Chapter 424

"Then… Sima Di, we'll meet at Spade Island in two years."

The slightly rebellious teenager now spoke with solemnity, his expression serious.

At this moment, he no longer called him Heart.

"Zi Zi Busheng, I look forward to meeting you," Sima Di paused, then added, "Spade Island, in two years."

After seeing off Zi Zi Busheng, Sima Di returned to their quarters, only to find the room empty.

"Where did these guys go?" Sima Di muttered, his gaze flicking to a note pinned under something on the table.

【Carreera Company headquarters pool—party on!】

Below the note was drawn a smiling face.

"Party… ah, that million-Belie citywide celebration?" Sima Di held the note, an involuntary smile creeping onto his face.

Suddenly, Sima Di felt the note looked familiar; he flipped it over instinctively and found his own handwriting on the back.

【I'm going out for a stroll, don't worry about me.】

The words "don't worry" had been crossed out in black ink. Below it, a new line had been added.

【Of course I'm worried, idiot!】

"It's Nami's handwriting…" Sima Di sniffled, tears welling in his eyes, "You're the idiots."

Sima Di folded the note and tucked it into his backpack, where his manuscript lay, then headed toward the party venue.

"This time, I'm going to eat my fill!"

As Luffy had said, the party had originally been just a small gathering near the staff pool, but somehow it had ballooned into a citywide event.

When Sima Di first arrived, the entire Carreera Company was packed; by the time he finished eating, he turned around to find half the city filled with laughter and cheers.

If this kept up, by the time Sima Di finished dessert, the entire Seven Water City would be one giant party ground.

A citywide celebration—no distinctions of gender, age, wealth, or status!

Sima Di watched Luffy and Chopper performing comical acts at the center of the party, reigniting the crowd's frenzy.

Not just fear and panic—happiness and laughter are just as contagious.

Why, why can't they see it?

"Excuse me! You must be Sima Di?"

A middle-aged man in reporter attire approached.

Sima Di blinked slightly, then nodded.

"Uh, yes, that's me. What can I do for you?"

"Er… I'm Ma Lien, a reporter from the Fashion Department of the World Sea Museum. Your appearance and aura perfectly match our next fashion theme, so would you mind posing for a photo shoot?" Ma Lien pulled out a business card and handed it to Sima Di.

Sima Di glanced at the card, then at Ma Lien.

He was short, with an ordinary face, wearing black-rimmed glasses that gave him a scholarly air.

Though Sima Di still wore a polite smile, his inner thoughts were as wild as the party outside.

See? Unaware humans! My beauty is still appreciated! Someone actually asked me to be a model! A model! All those who couldn't appreciate me can just die!

Seeing Sima Di silent, Ma Lien thought he was hesitating and quickly added, "Sima Di, don't worry—our fee is three thousand Belie, paid before shooting begins. We only need photo rights. The images will appear solely in our magazine, no misuse."

"You're overthinking it—I've never done modeling before," Sima Di smiled.

To onlookers, Sima Di's smile was as radiant as a sunflower, his lips nearly stretching to his ears.

"No problem—most people are first-timers. Last issue, when we shot Marie, he was too, but look how well he turned out," Ma Lien said.

Though Sima Di didn't know who Marie was, the words encouraged him.

Just as Sima Di was about to agree, Nami dashed over at a sprint of a hundred meters in three seconds.

"Wait a minute!"

"Huh? Nami? What's wrong?" Sima Di said. "Oh, right—Mr. Ma Lien!"

Sima Di turned to Ma Lien. "This is my friend! He's way prettier than me! Can he join the shoot too?"

Ma Lien nodded vigorously. "Of course! His fresh, sunny look doesn't fit this issue's theme, but we're actually planning a special feature like this!"

"Wait!" Nami's face turned serious. "Sima Di, come here—I need to talk to you."

"Uh… Mr. Ma Lien, could you wait a moment?" Sima Di said.

"Of course."

Nami pulled Sima Di away to a spot far from Ma Lien.

"What's up, Nami? Are you worried he's a scammer? Don't worry—he said he'll pay upfront."

"It's not that," Nami said. "Doesn't this seem odd? The World Sea Museum doing a modeling shoot… I'm not insulting you, but at a pool, wouldn't they pick someone in swimwear—not someone who can't even swim?"

Sima Di looked down at himself: a pale pink princess-sleeve cake dress with Roman-style lace-up wedge sandals. The outfit was perfectly everyday—but amid a crowd in swimwear, it looked utterly out of place.

Had the idea of modeling really clouded my judgment? How could something this perfect possibly happen to me? That guy must be…

"Maybe he's here to photograph the writer?" Nami whispered.

"Writer… photo?" Sima Di froze.

"Yes—you've been published in the Lighthouse Magazine under the World Sea Museum, right? And your work's been a huge hit—suddenly the top recommendation. So he came straight to you. He's probably here to shoot a writer's portrait."

"Writer's photo…"

Sima Di imagined his book on sale, the inside cover showing his bio—with his own portrait above it.

"Exactly! So you've got to look your absolute best! You must appear before your readers in your finest form! And as your agent and image consultant, I'll be watching you closely!" Nami declared firmly.

"Agent and image consultant…?" Sima Di laughed. "Then I look forward to your guidance."

The entire city was caught up in feasting, drinking, and merrymaking.

But Sima Di and the two others were busy selecting outfits and scouting locations.

First, solo shots of Sima Di, then solo shots of Nami.

European style, ancient style, medieval style; pure, gorgeous, and sexy; long skirts, short skirts, floor-length skirts; red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple.

Sima Di photographed everything he could think of. When choosing clothes, Nami was hundreds of times more active than Sima Di.

As they kept taking photos, they became best-friend photos; judging by their poses, they could publish a book titled "How to Take the Best Best-Friend Photos."

Yet merely taking photos of themselves wasn't enough; Sima Di and Nami, now addicted to photography, dragged Robin along too. Then, as they kept taking photos, it became a Straw Hat full-cast photo, and then, as they kept taking photos, it became a citywide carnival commemorative photo.

Everyone rushed to shove their faces into the camera's frame.

Ma Lien's hand holding the camera trembled; his heart was filled with tears he couldn't shed.

Next time something like photographing wanted posters comes up, no matter how much money they offer, he doesn't want to do it a second time!

But...

Ma Lien felt that in this single day, he had recorded every kind of smile in the world.

Even though it was very tiring, it was also very happy...

Sabaody Archipelago.

Bepo looked at his captain with some worry.

Over this past week, they had already searched all seventy-nine zones of the Sabaody Archipelago three times; among them, zones one through twenty-nine of the Sabaody Archipelago were lawless zones, but recently, due to the Heart Pirates' carpet search, they had almost become civilized zones.

"Captain, there's no need to apologize; we all understand your feelings," Bepo said. "According to the captain's description, at that time you only saw the ship being bombed; you did not witness Sima Di's death with your own eyes, so there is still a possibility that he survived."

"Bepo, no need to comfort me... Actually, I should have recognized this matter long ago. It's just that I've been unable to let go; for over ten years I've still been..."

Law spoke with his head bowed, but then he saw Bepo thrust a bundle of wanted posters right in front of him.

The first one bore the name Monkey D. Luffy on the wanted poster, and the bounty had already risen to three hundred million Belly, higher than his own.

"This is... Straw Hat Luffy? His bounty increased? Why?"

"It was the Enies Lobby incident; to rescue a companion named Nico Robin, they caused a Rampage at Enies Lobby. I heard that Enies Lobby has now completely vanished due to the Buster Call," Bepo explained.

"To go this far just for a companion... are they mad?" Law couldn't help but laugh. "I heard their pirate crew follows an elite route; with only a handful of people, they managed to cause such a huge commotion... interesting."

Law flipped through the wanted posters one by one.

"Pirate Hunter Zoro, Black Leg Sanji, Little Thief Cat Nami, Devil Child Robin, King of Snipers Usopp, Ship Spirit Merry, pet Chopper... Hey, Bepo, you've found your companions."

Law pulled out Chopper's wanted poster and handed it to Bepo.

Seeing that the bounty on it was only fifty Belly, Bepo couldn't help but feel happy.