Attack

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

That came to 6 million berries a year...

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

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

"I always keep my word."

"Great! But there's one more thing I'd like to ask of you, Vice Admiral..."

"What is it?"

Nami pressed a finger to her pale pink lips, her lively eyes blinking. "I can learn the management skills you mentioned by reading books, but when it comes to combat techniques, I'm afraid regular drills with the unit won't be enough to meet your standards. So I'd like to ask 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 gotten a rough idea of just how strict this vice admiral's requirements were.

Navigation was Nami's specialty, so there was nothing to worry about there. Management would be easy enough for her too. Combat was the only thing she was terrible at.

Despite struggling among pirates for all these years, she had always relied on her wits. Her actual strength was barely 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 flashed a sweet smile, her little fang showing as she clearly brimmed with confidence.

After saying goodbye to Nami,

Noki returned to the door of his office, only to hear girls crying and arguing 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, and 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're still dreaming about turning back? Do you think the colonel would agree? So you can become an adult again and keep seducing other people's husbands?"

"It's... it's not like she's the only one who can undo it. At 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 moments, Noki covered his forehead, feeling so annoyed he almost wanted to vomit. He decisively gave up on 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 was somewhat blinding.

"You're finally awake." Deuce closed his notebook and set down his pen. "We're not dead. A bounty hunter uncle who happened to pass by saved us."

Ace raised a hand to block the sunlight and sat up while gripping the bedrail. "I see. We got lucky."

"Now that 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 still want to defeat that man? If we hadn't gotten lucky, you would've died twice already!"

Ace threw off 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 person in the world, I have to get past him. It's unavoidable!"

"Idiot!"

Deuce stamped his feet in anxiety.

Ace lowered his 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 to go on adventures together, so how can you break your word halfway through? It's just one life. What does a real man have to be reluctant about? Since you want to mess around, I'll see it through with you!"

"Deuce, thank you."

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

Suddenly, the door was pushed open. "Yo, you two look pretty lively."

"Who are you?"

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

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

"I see."

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

Dadi waved a hand and pulled out a bill from his coat pocket. "No need to be polite. I didn't save you for free. This is what I spent on you two over the past few days. It's not too much to charge you double that amount, is it?"

Deuce took the bill and looked it over. Double the amount came to roughly 3 million berries. It was a little steep for them. They would have to work for several months and live frugally to save that much.

Ace nodded. "It's not excessive. Compared to the debt 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 hurriedly 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 a few of them. You'll earn 3 million berries in no time."

"Oh, alright. Thanks for the reminder." Deuce nodded with a smile.

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

"We absolutely won't!" Deuce promised, thumping 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 a while starting today, don't tell anyone we're pirates. Unless you want to throw your life away for nothing, stay away from the Marines until your injuries have fully healed."

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

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

After leaving the hospital, Dadi headed 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 time, Noki is probably asleep in his room. If it's urgent, you can tell me first. Once he wakes up, I'll pass the message along for you."

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

A faint blush appeared on Ain's fair cheeks.

"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 had trouble understanding him. He deliberately held back. That doesn't seem like his style."

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

Dadi had a feeling those 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.

A massive pirate ship sat quietly on the sea. It had three full decks, a ferocious black panther for a figurehead, and rows upon rows of dark cannon ports along its sides, enough to send chills down anyone's spine.

Even a Marine warship would pale in comparison before it.

"Lord Krieg, Captain Diaro requests an audience."

"Let him in."

"Yes, sir."

Not long after,

A burly man entered the captain's cabin trembling. Looking at the gleaming weapons hanging on both walls, then sneaking a glance at the imposing man ahead clad in golden armor, cold sweat streamed down his back.

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

"Diaro, what do you want with me?"

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

"Oh? Let's hear it." Krieg sat up a little straighter, clearly interested.

"You must have heard that a Marine Headquarters vice admiral recently 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 little force is worthy of being my rival? If I wanted to wipe him out, it would take no more than the flick of a finger."

"Admiral, you are right. I only said that because he was the tallest among short men. After all, throughout the East Blue, every other pirate crew besides the Krieg Pirates is nothing more than insignificant vermin."

"Hahahahaha! Well said! Continue."

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

Forgive my bluntness, Admiral, but many people in the East Blue now believe that this Marine can defeat even you. Of course, that is impossible."

Krieg raised an arm and slammed his palm down onto the table. His astonishing strength split the tabletop cleanly in two.

"How outrageous! A bunch of fools. It seems I've been too merciful lately and let them forget how formidable I am!"

Krieg had always considered himself the strongest and was extremely sensitive to others' opinions. He wanted everyone to fear him, respect him, and stand in awe of him. The moment anyone tried to challenge his position, he would immediately destroy them without hesitation, at any cost!

"Please calm your anger. In my opinion, these rumors all began because of 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 to your feet once more."

"Mm... you're right! Pass down my order. Gather every fleet under my command immediately. In three days, assemble at Loguetown. I will raze that place to the ground!

So what if it is the place where One Piece died? I'll make everyone understand that I am the true 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 planned to let them rest for a few days before going to "play" with them again.

Noki explained Nami's desire to train under Ain.

Ain was more than willing to teach Nami, but at Noki's suggestion, the proper evaluation process could not be skipped.

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

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

Over these three days, Noki earned several million berries by killing wanted criminals. He had gone from an ordinary person with around 1 million berries to a wealthy man possessing tens of millions.

Noki looked at the famous blade Golden Scale, which gleamed under the sunlight, and felt it was time to buy Ain some things.

As a swordswoman, Ain was not skilled with ordinary long swords and instead preferred using a pair of short blades.

Noki remembered that the two short blades Ain currently used had been bought shortly before she graduated. She had used them for a long time, and their quality could only be considered average.

Giving a girl weapons might have seemed like an incredibly thoughtless move to him in his previous life, but as a Marine who spent all year surrounded by weapons, they were far more precious and important than anything else.

That day.

Noki got up unusually early and led Ain's soft, delicate hand into the best weapon shop in Loguetown.

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

"Vice Admiral, you've come again?"

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

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

"Of course you are. I've always been hoping... hoping you would come. Is this beautiful lady your girlfriend? Feel free to pick any weapon you want. I'll give you a twenty percent discount. That'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 quality of its weapons is no worse than those at headquarters."

Ipponmatsu quickly chimed in, "That's right, that's right. Loguetown has the greatest demand for weapons in the East Blue, after all. I guarantee that every item here is among the finest."

"Bring out all the best short blades in the shop. Don't worry about the price." Noki spoke with great confidence.

"Right away!"

Ain tightly held Noki's fair, slender hand, warm and strong in her own, her heart filled with warmth. "Noki, my blades work quite well already. 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 used his other hand to flick her small nose. "My parents died when I was young. Other than Uncle Sakazuki, who raised me, Ain is the only family I have left. Nothing is more important than family, so to me, spending money on you means spending it in the most important place."

"Noki..." Tears shimmered faintly 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 showered with affection. Fortunately, he was a married man and had stronger resistance in that regard.

Suddenly.

A loud boom shattered the wonderful atmosphere.