The ship before them, if it truly belonged to the [King of the World], surely contained countless treasures.
Nami gritted her teeth.
"Let's do it."
First, they scouted the area. After confirming that there really was no one on the ship, they felt that this was practically a gift from heaven.
They had, after all, targeted pirate ships left at port on more than one occasion.
Large pirate crews would often leave several or even dozens of people to guard the ship.
Even small crews would leave at least one person to watch the ship.
In those cases, either Nami or Carina would use their beauty to distract the guards while the other did the stealing.
But this time, neither of them could have imagined that such a large ship wouldn't have a single person left behind to guard it.
"The god is practically helping us!"
Carina said in a low voice, struggling to contain her excitement.
Nami nodded firmly.
The two stealthily made their way aboard the Otherworlder-Go and found the storeroom.
The moment they pushed open the door, both their eyes went wide.
Gold, silver, and jewels were piled up into a small mountain.
Diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, pearls... various gemstones glittered dazzlingly under the light.
Gold coins, gold bars, and gold vessels were stacked neatly. There were also various precious artworks, antiques, and weapons, any one of which was worth a fortune.
"..."
Nami felt her throat go dry.
A handful of the treasure here would be worth 100 million Berries.
Carina, meanwhile, focused her gaze on a small treasure chest placed at the very top and center of the storeroom.
It stood out conspicuously among all the other treasures.
"That must contain the most precious treasure of all."
Carina murmured to herself, her eyes filled with greed.
She quickly stepped forward and reached out to take the chest—
A hand extended from the nearby wall.
Then, a figure emerged from the wall, grabbing the scruffs of both their necks with one hand each, lifting them up and away from the chest.
"Kyaa—!"
Nami and Carina screamed simultaneously, struggling desperately, but the hand was like an iron vise, completely unmoving.
The figure carried the two out of the storeroom to the deck and threw them down hard.
Thud! Thud!
The two were slammed onto the deck, their bodies racked with pain, seeing stars.
Nami looked up and saw a monster with the upper half of a shark's face and the rest of a human body looking down at her.
A cold smirk hung on the corner of that shark-like face.
"There are still idiots like this?"
Beam's voice was laced with mockery.
But more than mockery, his face showed indifference.
Usually, he was in a goofy, husky-like state, but whenever Makoto's interests were involved, he became extremely ruthless.
Seeing Beam's face, the upper half of which was a shark, Nami trembled all over with fear.
She instinctively assumed Beam was a fish-man. She had a natural fear of that race, after all, it was the fish-man crew of the Arlong Pirates that had seized her village and killed her foster mother.
"You... you're a fish-man..."
Nami's voice trembled.
"Fish-man?"
Beam tilted his head, revealing a disdainful smile.
"If that's what you think, that's fine."
As he spoke, Beam slightly raised his hand, water droplets forming at the base of his palm… the long-range attack technique Spear Wave, the one long-range attack in Fish-Man Karate.
The droplets gathered in his palm, ready to fire like bullets.
"Die."
Beam was about to send the two women to the afterlife.
"What's going on?"
A voice came from the port's direction.
Beam glanced over to see Yu and his group returning from resupplying.
Yu walked at the front, followed by Robin, Kalifa, Ace, and the Four Gay Bros.
They carried bags and bundles in their hands, clearly having purchased quite a bit.
Seeing the scene on the deck, Yu frowned slightly.
Beam briefly described what had just happened, adding at the end, "These two women almost made off with the Pure Gold."
Upon hearing this, Yu's expression darkened instantly.
Pure Gold.
That was the most important treasure that the fish-men had gone through great pains to find and intended to present to Makoto.
Now, with only one year left until Makoto's return, this had to happen.
If he had actually let these two petty thieves steal the Pure Gold, he would have no more honor to meet Makoto.
"Hang them from a lamppost and execute them by slow slicing."
Nami and Carina were completely terrified.
They had made mistakes before.
But thanks to their beauty, their enemies often felt a subconscious softness when discovering them… and that gave them a chance to escape.
But the [Gun Devil], Ishigami Yu, was completely different.
The naked killing intent in his eyes had not a shred of hesitation.
Nami's legs trembled, her lips quivered, unable to utter a single word.
Carina was no better, her face pale as paper, her fingers clutching her clothes tightly.
Even the two female crew members behind, Robin and Kalifa, couldn't help but swallow secretly.
They marveled that Yu was as ruthless as ever.
The Four Gay Bros also agreed with this.
However, just as they were about to act—
"Wait."
Ace stepped forward.
Everyone's gaze turned to him.
"I think we should capture them and offer them to the Commander."
At these words, everyone, including Yu, was slightly stunned.
Yu narrowed his eyes and carefully examined Nami and Carina.
They were indeed good-looking…
Not inferior to Robin and Kalifa on his own ship.
The corners of Yu's mouth curled up slightly.
"You kid, you've got some potential."
He glanced at Ace, a hint of approval flashing in his eyes.
He had just been completely blinded by anger, wanting only to kill the two thieves to vent his rage.
But Ace reminded him… Makoto liked beautiful women… that was something everyone on the ship knew.
It'll be a waste to kill them.
"Put shackles on them."
Yu waved his hand.
Four Gay Bros stepped forward and fitted Nami and Carina with Seastone handcuffs.
The two young women were roughly pinned to the ground, their wrists bound by the cold stone, unable to move.
Seeing the other party had temporarily decided not to kill them, Nami and Carina breathed a sigh of relief. But they quickly realized that escaping this time might be quite difficult.
Because Yu and his group didn't seem like the type to fall for a honey trap.
Nami was escorted toward the cabin by Robin and Kalifa. She secretly tried to get friendly with them.
"Um... Big sisters, where is this ship going next?"
Robin glanced at the orange-haired girl and didn't answer her question.
"You're quite brave."
Her voice was very calm, so calm that no emotion could be discerned.
"Stealing from this ship of all places."
Nami couldn't help but feel wronged.
"I just lost my head for a moment..."
She lowered her head, her voice growing softer.
Just then, Yu's voice came from the deck.
"There's no need to stay in the East Blue any longer. Let's go."
It was now Sea Circle Calendar Year 1519. There was still one year until Makoto's return.
Yu felt that he could now return to the New Amazon Lily and wait for Makoto and the others to come back.
He turned to look at Ace.
"We'll pass by Loguetown on the way back. That's where your father died. Want to go see it?"
After several years of interaction, Yu had come to appreciate Ace somewhat.
Because during their time together, he could also see that the other's admiration for Makoto wasn't just lip service… which was also the reason Yu had never thrown this kid to Whitebeard.
Ace was stunned for a moment.
Then, he shook his head.
"No."
"Why?"
"I've read all the news related to Roger."
Ace's voice was very calm, but the fingers of his clenched fist were slightly white.
"Wasn't his disgraceful business exposed in Loguetown?"
Ace looked up, gazing at the distant horizon.
"I can't afford to lose my reputation."
Nami and Carina found this strange.
'What did he mean by 'that's where your father died'?'
'Everyone knew that Loguetown was where the Pirate King, Gold Roger, was executed.'
'Did that mean... this freckled person's father also died there?'
Kalifa spoke with an expressionless face.
"He's Roger's son."
Such a casual sentence, but it made Nami and Carina's eyes widened simultaneously.
"What?!"
"Roger's son?!"
"The son of the Pirate King?!"
The two were so shocked they nearly jumped up from the ground… if their hands weren't cuffed.
'Oh my god, were all the people on this ship this incredible?'
In recent years, Yu had frequently made headlines.
Many people rated him as 'the strongest person besides Nishikawa Makoto'.
They never expected that the son of the Pirate King would also be on this ship.
"Kalifa."
Robin frowned, reminding her not to say too much.
Kalifa shrugged and said no more.
Just then—
Purupurupurupuru—
The Den Den Mushi in Yu's pocket rang.
He pulled out the Den Den Mushi and pressed the answer button, his tone cold.
"Who?"
The Den Den Mushi's eyes opened, its mouth opening and closing.
Then—
A voice came from the Den Den Mushi.
"Me."
The voice was not loud, with a hint of lazy amusement.
Yu's expression changed instantly.
His eyes flew wide open, his pupils contracted sharply, and his entire body froze as if struck by lightning.
His normally aloof expression instantly became ingratiating, the corners of his mouth splitting open into a grin that looked uglier than crying.
"Se... Senpai?!"
His voice trembled.
"Yo-you're back so quickly?!"
That tone, that expression, that bone-deep sycophantic posture—
Nami, Carina, Robin, Kalifa… everyone was dumbfounded.
They had never seen Yu make such an expression.
'That [Gun Devil] Ishigami Yu, who killed without blinking an eye and looked down on everyone—'
'Was actually like a dog wagging its tail now?'
"We were originally jumping through time early."
On the other end of the line, Makoto finished.
"Although it felt like just an instant to me, for you, it's been 20 years. Good work."
Yu's eyes reddened.
"Senpai... you've finally returned..."
His voice carried a hint of choking up.
Nami and Carina exchanged glances, their eyes filled with shock and disbelief.
'The person on the other end of that Den Den Mushi—'
'Was that the legendary [King of the World]?'