Chapter 19: Preparing to Set Sail

Samwell Island, at the dock.

Accompanied by the local sheriffs who lined up to bid them farewell, Garen, Nami, Wallace, and Tai Ri Tian boarded the ship that would now belong to them.

Or rather, from this moment on, it belonged to them.

The ship’s previous owners were the Steelblade Pirates, whose pirate flag still fluttered overhead—a pair of crossed broadswords and a skull that was anything but intimidating, the design utterly uninspired.

Garen was not a pirate, nor did he have any interest in becoming one, so the first thing he did upon boarding was to take down that unsightly pirate flag.

With Steelblade himself now settled in a box, the pirate ship had naturally become a prize for Garen to do with as he pleased.

Yet Garen found the ship unsatisfactory:

It was a rather ordinary wooden vessel powered by twin-masted sails. The old canvas was stained with large swathes of black and yellow, and the deck, left uncleaned and untended for years, was severely corroded by seawater.

Beyond the hygiene issues left by the Steelblade Pirates, the ship was in a state of disrepair:

One mast had clearly been snapped by force and was crudely patched together with steel plates and iron nails, barely functional. Several gaping holes, edged with charred burn marks, marred the deck and hull—so wide that even the massive Tai Ri Tian could easily get stuck in one.

Clearly, the Steelblade Pirates had recently engaged in a fierce naval battle with some enemy, and in their haste to chase after Nami, who had stolen their treasure, they hadn’t had time to repair the vessel.

The previous owners’ neglect left Garen, now inheriting this secondhand ship, feeling thoroughly vexed.

“Can’t we get a different ship?” Garen couldn’t help but say to Nami. “This one’s so shabby—I’m half convinced it’ll sink the moment we set sail…”

“No need to worry!” Nami replied, entirely unconcerned. “Only the upper deck and port side are damaged. The mast, sails, rudder, and watertight compartments are all intact—she’ll be absolutely fine for a sea voyage!”

“And besides…” Nami’s eyes sparkled, flashing with golden Beli symbols, “double cannon decks, a super-long keel, spacious internal cabins… Once we do some repairs, this medium-sized armed vessel will fetch us a hefty sum if we sell it!”

“So that’s how it is…” Garen’s eyes lit up. “That means my earnings won’t just be the ten million Beli!”

He put extra emphasis on “my.”

“You’re planning to keep it all for yourself? I’m part of this too!” Nami’s expression darkened instantly.

“While distracting the enemy is a contribution of sorts…” Garen said lightly, the instincts of a thrifty commoner clearly on display, “but I don’t see any reason to split fifty-fifty with a temp worker who owes me her life…”

“Unless, once we reach Loguetown, you want to try stealing both the ship and the money?”

“Hmph!” Nami’s cheeks flushed as she was teased, and she could only reply with a harmless, disgruntled hum.

For the first time, the Cat Burglar, always so adept at navigating missions, found herself experiencing an emotion called “awkwardness.”

Because this “mission” was different from all previous ones:

This tin can of a man not only knew full well she was a thief, but seemed to have some inkling about her background.

Having one’s identity exposed was a cardinal sin for any thief. The best solution was always to flee as quickly as possible.

Yet Nami did not wish to leave.

Not merely for the possible ten million Beli, but because…

For the first time, Nami had met someone who knew she was a thief—and still wanted to help her.

For the first time, she’d shed the label of thief and received a position as a navigator.

A navigator, not a Cat Burglar.

That was Nami’s dream.

In just one day, she’d tasted a long-lost happiness.

Thinking of this, a warm smile unconsciously curled at the corners of her mouth.

Then, Garen rather anticlimactically interrupted her reverie with a joke:

“Nami, if you want a share of the profits…”

“Becoming the lady of a knight isn’t a bad option.”

“Get lost!”

Nami’s smile froze instantly.

“Lady of a knight? Is that a proposal?” Wallace’s eyes brightened, and he murmured excitedly to himself, “So Lord Garen and Miss Nami’s relationship has reached this point?”

Wallace pushed up his glasses, then pulled out pen and paper to quietly jot down notes.

Nami edged closer for a peek, only to see the previous storyline of “beautiful thief turns over a new leaf” had now been expanded by Wallace into a bizarre romance between a righteous knight and a villainous thief.

“Hey!” Nami clenched her fists in embarrassment and anger. “Delete that section! Or else I’ll…”

Before her threat was finished, Wallace replied without batting an eye, “As a journalist, I won’t abandon the truth just because of intimidation!”

“How is that true?!” Nami demanded, her cheeks burning crimson.

Wallace remained composed, “A bit of dramatic emphasis makes the article more readable. It’s just a basic skill every writer should master.”

Nami was so incensed she was left speechless.

Wallace, meanwhile, finished jotting down his account and began to carefully review his manuscript, entirely unperturbed by Nami’s anger.

After a long moment, Wallace looked up from his work and asked, “Miss Nami, which route are we taking this time?”

“How many days until we reach Loguetown?”

Garen had slain a pirate with a bounty of ten million—a sensational event in the weakest of the four seas, the East Blue.

Wallace worked for the East Blue Daily, a local paper tailored for the region.

As an ambitious field reporter, now that he had a major scoop, Wallace wanted nothing more than to rush back and use the tale of “Garen the Righteous Knight” to prove his own journalistic talent.

Nami, ever the professional navigator, answered without hesitation, “This time, I plan to follow a route close to the Calm Belt, taking advantage of the natural currents that encircle the East Blue. On this route, we’ll reach Loguetown in two days—half the time it takes on a passenger ship.”

“Using the East Blue current near the Calm Belt?”

Wallace, familiar with the East Blue’s local conditions, immediately recognized the hidden risks and couldn’t help but praise, “It seems Miss Nami’s mastery of navigation is truly impressive!”

The route hugged the Calm Belt, where winds were fickle, weather unpredictable, and careless sailors could be swept into the deadly Calm Belt to feed the sea kings.

Without advanced knowledge of meteorology and oceanography, ordinary navigators would never dare to lead a crew along such a path.

“Of course!” Nami accepted Wallace’s compliment without a shred of modesty. “I am the best navigator in the East Blue!”

“Wonderful!” Wallace said joyfully. “News is time-sensitive. With a navigator of your caliber leading the way, I can publish Lord Garen’s heroic deeds as soon as possible!”

As he spoke, Wallace pulled out pen and paper again, adding to Nami’s character—now not only “a beautiful thief moved by a righteous knight and falling in love at first sight,” but also “genius navigator.”

Wallace murmured excitedly, “A powerful righteous knight and a beautiful, brilliant thief—this story has real selling power…”

“Wait…” Nami finally snapped back to her senses. “You said… publish? What exactly are you planning to publish?!”

Her fair cheeks flushed a deep crimson from embarrassment and anger, and her clenched fist edged closer to Wallace’s pristine gold-rimmed glasses.

“You really want to print all that nonsense in the newspaper?!”

“Nonsense?” Wallace calmly pushed his glasses up, speaking in an even tone, “I’m a professional reporter. I’ll write a truthful and thorough report based on firsthand information. So, I have a few questions I’d like to interview you about, Miss Nami…”

“Pah!” Nami turned her head dismissively, “I won’t answer—”

Her words caught in her throat.

Because a check with a long string of numbers was swaying gently before her eyes.

“This is your interview fee. You can cash it at the East Blue Bank in Loguetown,” Wallace said blandly. “Of course, if there really isn’t anything worth reporting between you and Lord Garen…”

“I won’t insist.”

“Um…” Nami hesitated, then a sweet smile blossomed on her face. “There is—there is—”

She discreetly accepted the check and, in a flash, stashed it in her chest’s “four-dimensional pocket.”

“Whatever story you want, you’ll have it.”