In One Piece, I Can Copy Any Talent

Yuke thought it over carefully and realized he had never met this person. "Who are you?" he asked.

Noil stuffed the giant chicken leg in his hand into his mouth, wiped his hands on a nearby pirate's clothes, and said, "I'm a Pirate Hunter. That bounty on 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 asked in disbelief. "I posted so many lookouts around the village. How did you sneak in without making a sound?"

Noil thought back to the lookouts he had passed and put on a serious face. "The security was pretty tight. It took me a lot of effort to get in."

"Damn you!" The sight of Noil standing there so casually filled Yuke with sudden rage. He roared at his men, "What are you standing around for? Kill this fool!"

"Yes, boss!"

At Yuke's command, the pirates sprang into action. They drew their curved blades and lunged at Noil like a pack of wolves.

The easy atmosphere in the hall vanished. Battle cries and clashing weapons rang out, enough to make anyone's blood run cold.

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

He swung his sword at the enemies rushing him, easily parrying every attack and striking back whenever he felt like it.

Noil strolled toward Yuke, who stood behind the crowd. Pirates piled into his path, but they did nothing to slow him down.

Seeing that so many men could not stop him, Yuke shouted in anger and alarm, "Call for reinforcements! Get everyone outside in here!"

At Yuke's order, the pirates outside flooded into the hall. Every lookout abandoned his post, leaving the village outskirts empty in an instant.

Nami, Niwan, and Niman were crouched outside the village, wondering how to sneak in, when everyone suddenly disappeared.

The three stared at the deserted village.

Could they really be this lucky?

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

Niwan and Niman nodded firmly. The three walked straight into the village and began searching for wherever the treasure was kept.

Meanwhile, wave after wave of pirates poured into the hall. It soon became packed, though a wide space remained clear around Noil.

The pirates feared the lone man holding them all back. One by one, they shrank away, unwilling to approach. Before Noil could even do anything, more and more of them 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 practically glowed green.

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

Desperate Pirates

Noil quickened his pace, his sword whipping through the air. Sharp arcs of sword energy flew in every direction, leaving anyone they touched dead or wounded.

The pirates could no longer hold back the increasingly relentless Noil. Terror crossed Yuke's face as he backed away through the crowd, apparently ready to abandon his men and flee.

Noil frowned, charged forward, and cut down the pirates in his way. Then he slashed at Yuke.

Yuke stared in shock, but managed to react. He drew his Skillful Grade Blade to block.

A tremendous force struck him. The impact sent pain through the web of his hand, nearly knocking the sword from his grip.

Noil seized the opening, kicked Yuke away, and snatched the Skillful Grade Blade Qingxing from him.

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 Noil was growing, he would soon be able to 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.

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

Yuke knelt on the ground, coughing blood, his face ashen. He no longer cared that the brat had stolen his sword. After just a few exchanges, he could tell they were nowhere near the same level.

Yuke was a pirate known for his caution. The moment things turned against him, he tried to run. He could always rob people somewhere else; it would hardly be his first time moving on.

But Noil had come for the bounty on Yuke's head. He was not about to let him go.

"Running? Perfect. I'll test my new sword on you!" Noil's smile faded. He sheathed his old sword, gripped Qingxing with both hands, and pointed its tip at Yuke's fleeing back.

Noil drove both feet against the floor and shot forward like an arrow from a bow. He caught Yuke in an instant, and Qingxing flashed across his back.

The Skillful Blade's blue gleam flashed amid a spray of blood. A deep gash opened across Yuke's back, and blood poured from it.

Yuke collapsed into a pool of blood with a terrible scream. Soon he lay cold and motionless.

"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. Watching Noil break through their ranks and kill their leader so easily sent the pirates into chaos.

As panicked cries filled the hall, fear spread through the crowd. Pirates fled in every direction, without even stopping to collect the body of the captain they usually revered.

Noil looked sympathetically at Yuke's corpse. "Guess you weren't that important to your men after all. Not one of them wants to stay and keep you company."

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

By then, the fleeing pirates had forgotten their boss entirely. One of them suddenly said, "Wait. Didn't Yuke keep a lot of treasure in his vault? He's dead, so why don't we split it?"

At the thought of the wealth Yuke had amassed, the pirates' eyes reddened with greed. They shouted their agreement and rushed toward the vault.

But when the greedy mob reached it, they stood there dumbfounded.

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

Even a rat would have been given a little something before it left!

As the pirates stared in disbelief, another pirate came running. "There's a ship by the shore! The bastards on it loaded all our money aboard!"

"What?!" The pirates erupted in fury and charged toward the shore, curved blades in hand.

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

Aboard the ship, Nami beamed as she directed Niwan and Niman to move 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 had promptly emptied it.

If Niwan and Niman had not dragged Nami away, the little girl would even have torn down the gold-trimmed doors and packed them up.

Nami gazed at the treasures and Beli filling the hold, her coin-shaped eyes practically blazing.

Beli and shiny gold things—Nami loved them best (?????)!

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

"You shameless crooks! Come down here and fight us!"

"Give me back my money!"

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

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

Nami's face changed the moment she saw the pirates approaching. She told Niwan to get the ship moving.

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

"Oh..." Nami faltered. Then her sharp eyes spotted Noil standing on the shore. "Big brother, run!" she called excitedly. "We took all their money!"

Noil stood on the shore with Yuke's head wrapped in black cloth in his hand. As he watched the pirates shouting for blood, he had actually begun to feel sorry for them.

They had lost their leader and had all their money stolen in the same day...

Poor bastards...

But when he turned, he saw a huge pile of money aboard his own ship. Where had that come from?

Hearing Nami's shout, Noil immediately understood: she had probably ignored his instructions again.

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

Then Noil leaped lightly through the air and landed aboard the ship as gracefully as a white crane spreading its wings. Nami immediately rushed to take credit. "Big brother, look! Those pirates had saved up so much money!"

Noil wanted to scold her, but when he saw her flushed, excited 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. Don't bother with those small fry. Let's go!"

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

The pirates on shore realized that the thieves who had stolen their treasure were working with the man who had killed their captain. Their spirits broke.

Where did these bandits come from...?

Seeing the pirates weeping on the shore with utter despair on their faces put Noil in an even better mood.

But when he looked at Nami, who was clapping in celebration with his two foolish apprentices, he fell into thought.

The whole Arlong business has changed. So why does Nami still love Beli so much? And why does she still love stealing it?

Could it be... that's just her nature?

My Money...

After Arlong invaded Cocoyasi Village, ten-year-old Nami had joined the Arlong Pirates and endured humiliation to protect the villagers' lives.

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

To do it, Nami had cheated and swindled her way across the seas, using her remarkable tricks to steal pirates' Beli.

But in the end, Arlong had broken his promise and worked with Captain Nezumi to seize Nami's hundred million in savings. That was what had driven the Straw Hat Pirates to fight Arlong for her sake.

Noil had assumed Nami valued Beli so highly because of her tragic experience, and that necessity had made her skilled at stealing.

Now, though, it seemed to Noil that Nami's love of Beli and talent for trickery were in her bones. They were natural gifts!

"Target has developed a new talent. Host, please inspect it."

The system's voice rang out. Noil's mouth twitched. The timing can't be that perfect, can it?

He used Inspect on little Nami. Sure enough, she now had a new talent alongside her original red one.

Cat Burglar: White quality. Values money greatly and possesses an exceptionally deft talent for deception. The success rate of theft or deception depends on the target's intelligence and can reach one hundred percent.

Noil sighed. Cute little Nami had developed her signature skill after all. But why was it such a useless white-quality talent?

The system explained, "Talents developed after birth differ from innate talents. They can improve as the user's abilities grow."

Noil nodded. The power of a Devil Fruit was a classic example of a talent acquired later in life. When Luffy first ate the Gum-Gum Fruit, its quality had probably been quite low, certainly below that of many Logia Devil Fruits.

But after Luffy developed Gear Fourth over the following two years, that talent could hardly have remained so low in quality.

Noil looked at Nami. She was hugging a thick bundle of Beli, kissing and even nibbling at it, her face full of bliss.

A sly smile crept across Noil's face.

You little rascal. I may not be able to rein you in, but someone can.

You think Bellemere will let you get away with this?

As Nami counted her money, a sudden chill ran down her back. It felt as though a huge warning 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 return trip passed as quickly as the outward voyage. With no more minor pirates to delay 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 set out had Bellemere discovered that one of her daughters was missing too!

The sight of her children returning safely finally let Bellemere breathe a sigh of relief. Then she saw the Beli aboard the ship, and her face filled with shock.

Was this trip really that profitable?

Nami felt uneasy. She had sneaked out, after all, and could not bring herself to look Bellemere in the eye after disembarking.

But Bellemere had no time for him yet. Noil had pulled Bellemere aside to complain.

After giving Bellemere an embellished account of how Nami had sneaked off and stolen the money, Noil put on a wounded look. "Bellemere, you have no idea. While I was fighting, Nami slipped away to steal money."

"And stealing it wasn't enough. She claimed it all for herself without giving us a share. She said nobody else was getting any because it was all hers!"

"Really?" Bellemere heard her son's grievance, and her anger instantly hit its peak. Her fist clenched.