I really..."
Tom looked at his hands as if he hadn't heard Nami, muttering to himself in a low voice.
"I truly..."
Tom's shoulders trembled slightly. Nami, standing before him, found it odd and couldn't figure out what was wrong with the man.
Just as Nami was about to pat Tom's shoulder and ask, Tom suddenly threw his arms up and shouted to the sky, "I'm not a weakling anymore!"
The shout wasn't earth-shattering, but it was enough to startle the unprepared Nami, who stood there dumbfounded, looking as if she'd turned to stone.
In truth, Tom was incredibly excited. For the first time ever, he had defeated real pirates, and one against seven at that, winning easily. It filled him with joy.
To be fair, the Laughing Fish he caught earlier was no less dangerous, and perhaps even more so, than the seven pirates he'd just beaten.
But the sense of achievement and validation from defeating another human versus defeating an animal were worlds apart. Tom's current reaction proved that.
If I can defeat those pirates, then as long as I keep training persistently, I can definitely get stronger!
As Tom thought this, Nami's clever eyes shifted. This guy seems like a bit of a blockhead. I might actually be able to use his strength to achieve my goal.
With that in mind, Nami cleared her throat and brought up the partnership idea again.
"Partnership?"
Finally calming down from his excited state, Tom became aware of Nami's presence. Hearing her words, he repeated the question in confusion.
He saw Nami's bright smile, but that seemingly innocent grin seemed to hide a hint of cunning. His guard went up immediately.
From what Tom knew, aside from being an exceptional navigator, Nami was a woman skilled in deception, gambling, and theft, and was very good at acting. How could he let his guard down before establishing mutual trust?
But my first conversation with Nami is about a partnership? That feels weird.
Tom had imagined his first chat with Nami would be more pleasant. But looking at the situation now, it seemed they were already starting to size each other up.
"That's right. We can work together to steal treasure from those stupid pirates, keep it for ourselves. If we succeed, I'll give you a cut. The pay will definitely satisfy you. Trust me, working with me, you'll earn a fortune."
Nami spoke hurriedly, as if worried Tom would refuse, her tone even carrying a hint of flattery.
This made Tom even more suspicious of her motives.
Tom knew very well the girl before him was a super miser. For her to willingly offer a share of the profits, and to a complete stranger no less... Tom would sooner believe a pig could swim across the four seas than believe Nami would give him a single berry.
"No thanks. I don't want to partner up."
Tom flatly refused Nami's request. He thought it better to find Luffy first. Partnering with Nami could wait until she officially joined them later.
"Hey, don't just walk away."
Seeing Tom leave so decisively, Nami hurried after him and struck up a conversation. "By the way, why were you in that treasure chest? And you seemed really angry when you came out. Did someone make you mad?"
"My mood is great right now. I'm not angry with anyone. Me being in that chest was purely an accident."
After thinking for a moment, Tom decided not to tell the truth. If he told Nami Luffy had stuffed him in there, he'd probably just get laughed at. Better to forget it.
Tom noticed that as Nami left, she deftly stuffed all the treasure from the storage room into a bag. There was a shallow but not deep cut on her left arm, clearly from the earlier fight with the pirates.
But now Nami was so focused on the treasure, she completely ignored the wound.
Even if it's not a fatal wound, you should at least bandage it.
Tom frowned. "Why aren't you treating that wound?"
"This injury is nothing. By the time I finish packing this treasure, it'll have started to heal. My skin is very good, it won't leave a scar."
Nami said casually to Tom, completely focused on examining the acquired treasure, occasionally tapping some of the larger gold chunks as if appraising their value.
What? Because your skin is good, wounds won't leave scars?
If I believe that, I'm an idiot!
Tom watched Nami speechlessly. The wound on her left arm was still bleeding.
The cut happened to be right over the tattoo on Nami's left arm. Seeing the tattoo depicting what looked like a vicious shark raging in the sea, Tom instantly understood why Nami didn't care about the wound. It was because it was on the tattoo she hated, so she chose to ignore it.
RIP!
Tom tore off a piece of his sleeve, grabbed Nami who was still engrossed in the treasure, and deftly bandaged the wound on her left arm.
Nami seemed completely unaware of Tom's actions, making Tom fully realize just how terrifying this woman's obsession with treasure was.
"Actually, this kind of wound doesn't need treatment. It didn't hit bone or tendon. It's fine to let it heal naturally."
So Nami was aware Tom was bandaging her. She just saw he wasn't doing anything else, simply treating her wound, so she didn't refuse, keeping her focus on the treasure.
Silly girl, you're uneducated. What if it gets infected?
Tom thought this. When he first started fishing, his skills were poor, and he often got bumps and scrapes. Minor injuries were unavoidable. Over time, he'd gained some experience treating non-serious wounds.
"Not a bad haul. Let's get out of here quickly."
A slightly satisfied expression appeared on Nami's pretty face. She deftly tied a knot in the bag full of treasure, then hoisted it over her shoulder, ready to leave.
"Was there really treasure in that chest you were lying in?"
Nami asked as she walked out with Tom.
"Yeah. Lots of gold. But it was all thrown into the sea."
Tom answered honestly. He watched Nami, who after gathering the loot Alvida's pirates had stolen from elsewhere, clearly had no intention of giving him even a sliver. He wasn't surprised at all.
"How could you throw gold into the sea?! Tell me which area you threw it in. Maybe we can still fish it out."
Hearing there really was gold, Nami's bright, spirited eyes immediately turned into money signs. Even her voice became sweeter. Then she asked, "What do you do?"
"Strictly speaking, you could say I'm a fisherman."
As soon as Tom said this, Nami blinked her money-sign eyes and said to him excitedly, "Then you must be really good at salvage! Come with me, let's go fish up that gold. It must be longing for my help."
Good grief. I'm good at fishing, not salvage. There's a fundamental difference. Don't let your brain short-circuit the moment you hear 'gold'.
Tom looked speechlessly at Nami's money-obsessed face, feeling she deeply insulted his professional integrity.
When Tom and Nami reached the ship's deck, faced with Nami's incessant questioning, Tom finally couldn't take it anymore. "You're really annoying. I don't have time for this."
Looking around, he saw many parts of the ship decorated with heart symbols. The prow was shaped like a cute swan's head.
Thinking of Alvida's bloated, hideous appearance paired with this ship's distinctly feminine beauty, it was a complete mismatch that made Tom shudder.
Just as Tom was about to leave this ship that made him intensely uncomfortable as fast as possible, something resembling a giant meatball came flying straight at him.
"What is that?!"
Nami exclaimed.
What the—? Isn't that Alvida, the short, fat, crude woman? Was she already punched away by Luffy, and now just happens to be flying right at me?
Tom took a closer look and immediately knew what was coming. He quickly stepped back, gathered all his strength in his right fist, and threw a punch forward. "Get lost!"
BANG!
Tom's punch changed Alvida's flight path mid-air. She crashed into the ship's prow, and together with the cute swan head, flew off toward the distant sea.
Tom could even hear Alvida's fading, strained shout as she flew away: "Straw-hat brat! And you, you wretched boy! I won't forgive you!"
Phew. Good thing I reacted fast, or I'd have been sent flying into the sea along with that woman.
Tom shook his numb, aching right arm. He'd used his full strength to alter Alvida's trajectory with that punch, yet Luffy had sent her flying far away with a casual strike. It showed the gap between their strengths.
Luffy should be taking Koby and leaving now. I need to find him fast.
With that thought, Tom quickened his pace. But then, Nami called out to him. "Wait! We need to go to one more place."
Seeing Alvida just now reminded Nami: as a female pirate, even if she was too ugly for anyone to love, there must still be plenty of valuable jewelry and such in her captain's quarters.
Nami had planned to check the captain's quarters after looting the storage room, but after meeting Tom, she'd almost forgotten this important task.
As Nami, without asking, shoved the bag of treasure into Tom's hands saying she needed to find more things, a cannonball exploded near their ship.
"It's the Marines! Let's get out of here first."
"What nonsense are you talking? There's still treasure we haven't gotten. How can we leave now?"
"Which is more important, treasure or your life? What time is this to be thinking about treasure!"
"Are you an idiot? Of course treasure is more important!"
With Marine warships firing at them, Tom and Nami got into an argument. After tossing out that last line, Nami dashed toward the captain's quarters, wanting to add Alvida's private stash to her haul.
BOOM! BOOM!
The Marine warship kept firing cannonballs their way. Some pirates who had slipped back onto the ship saw Tom on deck but had no time for him, fleeing for their lives.
As for the pirates foolish enough to attack Tom, he knocked every single one of them flying.
Some pirates even jumped straight into the sea, only to be blown to pieces by a well-aimed cannonball.
Under the Marines' continuous bombardment, the pirate ship became riddled with holes and slowly began to sink.
By chance, Tom overheard some fleeing pirates mention something about an escape boat. His mind raced. He followed those pirates to where the lifeboats were kept, taking care of the guides along the way.
Seeing the pirate ship wouldn't last much longer and could sink at any moment, Tom, having waited for Nami for a bit, was about to lower a boat and leave alone when he heard Nami's shout. "Wait for me! Catch this!"
Nami desperately ran toward Tom, throwing a large sack at him.
Catching the heavy sack, Tom felt its weight. Nami, having jumped onto the escape boat, took the sack back and told Tom it contained the valuable jewelry, necklaces, and gems Alvida had collected.
This made Tom cringe. Who would've thought Alvida, so ugly, hoarded a bunch of pretty accessories in her room? I guess the love of beauty is in a woman's nature. Even if you're ugly enough to scare children, you still secretly collect pretty jewelry and things to beautify yourself.
SPLASH!
After quickly lowering the escape boat, Tom and Nami landed back on the sea in the small craft.
What the hell? Where's Luffy? Normally, shouldn't he have taken another escape boat and appear here?
Standing on the small boat, Tom looked around and was shocked to find Luffy and the pink-haired Koby were already far away in a small boat.
"Luffy! I'm still here! Why are you going so far?!"
Tom hurriedly grabbed an oar and rowed desperately toward Luffy, shouting loudly.
"Haha, Tommy! I knew you wouldn't die in that whirlpool! Wait, I'll come get you right now."
Luffy, standing at the stern of his boat, saw Tom seemingly unharmed from afar and laughed happily. He stretched his arm toward Tom, clearly intending to grab him.
"What kind of person is this? His arm is so long. Is he your friend?"
Even with the intermittent sound of cannon fire, Nami was still shocked by Luffy's long arm.
Tom saw Luffy's stretched hand getting close. He grinned and turned his head to say something to Nami. Unfortunately, at that exact moment, a cannonball happened to be heading straight for Luffy's arm.
Seeing the danger, Luffy had to swing his stretched arm to dodge the incoming cannonball.
Although Luffy dodged by swinging his arm, unfortunately, Tom became the casualty.
Because when Luffy swung his arm to dodge, its direction changed. The hand meant to grab Tom instantly became a hand swinging at Tom.
And so, Tom, who had just turned to speak to Nami, tragically took a slap.
SMACK!
A very crisp sound. Slapped inexplicably by Luffy, Tom lost control and fell forward, landing right on top of Nami.
That wouldn't have been a big deal, but Tom, losing his balance in that instant, had no time to think. As he was sent flying onto Nami by that walking disaster's slap, his hand, whether by luck or misfortune, ended up grabbing two soft mounds.
Immediately afterward, on this cannonball-filled, vast, open sea, came a voice like a roaring lioness: "Where do you think you're touching, you idiot?!"
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T/N :
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