Chapter 26: Pure Love Admits No Impurities
Now, let's turn to the other side of the story.
While Ralph was maneuvering on the deck of the Black Cat Pirates, skillfully turning a crisis into an "alliance" with his silver tongue, a lone lifeboat drifted upon the sea that had swallowed the Going Merry.
Nami and Zoro had found this lifeboat before their ship completely sank.
Nami, displaying her genius as a Navigator, not only stabilized the small boat but also skillfully used her understanding of ocean currents and wind direction to trail the large ship of the Black Cat Pirates from a distance—neither detected nor losing track.
"They seem to be slowing down," Zoro remarked, arms crossed as he watched the outline of the enemy ship gradually become clearer in the distance.
"Our chance is here," Nami said with a sharp look in her eyes. "Let's get closer and find a way to sneak aboard. I hope we can find those two idiots... I hope they're still alive."
Under the cover of dusk, the two silently approached the pirate ship. Using ropes and the shadows along the ship's side, they successfully infiltrated the vessel of the Black Cat Pirates.
However, as soon as their feet touched the deck, the tense and deadly atmosphere they had anticipated was nowhere to be found. Instead, their ears were met with the clamor of cheerful singing, boisterous laughter, and the clinking of cups and plates.
Zoro frowned, lowering his voice. "What are they celebrating? Victory?"
Nami's expression darkened as she carefully observed the commotion in the distance. "It looks that way... I'm afraid Ralph and Lufia lost and have become their prizes." Her mind couldn't help but drift to the worst-case scenario.
"Perfect," Zoro said, his hand resting on the hilt of Wado Ichimonji, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes. "While they're letting their guard down, let's go find them. Who knows if they're locked up or..." He left the rest unsaid, but the implication was clear.
"I'm more familiar with the ship's layout. I'll go search," Nami quickly assigned tasks. "You keep watch here and act as the situation demands."
Zoro nodded but then muttered with a hint of confusion, "Do all Pirates throw parties after winning? I thought only that silly Straw Hat girl had that habit."
This offhand remark struck Nami like a bolt of lightning!
Party... Straw Hat... Luffy...
An intense sense of déjà vu seized her. She abruptly halted her steps toward the cabins and grabbed Zoro's arm. "Wait! Come with me!"
Abandoning her search for a prison, she led a bewildered Zoro, cautiously making their way toward the source of the noise—the bustling main deck.
The closer they got, the clearer and louder the singing and laughter became. When they finally peeked out and saw the scene on the deck, Nami felt a rush of blood to her head. The familiar sight before her eyes made her almost explode with fury!
Right in the middle of the deck, Luffy was laughing and dancing arm-in-arm with members of the Black Cat Pirates, a pure, joyful smile on her face as she clutched a gleaming, oversized meat bone.
Her infectious laughter cut clearly through the noise.
Not far away, Ralph was sitting at a table with what appeared to be the crew's officers, toasting and chatting amiably, the harmonious atmosphere making it seem as though they were old friends who had known each other for years!
Nami could hold back no longer. She leaped out from her hiding spot and shouted with all her might:
"Ralph! Luffy! You two idiots! You really can start a party with anyone, can't you?! Do you have any idea how worried Zoro and I were about you outside?!"
This furious roar instantly drowned out the clamor of the celebration.
The members of the Black Cat Pirates were startled at first, quickly grabbing their weapons, but upon recognizing Nami and Zoro, and hearing Ralph laugh and wave his hand to explain, "Relax, they're with us—our Navigator and fighter," they eased up and returned to their eating, drinking, and merrymaking as if this were just a minor interruption in the festivities.
Ralph casually picked up an unopened bottle of liquor and tossed it accurately to Zoro.
Zoro caught it, bit off the cork with his teeth, tilted his head back, and took a large gulp, feeling the spicy liquid slide down his throat before curling his lip disdainfully. "Tastes average." But he didn't dwell on the bizarre situation any further, simply finding a corner to sit and drink by himself.
Nami wasn't so easily placated. Fuming, she stormed toward Ralph, intent on getting an explanation. However, before she could reach him, a figure radiating the aroma of roasted meat and brimming with infectious joy suddenly lunged at her, wrapping her in a tight hug.
"Nami! Zoro! I'm so glad you're both okay!!"
Luffy's cheeks were flushed with excitement and alcohol, her eyes sparkling like stars. "Come join the party! The meat here is really delicious!" Without waiting for a response, she dragged Nami into the midst of the reveling pirates.
Luffy sang off-key and danced with chaotic, graceless movements, but her pure, unclouded smile seemed to possess a magical quality. Even Nami's boiling anger gradually softened in the face of that radiant grin, and she found herself reluctantly swaying along as Luffy pulled her into the celebration.
When the party atmosphere eventually settled down a bit, the four Straw Hats finally gathered together.
Luffy and Ralph excitedly recounted their earlier ordeal—from Luffy being hypnotized, to Ralph's psychological tactics in desperate straits, to exposing Kuro's conspiracy, and ultimately forming a "temporary alliance" with the Black Cat Pirates.
Just as Ralph had anticipated, after Luffy woke up and heard about Kuro's "betrayal of comrades" and "scheming against his own," her straightforward sense of justice exploded. Clenching her small fists, she declared indignantly, "Someone like that doesn't deserve to be a pirate! I'm going to find him and punch him into the sky!"
She perfectly overlooked all the intricate plots, strategic calculations, and Ralph's careful planning, focusing only on the core point: "This guy is a bad person who needs a beating."
Nami and Zoro exchanged a glance, seeing the same understanding in each other's eyes.
Their captain was, as always, "pure."
Taking advantage of a moment when Luffy was dragged away by another pirate for a drinking contest, Nami moved closer to Ralph and whispered, "Ralph, you can't possibly have missed it, right? Once we help them deal with Kuro, these guys will turn around and plunder that wealthy family, maybe even attack the whole village! They're pirates! Don't tell me you're planning to..."
She didn't finish her sentence, but the implication was clear.
Zoro, who had been leaning against the ship's railing pretending to nap, cracked open an eye and chimed in, "Isn't it obvious? He's obviously planning to wait until they've weakened each other or after Kuro is dealt with—"
"After dealing with Kuro, you'll take care of the rest in one go. That's so like you."
Ralph picked up his wine glass, pretentiously swirled it, and shrugged noncommittally, tacitly acknowledging the statement.
Nami's face immediately showed intense disgust, even mixed with a hint of pity for the still-celebrating Black Cat Pirates members:
"First acting like brothers with them, drinking and having fun together, gaining their trust, then stabbing them in the back... Your personality is truly despicable."
When she said "stabbing them in the back," Nami suddenly froze.
This approach... felt all too familiar?
As a thief who specialized in stealing from pirates, she had repeatedly pretended to be a vulnerable woman or a down-on-her-luck Navigator, claiming to join a pirate crew, gaining their trust, figuring out where they kept their treasures, then taking advantage of their carelessness to abscond with all the valuables.
Now forced to stay with the Straw Hat crew, wasn't she constantly calculating, waiting for the right moment to steal their ship and... though currently, both the ship and treasures were gone.
Could it be... that she and Ralph were actually the same kind of people?
No! Absolutely not!
Nami shook her head vigorously, trying to dispel this terrifying thought.
She mentally drew a firm line: although both involved betrayal, she only sought wealth and never harmed lives! Compared to Ralph's ruthless cruelty—luring an entire pirate crew into a death trap while chatting and laughing, planning to wipe them all out—she could almost be called kind!
She desperately comforted herself with this, but under Ralph's calm gaze that seemed to see right through her, she felt inexplicably guilty and instinctively avoided his eyes.
Ralph noticed her reaction but didn't call her out, merely adding lightly, "The ideal plan would naturally be to let them and Kuro weaken each other, with us cleaning up the aftermath. But things don't always go as planned. And the biggest surprise..."
His gaze, along with Nami's and Zoro's, simultaneously turned toward the Straw Hat Girl in the crowd who was competing with a crewmate to see who could eat grilled meat faster, laughing carefreely.
"...often comes from our captain."
As if sensing their stares, Luffy looked up, flashing them a brilliantly bright, grease-stained smile and waving energetically.
Nami and Zoro sighed simultaneously, nodding in shared understanding.
With such an unpredictable captain who acted entirely on instinct, even the most perfect plan could be completely disrupted by her simplest, most direct methods in the next second.
"So, we can only take it one step at a time," Zoro concluded, taking another swig of alcohol.
Ralph watched Luffy's completely unclouded smiling face in the crowd, his thoughts churning.
He recalled the newly acquired, temptingly purple progress bar named [Hypnosis Mastery] in his system. It lay quietly beneath Lufia's affection bar, silently tempting him, as if whispering about a convenient "shortcut."
'If... if I really used it...'
But the moment this thought arose, he crushed it without hesitation.
He swore that in this lifetime, he would never let that purple progress bar advance even the slightest bit!
That was a defilement of Luffy's pure soul, a trampling of her free will, and an insult to the deepest dreams within Ralph's own heart!
In this life, he was walking the path of pure love. If this "love" became tainted, what meaning would it remain? What purity could it still claim?
All banquets must eventually end.
According to the plan, Jango needed to take a small boat and head to Syrup Village first to make contact with Kuro, who was using the alias Klahadore, while actually gathering intelligence.
Nami and Zoro remained on the Black Cat Pirates' main ship, waiting for the signal. When the operation began, they would approach the shore with the main vessel.
Meanwhile, Ralph and Luffy followed Jango into the village, infiltrating in advance to serve as inside support at the critical moment.
The moment they set foot on the shore of Syrup Village, Luffy couldn't wait to look around, her small fists clenched, eager for action: "Where's that villain called Kuro? I'll go knock him flying right now!"
Then she suddenly froze, scratched her head, and looked at Ralph: "Wait, Ralph, what does Kuro look like again?"
Ralph: "..."
Immediately after, as if triggered by a chain reaction, Luffy's stomach emitted a loud "gurgle." After the battles, hypnosis, banquet, and voyage, her energy was running low again. Clutching her stomach, she looked at Ralph with pleading eyes, everything left unsaid.
Ralph sighed with both helplessness and affection, wanting to ruffle her short hair, but she nimbly dodged:
"Let's go find a restaurant to fill our stomachs first. You need to be full to have the strength to knock villains flying."
"Hehehe, you're the best, Ralph!"
Luffy immediately beamed, instantly forgetting all about searching for Kuro.
Watching his captain whose attention was so easily diverted by food, Ralph laughed inwardly.
To be honest, if you really wanted to handle this Sun Goddess, would you even need that troublesome hypnosis? A meal of barbecue, or even just a piece of jerky, would probably be enough to make her follow you obediently.
The two walked along the village path toward where a restaurant might exist. Suddenly, Luffy stopped abruptly, as if she had discovered some new world, tugging at Ralph's sleeve and pointing at a long-nosed young man not far ahead who was excitedly gesturing to some children while walking. She exclaimed in surprise:
"Ralph! Look! That person's nose... is so long!"
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