Su Hang pointed at the shallows marked by Nami.

"We'll enter against the current from the east and sail close to shore. Mia, prepare shallow-water flotation bags and secure them along both sides of the hull. If the bottom leaks, inflate them first to keep the ship afloat."

Mia approached with the rubbing paper in her arms.

"Ordinary leather bags can't support the Dawnbringer."

"They only need to hold until we reach the shallows."

"Then use three layers of fish skin with cork in the middle. Six flotation bags can buy us half a quarter-hour."

Qi Hai asked again.

"What about the people underwater?"

"We'll hire someone who knows the water better than we do."

Su Hang looked at Alan, who was helping move medicine on the dock.

Alan did not agree immediately after hearing him out.

"You're going to fight fish-men?"

"We're transporting food."

"Arlong's men are fish-men too. If a fight breaks out, will you start firing whenever you see a fin?"

Qi Hai rested a hand on his sword hilt.

"Whoever attacks the Dawnbringer is an enemy."

Alan stared at him.

"The Marines used to say that too. In the end, their shells landed in the Fish-Man District, and they said they couldn't tell the difference."

Qi Hai's grip on his scabbard slowly loosened.

"Then you'll make the call. If we spot targets underwater, the gun crews must wait for your signal. If you say they're not Arlong's men, no one is allowed to fire."

"Can my word overrule the captain?"

Su Hang turned the wooden board listing escort rules toward Alan.

"Add another rule. When fish-man identities need to be determined, someone familiar with the local situation must identify them first. Unless they have already attacked, race cannot be used as a reason to open fire."

Alan read it but did not take the pen.

"I won't work for free."

"Double a navigator's wage."

"I also want a small boat. If anything happens, I'll pull anyone who falls overboard to safety first. I won't chase down and kill anyone for you in the sea."

"Deal."

Only then did Alan press his fingerprint onto the temporary employment contract.

Lorne looked toward the warehouse.

"Can Cocoyasi Village afford this?"

"Load the food first."

"I'm asking how we'll recover the costs."

"Oranges, ship repair labor, tidal information—they can all be traded. If they truly have nothing, they can pay after the route is restored."

Su Hang walked to the mainmast and removed the disaster relief transport terms from the rest.

"The price is fixed, and freight charges are public. Anyone who dares raise prices on the spot gets thrown off the ship."

The warehouse doors opened, and sack after sack of rice was carried aboard the Dawnbringer.

Medicine crates were secured near the hatch. Salt, beans, and clean drinking water were stored separately. The evacuation passage down the middle remained clear, with no cargo allowed there.

After checking the cargo amount, Lorne looked up.

"These supplies can keep the village going for twelve days. If we load any more, the draft will sink below the shallow-water safety line."

"Twelve days are enough to open the first supply line."

"What if Arlong takes all the food?"

"If he takes one sack, I'll make him cough up two."

Qi Hai glanced at Su Hang.

"You just said we weren't going to fight fish-men."

"I'm not looking for trouble."

Su Hang lifted the last crate of hemostatic medicine.

"If trouble comes aboard, that's another matter."

Behind the dock warehouse, an orange corner of clothing quietly withdrew into the shadows.

Nami had returned as soon as the Dawnbringer began loading food.

She had expected them to chase her into the drainage canal, or hold her money pouch hostage to force her out.

No one came after her.

Su Hang had not even told the sailors to mention the stolen Sky Map.

Sack after sack of food went into the cargo hold, each marked with the normal cost price.

There was no fivefold markup, no protection fee, and no village population listed as collateral.

Nami touched the rubbing hidden against her chest and bit her lip.

As evening approached, the Dawnbringer cast off its mooring lines.

Qi Hai had just ordered the sails raised when a tightly rolled paper tube flew down from the warehouse roof and landed at Su Hang's feet.

Nami stood above them with her hands on her hips.

"Here's your map."

Su Hang picked up the paper tube.

"Didn't you say you were trading it for food?"

"The food hasn't reached the village yet, so it doesn't count as a trade."

Nami slid down a wooden ladder and landed on the deck.

"I'm only returning it for now. If you turn back halfway, I'll steal it again."

Qi Hai looked at her money pouch.

"And the ship nails?"

Nami slapped six old long nails onto a wooden crate.

"Not one missing. I found the Dawnbringer's worm-eaten outer plank for you. That inspection fee evens things out."

Lorne spoke up.

"Are you planning to sail with us?"

"I'm only leading the way."

"And the fee?"

"Sell Cocoyasi Village's food at the price you wrote down. If anyone dares charge more, I'll steer his ship onto the reefs."

Su Hang handed her the tidal chart.

"Then take charge of the eastern inlet."

Nami accepted the chart and watched him warily.

"You really aren't afraid I'll lead the ship into a trap?"

"You want that food in the village more than anyone."

That single sentence choked off the rebuttal she had prepared.

The Dawnbringer sailed out of the dockyard.

The shallow-water flotation bags were secured along both sides. Alan rode ahead in a small boat to scout the route, while Nami stood at the bow, measuring the depth again at regular intervals.

By the time darkness had fully fallen, lights finally appeared in the waters outside Cocoyasi Village.

But three long, narrow speedboats shot out from behind the reefs first.

Fish-men leaped onto the reef tops, thrusting their spears into the water at the same time.

Thick ropes tightened along both sides of the channel, forming an underwater net pressed close against the ship's bottom.

The leading fish-man raised a loudspeaker, baring a mouthful of sharp teeth.

"The food may enter the village, but ninety percent of every sack goes to Big Brother Arlong."