Oh my God, they weren't...

After hypnotizing the last sailor aboard, Dill couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief.

For days on end, aside from sleeping and eating, he had barely had a moment to himself, constantly working on the people aboard in secret.

Only now had he finally turned all twenty-one people on the ship into his own people.

Along the way, he had also learned quite a few people's stories.

Narcissa, for example, was a woman determined to be stronger than men.

Her story was simple, very simple.

Her parents had a son, so they abandoned her.

When she grew up, she found a boyfriend, only for her boyfriend to find a boyfriend of his own.

From then on, Narcissa became a woman who pushed herself to the limit, wanting to surpass men in both knowledge and strength.

"Tsk, what a bizarre set of experiences."

Dill sighed and strolled leisurely toward his room.

Over these four days, his bounty had increased tenfold again, shooting straight up to ten million Beli.

This time, even Hina had received a bounty of one million.

In the end, the matter of killing the king of a non-Affiliated Nation hadn't stayed under wraps.

Although he had used his two-meter-tall beast form when leaving the castle and had specifically had Bege destroy the castle's surveillance equipment afterward;

Quite a few townspeople had seen his original appearance, so it was hardly surprising that it had leaked.

The newspaper had used a photo of him with Hina and Robin hanging off him, probably taken by someone at the harbor.

The article had also said something about the youngest pirate crew in history, with higher bounties the younger its members were.

Fourteen-year-old Hina had one million, twelve-year-old Dill had ten million, and ten-year-old Robin had seventy-nine million.

There had indeed been some people in previous years who had high bounties at a young age.

Charlotte Linlin, for instance, had already carried a bounty of sixty million when she was very young.

And she had earned it through actual fighting, unlike Robin, who had inexplicably been saddled with the blame for destroying warships.

There were always extraordinary talents who made a great name for themselves at a very young age.

But a situation like Dill's crew, with three pirates and not one old enough to drink, was a first.

They had made the headlines because of it, and the name Kali Dill had spread across the world for the first time.

If "belief" could directly turn into power, he would probably have already become a powerhouse in a single bound.

Unfortunately, that wasn't how his cheat worked. "Belief" could only raise his upper limit.

But there were benefits, too.

For example, the upper limit of his fire ability, the only one outsiders knew about, had increased considerably.

If it had previously been 1/1, it was now roughly 1/1000, or even more.

The first number was his current level, and the second was the maximum level he could reach.

His increased fame would naturally draw more people to hunt him down, but Dill wasn't particularly worried about that.

Ever since they had left that small freighter, Robin had been using her ability to alter their three faces, so there was no risk of outsiders recognizing them.

Besides, they were still drifting out at sea, and the odds of being found were minuscule.

Most days at sea were dull and uninteresting, and they all found things to pass the time.

Influenced by Narcissa, and now a wanted criminal herself, Hina had begun physical training, running laps around the deck every day.

Dill spent every day fishing or eating all kinds of things.

He had two dreams: one was to travel around the world, and the other was to become the World's Strongest while lying down.

The two didn't conflict. The more places he visited, the more people he could hypnotize, and naturally, the stronger his passive ability, "physical attributes grow stronger every moment," would become.

With the Flame-Swallowing Lord's ability as well, even his daily eating and drinking counted as training.

He incorporated his various abilities into everyday life,

He would coat his fishing rod in the power of lightning, then cast his hook to fish.

Although he still came up empty-handed every day, the sailor beside him with a landing net enjoyed a bountiful harvest.

His fire power had become a barbecue grill, while his still-weak water manipulation ability had yet to serve much purpose.

The lookout became Robin's territory, with its wider view making it easier to spot the unnamed island.

Unfortunately, three days passed without any sign of that unnamed island.

Even with its general location, finding a small island in this vast sea was no easy task.

It wasn't until the morning of the fifth day that Robin spotted the island to the northwest through a telescope.

The ship immediately changed course, heading northwest.

"Ahh?!"

A startled cry rang out from the lookout, tinged with disbelief.

Sitting on the ship's railing eating, Dill tilted his head up and asked curiously:

"What is it? Is there something strange about that island?"

"No, they aren't..."

Robin stammered, her face flushed red, and finally tossed the telescope down,

"Look for yourself."

Smack~

Dill caught the telescope and couldn't help frowning.

Could there be something besides primitive people? It looks like this journey to find the Poneglyph won't go too smoothly.

He raised the telescope and stood on the railing, gazing into the distance until he could make out the island.

Green forest covered the entire island, with a stretch of beach only along the edge by the sea.

Five primitive women wearing brown grass skirts were tending a campfire on the beach, seemingly preparing to roast their prey.

Wait!

Dill froze, lowered the telescope with a puzzled expression, then rubbed his eyes and raised it again,

Five women wearing brown grass skirts, with very short hair...

"What did you see?"

Hina came over curiously. Why were Dill and Robin both acting like this? Had they seen something strange?

"Look for yourself."

Taking the telescope, Hina raised it and saw five women wearing brown...

"Oh my God, they aren't..."

Hina couldn't help letting out a quiet gasp, her cheeks visibly reddening.

She saw that those five primitive women wore brown grass skirts and had very short hair.

Apart from one female warrior who also wore a chest wrap, the other four had nothing else on.

No shoes, no hats, no tops.

"I... I remember, in the photos in that book, they were wearing them."

She lowered the telescope, somewhat incoherent. Even if they really were primitive people, they should still know the difference between men and women and wear the clothes they ought to wear.

Rather than leaving two soccer balls exposed to the air like that.

Besides, the storybook they had read a few days earlier had contained photos, and they had indeed been dressed in grass skirts and fang necklaces.

But the women had clearly also worn chest wraps made of tanned animal hide.

"Hina doesn't understand!"

"We'll understand once we go ashore."

Dill pinched the bridge of his nose. Since they were already here, no matter how strange it was, they would have to go ashore and take a look first.

The ship advanced slowly but steadily toward the unnamed island.

The telescopes temporarily became the ship's treasures. There were three in total, one in Dill's hands, while the other two became objects of contention among the sailors.

Hypnosis didn't change people's personalities. More precisely, aside from obeying Dill completely, nothing else about them had changed.

After such a long voyage at sea, this bunch of energetic animals had long been itching for some fun.

"Give it here! It's my turn!"

"Piss off! Go find Nock. I haven't had my fill yet!"

Amid the sailors' clamor, the ship gradually approached the unnamed island.

The five women on the beach had already spotted them. One ducked into the forest, while the other four stood ready with spears in hand.