"Alright, the binding straps are undone!"
"Next up, the handcuffs. Then the shackles!"
"You think just blindfolding me is enough? I could escape all this with my eyes closed!"
Leaning casually against the wall, Luo Lan remained silent.
He watched with amused interest as the woman on the bed performed her little escape act.
Truth be told, Karina had to contort herself into all sorts of poses to remove the restraints.
From a certain perspective, it was quite the spectacle.
Finally, after more than ten minutes, she freed herself from everything and yanked the black hood off her head.
"Hmph! Trying to keep me tied down? Dream on!"
"Now to take advantage of that bastard—"
Uh-oh...
It would've been better if she hadn't turned around.
Because the moment she did, her entire demeanor froze.
There, leaning against the far wall, was the very person she'd been cursing hundreds of times in her head just moments ago—
Luo Lan, casually watching her.
"W-When did you get in here?"
"About ten minutes ago."
"So... you saw everything?"
"Saw what? You wriggling around on my bed like that?"
Luo Lan chuckled as he removed his mask.
"Wait a minute—why are you taking off your mask?!"
"Is there a problem?"
"Of course there is!!!"
This was a huge problem.
No one in the world had ever seen the face of the enigmatic leader of Jun Lin.
And now she had?
Was there even any hope left for her?
Panic surged in Karina's heart.
"A-Are you going to kill me to keep me quiet...?"
"What are you thinking? I just wanted to ask if you'd be interested in a more stable job."
"You… want to recruit me?"
Karina's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Yeah. I need someone to manage my finances."
"Why not ask Nami? Isn't she already working with you?"
"She is. She's my current treasurer. But... sigh..."
Luo Lan let out a dramatic sigh full of anguish.
Karina quickly caught on.
"Oh, I get it. Let me guess—whenever you need funds, Nami blocks you at every turn?"
Bullseye.
Luo Lan looked a little embarrassed.
That's exactly what was happening.
Originally, he valued Nami for her shrewd management of finances.
But what he hadn't considered was...
She was way too stingy!
Trying to get money from her always felt like fighting an uphill battle.
So if a more suitable candidate showed up—
Why wouldn't he make the switch?
"Hahaha! You, the mighty leader of Jun Lin, being budget-blocked by Nami?"
"Wait, let me picture it... I bet every time you want funds, you have to sweet-talk her and agree to a dozen conditions?"
"The terrifying leader of Jun Lin, begging for his own money... Oh, that image—let me breathe—hahaha!"
Karina rolled on his bed laughing uncontrollably.
Luo Lan's face darkened.
"Alright, that's enough. Any more and I might actually shut you up... permanently."
"Okay, okay, I'll stop. So tell me—how much money are we talking? And what's the salary?"
"No fixed salary. But I'll give you a 0.1% commission."
"Zero-point-one percent? Are you joking?"
Karina's eyes bulged.
If he offered her ten percent, she might've considered it.
But 0.1%?
Karina would rather die with pride!
"What if I told you you'd be managing over ten thousand tons of gold?"
"So what? I mean—wait, what did you say?"
"I said: at least ten thousand tons of gold."
"Impossible! The entire world's gold reserve doesn't even add up to that much!"
Even in the pirate world, gold existed, sure—
But nowhere near that scale.
If someone claimed to have ten thousand tons of it, they'd be laughed out of the Grand Line.
Karina was ready to call B.S. outright.
Until—
"Karina, have you ever heard of... the City of Gold, Shandora?"
"You mean that old legend about the liar Mont Blanc Noland?"
"Ding ding. That's the one!"
Luo Lan snapped his fingers.
And Karina was stunned.
"But... wasn't that just a myth?"
"Not at all. And tomorrow, we're heading there."
"But you know—if ten thousand tons of gold were to suddenly flood the market..."
Luo Lan shook his head with a serious expression.
"Gold prices would crash."
"Exactly. It would be a massive loss for me."
"So you need me to maximize the value of this gold before anyone catches on?"
"Bingo. Can you do it?"
"Oh, I can. But you're really sticking to that 0.1% cut?"
Just a moment ago she was scoffing at that offer.
But now?
Ten thousand tons of gold.
And 0.1% of that...
That was at least ten tons of gold.
If she played it right, she could liquidate it all before the world even caught a whiff of it.
Including her cut.
"Alright, I'm in. When do we start?"
"No rush. Tomorrow, we head to the City of Gold together. Once we return, we begin."
---
The next day.
A pirate ship arrived at the designated location.
Luffy stood at the bow, eagerly scanning the horizon.
"Ace, where's Skypiea?"
"Idiot, it's in the sky!"
"The sky? Are we gonna fly up there or something?"
Ace tilted his head, exhausted.
Luffy had already asked him a dozen questions, repeating them like a broken record.
Ace gave up and looked away, ignoring him.
Just then, Nami, who was steering the ship, suddenly shouted—
"The wind's stopped! It's like the Calm Belt!"
"Even the sea is eerily still!"
Only Luo Lan knew what was really happening.
The Knock-Up Stream... was coming.
A moment later—
"Whirlpool! It's a giant whirlpool!"
A crew member shouted from the side, pointing down at the sea.
A massive whirlpool was forming right beneath them.
The pirate ship wasn't directly at its center, but it was close enough.
At this point, even if they wanted to flee, it was too late.
Not that they would.
They needed to be inside the stream to ride it upward.
"Everyone, secure yourselves!"
"Leave the rest to me!"
At Luo Lan's command, everyone grabbed a rope, tied one end to something sturdy, and the other to their waist.
It was all part of Luo Lan's preparation.
Then—
Luo Lan stepped to the bow, closed his eyes for a moment, and suddenly opened them wide.
The entire ship...
Lifted off the sea.
Slowly, it rotated until its bow pointed skyward, stern downward, suspended in midair.
"Luo Lan... you did this?"
"Hina is shocked!"
Hina couldn't believe it.
Since when did Luo Lan have this kind of power?
In fact, everyone stared at him like he was a monster.
But there was no time for explanations.
Because the next second—
The Knock-Up Stream erupted.
---
Currently at chapter 425 on Ko-Fi
https:// ko-fi.com/sami27