Mina ignored the other person and resolutely walked towards her favorite, Sister Nami.
Nami rushed over and hugged Mina, expressing her deep gratitude.
"Thank you for helping me defeat the Arlong Pirates."
Indeed, the major part of the Arlong Pirates was taken care of by this little girl alone. The remaining fish-men had already run away when they saw that things were going south. The most important cadres were all killed by Mina, and the remaining ordinary fish-men were unable to resist the large number of villagers. There was no need to worry anymore.
Mina saw that all the sadness on her sister's face had disappeared and was now replaced with happiness.
"As long as I can help Sister Nami," she said, "I'm very strong."
"What I didn't expect was that these fish-men are so weak, and they didn't eat that magical Devil Fruit."
Nami let go of Mina. Although Mina had already said she was very strong, Nami hadn't believed it at the time. Who could have imagined that a five- or six-year-old girl would be so terrifying? The ability to move instantly, and the blue ball that defeated Arlong and Kuroobi in the end, were all quite magical abilities.
There was a completely burnt fish-man cadre next to her—she knew it was Chew. Could this have been Mina's doing too? She didn't expect the little girl to have such a strong and strange ability. Nami also thought that maybe Mina had eaten a Devil Fruit, allowing her to emit flames, teleport, and even make balls with her hands.
At this time, Luffy walked over with a smile on his face.
"My name is Luffy. Do you want to join our pirate group and go on adventures in the sea together?"
Mina looked at him, a little unhappy. Was he a pirate too?
"No, I don't want to be a pirate. There is no good thing about pirates," she replied. "Sister Nami has been oppressed by pirates for so many years."
If she became a pirate, wouldn't Sister Nami hate her? How could she do such a thing? Before this, her father and brother had told her that pirates were basically bad people, and they warned her not to believe these guys and not to show mercy when she encountered them.
After hearing the little girl's response, the smile on Luffy's face suddenly disappeared. He felt that going out to sea as a pirate was a noble profession, so he tried to explain.
"We are good pirates, not bad guys like the Arlong Pirates."
After hearing this, Mina was even more puzzled.
"Are there any good guys among pirates? If you're good people, why would you become pirates?"
"As far as I know, pirates in this world basically do all kinds of evil. They burn, kill, loot. They're a group of terrifying people."
Luffy felt both his body and mind were hit hard. The little girl was right, but his goal was still to become the Pirate King, the owner of the ONE PIECE. Did that mean he wanted to become the leader of those who do all kinds of evil? This thought made him very unhappy, but he still tried to explain further.
"We are pirates, but our main goal is to go on adventures, not to burn, kill, and loot. We won't do such things," Luffy said. "We want to be cool and handsome pirates."
In his eyes, 'Red-Haired' Shanks was such a person, and Luffy was deeply inspired by him.
Even Usopp chimed in.
"Luffy is right! Our goal is to go on adventures, conquer the Grand Line, and then become famous throughout the world."
Usopp didn't want others to look down on pirates. After all, he dreamed of becoming a pirate and gaining fame like his father. It was a man's dream.
Mina, however, remained confused.
"You can go on adventures and become famous worldwide without being a pirate. Why would you choose a title associated with evil like 'pirate'? It's not cool or admirable at all. Pirates represent evil in this world," she said, her big eyes fixed on the group.
She couldn't understand the other side's logic. She was very curious—what kind of theory supported their twisted thoughts?
Luffy was stunned. Indeed, adventuring didn't require being a pirate, and this realization made his brain feel like it was exploding. He couldn't think of anything to say to refute her logic.
Then why did he want to become a pirate?
Forget it. It didn't matter anymore. Since it was a promise to Shanks, he wouldn't question it further.
"I don't know," he admitted, "but I just want to be a cool and handsome pirate—maybe even the ONE PIECE."
Usopp knew by now that this little girl didn't like pirates and would never be their partner, so he persuaded Luffy.
"Luffy, let's forget it. I don't think she'll join us. She has different ideas from ours and won't become a pirate."
Luffy sighed. Usopp was right. Since Mina didn't want to join, he would give up on asking her. However, he still wanted Nami to return to their ship. She was an excellent navigator, and they were missing one on the crew.
"Nami, the Arlong Pirates have been defeated. Let's go back to our pirate ship and have an adventure."
Sanji, who had just arrived, chimed in with shining eyes.
"Miss Nami, I just joined the pirate group. If you come back, I'll make delicious food and drinks for you every day."
Luffy's eyes lit up.
"Sanji, you're so kind! I want to be part of it too!"
Sanji glanced at him.
"That depends on my mood," he said.
Compared to Luffy, Sanji was, of course, more willing to serve women—for free.
Nami looked at these people and didn't know what to say. It was quite fun going on adventures with them. They weren't vicious pirates; they were just adventurers with the title of pirates, as they said. But she still didn't want to be a pirate. Of course, she wouldn't go to sea and steal anymore either.
The name "Little Thief Cat" should indeed disappear. Although she liked money, stealing was a dangerous act, and if she were caught, the consequences wouldn't be good.
The most important thing was that she no longer needed to steal treasure because the Arlong Pirates had been defeated. Of course, the Arlong Pirates' treasure had to be returned to the villagers—it had all been looted from dozens of nearby villages.
As for the 100 million 'berries' she had collected, that was her own money. It had taken her a long time to gather it.
She looked at her former companions with an apologetic expression.
"Luffy, I'm sorry, I can't be a pirate with you anymore."