Without another word, Kazu unleashed his Conqueror's Haki, sending dozens of villagers straight into dreamland.
"Let's go. Let's take a look inside."
Kazu led the way in, and Carlmand scratched his head before following.
"Captain Kazu, weren't you going to show them our sincerity? Why did you use Conqueror's Haki?"
Makino jogged after them as well. What Kazu had just done contrasted so sharply with what he had said that she couldn't wrap her head around it right away.
Kazu glanced at Makino and grinned. "I clearly have the power to kill every one of them instantly, but I didn't kill them. Instead, I'm buying supplies with money. Isn't that sincerity enough?"
"I only used Conqueror's Haki to help them understand that."
"They wouldn't listen to anything we said anyway, so taking action was easier."
"Don't worry. Most people fear might, not virtue. No matter how nicely we put things, someone will argue, but once they understand the gap between us, they'll calm down instead."
"That's experience talking. Just learn from it."
Makino felt she had learned something new again, and after thinking it over carefully, she felt Kazu did have a point.
In any case, they hadn't hurt the villagers for no reason. Once they woke up in a little while, everything would be fine.
The three entered the village and found every household's doors and windows tightly shut. It seemed word of pirates coming ashore had already reached the village.
"Can't be helped. Let's try another village. There are plenty around here."
The three changed course. It didn't take them long to pass through a stretch of rice paddies and forest and reach the outskirts of another village.
"Little girl, is there a market around here where people buy and sell things?"
Kazu and the others spotted an orange grove nearby. Seeing two little girls helping their mother sort oranges, Makino walked straight over to ask for directions.
"Huh?"
"Are you from another village?"
"Our village doesn't have a market, but you can go to Kesha Town. There's a big market there."
The orange-haired girl wasn't afraid of the three strangers. The girls often helped their adoptive mother tend the orange grove, and whenever they went out to sell oranges, they always met strangers, so they were much bolder than other children their age.
"Nami, when other grown-ups ask us things, we should get Bellemere."
The purple-haired girl beside her held back Nami, who was about to keep talking. She was clearly more wary than Nami.
"Oh, right."
"Bellemere, there are strangers here!"
The two little girls abandoned the oranges in their baskets and ran straight into the orange grove to call Bellemere.
Before long, three females, one adult and two children, walked over. The woman in front was the Bellemere Nami and the other girl had mentioned.
As expected of a woman who had served in the Marines, she still carried herself like a soldier even after leaving the service. Standing straight, she approached Kazu and the others with a confident smile. "May I ask what brings you to our orange grove?"
Kazu was peeling an orange to eat. Several pieces of orange peel lay on the ground, proving that the orange in his hand wasn't his first.
"Your oranges are really good. We came to buy some supplies and happened across your orange grove. We wanted to ask for directions, so we came in for a look."
"How much are your oranges?"
After hearing why Kazu and the others had come, Bellemere relaxed considerably.
Even with her fighting skills, the sight of Kazu's and Carlmand's builds had put her on edge.
"All I have here are oranges. They're a hundred Beli per jin, if you'd like some. If you buy a lot, I can give you a discount."
Kazu popped the peeled orange into his mouth. It wasn't small, but with Kazu standing over three meters tall, it looked as though he were eating a tiny mandarin.
"Then I'll take a thousand jin. If there's more left over, I can buy all of it too."
Bellemere hadn't expected such a big customer. Though she was delighted to sell so much at once, there were only three of them. Could they finish that many oranges?
"Wow."
"Hey, hey, have you fallen for Bellemere? You're being awfully generous!"
Hearing Kazu's outrageously lavish declaration, Nami teased him.
Thump!
"That hurts, Bellemere!"
Unsurprisingly, Bellemere gave Nami a punch. The large bump on her head was conspicuous, and Nami was on the verge of tears from the pain.
"You have no filter."
"Nojiko, keep an eye on Nami. We have guests, so don't let her spout nonsense."
"No problem. Leave it to me."
Nojiko's betrayal made Nami very unhappy. Pouting, she said, "Nojiko, even you won't take my side anymore."
Nami was still very lively at this point. Having never endured the hardships Arlong brought, she wasn't as obsessed with money as she was in the original story.
Kazu felt that this Nami was pretty good too. Since he had transmigrated into this world, it would be fine if the Cat Burglar who endured humiliation to earn a hundred million Beli to save her village never existed.
Kazu wanted to help Nami for no other reason than that he admired both her beauty and her character. Such a kind girl deserved to be loved.
As for the concern many transmigrators had that changing the fates of key characters in the original story would alter the world's course and make events difficult to control...
Please, his arrival here was already the biggest anomaly. Why worry about a few more changes elsewhere?
If he was going to be that timid, he might as well jump into the sea and drown. Then he wouldn't change anything at all.
Doing as he pleased was the way to go. Perhaps because he had awakened Conqueror's Haki, Kazu had also become much more confident.
Imu and the like-if he couldn't beat him, couldn't he run?
Besides, Luffy was around. The child of destiny would step in. At Luffy's pace, he had awakened Nika just a few years after setting sail. Imu wouldn't be able to keep causing trouble for much longer.
Kazu casually placed a spatial marker in the orange grove.
"Hahaha, what an interesting little girl. You want me to pursue your mother so badly-is it because you want to be my daughter?"
Kazu was ten years older than Nami. It wasn't an enormous gap, but calling it small wasn't right either, since Nami was far too young now. He couldn't make a move on her, so he could only tease her and build some affection first.
"No, that's not what I meant. I just..."
"I just thought it was too hard on Bellemere to raise me and Nojiko alone. You're so rich. If you married Bellemere, she wouldn't have to work so hard."
Not only was Kazu surprised, even Bellemere, her mother, was taken aback.
So that was the reason. Though her approach was inappropriate, her intentions were good. Bellemere felt she hadn't raised this daughter for nothing.
"I'm sorry. How embarrassing."
Bellemere apologized to Kazu. After all, Nami had spoken without restraint, and as her mother, it was only right for her to apologize.
"It's fine. She's an interesting little girl. I like her a lot."
Indeed, Kazu wasn't lying. He liked her in every sense.
In his previous life, Kazu had read quite a few Nami doujins. Having finally transmigrated into the world of pirates, he had no intention of living like a monk.
Speaking of which, Robin wasn't that young anymore, was she?