Ch 5 - Tashigi : Sorry, I'm not kuina.

"Are you planning to be an actor as well?" Li Fan inquired, his curiosity piqued.

"That's right, director. Don't be so surprised. I'm quite the skilled actress. You could say that acting is a big part of my daily life," Nami confidently responded, patting her ample chest.

"Hmm... I can see that," Li Fan nodded. "In that case, come along with me."

With that, Li Fan took the lead and headed towards the casting location.

"Tell me, how much can you earn as a director or actor?" Nami's eyes seemed to transform into the shape of Berries as she greedily rubbed her hands together.

"Well... for this first movie, I'm striving for a perfect script rendition, so I'm not being frugal with my funds," Li Fan replied. He handed his backpack to Nami and pointed inside. "As long as the performance is exceptional, I'm willing to spend all this money."

Nami opened the backpack to find a plethora of banknotes inside.

"Director, do you really have 100 million Berries here?!"

"Of course, why would I lie?" Li Fan locked the backpack back up while ignoring Nami's resentful gaze. "So, perform admirably. If you do, I'll even give you ten million. That's not an issue."

"Ten... ten million?!" Nami's heart raced at the thought.

"Is this guy really that wealthy?" Smoker, trailing behind Li Fan, arched an eyebrow.

"Yes, I think your appearance is quite fitting for the role of the second female lead," Li Fan nodded. "For one of the heroines, a higher salary is reasonable."

Nami couldn't contain her excitement. "What about the female lead? What's the salary for the female lead?"

Li Fan glanced at Tashigi, who was standing nearby. "Just 13 million Berries."

"Thirteen million!" Both Nami and Tashigi exclaimed.

"Mr. Li Fan, that's too much. You don't need to give me that much," Tashigi hastily waved her hands. "Just allowing me to see that sword more would be enough."

"But wait, Li Fan, why don't I take the role of the female lead," Nami suggested while latching onto one of Li Fan's arms. "You can just give me the 13 million Berries."

"Huh?" Smoker shot Nami a sharp look from the side. However, Nami paid no attention to Smoker and even stuck her tongue out at him.

"Can you handle a sword?"

"Well... I can learn!" Nami was undeterred.

"Forget it, you can't master sword skills in a day or two," Li Fan gently removed Nami's arm from his, "Although I don't expect my actors to have the sword skills matching the characters in the script..."

"But you should at least be convincing."

"If you play the female lead, your salary will be less than five million. Do you still want the role?"

Nami hesitated at this, contemplating her options. She glanced at Li Fan's backpack but thought better of stealing it, considering Li Fan's potential power, the recent pirate confrontation, and his nonchalance towards money. Additionally, if she could earn 10 million Beli through acting, it might help her reach her goal of saving 100 million Beli to redeem her village.

"This is the script for the character Rin Tohsaka," Li Fan handed her a script. "Take some time to go through it, and show me your performance later."

Li Fan then quickened his pace, leading the group to the audition venue. It was noticeable that only Zoro remained there, with his eyes closed in deep concentration. As Tashigi focused on the Sword of Promised Victory, Li Fan contemplated his next move.

"Alright, Tashigi, when the audition officially starts, you'll get a chance to handle this sword," Li Fan smiled as he retrieved the Sword of Promised Victory from Tashigi's grip. "The auditions will begin shortly."

Tashigi nodded seriously to Li Fan after the Sword of Promised Victory disappeared from her hand.

Meanwhile, Zoro slowly opened his eyes upon hearing Li Fan's voice.

"You are finally back, Li Fan, you...huh?! Kuina?! Why are you here?!" Sauron was surprised to see Tashigi standing beside Li Fan. He quickly stood up and approached her. { T.N - Should not he ask Kuina? How can you be alive?" Well, Whatever 🤷 }

"Kuina?" Tashigi frowned. "I'm sorry, but I think you have me confused with someone else. My name is Tashigi, and I'm a marine."

Zoro seemed puzzled as he tried to reconcile the situation.

.....