The world of One Piece is a planet where the majority of the surface is covered by ocean. To those who make their living on this sea, a ship is their home and their means of survival. A ship holds extraordinary significance for the pirates who sail the waters.
Despite this, it's impossible to simply return the ship to these pirates and allow them to continue their evil deeds at sea. Xinan couldn't quite understand why Luffy was opposing his suggestion.
"Since they are pirates, according to pirate rules, isn't it normal that if we defeat them, their ship and treasure are ours to deal with? It wouldn't even matter if I killed them," Xinan asked, confused.
Facing Xinan's question, Luffy replied with a determined gaze, "But a pirate ship is their crewmate."
Luffy's answer made the goodwill Xinan had felt toward him the day before change slightly; he just felt Luffy was a bit too naive and stubborn.
"I understand your desire to protect your crewmate, but don't you think your idea is too naive? If you return the ship to them and let them leave, do you know what that means? Can you ensure they won't attack this island again? Will they stop pillaging and killing on the seas? What will happen to the next town they raid? Not everyone is like you; there's no guarantee about these guys' character."
Xinan spoke with evident displeasure.
Luffy understood Xinan's point, but the concept of companions and dreams instilled in him by the Red-Haired Pirates was too deep. Luffy remained stubborn, saying, "I won't allow it!"
Zoro chose to watch silently from the side.
Having long suffered under the oppression of Arlong's crew, Nami completely agreed with Xinan's words. Luffy's opposition was tantamount to supporting pirates, which instantly wiped out the good impression she had formed of Luffy over the past two days.
Since they weren't close, Nami was annoyed by his unreasonable behavior and said, "Then what do you want to do?"
Sensing an impending argument, Zoro spoke up before Luffy could.
"That's enough, Luffy. Like Xinan said, once you choose to be a pirate, you have to be mentally prepared. It's not your place to interfere with what happens to these men," Zoro scolded seriously.
Hearing this, Luffy glanced at Xinan, pulled down his straw hat to shade his eyes, and walked silently toward the village without saying another word.
Luffy's obstinance wasn't wrong. His strong regard for his companions was what led to the miracle ship, the Going Merry.
While Xinan understood, Luffy's attempt to stop Xinan from selling the ship now was him overstepping his bounds.
Luffy left, and as his crewmate, Zoro followed.
They defeated the enemy but chose not to wipe them out.There seems to be an unspoken code among pirates. This was the shared thought in the minds of both Nami and Xinan.
Their opinions clearly clashed. Since they couldn't see eye-to-eye, Xinan couldn't possibly continue with them. Since they weren't close, parting ways now was fine.
The four split into two groups, leaving Usopp, who was still celebrating the victory over the pirates, standing awkwardly, unsure what to do.
"Haha, haha!"
Seeing Usopp try to relieve the tense atmosphere with an awkward laugh, Xinan said, a little exasperated, "Go on! We'll handle things here."
Hearing Xinan, and recalling the horror of Xinan slaughtering pirates earlier, Usopp immediately scurried away!
"Not even a thank you. How rude," Xinan grumbled.
Looking at the scattered, defeated pirates, Nami asked, "What should we do with these pirates?"
"Let's hand them over to the Marines! Several of them have bounties," Xinan replied.
Hearing "bounties," Nami's eyes immediately lit up.
"I know there's a Marine base nearby! It only takes about a day to get there if we're fast," Nami said excitedly.
Soon, Xinan and Nami found ropes, shackles, and chains from the pirate ship and tied up all the pirates who were still able to move.
Phew!
After all the busy work, Xinan felt more exhausted than he did after the fight.
During the process of binding them, Xinan immediately killed any pirate who dared to resist.
If he hadn't wanted to avoid too much unnecessary killing, Xinan would have just slaughtered all of them, as they were nothing but a waste of time.
"They're so poor! Such a large pirate crew, over a hundred people, and they don't even have ten million Berries!" Nami complained after briefly helping with the binding before going to search the ship for treasure.
"Without Captain Kuro, these are just common pirates. They can't rob large merchant ships, only prey on small islands with few people. What money could they possibly have?" Xinan replied.
"Wait, Captain Kuro?"
Xinan mentioned Captain Kuro, and Nami's eyes immediately turned into Berry symbols. She excitedly asked, "I remember Captain Kuro's bounty was 16 million Berries, right?"
"Yes," Xinan replied.
Nami then looked at Xinan with a hostile look, "Then where is he? Don't tell me he fell into the sea like the Butcher Bakar?"
Seeing Nami's unfriendly gaze, Xinan quickly explained, "Uh, Nami, Captain Kuro's bounty was likely revoked by the Marines because he faked his death."
"What?! Damn you! It's all your fault!"
Having missed out on another fortune of over ten million Berries, Nami angrily punched Xinan twice.
"How is that my fault!" Xinan said, covering his head and feeling wronged.
Nami was fuming, so Xinan could only endure the two punches, but he inwardly swore he would get his revenge in bed later.
With the matter resolved and her anger vented, Nami, having nothing else to do, felt a wave of sleepiness wash over her. She yawned widely.
In the few days since meeting Xinan, Nami hadn't gotten much decent rest. She was running around all day, not to mention being worn out every night. She hadn't managed a few hours of sleep each day.
Seeing Nami's drowsiness, Xinan said, "Go get some sleep. We'll set off around noon."
Nami seemed genuinely exhausted. She didn't argue, disembarked the pirate ship, and went to rest in their small boat, leaving Xinan alone to guard the pirates.
Xinan watched the pirates exchange knowing glances, plotting some mischief.
Then, the pirates were out of luck.
Too lazy to keep watch, Xinan gave everyone a lightning package. All the pirates were knocked unconscious. Any who couldn't withstand the electric shock immediately died.
When dealing with pirates, killing them all might seem excessive, but they are guilty of crimes. Jailing them for life is certainly not wrong. These guys are the trash of the sea. While some might have set sail because they couldn't survive otherwise, that's no excuse for their evil deeds.
Xinan gave special attention to the Meowban Brothers and Jango because those three had bounties and were relatively strong. If they escaped, Nami would surely not forgive him.
After electrocuting all the pirates unconscious, Xinan was bored and sat down on the ship's bow. This world has no cell phones, but luckily, he found a few copies of women's sexy photo magazines among the pirates' possessions to pass the time.
The One Piece world has not only global newspapers but also various fashion magazines.
Xinan still hadn't fully figured out the communication technology and development of the One Piece world after a few days, but its existence must be justified.