"Boss, are there any new business opportunities here in the Village?!"
Looking at the peaceful Village on the distant coast, Nami asked with a puzzled expression.
Although the Village before her was peaceful and quiet, it didn't look like it had any money, and in Nami's opinion, there was simply no profit to be squeezed out of it.
After all, the Umbrella Corporation was a commercial company, not a bunch of pirates. Pirates could loot the Village directly, but for a commercial company to do business in a Village that was closer to self-sufficient and had no spare money, they would surely lose everything.
"In the Goa Kingdom, only the royal capital has some purchasing power. I remember our company already has a branch there, so the market should be saturated by now, right?"
Vegapunk, standing to the side, smiled faintly and said:
"Nami, you should change your perspective and goals now. We didn't come here to make money."
"You probably don't know this, but the Village is the hometown of the Marine hero Garp, and today is the day Garp's grandson sets sail!"
Nami's body stiffened slightly, and she put on a crying expression:
"Fine, Boss, can't you let me buffer for a bit? Do you have to remind me that I've already joined a terrorist organization that wants to overthrow the World Government?"
"What are we going to do next? Are we going to kidnap the Marine hero's grandson to threaten him?"
"I don't think you need to buffer, and I don't need to kidnap Garp's grandson to threaten him... Using this trick on people from his family probably wouldn't have any effect anyway!"
Vegapunk smiled and explained to Nami:
"Although Garp himself is a Marine hero, his son is one of the most vicious criminals on the sea, the leader of the Revolutionary Army, Dragon!"
"And his grandson, Luffy, has always aimed to become the Pirate King. Today is the day he sets sail to become a pirate!"
Nami blinked, looking as if she were sleepwalking. Was this some new kind of annual joke? The Marine hero's son became a member of the Revolutionary Army, and his grandson ran off to become a pirate. This family was certainly lively!
"Then... what are we looking for this pirate for? Are we trying to contact Dragon through him?"
"No, it's not to contact anyone through him, just to see what he's made of... and by the way, draw some blood and perform a few experiments on him!"
Vegapunk waved his hand, leaving Nami completely bewildered. Although Nami had learned Vegapunk's name from the information on her wristband, for Nami, who had always been holed up in a small place like the East Blue, Vegapunk, a scientist who had left the sea long ago, really hadn't left any impression on her.
Therefore, in Nami's heart, she had always regarded Vegapunk as an ambitious, wealthy big boss, never realizing that her big boss was actually a scientist by profession. Naturally, she felt a bit curious about the blood drawing and experiments that suddenly popped out of Vegapunk's mouth.
"Alright, that kid should be setting sail soon. Turn on the ship's stealth system!"
"Understood, Boss!"
Nico Robin, who was sitting to the side reading a book, replied without even standing up. Under the control of the Flower-Flower Fruit, an arm extended from the Captain's room and pressed a button. Soon, the entire space distorted, and the ship vanished without a trace.
Nami opened her mouth and looked around. Although the ship was still there, it gave people a feeling of being a phantom, and even the ship's shadow and the depressed sea level had returned to normal.
This ship even had a stealth function? The Umbrella Corporation was truly worthy of being a super company with the highest technology!
Watching Nami touching things everywhere on the ship with a curious look on her face, Vegapunk couldn't help but shake his head.
"Stop touching things. There's nothing wrong with the ship; it's just that a layer of optical protective film has been attached to the exterior, so it just looks invisible from the outside!"
The level of this stealth ship wasn't very high. Compared to the Dream Star, which could directly escape into the illusory Dream World, or the intangibility twisted by Kamui, it was miles apart, but it was absolutely sufficient in the East Blue.
Unless someone like Garp or Dragon suddenly returned to the Village, ordinary people would definitely not be able to notice any problems.
The invisible ship gradually sailed to the vicinity of the Village coast. Just then, along with a noisy sound, a boy wearing a Straw Hat and a small red vest, with a carefree and cheerful smile on his face, pushed a small boat to the port.
Then, he waved to the villagers at the port and said excitedly:
"Everyone! I'm going to set sail to become the Pirate King! Don't see me off anymore!"
"Who wants to see you off?! Get lost! We don't want people like you who want to be pirates in our Village!"
The white-bearded Village Chief looked agitated, spraying the boy's face with spit. The boy giggled and wiped his face, not caring at all.
The white-bearded Village Chief was obviously just talking. Although the villagers were discussing and making sarcastic remarks, it was mostly just banter. Some villagers even offered some food, which they placed on the small boat that only had a bucket of water.
Then it was wolfed down by the Straw Hat...
The villagers looked helpless. Would this guy really not starve, die of thirst, or drown after setting sail? It felt like he had no common sense at all! Who sets sail without bringing food?
However, the people in the One Piece World were naturally a bit careless. Plus, Garp, Luffy, Ace, and the others had done a bunch of senseless things before and were still living well, and living healthier and more vigorously, so the villagers were used to it.
Setting sail without food didn't seem like a big deal compared to falling off a cliff at five or six years old, being pulled into the high altitude by balloons, or being thrown into a pack of wild beasts...
"I'm full, ready to set sail!"
After eating the food, the Straw Hat patted his belly, waved at the villagers, and pushed the oars, and the small boat soon drifted toward the shallow sea.
After drifting about a few hundred meters from the coast, a splashing sound rang out from under the sea, and a huge black shadow suddenly shot out—sharp teeth, a figure like a fusion of an eel and a long snake, and nearly a hundred meters in length—this was the legendary Lord of the Coast!
The powerful Lord of the Coast had even taken one of the arms of the Four Emperors, Red Hair Shanks!
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