"Strange. Why isn't it here?"
Five days later, Yami frowned and muttered to himself, "Don't tell me there's no reincarnation this time, and the way Ace got the Logia Flame-Flame Fruit was like in that short clip?"
For five days, Yami used the thousand-mile eye and x-ray sight to scour Sixis Island again and again, yet never found the Logia Flame-Flame Fruit.
The original story never explained how Ace obtained the Flame-Flame Fruit.
Yami hadn't read Ace's side story either.
But online summaries all said that in Ace's youth he ate the Flame-Flame Fruit on Sixis Island and recruited his first crewmate—Masked Deuce.
A widespread version claimed Ace found the Flame-Flame Fruit on Sixis itself.
But in Yami's hazy memory he'd once seen a comic where Ace beat a sea beast, the beast vomited up a chest, and inside was the Flame-Flame Fruit.
Looking at things now, the latter was more likely.
First, the Barrier-Barrier Fruit hadn't been eaten yet; second, the Flame-Flame Fruit wasn't on Sixis Island. Yami felt full of regret.
But when he turned and saw the two girls training, his mood lifted again.
Those two were the biggest gain of this East Blue run.
"Come on," Yami said as he walked over. "Let's leave."
"Master, you didn't find it?"
Seeing that for days Yami had gone without food or water, leaving all rations to them, and that he chose not to land but to depart, Carina guessed the answer at once.
"Mm. The intel was false."
Yami feigned relief. "Which makes sense. If it were true, that person would have told me."
"Ufufufu… don't be sad. With Master's ability, you'll replace Whitebeard sooner or later and become the world's strongest man," Carina said with her distinctive laugh, comforting him.
Yami pinched her cheek and smiled. "So my little maid has expectations that high for me?"
"Of course."
In this short time, Carina had completely grasped Yami's character.
This Master was a very pure sort of person.
He might not be a 'good man,' but he was certainly not a bad one.
As he said himself, all his aims were fixed on Devil Fruits.
To make himself an all-around, unanswerable existence, he had come all the way from the Grand Line to the East Blue on the trail of a single fruit, then searched five days without food or water.
Carina had never seen such resolve.
More importantly, he chose to go without because Sixis had no food, leaving what there was for them.
Obviously the Master, he hadn't forced them into anything vile; he had told them the biggest secret frankly, and he would rather not eat or drink than take their rations.
Nami might not have noticed, but Carina did—she acknowledged this Master.
Feeling Carina's trust, Yami was warmed inside and grew even fonder of the girl.
"Good girl."
He pinched Carina's cheek again, then said to Nami, "Let's go. Time to leave."
"Master, where to next?"
As she raised anchor and set the sails, Nami asked.
In these few days, she had gotten used to calling him Master.
Watching the busy girl's back, Yami's lips curled. "To deal with the remnants of the Sun Pirates."
"The Sun Pirates?"
Carina raised her brows, thinking. "I'm sure that name isn't an East Blue crew, but it feels oddly familiar—like I've heard it somewhere."
"The Sun Pirates were founded by a hero," Yami said with a smile. "After that hero died, the crew splintered. The current second captain is one of the Seven Warlords—'Knight of the Sea' Jinbe."
"The Seven Warlords?!"
Carina's eyes widened. "So the Sun Pirates' captain is someone that big?"
"Mm."
Yami nodded and went on. "But the one I'm going to deal with isn't a subordinate of the Warlord. After the first Sun Pirates disbanded, a certain man was thrown into Impel Down, later bailed out by Jinbe, then fled to the East Blue to throw his weight around—the fish-man Arlong."
As his words fell, the deck suddenly lurched under Yami and Carina's feet.
Carina, whose balance wasn't great, nearly fell, but Yami caught her into his arms.
Nami had been at the helm, turning the ship. Hearing Yami's words, her body went rigid; the ship nearly rammed a nearby reef, then swerved away just in time.
"Nami, what are you doing?"
Carina didn't know why Nami had spaced out.
Face flushing, she slipped from Yami's arms, shy for once and unable to meet his eyes. She turned her attention and shouted at Nami.
But Nami didn't answer.
After straightening the course and fixing the helm, she ran to Yami, face alight. "Master, I know where Arlong is."
"Nami…"
Seeing her flushed eyes and the emotion on her face, Carina paused.
That sadness told a story in one line, and the clever girl grasped it at once.
It seemed Nami's career in theft was closely tied to Arlong.
"I know."
Yami set his hand on Nami's head. Looking at the slightly stunned girl, he smiled apologetically. "Sorry. When we first met, I used mind-reading on you."
"My mind-reading can read what's currently in someone's heart."
"When I realized those treasure hunters were actually after you, I used far sight and mind-reading to see if you'd be caught."
"When you were captured, I saw what was in your heart."
"Don't worry. I'll help you deal with those fish-men."
His frank, faintly apologetic words struck straight into the girl's heart.
A warmth beyond words welled up inside her, then into her eyes and beaded there.
She had thought he would only get rid of Arlong in passing; who knew that for Nami's sake he would… She finally couldn't hold back, threw herself into Yami's arms, and wept aloud. "Master—wu, wu…"
Her crying tore at the throat.
After all, she was only thirteen.
Only she knew the grievances of these years; even to Nojiko, her sister, she hadn't poured them out for fear of worrying her.
As for the villagers, in Nami's eyes they had 'betrayed' her back then; she hadn't wanted to see them.
Carina looked at Yami with soft, shining eyes; in this moment her Master seemed to glow with gold.
For an instant, Carina even felt grateful to Mad Treasure.
Without him, she and Nami would never have become this man's maids, nor found such a good Master.
"Cry it out. You'll be fine when you're done."
Yami stroked Nami's head and let her tears soak his clothes.
Sensing the other girl's rising adoration, he couldn't help but smile inside—the planner's smile.
Those words had not been a lie.
From within the other space, he had been using mind-reading to watch Nami.
It was groundwork for stepping in to help.
Otherwise, waiting for the kind girl to ask for help on her own might have taken who knew how many days.
Compared to waiting, this 'surprise attack' would boost her favor much faster, Yami felt.
And looking now, the effect was even bigger than expected.
Once he helped Nami take down the Arlong Pirates, the original heroine would be his.
Plan goes smoothly · JPG.