Chapter 145: Return to the Blue Sea! A Wealthy Pirate Ship!
With a massive hissing sound, the octopus balloon gradually deflated.
"Splash!"
The Going Merry landed on the azure sea surface like a feather, though it was a bit bumpy, it finally settled down steadily.
The sea breeze swept by, bringing the long-lost salty and humid scent and the cries of seagulls.
"Wahahahaha!! The ocean's scent is still the best!!"
Luffy lay on the bow, took a deep breath, and opened his arms to embrace this familiar blue world.
Although returning safely from ten thousand meters in the sky was worth celebrating.
But looking at the messy deck full of supplies, gold, and various shells, everyone had to resign themselves to starting a cleanup.
The noise woke Tatsuya, who was still catching up on sleep.
He stretched, feeling that the soreness in his body had subsided quite a bit.
"Nami, help me take off these bandages." Tatsuya walked over to Nami, who was busy directing the others.
"Eh? You want to take them off now?"
Although Nami complained, she had already picked up the scissors, gently cutting away the gauze on Tatsuya's body:
"The wounds have only just scabbed over, what if they tear open? Besides..."
Nami looked at the bandages wrapped around Tatsuya, her cheeks flushing slightly as she muttered:
"I think the look with the bandages... has a kind of decadent handsomeness, it's actually quite good-looking."
Tatsuya smiled helplessly and let her do as she pleased.
Finally, as the last bandage fell to the ground, it revealed Tatsuya's toned and scarred upper body.
Nami looked at the newly added scars, her eyes flickering, but she didn't say anything, just silently helped him put on his shirt.
With everyone's concerted efforts, the deck was soon tidied up and looked brand new.
Subsequently, everyone's gaze focused on the center of the deck—the pile of treasure that had formed a small hill.
Under the sunlight, those gold items refracted a dazzling light.
"Wow! So much shiny treasure!" Chopper said happily.
Nami was preparing to direct Luffy and Usopp to move the gold into the storage room.
Seeing Tatsuya walk over, she extremely naturally hooked her arm around Tatsuya's, her whole body pressing against him.
Sanji, standing to the side holding a tray, watched this scene, his eyes unusually calm at this moment.
He sighed and lit a cigarette:
"I'm not even angry anymore... It seems I've already gotten used to the 'old married couple' stench radiating from these two."
After the cleanup was finished, everyone sat around the pile of gold.
Luffy picked up a gold cup and took a bite, but ended up biting a diamond, nearly breaking his teeth: "So hard! How much meat can this buy?"
Nami was already completely in a frenzy, her eyes turning into huge Berries symbols:
"So much... at the current market price, it's probably 500 million Berries, right? We're rich!!"
"No, Nami."
Tatsuya reached out and picked up an antique-style golden candlestick, carefully examining the patterns on it under the sunlight:
"Look at this craftsmanship. The gold from Skypiea has extremely high purity, far exceeding the circulating gold of the Blue Sea.
"Moreover, these are antiques from the Shandora civilization from hundreds of years ago, possessing extremely high historical and collection value."
Tatsuya pushed up his glasses and gave a professional valuation:
"If we find the right buyer who knows their stuff... the value of this gold is at least over 1 billion Berries."
"1...1 billion?!"
Nami gasped, feeling so happy she was about to faint.
Robin, standing nearby, also smiled and nodded, adding:
"Considering the added value from the legend of Shandora's 'City of Gold,' if we encounter a fanatical collector, the price will definitely be even higher."
"Yahoo!!! We're going to get a big ship!! And buy brand names!! I'm going to fill an entire wardrobe with clothes!!"
Nami screamed and hugged Tatsuya's arm tightly, refusing to let go, looking like a koala hanging on him.
However, just as everyone was immersed in the joy of becoming rich overnight.
"Hey... everyone..."
Usopp climbed up from the bottom of the ship's cabin, his face devoid of any smile, instead filled with gravity.
He was holding a hammer covered in wood shavings in his hand.
"What's wrong, Usopp? Why do you look so grim?" Luffy asked.
"I just went to check the bottom of the ship... the keel, there's a crack."
Usopp's voice trembled slightly.
This sentence was like a bucket of cold water, instantly extinguishing everyone's enthusiasm.
The fierce battle in Skypiea, the impact of the Knock-Up Stream, and the pressure of falling from ten thousand meters in the sky had already made this little sheep ship named the "Going Merry" unable to bear the burden.
It was like a battered old soldier, after persisting to complete its final mission, it finally let out a painful groan.
The atmosphere became somewhat heavy.
Nami let go of Tatsuya's arm and looked at the ship's hull with concern.
Tatsuya walked to the ship's rail and gently patted the going merry's somewhat mottled railing:
"It is very strong, it held on until the very end."
Tatsuya turned around, looked at everyone, and said in a firm tone:
"Since we have money now, our goal for the next stop is very clear."
"Water 7."
"They have the best shipwrights in the world.
"We will take this 500 million Berries and definitely find the top-tier craftsmen to completely repair the going merry, and even make it stronger."
Hearing this, the gloom in Luffy's eyes vanished.
"Oh!!!"
Luffy leaped onto the special seat at the sheep's head, raised his fist, and shouted:
"Heeheehee! That's right! As long as we have money, we can fix it! Let's go! Let's go fix the going merry!!"
The going merry sailed on the calm sea for a while.
Tatsuya returned to his room.
He summoned the system panel, looked at the numbers on it, and frowned slightly.
[Current Ninja Points: 6500.]
"After the battle in Skypiea, plus the rewards for changing the plot and defeating the priests, I've really saved up quite a bit."
Tatsuya looked at the red icon in the exchange list—[Mangekyo Sharingan (Awakening)], the price tag below was a cold [20000 points].
"There's still a long way to go to reach 20,000 points..."
Tatsuya sighed.
Although these points could be exchanged for many A-rank or even S-rank Ninjutsu, his current combat repertoire was already sufficiently rich.
Water Release, Fire Release, Taijutsu, Haki, plus the insight of the Sharingan, were enough to deal with most enemies.
And...
Tatsuya glanced at a new item in his skill bar.
[Lightning Release: Kirin] This was a Ninjutsu he had accidentally obtained after fighting Enel.
This was a powerful weapon capable of summoning heavenly lightning; although it had quite a few restrictions, it could still be considered a trump card.
Tatsuya closed the system panel.
"Let's just save them for now. The power of the Mangekyo is something I must obtain."
Just then.
"Waaaaah!! What is that!!"
Exclamations from Luffy and Chopper suddenly came from outside.
Tatsuya pushed the door open and went out to the deck. Following everyone's gaze to look ahead, he was also stunned for a moment.
He saw that on the sea ahead, an extremely strange island had appeared.
The trees on the island grew thin and long like noodles.
Even the animals running by on the shore had their bodies stretched out long, looking full of absurd humor.
"Everything... is in a long shape?" Robin said in surprise.
Rached.
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