Dusk.
Everyone returned to the ship after scavenging the wreckage of these giant ships thoroughly.
The warm orange lights lit up, and everyone gathered on the deck. In just a few short minutes, Zeff single-handedly presented a sumptuous dinner banquet. How he managed it was a mystery.
"I know! He definitely used his feet to spit fire, increasing the heat!" Nami eagerly raised her hand to answer.
"Your brother just forgave you, and now you're itching for mischief, huh?"
Kuina flicked her finger at Nami's forehead with a disgruntled expression, only to be surprised as her finger went right through Nami's head.
"Blah, blah, blah!" Nami stuck out her tongue. "Can't hit, can't hit, that's the superpower of the Flame-Flame Fruit! You guys can't bully me anymore!"
Thud!
As soon as she finished speaking, she took a solid punch.
"Oww! That hurts!"
Nami held her head, "Brother, you lied! You said that after Logia-type Elementalization, you can't be hit. So why can you hit me and make me hurt so much!!"
"Because there's a power in this world called Haki."
Shano set down a plate and calmly sat down. "Both Kuina and Uncle Zeff are starting to grasp Armament Haki. Nojiko is progressing a bit slower, but in one or two months at most, she'll be able to use it."
"You mean..."
Nami grimaced, "Am I soon to become the lowest on the food chain again?"
Darn it!
She had just discovered a tiny bit of application for the Flame-Flame Fruit!
"Let's get down to business."
Shano was uninterested in banter and spoke while eating.
"The stuff scavenged from those giant shipwrecks was even richer than expected. Not talking about supplies and books, just the treasures alone can be exchanged for more than a billion Belly. Everyone's been busy all day, so let's rest early tonight. Tomorrow, we'll brainstorm together on how to get rid of this strange whirlpool current."
"Wait until tomorrow?" Nami was surprised, "Can't we leave after dinner? I've already figured out the pattern of the whirlpool current."
"You've already figured it out?!"
The others looked at her in shock.
"What, you don't believe me?"
Nami huffed and raised her head, "I volunteered to be swept by the whirlpool to find you guys. Otherwise, I would have already escaped. Just wait, later I'll show you what true genius navigation looks like!"
After dinner.
Nami immediately sprang into action, grabbing a pencil and starting to draw a nautical chart of the surrounding area, muttering:
"First, head north. After about five kilometers, sharply turn starboard, then approximately a minute later, when the current slows, change direction accordingly..."
Half an hour later.
Staring at the gradually dimming island silhouette in the distance, everyone turned their heads, dumbfounded, looking at the smug, orange-haired girl with arms akimbo.
"She... really escaped..."
This girl wasn't bluffing, was she?!
"Darn it..."
The swordswoman hugged her head, dejected, "I've been thinking hard for a long time without any clue. Why is there such a gap between people?"
"Hehe, we're almost the same, almost." Nami whispered comforting words in her ear, "But sister Kuina, you might have to give up your navigator position soon, you know."
"Darn it!!" Kuina rarely tilted her head back and let out a dissatisfied shout, experiencing the feeling of being a fool like Zoro for the first time.
Shano was not surprised and smiled with satisfaction.
In the original manga timeline, Nami grew up in such harsh conditions but showed amazing navigator talent very early.
In this life, with Shano's full support, she could focus on her interests from a young age.
There was no shortage of books and resources; her perspective was broader. Every time they went far, she would gain insight.
In terms of sailing skills and nautical chart mapping technology, naturally, she was more mature than in the original timeline at the same age.
"Kuina, what do you say?" He smiled at the black-haired girl.
"Ah, I admit it." Kuina sighed, "Seems like I'll have to focus on being a combat mainstay."
Nojiko glanced sideways. That chagrined tone suddenly sounded so much like herself?
"So, from now on, the position of navigator on the ship will officially be held by Nami!"
Shano announced, "Let's go, set sail, head full speed to the last stop in the East Sea, Log Town!"
"Aye, Captain!"
...
The sails billowed, and under Nami's control, the ship sailed swiftly, heading at full speed toward Log Town, in the same direction as the entrance to the Inverted Mountain.
Kuina was very interested in the books obtained from the giant ships, and not long after dinner, she went into the cabin to study.
While Nami, when the ship reached stable cruising status, was sent by Shano to clean plates and tidy the kitchen, helping Zeff, as punishment for her willful behavior of leaving home.
"By the way, brother."
Nojiko handed over a newspaper.
"While you were still in Ant Nest Cave this afternoon, a News Bird flew by, so I bought a newspaper. The front page mentioned that in the latter half of the Grand Line, the New World, something big has happened."
Something big in the New World?
Shano took the newspaper in confusion and was instantly drawn to the front-page headline: a line of big letters—
"Red-haired Shanks Becomes the New Sea Emperor, The Four Emperors of the New World Established!"
Three emperors finally became four?
Staring at the photos on the newspaper, Shano squinted his eyes at familiar faces—Shanks, Ben Beckman, Yasopp... When would he be able to stand on that level of stage…
"Brother?" Nojiko saw his fascinated expression and was curious, "You seem quite familiar with this Red Hair, do you know him? Have a relationship?"
"...Relationship?"
Shano recalled that shaky night, nodded with some sentimentality:
"Yeah, he once lent me a hand."
......
Meanwhile.
A luxurious cruise ship, escorted by three Navy vessels, was entering the East Sea region from South Sea, passing through the Windless Zone.
The naval ships hanging base numbers on each side, while the one in the middle, has only a blue balance seagull mark on its white sails.
——Clearly, it was the Navy from Headquarter Marinfanto.
Ship's deck.
"..." Smoker bit into two cigars, leaning against the railing, looking at the luxurious banquet on the cruise ship, sighed deeply.
"Why, still annoyed by those His Majesties, even after so many days?"
A cold laughter came from behind, and Smoker turned around, just in time to see a tall figure with messy long hair like spider legs, white Cloak of Justice, smoking, striding over.