Tom never imagined his first meeting with Nami would happen under these circumstances.
There was no denying it—Nami was a very pretty girl. Her practical, orange hair gave her a charming yet spirited look that was extremely attractive. Her exquisite features were flawless.
Judging by the situation, Nami must have taken advantage of Alvida leading most of her crew to attack another ship, sneaking onto this one to steal all their valuables.
Upon slipping into the storage room on Alvida's ship, Nami spotted this conspicuous large treasure chest and eagerly opened it, only to find a person inside.
After staring at each other for three seconds, Tom, lying sprawled in the chest, hadn't had time—no, hadn't thought of—how to greet Nami before she let out a soft sigh. "So, no treasure inside."
Then, CLICK! To Tom's stunned eyes, Nami unhesitatingly locked the treasure chest again.
Nami's actions completely disregarded Tom's existence.
I give up. Even if there's no treasure, you could at least pull me out! All you see is treasure? How materialistic are you?
Surrounded by darkness again, Tom felt utterly speechless.
Just as Tom was about to try and break out of the chest, he heard a menacing voice. "Who are you, woman? Here to steal our treasure?"
"How daring! If Miss Alvida hadn't told us to come check the treasure chest, everything here would've been stolen!"
"Good thing we came back in time. Otherwise, if Miss Alvida found out, her iron club would smash us to death!"
"Let's grab this audacious woman first. She's not bad-looking. So pretty, yet a thief. She needs a proper lesson."
Hearing the pirates' conversation from inside the chest, Tom realized his presence was why Nami's theft failed.
Moreover, it seemed Nami had sensed someone approaching the storage room earlier, which was why she hurriedly locked the chest again.
Clearly, seeing Tom looking battered, in poor spirits, and injured inside, Nami thought he'd be in trouble if the pirates found him, so she closed the chest to help him avoid detection.
"I hate pirates the most! You think you can teach me? Don't make me laugh!"
Seeing the storage room door blocked with no escape, Nami took out the three-section staff strapped to her leg, assembled it into a long pole, and prepared to fight.
"Still talking tough when you're about to die? Before you taste Miss Alvida's iron club, we'll give you a good time first!"
After a pirate said this, Tom, hidden in the chest, heard several lewd, disgusting laughs.
Then came the sounds of clashing and fighting. Soon after, Tom clearly heard Nami let out a faint gasp.
She's hurt.
Damn. If Nami dies here, how will Luffy and I navigate later? Drift around like headless flies?
What a nightmare!
Besides, Nami had tried to cover for him, a complete stranger, from harm, showing her good heart. Tom really didn't want her to die here.
Most importantly, those pirates' tone was clearly mocking and insulting Nami. That rubbed Tom the wrong way.
Screw this. When I watched One Piece, Nami was one of my favorite characters. I haven't even had a chance to talk to her, and these no-name small-time pirates dare to speak such filth in front of me?
Think I'm invisible?
This is intolerable!
Furious, Tom gathered all his strength and thrust both feet forward.
BANG!
"I'll knock you all flying!"
Tom roared, shattering the large treasure chest and leaping out. The pirates approaching Nami were so shocked their jaws nearly hit the floor.
When Tom kicked the chest open, his right foot happened to connect with the crotch of one pirate outside. The pirate immediately turned pale, clutched himself, and collapsed, unable to get up.
In other words, Tom took out a pirate the moment he appeared.
Nami, behind Tom, was also shocked by the man who suddenly emerged from the chest. This seemingly frail, sickly-looking man had so easily destroyed the sturdy chest.
If Tom knew Nami's first impression of him was that of a weakling, he might have gone mad.
It couldn't be helped. Tom had been training like crazy for a month, plus being messed up by Luffy, having his head bashed and bumped, his body wrecked, and as a Devil Fruit user soaked in seawater—it was no wonder he didn't look good.
Coincidentally, on the ship attacked by Alvida's crew, Luffy—who had slept comfortably in a barrel, been fished up as a酒桶, and just woken up—stretched contentedly and shouted energetically, "That was a great nap!"
Suddenly emerging from the barrel, Luffy accidentally punched the pirate trying to open it, knocking him out and shocking the other onlooking pirates.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Why did you jump out of that treasure chest?"
Several pirates quickly surrounded Tom, demanding harshly.
Tom glanced around the room. The storage room wasn't large, scattered with some valuables, not looking very prosperous.
Makes sense. Alvida only had a five-million-berry bounty. Frankly, even some lowly mountain bandits had higher bounties. It'd be strange if her ship had loads of treasure.
Hmm. Only seven pirates? Doesn't seem like much of a fight.
Seeing just seven pirates, Tom inexplicably had that thought.
The pirates surrounding him looked fierce and vicious, eyes gleaming with malice, burly builds, each holding a long sword. Three wore light blue bandanas.
So these are pirates?
Thinking this, Tom took a step forward, placing himself between the pirates and Nami.
Over half a year ago, when Tom first arrived in this world, he'd sometimes worried about pirates attacking the village. Back then, he was just an ordinary person with no combat ability. Meeting vicious pirates would have meant bad news. Arriving in this strange yet familiar world, it was natural to have wild thoughts sometimes.
But now, after sailing with Luffy, Tom was finally meeting real pirates in this world.
Though these were small fries, they were still genuine pirates. Yet his heart was calm, without the panic or tension he'd imagined. He was so calm it puzzled even him. Why am I so composed?
Loosening his clenched fists, Tom couldn't be bothered with talk and moved directly.
"Daring to attack pirates? You think you're a Marine?"
"Even if he is, we'll kill him! Get him!"
Seeing Tom attack without a word, the pirates' savage nature was provoked. They viciously raised their swords and slashed at him.
CLANG! CLASH!
Tom executed a spinning kick on the spot, directly kicking and breaking the swords of two pirates.
Nami, watching from behind, stared in astonishment, mouth slightly agape, thinking, What's with this guy? He's injured, but he's not losing against these pirates.
By the time Nami snapped out of it, a BANG! echoed. Tom punched a rather portly pirate in the stomach, sending him flying out of the storage room.
"He's too strong! We need to find Miss Alvida to deal with him!"
The last two pirates, seeing Tom take down five pirates in under three minutes without even panting, lost all fighting spirit and turned to flee.
Tom gave them no chance. He snorted coldly, quickly caught up, grabbed their heads, and made them smash into each other, knocking them both out.
As Tom dealt with the seven pirates, on the other ship, Alvida, holding her massive iron club, stood on the deck and bellowed. "Koby! You say I'm the most what on these seas?"
"You... you're the... the fattest, ugliest old hag on these seas!"
The short, pudgy Koby trembled slightly. Remembering what Luffy told him—since he'd decided to become a Marine, dying for it wasn't so bad—his eyes shone with firm resolve as he shouted at the bloated Alvida.
Koby's words left the other pirates stunned, staring in disbelief at the weak child they used to bully, now daring to openly defy Alvida. It felt like a dream.
To them, Koby had always been a timid, foolish little brat. Two years ago, Koby went out fishing, boarded the wrong ship, and tragically lived a life without dignity, enslaved on Alvida's ship.
But now, Koby seemed like a different person, unafraid even of the cruel, savage female pirate. No wonder the pirates were terrified.
Hearing Koby, Alvida turned utterly gloomy, veins bulging on her broad forehead, furious.
After speaking, Koby's body trembled uncontrollably. Luffy beside him laughed heartily as if delighted.
"What did you say?!"
Alvida roared at Koby, her iron club ready to smash his head open.
"I'll join the Marines! Then I'll throw all you pirates in prison!"
Koby clenched his small fists, saying firmly to Alvida.
"Do you know what you're saying?"
As soon as Alvida asked, Koby immediately answered, "I know. I'll do what I truly want! I'll join the Marines! And then... I'll send you to prison!"
As Koby mustered his courage to speak his mind, in the storage room on Alvida's ship, Nami smiled at Tom. "You look pretty strong. I'm a thief who specializes in stealing pirate treasure. I'm Nami. Want to work together?"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
T/N :
Support me and Access 25 chapters in Advance on my P@treon: [email protected]/GodFic