Attack

Nami silently did the math and realized that if she fulfilled all of Noki's requirements, she could earn at least 500,000 Beli a month. That was ten times her current salary!

That came to 6 million Beli a year...

Faced with the temptation of money, Nami's resistance was practically below zero.

Her eyes gleaming, Nami immediately said, "Vice Admiral, it's settled, then. You can't go back on your word."

"I always keep my word."

"Good! But there's one more thing I'd like to ask the Vice Admiral to help me with..."

"What is it?"

Nami pressed her index finger to her pale red lips, her lively eyes blinking. "The management skills you mentioned earlier are something I can learn by reading, but when it comes to combat techniques, I'm afraid ordinary drills with the troops won't be enough to meet your requirements. So, I'd like you to persuade Colonel Ain to let me train with Tashigi and Dezaya."

Nami shared a dormitory with Tashigi and Dezaya, and from her two roommates, she had gained a rough understanding of just how strict this vice admiral's requirements were.

Navigation was Nami's specialty, so she did not need to worry about that. Management would also be simple for her. Combat was the only thing she was truly bad at.

Though she had struggled among pirates for so many years, she had always relied on the wisdom in her head. Her own strength was hardly any different from that of an ordinary person.

"That matter..." Noki nodded. "I'll mention it to Ain. As for whether she agrees, that will depend on your own performance."

"Thank you, Vice Admiral~" Nami revealed her little tiger fangs in a sweet smile, clearly brimming with confidence.

After parting ways with Nami,

Noki returned to the door of his office, only to hear girls crying and quarrelling inside.

"Colonel, I know I was wrong! Please turn me back into an adult! I promise I'll keep an eye on that scheming little brat for you. I'll be completely loyal!"

"Carmen, you vicious woman! You're always thinking about selling me out! Once I change back, I'll make you pay."

"Tch, you still dream of changing back? Do you think the Colonel would agree? What, so you can turn back into an adult and keep seducing other people's husbands?"

"It's... it's not like she's the only one who can undo it. Worst comes to worst, I'll go find the Vice Admiral."

"Don't think I don't know. You've secretly gone to see the Vice Admiral several times already. The Vice Admiral has always been on the Colonel's side. How could he possibly help you?"

"..."

After listening for only a few lines, Noki covered his forehead. He felt so irritated he nearly wanted to vomit, so he decisively abandoned the idea of entering and went back to his room to sleep.

Meanwhile, at Loguetown Hospital.

"Is this heaven?"

Ace slowly opened his eyes, the bright sunlight outside the window somewhat dazzling.

"You're finally awake." Deuce closed his notebook and set down his pen. "We aren't dead. A passing bounty hunter uncle saved us."

Ace raised a hand to shield his eyes from the sunlight and sat up while holding the railing beside the bed. "I see. We got lucky."

"Since you're awake, I'll go book our tickets. We need to leave this dangerous place as soon as possible. We absolutely can't run into that terrifying Marine again!"

Ace rubbed his eyes. "Deuce, I don't want to leave yet..."

"You're still thinking of defeating that man? If we hadn't gotten lucky, you'd have died twice already!"

Ace threw back the blanket, put on his shoes, and stood up. Clenching his fists, he said resolutely, "I have to defeat him. Otherwise, even if I enter the Grand Line, there will still be powerful people like him. If I want to conquer this sea and become the freest man in the world, I have to get past him. There's no avoiding it!"

"Idiot!"

Deuce stomped his feet anxiously.

Ace added in a low voice, "I know this is extremely dangerous. So, Deuce, so I don't drag you down, you should leave Loguetown on your own."

"What kind of nonsense is that? We agreed that you'd take me on adventures with you. How can you break your word halfway through? It's just one life. What does a real man have to be reluctant about? If you want to mess around, I'll accompany you to the end!"

"Deuce, thank you."

"No need to thank me. We're partners!"

Suddenly, the door to the room opened. "Yo, you two look pretty lively."

"You are?"

Seeing an unfamiliar middle-aged man, Ace immediately became wary.

Deuce hurriedly introduced him. "His name is Dadi, Loguetown's famous bounty hunter. He's the one who saved us."

"I see."

Ace gave Dadi a deep bow to express his gratitude. "I will never forget this kindness."

Dadi waved his hand and pulled a bill from his coat pocket. "No need to be polite. It's not as if I saved you for free. This is what I spent on you over the past few days. It's not unreasonable for me to charge you double that amount, is it?"

Deuce took the bill and looked it over. Double the amount came to around 3 million Beli. That was a little too much for them; they would need to scrimp and save while working for several months to gather it.

Ace nodded. "That isn't unreasonable. Compared to the grace of saving our lives, this amount is nothing. We'll gather the money and give it to you as soon as possible."

"That's good. By the way, judging by how you two are dressed, are you bounty hunters too?" Dadi asked.

Ace shook his head. "No, we're..."

Deuce quickly covered Ace's mouth. "Yes, yes, we really are bounty hunters."

"Many wanted criminals come to this town every day. If you're strong enough, you can try hunting some of them down. You'll earn 3 million Beli very quickly."

"Oh, all right. Thank you for the advice." Deuce smiled and nodded.

Dadi gave them a deep look. "Then I'll be going. Get some proper rest. If I find out you ran off without repaying your debt, don't blame me for showing no mercy with my gun."

"We definitely won't!" Deuce promised, patting his chest.

After Dadi had gone far away,

Deuce finally removed his hand from Ace's mouth and scolded him, "Idiot, are you trying to cause trouble again? For the next while, don't tell anyone we're pirates, unless you want to throw your life away for nothing. Until your injuries are fully healed, stay out of the Marines' way."

Ace also realized that his actions had been a little too reckless. To protect his partner, he needed to learn to endure to some extent!

He could not let Deuce get hurt protecting him again...

After leaving the hospital, Dadi went straight into the Marine base.

"Mr. Dadi, what brings you here?"

Ain had just sent Tereina and Carmen away.

"I came to see Noki. Is he out?"

"At this hour, Noki is probably sleeping in his room. If it's urgent, you can tell me first. Once he wakes up, I'll pass it along for you."

Dadi adjusted his cowboy hat and revealed a fatherly smile. "Ain still spoils Noki so much. I really envy him."

At that, Ain's fair cheeks flushed slightly.

"It's nothing important. I just wanted to tell Noki that the two boys he asked me to look after have mostly recovered.

Lately, I've been having a hard time understanding him. He deliberately held back; that doesn't seem like his style."

Ain smiled. "Noki can indeed be hard to understand sometimes."

Dadi had a feeling that the two were hiding something from him, but he understood the principle that the less one knew, the better. He did not ask what he should not ask, and left after delivering the message.

At that moment, somewhere in the East Blue.

An enormous pirate ship rested quietly upon the sea. It had three full decks, a fierce black panther for a figurehead, and rows upon rows of dark cannon ports along its sides, a sight that was enough to make one shudder.

Even a Marine warship would have to admit inferiority before it.

"Lord Krieg, Captain Diaro requests an audience."

"Let him in."

"Yes, sir."

Not long afterward,

a burly man entered the captain's cabin with trembling steps. Looking at the gleaming weapons hanging along the walls on both sides, then secretly glancing at the imposing man ahead of him wearing golden armor, cold sweat ran down his back.

This was the overlord of the East Blue, Pirate Admiral Krieg!

"Diaro, what do you want with me?"

"Reporting to the Admiral, I heard that you are searching for a new target to plunder. I have a suggestion. If you adopt it, it will certainly further solidify your reputation as the overlord of the East Blue and make the entire world tremble before you!"

"Oh? Let's hear it." Krieg sat up slightly, clearly interested.

"You must have heard that a new Marine Headquarters vice admiral has arrived in Loguetown. Not long after taking office, he defeated your greatest rival in the East Blue, the Fish-Man Pirates!"

Krieg bared his teeth in a disdainful smile. "Arlong's pathetic forces deserve to be called my rival? If I wanted to, wiping him out would be as easy as snapping my fingers."

"Admiral, you're right. I was merely picking the tallest dwarf. After all, throughout the East Blue, every pirate besides the Krieg Pirates is nothing more than an insignificant ant."

"Hahahahaha, well said! Continue."

"Though the Fish-Man Pirates are insignificant compared to you, the fact that this Marine vice admiral destroyed them still caused quite a stir in the East Blue.

Forgive my bluntness, Admiral, but quite a few people in the East Blue now believe this Marine could defeat you as well. Of course, that is impossible."

Krieg raised his arm and slammed it heavily against the table, his astonishing strength splitting the tabletop into two.

"Outrageous! A bunch of ignorant fools. It seems I've been too merciful lately, letting them forget how formidable I am!"

Krieg had always considered himself the strongest and was extremely sensitive to other people's opinions. He wanted everyone to fear him, respect him, and dread him. The moment anyone tried to challenge his position, he would immediately destroy them without hesitation, by any means necessary!

"Please calm your anger. In my opinion, these rumors all stem from that newly arrived Marine. If you personally defeat him and hang his head from your ship's bow, the entire East Blue will surely submit beneath your feet once more."

"Mm... you're right! Deliver my orders: gather every fleet under my command immediately. In three days, assemble at Loguetown. I'll raze that place to the ground!

So what if it is where the Pirate King died? I'll make everyone understand that I am the overlord of these waters!"

"Admiral, you are wise!"

That day, Noki learned from Ain that Ace and Deuce had "come back to life."

Too much was as bad as too little, so Noki decided to let them rest for a few days before going to "play" with them again.

Noki explained Nami's desire to study under Ain.

Ain was quite willing to teach Nami, but following Noki's suggestion, the necessary evaluation process could not be skipped.

So Ain created a training plan for Nami similar to Tashigi and Dezaya's.

With money as motivation, Nami's drive was limitless. At the thought of getting promoted and receiving a raise in the future, she was full of energy!

Over the next three days, Noki earned several million Beli by killing wanted criminals. He went from an ordinary person with around 1 million Beli to a wealthy man possessing tens of millions of Beli.

Looking at the famous blade Golden Scale, which gleamed gold beneath the sunlight, Noki felt that it was time to buy Ain some things.

As a swordswoman, Ain was not good at using ordinary long swords. Instead, she was accustomed to wielding two short blades.

Noki remembered that Ain's two current short blades had been bought just before she graduated. She had used them for a long time, and their quality could only be described as average.

Though giving a girl weapons would have seemed incredibly insensitive to him in his previous life, as Marines who spent all year beside weapons, they were far more precious and important than anything else.

On this day,

Noki got up unusually early and led Ain by her soft, delicate hand into Loguetown's finest weapon shop.

When Ain heard that Noki was taking her shopping, she had been delighted. She put on light makeup and accompanied him out, only to find that he had brought her into a weapon shop.

"Vice Admiral, why have you come again?"

Ever since Noki's previous visit, the owner, Ipponmatsu, had been left with severe psychological trauma.

"Am I not allowed to come?" Noki's beautiful eyes stared coldly at him.

"Of course you are. I've always been hoping... hoping you would come. Is this beautiful lady your girlfriend? Please choose any weapon you like. I'll give you a twenty percent discount. It's the biggest discount this shop has ever offered."

Noki turned to Ain and smiled faintly. "This is the shop where I bought Sandai Kitetsu before. It may be small, but the weapons here are no worse in quality than those at Marine Headquarters."

Ipponmatsu promptly chimed in, "That's right, that's right. Loguetown is, after all, the place in the East Blue with the greatest demand for weapons. I guarantee that all my goods are the finest of the finest."

"Bring out every one of your best short blades. Don't worry about the price." Noki said boldly.

"Right away!"

Ain tightly held Noki's fair, slender hand, warm and strong in hers. Her heart was filled with warmth. "Noki, my current blades are quite handy. You worked so hard to save this money; there's no need to spend it all in a place like this. You should keep it for something more important in the future."

Noki reached out with his other hand and lightly scraped her small nose. "My parents died when I was young. Apart from Uncle Sakazuki, who raised me, you're the only family I have left. Nothing is more important than family. So, to me, spending money on you means spending it on the most important thing."

"Noki..." A faint shimmer of tears appeared in Ain's eyes as she gazed tenderly at the man before her.

Watching from the side, Ipponmatsu felt uncomfortable all over, as though he had been force-fed romance. Fortunately, he was already married and had fairly strong resistance to this sort of thing.

Suddenly,

A deafening boom shattered the perfect atmosphere.