Desperate Pirates / My Money...

Yuke thought carefully, then realized he had never met this person. "Who are you?" he asked.

Noil stuffed the huge chicken leg into his mouth, wiped his hands on a nearby pirate's clothes, and said, "I'm a Pirate Hunter. Your head is mine!"

"A Pirate Hunter?!" The pirates in the hall were stunned. Why was a Pirate Hunter here?

"How is that possible?" Yuke demanded. "I posted so many lookouts around the village. How did you sneak in without anyone noticing?"

Noil thought back to the lookouts he had passed and put on a serious face. "They were pretty thorough. Getting in took a lot of work."

"Damn it!" The sight of Noil standing there so casually sent a surge of anger through Yuke. He roared at his men, "What are you waiting for? Kill this fool!"

"Yes, sir!"

At Yuke's command, the pirates sprang into action. Like a pack of wolves, they drew their cutlasses and charged.

The easy atmosphere in the hall vanished. Battle cries and clashing weapons rang through the room, enough to make anyone's hair stand on end.

But even surrounded by pirates, Noil showed no sign of panic.

He swung his sword at the attackers, easily blocking every strike and occasionally slipping in a counterattack.

Noil strolled toward Yuke, who stood behind the crowd. Pirates piled in to stop him, but they did not slow him in the slightest.

Seeing that so many men still could not hold Noil back, Yuke shouted in panic and fury, "Call for help! Get everyone outside in here!"

At his order, the pirates outside flooded into the hall. Every lookout abandoned his post, leaving the village perimeter deserted.

Nami, Niwan, and Niman were crouching outside the village, wondering how to sneak in, when all the guards suddenly left.

The three stared at the empty village.

Could they really be this lucky?

Beli signs practically appeared in Nami's bright dark eyes. She rubbed her hands together and grinned. "Perfect! Let's find the pirates' treasure vault!"

Niwan and Niman nodded hard, and the three walked straight into the village to search for the treasure.

Back at the hall, wave after wave of pirates poured through the doorway. The room was packed in an instant, though a wide space remained around Noil.

The sight of Noil holding them all off alone terrified the pirates. They shrank back, afraid to approach. Before Noil even did anything, more and more pirates were trampled to death.

Noil glanced indifferently at the cowards, then fixed his gaze on Yuke and the Skillful Grade Blade Qingxing in his hand. His eyes nearly glowed green.

The sword and the bounty—I'm taking both!

Desperate Pirates

Noil picked up his pace, his sword whirling wildly. Sharp Sword Aura flew in every direction, leaving anyone it touched dead or wounded.

The pirates could no longer hold back the increasingly ferocious Noil. Yuke's face filled with terror as he backed through the crowd, apparently ready to abandon his crew and flee.

Noil frowned. He lunged forward, cutting down the pirates in his way, then slashed at Yuke.

Yuke stared in shock but managed to react. He drew his Skillful Grade Blade and blocked.

A tremendous force slammed into it. The impact sent pain through the web of Yuke's hand and nearly knocked the sword from his grip.

Noil seized the opening and kicked Yuke away, snatching the Skillful Grade Blade Qingxing in the process.

Holding his newly acquired sword, Noil's eyes shone. His grin nearly reached his ears.

This trip was worth it. A bounty to collect and a fine sword to take!

Qingxing had a long blade. Even with Noil's current height and reach, it was a little too large for him.

But that was no great problem. At the rate he was growing, he would soon wield it perfectly.

The Skillful Grade Blade had a snow-white edge and a regular pattern of blue-green markings along its length. It felt heavy in his hand and suited Noil's tastes perfectly.

"What a fine sword. It's mine now!" Noil said with a satisfied smile.

Yuke knelt on the floor, coughing blood, his face ashen. He no longer cared that the brat had stolen his sword. After just a few exchanges, he could tell their strength was on entirely different levels.

Yuke was known for being cautious. Seeing how badly things had turned, he tried to run. He could always rob people somewhere else; it would hardly be the first time.

But Noil had come for his head. He was not about to let him go.

"Running? Perfect chance to try out my new sword!" Noil's smile vanished. He sheathed his old sword, gripped Qingxing with both hands, and aimed its point at Yuke's retreating back.

Noil drove his feet against the floor and shot forward like an arrow, swiftly catching up to Yuke. Qingxing flashed across his back.

The blade's blue-green gleam mingled with blood. A huge gash opened across Yuke's back, and blood poured out.

Yuke fell into a pool of blood with a hideous scream. Soon he was a cold, motionless corpse.

"The captain's dead?!"

"How is that possible? Boss Yuke can't be..."

"That kid's a demon! A monster!"

A pirate crew's captain was its pillar of strength. Seeing Noil break through their lines and kill their leader so easily, Yuke's men descended into chaos.

Amid their panicked cries, fear spread through the crowd. Pirates fled in droves, without even stopping to collect the body of the captain they had always respected.

Noil looked down at Yuke's corpse with sympathy. "Looks like you didn't mean much to your men. Not one of them stayed to keep you company."

If Yuke could still hear him, he would have cursed Noil through his tears.

By then, the fleeing pirates had all but forgotten their boss. One of them suddenly said, "Wait, wasn't there a lot of treasure in Yuke's vault? He's dead anyway. Why don't we split it?"

At the thought of all the wealth Yuke had amassed, the pirates' eyes lit up. They agreed eagerly, and a huge group changed direction and rushed toward the vault.

But when the greedy pirates reached it, they were dumbfounded.

Why was the vault completely empty? Forget gold and jewels—there was not even a single coin left!

Even a mouse would have left something out of pity!

While the pirates stood there in disbelief, another pirate came running. "There's a ship by the shore! Those bastards loaded all our money onto it!"

"What?!" The pirates erupted in fury and charged toward the shore with cutlasses in hand.

We couldn't beat that demon of a kid, but surely we can handle a bunch of thieves!

On the ship, Nami was beaming as she directed Niwan and Niman to shift the money around.

After sneaking into the village, Nami had relied on her peculiar "nose for treasure" to find Yuke's hoard in no time. The three of them had promptly emptied it.

If Niwan and Niman had not dragged her away, Nami would have torn down the doors with gold trim and packed those up too.

Nami gazed at the hold full of treasure and Beli. The Beli signs in her eyes seemed to shine brighter than ever.

Beli and all these glittering things—I love them!

"You damn thieves! Give us our money back!"

"You shameless cowards! Come down here and fight!"

"Give it back!"

Nami was still staring at the treasure in a daze, practically drooling, when angry shouts rose in the distance.

"Oh no, the pirates are coming! We have to go!"

The moment Nami saw them approaching, her face changed. She told Niwan to set sail at once.

"But Master hasn't come back yet," Niwan said hesitantly.

"Ah..." Nami faltered too, but her sharp eyes soon spotted Noil standing on the shore. She called out excitedly, "Big brother, run! We took all their money!"

Noil stood on the shore holding Yuke's head in a piece of black cloth. As he watched the pirates shouting for blood, he had actually begun to feel sorry for them.

They'd lost their leader and had their money stolen, all in one day...

Poor bastards...

Then he looked at his ship. Why was there so much more money aboard?

Nami's shout told Noil everything. She had disobeyed him again.

Noil's face darkened. "That girl just loves causing me trouble," he muttered.

Then he leaped lightly into the air and landed on the ship as effortlessly as a crane spreading its white wings. Nami greeted him with an excited smile. "Big brother, look how much money those pirates had saved up!"

Noil wanted to scold her, but when he saw her flushed, delighted face, he could not bring himself to do it.

He turned to his two apprentices. "Yuke's dealt with, and we've got the money. Ignore the small fry. Let's go!"

"Yes, Master!" Niwan and Niman answered excitedly.

When the pirates on shore realized the man who had killed their captain was working with the thieves who had stolen their treasure, they nearly broke down.

Where had this gang of bandits come from?

Watching the pirates weep in despair and question every decision that had brought them here put Noil in an even better mood.

But when he looked at Nami celebrating with his two foolish apprentices, he fell into thought.

Arlong's story had changed, so why did Nami still love Beli so much? And why did she love stealing it?

Could it be... her nature?

My Money...

After Arlong invaded Cocoyasi Village, ten-year-old Nami joined the Arlong Pirates and endured the humiliation to keep everyone in the village alive.

She agreed to Arlong's terms: if she gathered one hundred million Beli, he would set the entire village free.

To do that, Nami had swindled and tricked people across the seas, using her remarkable skills to steal pirates' Beli.

But in the end, Arlong had broken his word and conspired with Captain Nezumi to seize Nami's one hundred million Beli. That was what had led the Straw Hats to go to war with Arlong for her sake.

Noil had assumed Nami cherished Beli because of that tragic experience and had become so adept at stealing out of necessity.

But now it seemed her love of Beli and her knack for deception were in her bones. They were talents!

"The target has acquired a new talent. Host, please inspect it."

The system's voice rang out. Noil's mouth twitched. Could the timing really be that perfect?

He used Inspect on little Nami. Sure enough, alongside her original Red Talent, she now had another one.

"Cat Burglar: White quality. Places great value on money and possesses exceptionally skillful powers of deception. The chance of successfully stealing or swindling depends on the target's intelligence and can reach one hundred percent."

Noil sighed. Little Nami had developed her signature trade after all. But why was it such a useless white talent?

The system explained, "Talents acquired after birth differ from innate talents. They can improve in quality as the ability grows stronger."

Noil nodded. The power of a Devil Fruit was a typical acquired talent. Luffy's Gum-Gum Fruit, for instance, must have been fairly low-quality when he first ate it, certainly lower than many Logia Devil Fruits.

But after Luffy developed Gear Fourth two years later, that talent could hardly have remained at such a low quality.

Noil looked at Nami. She was hugging a thick bundle of Beli, kissing and nuzzling it with a blissful expression.

A sly smile spread across Noil's face.

Maybe I can't rein you in, but someone else can.

Did you think Bellemere would let this slide?

Nami was counting her money when a sudden chill ran down her spine. It felt as though a huge "DANGER" sign had appeared over her head.

She eyed Noil suspiciously, but he was smiling and showed no sign of coming to take her money. Only then did she relax.

The trip out had been quick, and so was the return. With no more minor pirates delaying them, Noil and the others soon sailed back to Cocoyasi Village.

Bellemere and Nojiko were already waiting on the shore.

Only after her son had left had Bellemere discovered that one of her daughters was missing too!

Seeing her children return safely, Bellemere finally breathed a sigh of relief. Then she noticed the Beli aboard the ship, and her face filled with shock.

Had they made that much in one trip?

Nami was nervous. She had snuck out, after all, and once she stepped off the ship, she did not dare look Bellemere in the eye.

But Bellemere had yet to address her. Noil had pulled her aside to tell on Nami.

After embellishing the tale of Nami sneaking off and stealing money, Noil put on an aggrieved face. "Bellemere, you have no idea. While I was fighting, Nami snuck away to steal money."

"And as if stealing it wasn't enough, she kept it all for herself! She wouldn't share a bit with us. She said it was all hers and no one else could have any!"

"Really?" Hearing her son's complaint, Bellemere's anger surged to its peak, and her fists clenched.