chapter 6:
Since they'd run into Nami, Rozi had no intention of letting her join first, leave, and then join the Straw Hat Pirates again like in the original story.
Rather than going through all that trouble, it was better to lay out enough conditions to make Nami join directly.
That way, Rozi could also get Nami a Heroic Spirit template sooner, so she could get familiar with the power of the templates earlier.
"Yeah, yeah, Nami, join me," Luffy said to Nami, talking with his mouth full of a giant bone-in piece of meat.
It was obvious he understood how important a navigator was.
"Join and become a pirate?"
"No way. I hate pirates the most!"
Nami shook her head and refused on instinct.
But when she remembered Rozi's outrageous bounty, her expression instantly softened again.
"What I mean is, your bounty is so high that even without me, you can still sail the seas freely, right?" Nami said.
"I know a bit about navigation, but not that much. Professional work should be left to a professional navigator."
"How about this—what if I hire you with Berries?"
"For every island you safely take me to, I'll pay you 1,000,000 Berries."
"Even though 1,000,000 Berries isn't that much, at least it's safe money, isn't it?"
As he spoke, Rozi directly took out 1,000,000 Berries in banknotes from his briefcase and placed it right in front of her.
Seeing that, Nami's eyes once again turned into Berries symbols.
After thinking a bit, she nodded.
"Fine. Since you've put it that way."
"I'll join temporarily."
Nami's lips curled up, and her eyes flicked almost imperceptibly toward Rozi's briefcase.
"If I don't join, who knows what a man with an 800,000,000-Berries bounty would do."
"I'll join for now. But later, don't blame me if I take your briefcase."
As soon as Nami finished speaking, Luffy immediately cheered.
"Awesome, Rozi! I've got a navigator!"
"Next, we'll find that three-sword-style swordsman, and then I'll have four people total!"
Rozi smiled and nodded. Nami's glance at the briefcase was subtle, but there was no way Rozi wouldn't notice.
Still, he wasn't worried.
Once they got to know each other better, Rozi didn't think Nami would leave the Straw Hat Pirates.
"Luffy, you're basically done eating."
"Nami is my partner too."
"So I think it's about time I publicly reveal one of my special abilities."
As Rozi spoke, he snapped his fingers.
In the next moment, pure darkness spread out from between Rozi's fingers, instantly enveloping Rozi, Luffy, and Nami inside the private room.
In the blink of an eye, the three found themselves in pitch-black surroundings, with only the 10-meter-wide circular platform they stood on lit up.
"Where… where is this?"
Nami looked around in panic, her voice trembling with fear.
"It's so dark I can't see anything. Rozi, is this your special ability?"
"But didn't you say you weren't a Devil Fruit user?"
Luffy tilted his head, looking at Rozi in confusion.
Rozi smiled and waved his hand in front of Luffy.
In the next moment, a panel that all three could see appeared in front of Rozi.
On it were the words "Captain," "Glutton," and "Rubber."
Under those three words were three names: "Francis Drake," "Toriko," and "Reed Richards."
"Rozi, what is that?"
Luffy asked.
"Captain, Glutton, Rubber—these correspond to Luffy's three traits."
"Francis Drake is a pirate like you who has the Captain trait—a great captain who once conquered a sea."
"Also, Toriko is a glutton, and Reed Richards, known as Mister Fantastic, has the ability to turn his body into rubber."
"They each correspond to a different trait on you."
"Luffy, you can choose one out of the three."
"After you choose, you'll obtain some of that person's abilities."
Rozi's lips curled upward. "That's my special ability."
Hearing Rozi's words, Luffy was so shocked he couldn't speak, while Nami looked at Rozi with suspicion, as if trying to see whether he was lying.
Rozi could tell Nami didn't believe it. He chuckled softly and raised a hand to tap on the name "Francis Drake."
In the next moment, the dark space suddenly rippled.
In the blink of an eye, Rozi, Luffy, Nami—and the platform under their feet—were above a boundless ocean.
"...We're out at sea?"
Nami scanned the surroundings and asked Rozi.
"Hey, look! There's someone standing on the ice over there!"
Luffy's voice drew Nami's attention.
Following where Luffy pointed, sure enough, not far away on the sea's surface, she saw a mature woman dressed in red, with long crimson hair and a scar on her face.
"That is Francis Drake, known as the woman who shot down the sun."[1]
"Now, enjoy her power."
As Rozi's voice fell, skeleton soldiers suddenly burst up from beneath the ice, and the previously still Drake immediately moved.
She drew the twin pistols at her waist, her body turning into an afterimage as she nimbly used gun-fu.
Any skeleton soldier hit by her bullets instantly collapsed and scattered, and even those that closed in on her were easily destroyed by her hand-to-hand combat.
In the blink of an eye, more than half of the hundred-plus skeleton soldiers that had crawled up from beneath the ice were gone.
Seeing the remaining half, Drake smiled faintly and raised her right hand, aiming her flintlock straight ahead.
At the same time, eight golden halos appeared on both sides of her, and three even larger halos appeared above her head.
In Luffy and Nami's eyes, a cannon barrel extended out from each halo.
As Drake fired the flintlock, all eleven cannons launched their shells together.
The remaining skeleton soldiers were instantly swallowed by the thunderous barrage.
"So awesome! Rozi, invite her to be a partner too!"
Luffy's eyes shone as he excitedly put a hand on Rozi's shoulder.
...