"Very good! Full of energy!" Red laughed broadly.
He immediately put on a serious act and issued an order to Nami:
"Navigator of the Straw Hat Pirates, Nami, listen up!"
"I now command you in the name of the vice-captain of the Straw Hat Pirates—"
"Find a restaurant to settle these two guys down."
"And then come shopping with me!!!"
"Roger that!"
Empowered by the force of money, Nami answered crisply—then froze a second later.
She blinked in confusion."Shopping!?"
…
…
Half an hour later.
After successfully finding a restaurant for Luffy and Zoro and ordering an entire table of food, Red brought Nami out onto the streets of Shells Town.
Years of Axe-Hand Morgan's tyranny had long drained Shells Town of its former prosperity, leaving it rather desolate.
Still, a starved camel is bigger than a horse.
After all, this was an island with a Marine base stationed on it. The types of shops were still fairly complete—more than enough to meet Red's needs.
"So you dragged me out shopping… just so I could help you haggle?"
Nami first looked surprised, then turned to Red with sheer disbelief and disdain.
Red laughed awkwardly. "Please, please~ I really don't have any experience with that sort of thing."
"So I had no choice but to call in a seasoned veteran like you!"
"Honestly…" Nami sighed helplessly. "A bunch of grown men, and you don't even know how to buy things?"
"Fine. Tell me—what exactly are you planning to buy?"
"Ah!" Red rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Actually, it's not that much."
"Daily supplies… training equipment—and oh, right!"
"Most importantly, we need a ship!"
"A ship!?" Nami raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me… you're going to say you don't even have a ship to sail on yet!?"
"Exactly!" Red slapped his palm. "As expected of the brilliant Nami!"
"Brilliant my foot!"
Smack!With one hand on her hip, Nami smacked her forehead and complained weakly,"You don't even have a ship, yet you're shouting about becoming Pirate King and the world's greatest swordsman…"
"Just how idealistic are you people?!"
"Hehe, it can't be helped, right?" Red said with a sheepish grin. "We only just set sail, after all."
"Anyway, let's solve the most important problem first—the ship."
Nami frowned. "Don't say I didn't warn you…"
"If you don't have extra funds, a few million Beli won't get you anything decent."
"It's fine." Red had already expected that. "I just want a temporary ship with a deck—something big enough for Luffy and the others to move around on."
"I've already spotted a ship on another island. This one won't be used for more than a few days anyway."
"What!?" Nami stopped dead in her tracks, staring at Red in disbelief.
"You're saying… you're planning to spend several million Beli just to have some temporary space while sailing!?"
"You—"
Nami choked back the rest of the sentence—'Are you out of your mind?'
Meanwhile, Red shrugged indifferently. "Hmm? What's the issue? It's just a few million Beli."
"Just a few million…?" Nami bit her lip in shock. "Do rich people always talk in such punchable ways?"
Thinking back to the blood, sweat, and tears it had taken her to earn her first million, she felt an intense urge to kill Red on the spot.
If I could beat you, I would've beaten you to death already!She cursed silently while looking at Red's back.
But at that moment, Red suddenly stopped walking.
Just as Nami started wondering whether he had some sort of mind-reading ability, Red slowly turned around and asked with concern:
"Nami… you seem to value money a lot, don't you?"
"…Huh?" Though confused, Nami answered immediately, "Of course! Who in this world doesn't like money?"
"No." Red shook his head decisively. "Plenty of people like money—but your desire for it is clearly abnormal."
"So…"
"There's something you need a huge amount of money to deal with, isn't there?"
"I…"
Nami stopped. She suddenly lifted her head, locking eyes with Red.
The damp sea breeze brushed past her tangerine-colored hair, sending it gently floating in the air.
For some reason, when she looked into Red's dark, unfathomably deep eyes, she seemed to catch a trace of pity hidden far within.
As if… he had already seen through her tragic life.
People hurried along the street, passing by the two of them without sparing a second glance at the young man and woman standing still.
"So…"
After a moment of silence, Red spoke again."I guessed right, didn't I?"
He stepped forward, stopping right in front of Nami.
"I don't know what you've been through all these years, but I want you to understand one thing…"
"Both Luffy and I sincerely want you to become our crewmate."
"So if you really are facing some kind of trouble, feel free to rely on us!"
Red gently patted her on the shoulder in comfort.
"You've already seen Luffy's strength."
"We don't even take the Marines seriously…"
"Do you really think there's anything in this little East Blue we can't handle?!"
"Anyway, take your time and think about it."
"But don't let it affect your work too much—because…"
"I REALLY don't know how to haggle!!!"
With that, Red grabbed Nami by the arm and briskly pulled her forward.
Knowing the plot, he was fully aware of the root of Nami's problem.But rather than pretending to be oblivious and waiting until the 'right time' to fix it, he'd rather have Nami confess everything of her own accord.
He believed that after seeing the strength Luffy had shown, Nami would surely give it serious thought.
All that remained was how long it would take her to let go of the knot in her heart and come to them for help on her own.
Red was certain—that moment wouldn't be far off.
…
…
As the saying goes, small as a sparrow may be, all its organs are present.
Though Shells Town wasn't large, the Marine base meant it actually had three small shipyards.
Naturally, all of them were run by shipwrights themselves.
Their main income came from building small fishing boats for locals, along with repair jobs contracted by the Marine base.
With Nami's silver tongue at work, Red ultimately spent 3,000,000 Beli to purchase a secondhand small sailboat.
Though the hull was rather battered, it had a proper deck and cabins large enough for each person to have a small bedroom.
After buying the ship, Red and Nami didn't slow down at all. With lightning efficiency, they made a full circuit of Shells Town, purchasing large quantities of daily necessities and—
…
…
Evening.
Filled with anticipation, Luffy and Zoro followed Red and Nami as they sprinted toward the harbor of Shells Town.
There, an unremarkable sailboat lay quietly moored at the docks.
However…
Luffy and Zoro suddenly stopped in their tracks. The excitement in their eyes was instantly replaced by something… strange.
Standing by the shore, Zoro was the first to speak, pointing at the bizarre scene on the ship.
On the not-so-large deck were four massive metal lumps. They were arranged in pairs, each pair connected by a thick steel pipe.
Judging solely from how deeply the small sailboat sat in the water, it was obvious just how terrifyingly heavy those things were.
"…What's that?" Zoro asked.
"Ah?" Red paused, then slowly smiled.
"These are barbells for you and Luffy's training. I had the steel merchant use every bit of spare material in his warehouse and rush them out overnight."
"This is the best we can do for now. Once we reach Loguetown, we can see if there are any more advanced materials and replace them."
"..."
Zoro fell silent. After a long while, he finally spoke:
"You sound like you're not very satisfied with them?"
"So… these are for us?"
"Obviously! Do I or Nami look like we could lift something like that?"
Red rolled his eyes confidently.
Zoro, however, stared back stiffly, his expression virtually saying:
'And do I look like I could lift it?!'
(End of Chapter)