By now, Ray, Luffy, and the others had made their way back to the center of town.
After witnessing Ray's terrifying power firsthand, everyone's attitude toward him had changed—well, everyone except for Luffy, who was still bouncing around like a hyperactive monkey.
Zoro stepped forward.
He drew his white-sheathed sword, Wado Ichimonji, and planted it firmly in the ground.
"Aside from Haki," he said with a solemn look, "I want you to teach me swordsmanship."
Ray wasn't surprised.
Zoro's whole reason for being out here was to become the world's greatest swordsman.
Of course he'd want to learn from someone stronger.
Ray simply nodded.
Seeing this, Luffy rushed over excitedly. "Ray, me too! Besides Haki, can you teach me some other fighting stuff?"
"Sure."
After that fight with Buggy, Ray had realized this world was a lot different from the One Piece he remembered.
Buggy had been way stronger than he was supposed to be.
Thinking about it, it made sense.
The guy had sailed with the Pirate King, after all.
It would be weirder if he hadn't learned Haki.
'If that's the case,' Ray thought, 'then guys like Crocodile, Smoker, and CP9 will probably all know Haki too'.
'The first half of the Grand Line is going to be a lot more dangerous than I thought.'
Even with him around, their journey wouldn't be a cakewalk.
To make it through, he'd need to whip Luffy and Zoro into shape.
Besides, he was starting to genuinely like these idiots.
Helping them get stronger wasn't a bad way to pass the time.
…
After the boys were done, Nami hesitantly walked toward Ray, her steps slow and awkward.
Ray looked calm, but he was already tensed up, ready to dodge whatever weird advance she was about to make.
"Ray… um… Ray-san," she started, "could you do me a favor? I've already prepared the… the dowry."
She pointed to the huge sack of treasure hanging off Chouchou's back.
"It's worth about 10 million berries."
Ray let out a quiet sigh of relief.
At least she wasn't trying to grope him this time.
Then the word hit him.
'Dowry'?!
'Damn it, is she proposing to me? This Sesshomaru face is just too powerful.' He briefly wondered how the real Sesshomaru dealt with all his admirers.
The atmosphere turned instantly awkward.
Zoro just stared, completely baffled by how shameless this woman could be.
But then, Luffy's one-track mind saved the day.
"Wow, that's so much money!" he yelled. "What do you need Ray's help with?" He started drooling as he stared at the bag of treasure.
"Man, think of all the meat we could buy with that! Ray, you gotta help her! Then we'll be rich!"
Just like that, the awkward tension vanished.
Encouraged by Luffy, Nami took a deep breath.
"It's about my hometown… and a crew of fish-man pirates…"
As night began to fall, Nami finished telling them her story.
She wanted them to defeat the Arlong Pirates and save her village.
In return, she'd give them all her treasure.
Everyone who heard the story felt a surge of anger toward Arlong, even though they could tell Nami was leaving out the worst parts about her own suffering.
"So… will you help me?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly.
Just as Ray was about to answer, Luffy suddenly cut in.
"Help? Of course we'll help! I'm gonna send those fish-men flying for bullying everyone! And after that, Nami, you're joining our crew as our navigator!"
Ray smiled faintly.
"I was thinking the same thing," he said to Nami. "But that money isn't enough to hire me. You can pay off the rest by working as our navigator."
The truth was, Ray had no idea how to navigate, and with two idiots on board who could get lost in a straight line, they'd be sunk without her.
Nami hesitated.
She hated pirates, but when she thought about Luffy, Zoro, and Ray, the feeling wasn't as strong.
Then, images of Ray's fight flashed through her mind, and she quickly nodded.
'If I join their crew,' she thought,' I'll get to see that bewitching face every day… Oh my god, I'm so lucky!'
Her gaze started to get dreamy again.
Noticing this, Ray "calmly" took several large steps away from her.
With that settled, the Straw Hat Pirates had their first official mission.
Just then, Zoro muttered sarcastically, "Hmph. Calling a payment a 'dowry.' What kind of love-struck idiot logic is that?"
Hearing him, Nami blinked, then realization hit her.
Her face instantly turned beet red.
'Oh my god, what did I just say?!'
"Ahhh, this is so embarrassing!" she screamed, then spun around and slapped Zoro right across the face.
Zoro just looked confused for a second, then a murderous green aura erupted around him as he glared at her.
"You wom— OW!" Before he could finish, he was hit by Nami's 'shy iron fist' again.
…
As the chaos died down, the mayor, who had finally processed everything, realized that this group had actually saved his town.
He walked forward with tears in his eyes and bowed deeply.
"To show our gratitude, on behalf of everyone in Orange Town, I'd like to host a banquet for you!"
The second Luffy heard the word "banquet," he was already cheering.
Ray and Zoro didn't object, so the mayor and the butcher couple hurried off to the settlement to get the party started.
As they followed behind, Zoro asked Luffy, "Hey, how'd you learn to use Armament Haki so fast back there?"
Luffy just laughed. "It was an emergency! I just thought, 'I have to use it now!' so I did! But I can't do it again. Watch!" He tried to harden his arm, but the black coating only covered about half of his hand.
Seeing that, Zoro sighed in relief. "Okay, so you're not that much more talented than me."
Ray watched them with a faint smile.
"After the banquet," he said, his voice cutting through their chatter, "the training continues."
"Got it!" they both replied.