March 5th, 1511 (Sea Circle Calendar )
East Blue.
Conomi Islands, Cocoyasi Village.
The Prosperity merchant ship once again docked at the makeshift pier in this small village.
"Mr. Carl, it's been a long time." Village policeman Genzo greeted Noah on the dock.
Noah took off his cowboy hat and joked with a smile, "Mr. Genzo, aren't you married to Ms. Bellemere yet?"
"Don't talk nonsense..." Genzo looked towards the village entrance in a panic.
"Hahaha..." The other villagers burst into laughter.
Suddenly, a splash of orange emerged from the nearby grove of trees—it was Nami, beaming with excitement. The arrival of the Prosperity was always her happiest moment.
" Nami! Slow down!" A frantic soprano voice boomed from behind her.
Nami turned her head, stuck out her tongue, and then jumped onto the deck of the Prosperity.
"Uncle Carl! Long time no see!"
"Isn't this the little orange kitten?" Noah smiled and pinched the kitten's cheek.
*Slap! Nami slapped Noah's hand, her face flushed slightly. "That wretched Uncle Carl, you owe me compensation!"
Noah smiled, took out a nautical book, and handed it to her. "Would you like to be my navigator?"
With veins bulging on her forehead, Bellemere gave a forced smile and reminded him, "Ahem... President Carl, Nami is still young."
"Oh, so that means Nami can become our company's navigator when she grows up? Well then, Bellemere generosity, Ms. Bellemere." Noah jokingly countered.
"Don't even think about it!" Bellemere roared, then picked up the pitiful Nami.
Noah stopped joking, handed the book to Nami, and then turned and went into the cabin.
Kuro, meanwhile, oversaw the transaction with a smile.
Inside the ship, Noah had already "seen" the uninvited guests from the seabed approaching Conomi Islands.
Thanks to Jinbe's protection, Arlong and his companions, who were released, wandered for several months before finally crossing the Calm Belt's underwater rift valley from Paradise and entering the East Blue.
Two weeks ago, Arlong and his men defeated a naval warship and, under duress and enticement, made a deal with Captain Nezumi.
Arlong's current task is to find a suitable place on Conomi Islands to build Fish-Man Paradise.
Noah was fully aware of all this. After all, the Aikeru Archipelago, where Conomi Islands is located, have a sea area radius of less than 120 kilometers. They are almost impossible to hide from his increasingly sophisticated electromagnetic wave amplification and Observation Haki.
The life force of the Fish-Man is extremely evident in the East Blue.
A moment later, Kuro pushed open the hatch.
"President, there's been an unexpected bonus."
"Oh? What did you find?"
Kuro pulled a grapefruit from his backpack, but its surface was white and covered with pale blue cloud-like patterns. "I found this fruit while checking a basket of grapefruits earlier. It should be Logia Cloud-Cloud Fruit."
" The Cloud-Cloud Fruit?" Noah squinted, picked up the Devil Fruit, and fell into deep thought.
Noah's visit to Cocoyasi Village was actually the result of an unintentional divination, which suggested that he would gain unexpected benefits in this sea area.
He initially thought it was Nami, but it turned out to be a Logia Devil Fruit.
Noah put away the fruit and took out a special card.
[ Wheel of Fortune: Luck 36297 points]
Compared to the small-scale Baroque Works, the Liberator Organization is much larger, and it also has various secret bases and affiliated forces.
Therefore, the amount of luck that Baccarat can absorb is also extremely large.
For example, the internal prisons of the Sky Empire and the Germa Kingdom hold a large number of prisoners, especially those prisoners who are intended for life force extraction and organ transplantation. Before they die, they can be exploited by Baccarat to absorb the prisoners' luck.
Noah then discovered that even without actively using this luck, it would produce special positive effects invisibly.
"I see. Actively using the power of luck from Lucky-Lucky Fruit is the most wasteful way to use it. Storing up luck can enhance a person's fortune invisibly."
Kuro was also very surprised to hear this. " The Lucky-Lucky Fruit has this effect?"
Noah nodded very firmly.
He was so certain because Nami did not obtain the Cloud-Cloud Fruit in the original timeline.
The fruit was reborn on a fruit tree in Cocoyasi Village, but it was bought by other passing merchants, causing Nami to miss out on the Cloud-Cloud Fruit.
Now, Noah easily obtained the fruit under the guidance of tarot card divination. This is not only due to the divination ability of the Card-Card Fruit, but more importantly, the fact that the Lucky-Lucky Fruit stores a huge amount of luck.
Noah's desire to win over Nami's Nami caused the lucky effects of the Lucky-Lucky Fruit to begin working on them as well.
Without this guidance, Noah would most likely still be in the North Blue, while Arlong entered the East Blue ahead of time, might still have killed Bellemere according to the original timeline.
This situation greatly surprised Noah.
After all, the active use of the Lucky-Lucky Fruit can only be applied to oneself, but passive luck can be bestowed upon a group, which is equivalent to a lucky halo for the whole group.
Luck is a somewhat elusive and unpredictable thing.
However, sometimes we have to acknowledge its existence.
Noah couldn't guarantee that all members of the organization would have smooth sailing, but the collective luck of the Lucky-Lucky Fruit would improve the probability of unfortunate situations occurring when encountering crises or emergencies, allowing people to turn misfortune into good fortune.
This also dispelled Noah's idea of actively using up his luck to find Devil Fruit.
The buying and selling on deck continued.
Noah and Kuro looked at the sea as the sun set, and a meaningful smile appeared on their faces.
Those Fish-Man will land in Cocoa Village tomorrow morning.
"Are those documents ready?"
"Ready, President," Kuro replied with a smile.
"People must experience despair before they understand the wickedness of this world and yearn even more for peace and light."
Kuro smiled, left the cabin, appeared on the deck, and announced the end of this port call for trade.
The Prosperity set sail and disappeared into the shimmering light of the setting sun.
Nami stood on the dock, waving her little hand. "Thank you! Uncle Carl!"
"They've all gone far away." The little windmill on Genzo's hat turned gently in the evening breeze. "The wind is picking up..."
"It's all Bellemere's fault. If she hadn't made me take the fish back, I wouldn't have been late," Nami complained softly.
Thud! A fist slammed into Nami's head.
"What are you saying? Nami..."
Despite the pain, Nami forced a laugh and replied, "Waaah... I meant Bellemere is the best!"
"Let's go! If we wait any longer, Nojiko will have eaten all the meat!"
"What?! Damn it..." Nami turned and ran away as fast as she could.
Genzo watched the mother and daughter's retreating figures, then looked at the blood-red sunset in the distance, muttering to himself, "I have a bad feeling about this. Am I overthinking it? I hope I'm just worrying!"
The gears of fate slowly turned.
The butterfly effect brought about by Noah has also transformed into a tempestuous storm of the times, blowing this giant ship of the world toward the unknown future.
Arlong's Fish-Man Pirates are approaching Cocoyasi Village.
The Prosperity was anchored in a secluded bay.
Night falls, and we await the arrival of Dawn once more.