"I'm not joining any pirate crew!"
As expected, Nami refused without hesitation.
In her mind, pirates were cold-blooded and brutal—especially fish-man pirates.
And after yesterday, Nami had added two new words to her pirate vocabulary: "Shameless" and "perverted."
There was no way she would join a cold, brutal, shameless pirate crew.
Lin Bei raised an eyebrow.
"Are you sure?"
Nami's expression changed.
"Lin Bei, don't be impulsive!" Zoro quickly said. "If there's a problem, leave it to me!"
Then he turned to Nami.
"Oi, woman. If you won't join, then you'll have to get off the ship. Planning to swim back to Shells Town?!"
Nami glanced at the sky. Dark rain clouds were gathering.
She forced an awkward smile.
"My apologies. Actually, I've always admired your pirate crew. I've wanted to join all along."
Luffy tilted his head. He was simple, not stupid.
"But just now, you clearly said you hated pirate crews."
Lin Bei smiled faintly and draped an arm around the captain's shoulders.
"No need to expose her, Captain. Besides, don't we need a navigator? If we're heading to the Grand Line, we can't just drift there based on fate."
Luffy nodded and punched his palm.
"Souka! Makes sense! Welcome aboard! …Ah~, what a shame. The ship's too small. Otherwise, we should throw a banquet to welcome the new member."
Lin Bei clicked his tongue. He didn't know who passed this habit of holding a banquet at every good turn onto Luffy, but Luffy took it quite seriously. If he couldn't hold a banquet, he seemed a bit down.
"It's fine, Captain. Since we have a navigator now, let her take us to the nearest island. We'll hold the banquet there. Just be patient."
Luffy cheered up again, shouting for Nami to sail the ship.
Nami's expression was a bit subtle. Is everyone on this ship an idiot?!
But that's fine. She was used to pretending to join things like this anyway. She'd just slip away at the next island.
Too bad she wouldn't learn that safe-opening trick.
"Where are we heading? At least give me a destination," Nami said.
Lin Bei replied without hesitation, "Let's go to Buggy."
"…Huh?"
Both Nami and Zoro stared at him.
They knew who Buggy was—a big-time pirate in the East Blue.
"Who's Buggy?" Luffy asked blankly.
"Why are we going after him?" Zoro pressed.
Lin Bei really wanted to roll his eyes at himself, but unfortunately, he couldn't.
It was a common problem for transmigrators. After watching One Piece, who remembers the name of the island Buggy occupied? You just remember "that's where Buggy is." According to the plot, their next stop should be to find Buggy.
If he had just said Orange Town, no one would question it.
Fortunately, Lin Bei could talk his way out of it.
He pulled out something from Morgan's safe the night before—a letter bearing Buggy's name.
"This was in Morgan's safe. It says Morgan stole a Grand Line sea chart from Buggy. Luffy, you want to go to the Grand Line, right? This is a lead."
Luffy nodded. Makes sense.
This explanation dispelled Nami and Zoro's doubts.
In fact, Nami's eyes gleamed.
She had originally infiltrated Morgan's base for that very sea chart and his treasure. She'd thought the chart was lost to her—but now?
Perfect.
It was all fate.
Nami was a very clever young woman. She instantly thought of a way to ditch this pirate crew while also getting her hands on the chart held by Buggy the Clown.
She would take them there, let them fight it out with Buggy, and then she would reap the benefits while they were distracted.
Perfect!
Nami smiled slyly and completely changed her unhelpful attitude from earlier, beginning to enthusiastically guide their course.
With Nami's willing assistance, the small boat reached its destination in about five hours.
On the way, they encountered three members of the Buggy Pirates, which wasted a little time.
Those three scrubs—Lin Bei wanted to make a move, but Zoro wouldn't let him. In fact, to prevent Lin Bei from lifting a finger, Zoro didn't even use any low-level skills; he opened straight up with Oni Giri, instantly wrecking the three of them.
The Straw Hat Pirates' ride successfully upgraded from a small fishing boat to a ship with actual rooms. The four of them could clearly spread out now.
No longer like the beginning, where the three guys were squeezed together while Nami sat at the stern.
Luffy looked at the ship and declared, "One day, I'll have a big ship of my own!"
Nami immediately stabbed him with reality.
"You have no money."
True enough.
Indeed, Morgan was a broke ghost. The money looted from Morgan was only enough for Luffy to hold a banquet, so they were broke again.
But luckily, they had reached Orange Town. If you asked what brings in money the fastest, Lin Bei would definitely answer with one phrase: Black on Black!
In other words, Rob pirates. After all, the poor didn't have anything worth stealing.
He had realized something about today's ability. It might not match his first day's power in raw combat strength.
But—
It was vicious.
As long as he wanted to, he could make everyone on the island climax instantly!
Once wouldn't be enough? Do it twice.
If twice didn't hurt the body, then do it thrice, until everyone dies from exhaustion!
"Luffy," Lin Bei said, "the big ship you want—and the sea chart—depend on what we gain from this island."
"Really?" Luffy asked innocently.
For someone who wanted to be a pirate, he was shockingly pure.
He clearly wanted to be a pirate, and Shanks had intentionally guided him in that direction back in the day.
But Shanks had taught him nothing except for the Devil Fruit and loyalty to friends.
Especially regarding the cruel parts of piracy—perhaps Shanks didn't want to disappoint Luffy.
Maybe he didn't want Luffy to lose that brightness.
Fine.
Then Lin Bei would teach him.
He couldn't let Luffy be too innocent. Like at Whiskey Peak, this guy got fed and watered by the enemy, thought they were good people, and then attacked Zoro, who was trying to protect him.
That scene had nearly made Lin Bei quit watching.
How could a pirate be that simple?
"Of course," Lin Bei continued. "We are pirates, and the nature of pirates is to plunder! However, we are pirates with a conscience. We don't plunder civilians. We only target other pirates."
He smirked, "Anyway, none of those pirates are good people, and the things in their hands were taken from the people. We are basically eliminating harm for the people."
Luffy listened and thought: That sounds right.
…Though he didn't fully understand it.
Zoro and Nami summarized it bluntly:
"Robbing pirates?"
Lin Bei immediately objected.
"This is called justice."