"VIKTOR!!"
Nami glared at the boy who had walked right past her with the practiced efficiency of a career criminal. A strange spark of indignation flared in her chest.
"Fine! You want to race? I'm the thief who specializes in stealing from pirates!" Nami steadied her breathing, refusing to back down.
She whipped out her own cloth sack and dove headfirst into the pile of gold, shoveling coins like a woman possessed.
However, reality was cruel.
Viktor, a trained ninja, moved with hands so fast they left afterimages. In less than three minutes, the mountain of treasure had been liquidated between the two of them.
But while Viktor had three massive bags bulging at seventy percent capacity at his feet, Nami stood there with a single, half-empty sack.
"Done." Viktor clapped the dust off his hands, completely ignoring Nami's murderous gaze as he walked toward the most ornate chest in the room.
"Locked, huh?" He casually ripped a key from the neck of a pirate he'd just finished off and clicked the lock open. Inside lay a single roll of parchment.
"The Grand Line Sea Chart." Viktor's lips curved into a slight smile as he tucked it securely against his chest.
With the loot secured, he turned back and extended his long, slender right hand toward Nami.
Nami froze. Looking at the hand offered to her, she hesitated. Her cheeks flushed slightly, and she finally reached out her own hand, turning her head away to mutter awkwardly:
"Well... even though I hate pirates, considering you saved me, I guess we could call it a tr—"
"Huh?" Viktor looked at her, confused. "What are you doing? I meant—give me your bag of gold."
"..."
The air solidified for three long seconds. Nami yanked her hand back as if she'd touched a hot stove. She hugged her money bag tightly, baring her teeth at Viktor like a cornered cat.
"THIS IS MINE!! DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!!"
"Tch, what a miser." Viktor didn't press the issue, merely shaking his head with mock disappointment. "Fine, fine, Miss Navigator."
"I told you I'm not—" Nami started to protest, but stopped when she saw Viktor's eyes sharpen as if he were going to snatch the bag anyway.
"Gah! Fine! Fine!!" Nami took a step back, completely defeated by this shameless red-eyed bandit. "I can make money around you guys, and you have the chart... I'll join you! But let's be clear: I am NOT a formal member of your pirate crew. This is a collaboration! A partnership!"
"Deal." Viktor retracted his hand with a smile, hoisted the three massive treasure bags as if they weighed nothing, and headed for the exit. Just as he reached the door, he stopped and looked back.
"Nami."
"What? What now?" Nami clutched her gold bag warily.
"Including this time, I've saved you thrice." Viktor held up three fingers, calculating like a professional accountant. "My appearance fee is quite high. If I give you a discount... let's say 100 million Berries per rescue. That means you currently owe me 300 million Berries."
"WHAT?!" Nami's brow furrowed at the astronomical number. Does he know something? She shook her head and shouted, "300 million? Why don't you just rob me?!"
Viktor didn't explain. He only offered a meaningful, enigmatic smile. He knew exactly what he was doing—he knew that on this girl's shoulders rested a "blood price" of exactly 100 million Berries.
"Isn't that exactly what I'm doing? Please, cooperate."
"Forget it! Keep dreaming!" Nami screamed at his retreating back. "I'm broke! You're never getting a single Berry from me in this lifetime!"
When they stepped out of the treasure vault, the battlefield outside was in full swing. Luffy and Zoro were locked in combat with Buggy and Cabaji, respectively.
"CHOP-CHOP FESTIVAL—FLYING DAGGERS!!"
Buggy let out a weird shriek as his hands detached from his body, gripping eight knives. They swirled through the air like heat-seeking missiles, attacking Luffy from every conceivable angle.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! The hands are flying!" Luffy grabbed a nearby tree trunk, using his rubber elasticity to flip and dive, narrowly avoiding the lethal slashes.
Nami's eyes were the size of dinner plates. She watched Buggy's body constantly disassemble and reassemble in mid-air and screamed, "What... what kind of monsters are you people?!"
"GOMU GOMU NO—"
Luffy dodged a volley and saw an opening. His arms stretched back dozens of meters, and using the massive recoil, he launched himself toward Buggy like a human cannonball.
Buggy smirked and sidestepped easily. "Gwah-hahaha! Too slow!"
But Luffy's target wasn't Buggy. He grabbed a pillar in the ruins behind the clown, swinging his body in a massive arc. "GOMU GOMU NO—SCYTHE!!"
Luffy swept through the air using centrifugal force, a strike powerful enough to snap a man in half.
"Too naive, Rubber-man!" Buggy sneered. Just before the hit landed, his head detached from his neck and flew high, while his torso split into several pieces.
Swoosh!
Luffy's attack whistled through empty air and slammed into a collapsed building, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"I... I must be dreaming..." Nami rubbed her eyes. This scene was a direct assault on her common sense.
Viktor tossed the treasure bags to Nami. "Hold these. Watch closely. This is how you fight." In a flash, he vanished.
"Gwah-hahaha! You can't hit me! Not even close!" Buggy laughed triumphantly at Luffy, who was currently stuck in a pile of rubble. He regathered his flying hands, circling them in the air. "Die! Chop-Chop Harpoon!"
Just as the daggers were about to dive into the immobile Luffy, a dark shadow appeared like a ghost in front of Buggy's unguarded lower body.
"Who?!" Buggy gasped.
Viktor didn't waste words. While Buggy's attention was fixed on Luffy, Viktor grabbed Buggy's shoulders, exploded with chakra, and drove a savage knee strike precisely into the clown's solar plexus.
OOF!!
The blow was devastating. Buggy felt his internal organs shift. His eyes bulged, and he sprayed a mouthful of bile. The intense pain caused his flying hands to lose control, dropping limply to the ground.
"Not done yet."
Viktor's eyes were cold. Taking advantage of Buggy's shock, he followed up with a spinning hook kick that slammed into the side of the clown's face.
BAM!
Buggy was sent flying like he'd been hit by a freight train. He tumbled across the ground for a dozen rotations before coming to a painful halt, groaning, "Cursed... cursed red-eyed brat..."
Before he could finish, his vision was filled with an orange-red glow. Viktor had finished his hand seals, his chest puffed out deep with air.
If I take out a future Emperor of the Sea right here, how many Ninja Path points will the system give me? Viktor didn't want to overthink it. He used his full power without hesitation.
"FIRE STYLE: GREAT FIREBALL JUTSU!!"
WHOOOOOOSH!!!
A massive fireball, like a miniature sun, roared toward the downed Buggy.
"Fire?! NO!!"
Buggy panicked, instinctively trying to split his body to escape. With the Chop-Chop Fruit, as long as he dispersed, fire would have a hard time dealing a fatal blow.
However, the moment he met Viktor's scarlet eyes, it was too late.
"Genjutsu: Hell Viewing Technique."
Hummm—!
Buggy's movements froze. In his vision, the massive fireball transformed into a red-haired man holding the very treasure map Buggy hated most, pointing and laughing maniacally at him. Fear, rage, and memory intertwined, causing a fatal hesitation in his spirit.
That one-second freeze was all it took.
BOOOOOOM—!!
The Great Fireball slammed directly into Buggy. The flames erupted, swallowing him whole.
"AAAAAAAAAGH—!!!"
A piercing scream echoed through the sky. Buggy was blasted deep into the ruins by the sheer force of the combo, his fate unknown.
The surrounding pirate lackeys, who had been cheering for their captain a moment ago, were paralyzed with fear. They looked at the red-eyed youth standing before the dying flames, his expression indifferent, and let their weapons clatter to the ground.
"That... that guy... what is he...?" "Even Captain Buggy couldn't fight back..." "Terrifying... is he a demon?"
"Shut up, you idiots!" A clever pirate immediately hit the dirt, pretending to be dead. He whispered through trembling lips, "If he notices us, we're finished! Everyone, faint! As long as we look like corpses, he won't kill us!"
In an instant, the pirates at the edge of the battlefield seemed to be hit by a mass sleeping spell. They dropped like flies, and within seconds, the area was filled with the sound of rhythmic snoring.
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