In the morning, the fog over the sea slowly dispersed, a gentle breeze picked up, and Jake, who hadn't slept well all night, was awakened by Nami's voice.
"Jake, get up quickly, or we'll be trapped in these waters again."
Jake groggily opened his eyes to see Nami already bustling about.
"Nami?"
Seeing Jake's half-asleep appearance as she prepared to set sail, Nami said irritably, "Hurry up, or we'll be adrift at sea again today."
As she spoke, Nami handed him a hard biscuit suitable for long-term preservation at sea and a water flask.
Jake, who had slept against the side of the boat all night, threw off the blanket covering him—the blanket Nami had given him later last night.
Jake took the biscuit and water, and Nami continued instructing him, "Eat quickly. You'll row in a bit. I've already wasted a day saving you, and we have a lot to do today."
"Okay." The biscuit didn't taste bad. Jake nodded in response while munching on it.
After tidying up, the two set off in the small boat.
The East Blue, occupying nearly a quarter of the entire planet's surface area, was incredibly vast, with various islands large and small scattered across the sea. The places the Straw Hat Pirates had reached were just a few islands.
By the time Jake and Nami saw the coastline, it was already noon.
This was a small island called Bahama. Though not large, it was quite well-known in the East Blue.
The island's location was rather special—it was on the connecting route between many islands in the East Blue, serving as a transit island, which made its commerce very prosperous.
Prosperous commerce naturally attracted pirates, and with them came the Navy and bounty hunters.
The tangled web of interests had created a huge intelligence trading hub. As long as you had the money, you could buy most of the information about the East Blue here.
Nami brought Jake here, of course, to gather intelligence and find the next hunting target.
The streets of Bahama Island were crowded with people coming and going, merchants traveling endlessly—it was very lively.
Having lived in the twenty-first century, Jake had seen skyscrapers hundreds of meters tall and bustling commercial streets. Bahama Island's prosperity wasn't much to him, but the medieval-style bustle had its own unique charm.
Carrying a large backpack and following Nami, the two came to a bustling commercial street. Nami casually led Jake into a bar!
The bar was a mixed bag of characters. As soon as they entered, a group of fierce-looking pirates cast their eyes toward them.
Nami was already used to it, acting naturally and paying no attention to those people's stares. Jake, however, was somewhat nervous.
Seeing his appearance, Nami whispered a reminder, "Act natural, don't show that look. Your nervous appearance will make them think you're easy to bully. The Navy is stationed here, so they won't cause trouble."
The pungent smell of alcohol in the air, along with various indescribable odors, combined with a group of fierce-looking pirates staring at him, left Jake, who was accustomed to a law-abiding society, with absolutely no sense of security!
Since Nami had reminded him, Jake could only force himself to stay calm and responded with a sound, "Mm!"
Seeing Jake like this, Nami somewhat regretted bringing him along. She hadn't expected his courage to be so lacking.
If it weren't for the fact that he had amnesia and didn't know where to go, she wouldn't have brought him along.
"Relax!" After reminding Jake once more, Nami headed toward the bar counter.
Jake forcibly suppressed the unease in his heart and followed, pretending nothing was wrong.
The bar's owner was a middle-aged, chubby man with a somewhat bald head, a round face with two small mustaches, and a faint smile on his face—he looked quite amiable.
Seeing the two approach, the owner asked, "Customers, what can I get for you?"
"Two bowls of noodles first! Then two mugs of ale."
As she spoke, Nami sat down on a chair in front of the counter.
"Alright! Please wait a moment!"
After setting down the glass he'd been wiping for who knows how long, he turned and busied himself in the back kitchen.
Say more, err more—Jake, who understood nothing, sat down beside Nami, acting as if nothing was amiss.
After the two sat down, those pirates' gazes no longer continued to focus on them.
People in the bar came and went. The reason they received the pirates' attention was still because Nami was too attractive.
As for why the pirates only watched without coming forward to harass her—perhaps it was because someone of Nami's caliber daring to appear in this kind of bar proved she had sufficient confidence.
Soon, the bar became noisy again, with the pirates' various crude voices and vulgar jokes echoing throughout.
A scrawny pirate said to a burly pirate, "Boss, I heard the Buggy Pirates captured Orange Town. Should we go take a look?"
Hearing this, the pirate who was apparently the captain cursed, "Idiot! Buggy the Clown has a bounty of 15 million berries—he's a vicious pirate. If you want to die, go yourself. Don't drag me down."
"That's right, that's right!"
Since the boss had spoken, the surrounding lackeys all chimed in.
"Speaking of Buggy the Clown, the Butcher Bacar, who also has a bounty of 15 million berries, just attacked Beckley Town the other day! I just saw the Butcher Pirates docked at this island for repairs!"
When it came to gathering intelligence, unless it was particularly secretive information, there was no need to deliberately inquire.
Find a bar and have a drink, and those drunk pirates would spill the deeds they'd done and what had happened in the nearby waters as table talk.
While waiting for their food, Jake, who knew nothing about this sea area except matters related to the Straw Hats, gathered quite a bit of information.
The pirates had just mentioned that Buggy had attacked Orange Town, which meant Luffy had set sail within the past few days. This also meant Nami would go steal Buggy's treasure in the next few days. Various memories related to the Straw Hat Pirates flashed through his mind.
Jake looked at Nami beside him and found that her eyes had already turned into dollar signs.
"Nami, you're not going to...?" Seeing Nami's eyes, Jake asked with a sense of foreboding.
Knowing how greedy Nami was for money—in just one day, he'd nearly been sold by her—and with the Butcher Pirates having just raided a small town, wasn't this the perfect opportunity for theft?
Obviously, with berries filling her eyes, Nami couldn't hear what he was saying at all.
...
In the early morning hours, the bustling harbor that had been lively during the day had quieted down. Aside from drunks and prostitutes on the streets, there was hardly anyone left!
The crescent moon in the sky grew increasingly dim, the night pitch black. Taking advantage of the moonlight, a small boat on the sea stealthily approached the dock in the darkness.
Due to the Butcher Pirates' vicious reputation, no other ships dared approach. Fortunately, with the cover of night, the small boat quietly drew near the pirate ship.
Thunk! Thunk!!
Only one grappling hook successfully caught onto the ship's railing; the other hook fell back into hand. Nami cast a disdainful glance his way. Even in the darkness, Jake could feel that contemptuous gaze. He could only smile awkwardly.
Soon, the two climbed up to the deck using the rope attached to the hook.
The Butcher pirate ship had gone through a round of plundering a few days ago. With money in hand, the pirates all went ashore to drink and find prostitutes, leaving only a few pirates to guard the ship. Only the captain's quarters still had lights on.
The oil lamp at the bow flickered with a firefly-like glow, as if it could go out at any moment. The two crew members keeping watch were also drunk as skunks, their snores thundering loudly.
Pirates were just this caliber. Jake finally understood why Nami, at such a young age, could steal a hundred million berries from these guys.
Nami was an old hand at this. She knew where pirates would hide their treasure. Following Nami, the two quietly began searching the entire ship.
"Damn it, how can there be no money at all?"
After searching several rooms in succession with nothing to show for it, Nami couldn't help but complain.
Shh!
Jake raised his index finger and said quietly, "Nami, keep it down, don't wake up the pirates."
Nami was used to stealing—she could only be described as boldly skilled—but Jake following her was a bundle of nerves!
When the two entered the sailors' rest quarters, Nami directly ignored the two drunk pirates lying in hammocks, rummaging through the room, even checking the pockets of the two pirates who were dead to the world.
Seeing Jake's nervous appearance, Nami, who hadn't stolen any treasure, felt annoyed. She clenched her fist and punched Jake on the head.
Thud!
Nami's fist was indeed naturally imbued with Conqueror's Haki and Armament Haki. Even Luffy's rubber head got beaten black and blue with huge lumps.
Jake was just flesh and blood, and immediately a large bump grew on his head.
Nami said somewhat irritably, "You don't say! Look how nervous you've become."
Then she continued, "This is too slow. You help too. You go check the pirates' storage room, I'll check other places."
Beaten dizzy, Jake instinctively nodded in agreement, "Alright then!"
Creak!
Jake, carrying a kerosene lamp he'd swiped from the pirates, pushed open the supply storage room of the pirate ship and walked in.
Inside the storage room were just a few hemp sacks, some toppled wooden barrels, and crates piled in the corner. Looking at the meager supplies remaining in the storage room, Jake couldn't quite understand why Nami wanted him to come here.
After sending Jake away, the impatience on Nami's face disappeared, replaced by a serious expression.
Don't let Nami's relaxed demeanor fool you—if she really was that careless, given what she'd done, even with the fishman Arlong's protection, she would have died hundreds of times over.
Having stolen from pirates for so many years, Nami was very familiar with how pirates divided their loot. Every time pirates plundered, the captain took the lion's share, while ordinary pirates barely got any money at all.
Moreover, pirates lived lives where they licked blood off their blades, living day by day. Once ordinary pirates got their share of money, as soon as they went ashore, they'd spend it all on alcohol and prostitutes.
Sure enough, most of the crew had gone ashore to drink and find prostitutes, so there weren't many people around. But the captain's quarters still had lights on, which meant the Butcher pirate ship's captain, Bacar, was still on board, and so was the treasure.
In Nami's eyes, Arlong was unbeatable, but Arlong's bounty was only twenty million berries. Butcher Bacar's bounty could reach fifteen million berries. Nami understood that Butcher Bacar was also extremely dangerous, but to earn the money to buy back Cocoyasi Village, she had no choice but to take the risk.
Unlike her casualness before, Nami was now cautious, tiptoeing toward the still-lit captain's quarters.
Nami sent Jake away for two reasons: first, having a rookie along was really inconvenient for what came next; second, Nami didn't want to drag Jake into this—if something really went wrong, at least Jake would have a chance to escape.
It could be said that for Cocoyasi Village, every time Nami stole treasure from pirates, she was gambling with her life.
Inside the captain's quarters, a bright oil lamp illuminated the room. On the bed, a burly man about two meters tall was sound asleep, hugging a voluptuous woman, with two more women lying beside him.
All the women wore heavy makeup—clearly prostitutes from the island.
The underlings had all gone to drink and play with women. How could Captain Bacar resist? To guard the treasure, he couldn't leave the pirate ship for too long, but the island had no shortage of prostitutes willing to come aboard and provide services.
Through the window, the situation inside was completely visible.
Having roamed the seas for so many years, Nami had seen everything. She paid little attention to the naked men and women on the bed. Her gaze was completely drawn to the chest under the table where the oil lamp sat.
The chest's exterior was reinforced with iron bars and locked with a huge lock. One look told you it contained something valuable.
Looking at the treasure chest, greedy for wealth, Nami's eyes had already turned into dollar signs.
After several minutes of observation, confirming everyone inside was sound asleep, Nami began her operation.
In the storage room, although he knew these crates couldn't possibly hide treasure, Jake still began searching them one by one. After all that effort, he didn't find a single thing and only tired himself out.
Carrying the lamp, Jake opened a crate holding fruits and vegetables, looking for a fruit to quench his thirst, when fate began to turn.
The pirate ship hadn't even had time to resupply yet. Inside the crate were just a few somewhat shriveled and spoiled fruits. The only thing still edible was an elongated, cucumber-like vegetable fruit.
Although he didn't recognize it and had never seen this thing before, the pirate world was rich in produce. Since the pirates had put it in the crate, it must be edible.
Just as he picked up the fruit, Jake felt it pulse once in his hand, nearly giving him a fright.
Thump! Thump!
The fruit in Jake's hand seemed to have life, beating like a heart, thump thump.
Under the lamplight, Jake could clearly see the skin of the fruit in his hand changing from green to pink. Not only that, the peel began to writhe as if alive, and spiral patterns resembling "arabesque designs" grew on the skin.
This process lasted more than ten seconds. Watching a Devil Fruit reborn in his hand, Jake was stunned.
"This is a Devil Fruit—has my golden finger finally arrived?"
Rod-shaped, cucumber-sized, pink peel.
Looking at the Devil Fruit in his hand, Jake was so excited he almost fainted.
Before Jake could rejoice, a loud boom and a girl's scream brought him back to his senses. The explosion and scream shattered the night's tranquility.
"Nami!"
Hearing the sound, Jake instinctively shouted out, not even considering the problem of being discovered.
Gripping the Devil Fruit in his hand, he threw open the storage room door and rushed toward the deck at the bow in three steps that became two.
On the deck at the bow, Nami sat slumped, clutching her shoulder, her eyes full of terror as she looked toward the captain's quarters with a huge hole blown through it.
Beside Nami was a completely naked prostitute, blood continuously spilling from her mouth.