Chapter 15: Nami Joins, A Grim Future.

"Let's go,"

After Luffy's fight ended, Roman quickly dealt with his opponents with a few punches and kicks. Then he called Nami to get ready to leave, — and 'chivalrously' helped her carry the bag containing the Buggy Pirates' treasure, making the orange-haired girl smile on the surface, but...

For the sake of money, it seemed she had to continue 'playing along' with them.

Soon, the three of them arrived at the town's dock. Besides the Buggy Pirates' ship, there was also a merchant ship slowly approaching.

"Huh?"

"Zoro, you actually managed to sail the ship here," Roman looked at the green-haired three-sword swordsman standing at the bow and stroked his chin. "It seems I misunderstood your navigation skills..."

"No,"

Zoro pointed his thumb backward.

"I wasn't the one sailing, it was these three guys."

"Master Zoro..."

"Look, we've reached the port."

"Can... can we leave now?"

Three bruised and battered... pirates nodded and bowed to Zoro at the bow, and after getting his approval, they immediately jumped off the merchant ship without hesitation.

Aren't these the three unlucky guys we passed by on the way here?

Oh well, as long as we've safely reunited.

Without waiting for the merchant ship to dock, Roman directly grabbed the bag of treasure with one hand and Nami with the other. Amidst the girl's 'hey, hey, hey' sounds, he first squatted and jumped. Then:

Boom!

A ring-shaped ripple exploded on the ground, causing bricks to shatter and the ground to tremble. The spot where he stood on the dock was left with two 'footprints' spreading cracks in all directions!

Roman and Nami's figures had already disappeared from the spot, flying towards the merchant ship like stones launched from a catapult! They landed on the deck with a loud bang, causing the entire ship to shake.

"Hey, hey, hey—?!"

After landing, the girl named Nami hadn't recovered from this 'fast' mode of transportation when a pair of long hands grabbed the ship's rail! Then, the next second:

" Gomu Gomu no—"

Whoosh—

"Rocket!"

A figure wearing a straw hat flew into the air above the merchant ship with a snap, did a few flips to reduce the impact, and landed on the deck.

"Hahahaha, Zoro, you were too slow."

"Not only did we find a navigator, but we also sent a guy named Buggy and his pirate crew flying~~"

"Oh? Really."

However, Zoro, with Three Swords Style hanging from his waist, was concerned about another issue.

"Are the enemies strong? Are there any swordsmen?"

"Uh... not really strong, I guess?" Luffy thought for a moment, "Didn't see any swordsmen, but there was a juggler..."

Then it's fine.

The man named Zoro immediately lost interest and leaned against the ship's railing, closing his eyes to rest.

"Come on, Nami."

Roman kindly patted the orange-haired girl's shoulder, almost causing Nami, who had just experienced 'flying,' to collapse on the deck.

"You'll be in charge of steering the ship from now on."

Finally, I can free up my hands to continue developing my fruit abilities! Instead of steering the ship all day...

"Roman, I'm hungry~~"

?

"Didn't you just eat at the Buggy Pirates' place?"

Don't think I didn't see, Nami clearly fed you...

"Just had a fight, my stomach is empty again~~"

Facing Luffy, who was lying on the ground, Roman looked at Nami, who was steering the ship, and:

"Huh? You want me to cook—"

"No need!"

Zoro's cooking skills... are just at the level of not poisoning people. Roman thought it would be better for his stomach if he cooked himself.

———————

In the merchant ship's dining room,

Chew, chew...

"So, we need to recruit a cook immediately!"

"Huh? Roman, you're not cooking anymore?"

Luffy, looking shocked, dropped the meat in his hand onto the plate and threw himself onto Roman, wailing.

"No, Roman, your cooking is so delicious, I've never had anything so good..."

"Don't wipe your tears and snot on me!"

Pushing the clowning Luffy away in disgust, Roman rubbed his temples.

"I'm curious what you used to eat, was it garbage..."

"My cooking is at best average, and I need to free up time to train and develop my fruit abilities. By the way—I want to ask you all a question,"

Facing the serious-looking Roman, Luffy could only pout and sit back down to gnaw on his meat, while even Zoro and Nami sat up straight.

"Do you all really want to go to the Grand Line?!"

In an instant, the three present had serious expressions, then:

"I heard there are many master swordsmen on the Grand Line," said Zoro with a battle-ready look, "If I want to become the world's greatest swordsman, there's someone I must defeat!"

"There are countless pirates on the Grand Line, as long as I... we steal... take their treasures," said Nami with a 'money-grubber' look, "I can quickly gather 100 million Berries..."

"Roman, what are you talking about?"

And Luffy pressed his straw hat, for once not clowning around.

"I'm going to be the Pirate King!"

"If I don't enter the Grand Line and find One Piece, how can I become the Pirate King?"

As expected,

Roman nodded, then suddenly threw out a question.

"Do you all think I'm strong?"

Ah, this...Ah, this...

"Very strong."

Zoro was the first to nod, his face full of fighting spirit.

"It's a pity you don't use a sword, otherwise I'd really want to spar with you."

"Roman, you're obviously very strong, we all know that..."

"You're wrong, Luffy."

Roman interrupted Luffy's words with a wave of his hand, seriously looking around.

"I'm very weak—extremely weak!"

What?!

"Strength and weakness are always relative concepts."

"It's like the frog in a well. To small fish and shrimp, it's 'very strong'."

"But to the world outside the well, how strong can a frog be? It's undeniably 'weak'."

"You mean,"

Zoro, with his green hair, grinned, showing his white teeth, his eyes shining like a blade, almost beast-like!

"'We' are all very weak?"

"Yes."

Roman nodded without hesitation and continued.

"As everyone knows, the danger level of a pirate can be seen from their bounty."

"Although bounty doesn't completely equal strength, generally, the higher the bounty, the stronger the pirate." Roman looked around, "You have no objections to this, right?"

Nods x3

After all, the three present were all people who dealt with pirates and understood the relationship between bounty and strength very well. Although there were fluctuations, a pirate with a bounty of ten million would never be a match for one with twenty million!

"In my estimation, the bounties of the few of us here... excluding Nami, should be around 20 to 30 million."

Amid Nami's muttering of 'why am I excluded', Roman dropped a 'bombshell'.

"And on the Grand Line, pirates with bounties over a 100 million are everywhere!"

Silence—

"Maybe you don't have a clear understanding of this,"

"Zoro."

Roman first looked at the green-haired three-sword style swordsman.

"Can you cut through steel with your sword?"

Facing Zoro's shaking head, Roman tapped the table with his finger.

"On the Grand Line, swordsmen who can cut through steel are as common as carp crossing the river!"

?!

"And even if you can cut through steel, that's only at the level of a 50 million bounty."

!!?

"Nami, regarding the wealth of pirates on the Grand Line... to put it simply, I know several pirate crews that have their own 'countries'."

In other words, the girl's so-called 'one hundred million' goal, in front of those pirates whose wealth is measured in 'countries', is as laughable as a farmer imagining the emperor eating two buns for a meal!

Wealth—!

"Finally, Luffy."

Roman ignored the two already stunned people and looked at the straw hat-wearing boy.

"If your goal is to become the Pirate King, your opponents will be pirates with bounties of hundreds of millions, billions, or even tens of billions!"

"Each one commands thousands of subordinates, has the power to split mountains and seas, and can destroy a country single-handedly! With our strength of thirty million, being killed by a single glance from them wouldn't be surprising."

Absolute gap—!

Dead silence—

After a while,

"I... I want to get off the ship..."

Nami, almost in tears, felt so weak that she needed to crawl to move.

"Hahaha, too late! Nami, you just have to be our navigator."

Facing Roman's laughter, Nami, whose soul was shattered by the terrifying future he described, lay on the table crying.

"You can still laugh?"

"According to what you said, going to the Grand Line is like going to our deaths!"

"Yes, theoretically that's true."

Facing Nami's question, Roman spread his hands and then pointed to the side.

"But, do they look like they're ready to back down?"

"Hehehe, Roman."

Zoro, with eyes full of fighting spirit, instinctively placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Are you saying we're all frogs in a well?"

"But, just thinking about how many powerful swordsmen there are in the world makes me tremble with excitement!"

"As long as I can defeat them, I'll be one step closer to the title of the world's greatest swordsman, right?"

"Exactly!"

On the other side, Luffy also grinned, showing no fear, with his signature cheerful smile.

"It's because there are so many strong enemies to compete with that finding the One Piece has meaning! I will definitely claim The title of Pirate King!!!"

As expected, even if you know in advance how tough the Grand Line is, you won't back down...

"Then, let me explain the strong enemies you might encounter in the future."

"So you won't die without knowing why~~"

Although his words were harsh, the smile on Roman's face was obvious:

He was enjoying it.

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