Chapter 204: Meeting Nami

On her small sailboat, Nami rowed with a smile on her face, her mood quite wonderful.

After all, she had swindled a few more unlucky Pirates and obtained quite a bit of treasure from them; for this money-loving little cat, having money naturally made for a good mood.

"Huh!? What's that ahead... a ghost ship?"

As she rowed and hummed a tune, Nami suddenly saw a scarred, empty merchant ship appear ahead, and she was momentarily surprised.

This so-called ghost ship did not refer to those sinister vessels created in the Florian Triangle where Gecko Moria resided, nor was it like those underworld things from Pirates of the Caribbean; it referred to unmanned ships drifting on the sea.

The vast majority of such unmanned ships were left behind after being targeted by Pirates who killed everyone on board; others were left drifting because the crew had all died from infectious diseases or other causes.

If those underworld-style ghost ships were terrifying legends of the sea, then this more common type of ghost ship was a treasure chest on the sea—though once you opened the chest, whether you encountered a virus that could kill a whole ship's crew or obtained a ship full of gold and silver treasure, you could only rely on your own luck.

And as it happened, Nami, this little cat burglar, had always felt her luck was quite good; otherwise, she couldn't have toyed with so many Pirates without capsizing.

After seeing the ghost ship in the distance, Nami, who had already been quite happy, felt as if her body were filled with strength again; she lowered her head and rowed fiercely with a splash-splash-splash, soon arriving beneath the ghost ship.

Taking a hook from her small sailboat, Nami threw it directly onto the deck of the ghost ship; she tugged on it twice, felt it was quite sturdy, and prepared to climb up the rope to the deck.

Clatter, clatter, clatter—it was only a small merchant ship for a dozen people, so to put it plainly, it wasn't very high; Nami was agile and flipped up in two moves.

However, just as she flipped up and raised her head, the little cat burglar saw a young man in his twenties looking at her with a full smile.

Seeing the young man on the ship, Nami immediately gasped, looking left and right, terrified that seven or eight burly men holding blades would pop out from the deck and put their blades to her neck—there was actually a type of ghost ship that was just Pirates in disguise, specifically meant to trick greedy passing merchant ships into their deaths.

Some Pirate crews that didn't have fast enough Pirate ships would play this game of waiting for a rabbit to hit a tree; the moment Nami saw the person on the deck, she thought she had been tricked!

"Don't look around, I'm the only one on the ship!"

Uchiha Feiyu knew what she was thinking the moment he saw Nami's trembling expression, so he shook his head and spoke to explain.

"This is a proper merchant ship, but I just had bad luck and ran into a group of Pirates; everyone was hacked to death by the Pirates, and I'm the only one who managed to struggle and save my life."

As he spoke, Uchiha Feiyu took off his jacket, revealing a knife scar that ran across his entire abdomen; judging solely by the wound, the injury at the time was likely no different from ritual suicide.

Only humans in the One Piece World could struggle and survive with such an injury; if it were normal humans, being even a few minutes late for emergency hospital treatment would mean it was time for the crematorium.

Hearing Uchiha Feiyu's words, Nami patted her chest and let out a sigh of relief:

"You guy, you scared me to death; don't you know how to shout a couple of times on the deck?"

"Hehe... I saw you were just an ordinary girl; if I had shouted on the deck, you would have just run away!"

Uchiha Feiyu smiled and stated his worry directly; Nami was momentarily choked up, and she spoke in a very loud voice:

"How could that be? How could I do something like failing to save someone in danger!"

"Yes, yes, yes, it's me who thought of people too badly."

Uchiha Feiyu didn't argue with Nami, and his "yes, yes, yes" expression actually left Nami unable to speak.

In fact, Nami knew very well in her heart: honestly, if Uchiha Feiyu had really shouted on the deck, she might not have dared to come over.

Although this little cat burglar wasn't a truly evil person and had sympathy for those who truly encountered shipwrecks or Pirates, and wouldn't mind saving their lives, her own sense of caution was also quite high.

With her having just harvested quite a bit of treasure, she might have really suspected that this ship was a trap set by other Pirates; at the very least, she wouldn't have dared to run over so readily.

The reason she spoke so loudly was to cover up her own guilty conscience.

However, seeing Uchiha Feiyu's "yes, yes, yes" look—that expression and those words were a bit sarcastic—made Nami feel increasingly angry; she rolled her eyes and asked:

"By the way, what kind of cargo are you carrying on this ship?"

Uchiha Feiyu saw Nami's expression and knew what she was thinking; he shrugged his shoulders and chuckled:

"No matter what this ship was originally carrying, it doesn't mean anything now—you don't think those Pirates would leave any valuables on the ship, do you!"

"The most expensive thing on the whole ship right now is the ship itself; if you can operate it, then I can just give this ship to you. Anyway, I don't plan on running sea trade anymore."

Give this ship to me? Nami's eyes rolled around twice as she looked at the merchant ship before her; these days, no matter how crappy a sea-going ship was, the price wouldn't be low. Although it had suffered quite a bit of damage in the battle and the mast had been broken, as long as the keel wasn't damaged, such damage wasn't too difficult to repair.

'Hmm, there are only some knife marks and traces of muskets on the ship; it wasn't hit by cannonballs. Only the mast is a bit troublesome. This ship should be able to sell for over ten million Belly!'

At the thought of the number ten million Belly, Nami immediately perked up and said excitedly:

"Really? It's a deal! You're giving this ship to me, okay!"

"Really, really, truer than gold... but you have to have a way to get it moving; originally, this ship required five or six people to operate."

"No problem, isn't it just sailing a ship? A piece of cake!"

Nami wasn't bragging when she said this; although this young girl's Power Level wasn't much, she was absolutely top-tier in the profession of Navigator.

In fact, aside from their Power Level, the members of the Straw Hat Pirates were basically near max-level in their side jobs from the moment they appeared. Whether it was Nami's navigation skills, Sanji's cooking, Brook's music, or Robin's archaeology, or Franky's mechanical engineering, they were already world-class before they joined the Straw Hat Pirates.

With Nami's navigation skills, one person replacing the original five or six sailors was clearly more than enough. She first tied her small sailboat to the side of the large ship, pulled up her two treasure chests, and then directed Uchiha Feiyu to fix the ship with a clatter, barely repairing the mast and rigging a sail, before directly operating the ship to set sail.

Although this broken ship was barely moving, under Nami's brilliant navigation skills, it soon caught an ocean current and began to advance at a completely unscientific speed.

And on the ship, Uchiha Feiyu, who was exercising, also struck up a conversation with Nami.

"By the way, beautiful lady, may I ask your name?"

"Ah!? Let me state this in advance: even if you butter me up, I won't return a single Belly of the money from selling the ship to you."

As she spoke, Nami shifted the two treasure chests she had brought up and hid them behind her, although given the size of the chests, that was completely futile.

Uchiha Feiyu twitched the corner of his mouth slightly and waved his hand:

"Don't worry, I don't want your money! I'm just asking for your name; I can't just call you 'hey', right!"

"So that's how it is..."

Perhaps that mention of "your money" touched Nami's heart, making her unable to help but show a smile on her face:

"My name is Nami, and my dream is to become the best Navigator on the entire sea. How about you? Unlucky young master of the merchant firm, what is your name?"

"Just call me Uchiha Feiyu."

Uchiha Feiyu said, then glanced at the surrounding sea surface and asked again:

"Then where should we go next? Since you can drive a small boat around and call yourself a Navigator, you should know where the nearby islands are."

Uchiha Feiyu certainly knew Nami's navigation level very well, but he had no way to explain the source of his information, so he asked this.

"Of course, there isn't a single ocean current or weather pattern in the entire East Blue that I don't understand. Based on the current wind direction and ocean currents, we will be able to encounter the first island by this afternoon."

"It's just a small island, but there are still some residents. There is a small village on the island, and we can use that to repair the mast of your ship, and then we can use the sails."

"After the sails are repaired, it will only take two days for us to head to the next more bustling island nation."

"Once we arrive there, this ship can be sold... By the way, where is your home? Since there won't be a ship, I'll see you part of the way then."

"That would be truly appreciated... My home is in Loguetown, though I am the only one left in my family."

Uchiha Feiyu said this casually; the youth whose body he had inherited was also someone whose parents had both passed away, which, when one thought about it carefully, was actually quite normal.

After all, the Pirates did not subside after Roger died; instead, it kicked off the Great Pirate Era, and the East Blue also went through a period of turmoil. The merchant sailors of that time suffered heavy casualties, and this youth's parents died during that era.

As for why Uchiha Feiyu wanted to go back, it was because he wanted to obtain a bit more funding while in a stable situation.

Although the merchant ship and the cargo had already been looted, as a merchant sailor, the original owner's family still had quite a few savings; even if only ten or twenty percent remained, it would be enough for Uchiha Feiyu to use.

When one's fist is big enough, money is just a string of meaningless numbers—but Uchiha Feiyu's fist isn't big enough yet, so for him right now, Belly still has some use.

At the very least, it would allow him to buy a decent sword. His true body in the Ninja World already surpasses any famous blade or sword through physical strength and energy constructs alone, so he does not need a weapon to unleash his Sword Technique.

But for Uchiha Feiyu's clone in the One Piece World, whether or not he has a good weapon affects his Power Level by at least thirty percent.

If Uchiha Feiyu were empty-handed right now, facing those "Great Pirates" of the East Blue, he might not necessarily win without using some special techniques.

Nami is truly worthy of being the most talented Navigator in the original work; as night fell, the island could already be seen.

However, on the island before them, some places were emitting thick smoke, causing him to furrow his brows slightly:

"Are there any enemies on this island?"

Nami's eyesight was a bit worse than Uchiha Feiyu's, but the thick smoke rising from the island was quite conspicuous; after hearing Uchiha Feiyu's reminder, she looked carefully and could see it clearly too.

"An island this small only has a small village; if there are enemies... then they must be outside Pirates!"

While speaking, Nami took out her self-defense staff from behind. Although Nami was categorized into the coward trio within the Straw Hat Pirates, this did not mean she truly lacked any Power Level.

Even Nami, who hasn't experienced any major events yet, can be considered a minor expert in the East Blue; at the very least, she is much stronger than this physical body of his, which could only beat a few Marine soldiers at the start.

The reason she appeared very weak in the original work and was bullied by the Arlong Pirates without any temper was because the Arlong group was essentially performing a dimensional strike in the East Blue.

Don't look at how Fish-Men are just slave material in the Grand Line; in reality, compared to ordinary people, the physical constitution of a Fish-Man is already terrifying.

To say nothing else, after a month of training, Uchiha Feiyu's physical constitution has improved several times over, and coupled with the foundation he originally had, he has only just caught up to an ordinary Fish-Man by now.

If it were an ordinary person, even with seven or eight years of training without any talent, they wouldn't be able to match the physical constitution of an ordinary Fish-Man. And the vast majority of commoners lack the material foundation to support their training.

Nami's strength is at least stronger than an ordinary Fish-Man; in this part of the East Blue, this level of strength is enough to get by.

"Are you planning to go and uphold justice?"

Uchiha Feiyu glanced at Nami and said:

"Right now we have absolutely no intelligence on the Pirates on the other side. If we happen to run into those powerful Pirates, don't end up suffering yourself instead of saving anyone."

"But the food on the ship is already running low. If we miss this island, we'll have to abandon this merchant ship and use a small boat to head to the next island!"

Nami said with a determined expression:

"Compared to the danger, I think the merchant ship under our feet is more important!"

Twitching the corner of his mouth, Uchiha Feiyu finally saw it: this Nami isn't afraid; she just values money over her life!

(End of this chapter)