Chapter 16: The Going Merry
Reaching the boat, I stayed silent as Nami started pacing back and forth for several minutes, letting her have all the time she needed for the upcoming sensitive and personal topic.
Eventually, Nami stopped pacing, coming to a stop right in front of me. After releasing a huge breath, she looked at me with a hopeful and serious expression.
“Luffy, you’re strong right?” Nami asked me lightly as she nervously fidgeted with the hem of her shirt.
“I like to think so.” I said with a small shrug, being a bit vague.
“Can you be more specific.” Nami said with a bit of frustration building on her face.
“Sure.” I said with a smile, glad she got to the right questions now. “Let me put it into a perspective you can understand. On the four Blues, Devil Fruits are considered very rare right? To the point of them being considered myths?”
“Yes, what does that have to do with anything?” Nami nodded, looking a bit confused now as she crossed her arms beneath her chest.
“I’m getting there. Don’t be so impatient.” I wagged my finger playfully at her, immediately getting a scowl in return. “Did you know that Haki, the thing I’ve been teaching you guys these past weeks, is even rarer to find even in the first half of the Grand Line?”
Taken aback now, Nami’s irritation disappeared as she tilted her head with an interested expression. “What do you mean?”
“While Haki is a power that every living being possesses, most people go most of their lives without realizing they have this power. The people who do awaken it however, every single one of them, could wipe the floor of anyone in any of the Four Blues and even some in the first half of the Grand Line.” I explained patiently, going into a bit more detail about Haki that I had left out before.
“W-What!?” Nami exclaimed in surprise as her eyes widened with a fragile hope in them. “It makes that much of a difference?”
“Yes, you are seriously underestimating just how much of a monster one can become if they manage to master even one form of Haki.” I said with a shake of my head, knowing with all my foreknowledge that Haki trumped everything in this world.
Seeing her disbelieving look, I decided to give her some examples.
“Did you know that the Pirate King Gol D. Roger didn’t have a Devil Fruit and yet he is talked about going toe to toe with the likes of Whitebeard who is considered the strongest man in the world? Grandpa also doesn’t have a Devil Fruit and he was a monster back in his prime who fought both Roger and Whitebeard repeatedly.” I explained with a teasing smile, seeing the amazed look on Nami’s face.
“Ahem, to answer your original question and get back on topic.” I said, coughing into my hand and bringing her attention back to me.
“Unless I encounter someone who has a decent grasp on Haki here on the East Blue, and from what I’ve seen based on the wanted posters that doesn’t seem to be the case, I can confidently say that I’m the strongest person right now in East Blue.” I declared confidently with a huge grin on my face while giving her a two fingered salute.
I watched silently as Nami’s beautiful brown eyes widened in joy as a smile slowly grew on her face with even a small tear running down her eye that she quickly wiped as she focused all her attention on me.
“Luffy… If I told you that I wanted you to kill someone for me, w-would you do it?” Nami asked tentatively, getting more nervous as she continued before looking at me with an unsure but hopeful expression.
“I would say that I need a name.” I said, all amusement immediately vanishing and my face setting into a small frown.
Widening her eyes at my response, Nami blinked in confusion. “Just like that? But I haven’t explained anything.” Nami asked me as she slowly sank down to the deck as if losing all energy.
I joined her and made myself comfortable in front of her before I responded.
“Just like that.” I nodded calmly before letting out a small sigh and looking at Nami directly in the eyes.
“I already told you before Nami. You are my precious, Nakama. If anyone is giving you trouble, just let me know and I will handle it. I don’t need to know anything else other than that unless you decide you want to share it with me.” I explained as a small smile grew on my face.
Nami went silent after that for several moments as she just stared at me in silence with a complicated expression on her face before she slumped her shoulders.
“You really are the weirdest pirate I have ever met.” Nami muttered quietly but I could tell the words were said without a hint of reproach. In fact, I think it was the opposite as a small smile grew on her lips.
“Thank you. I will take that as a compliment.” I said with a big grin.
“Idiot.” Nami rolled her eyes fondly before shaking her head and getting a serious expression on her face as she grabbed her left shirt sleeve.
“The reason I’ve been desperately gathering Berry is because I made a deal with a certain Pirate crew. That if I managed to gather 100 million Berry, I would be able to buy back my island from their clutches.” Nami explained softly as she gripped her sleeve tight and seeing my patient expression, she took a deep breath before rolling up her sleeve.
Beneath it I saw what I was already expecting. A blue tattoo of a certain jolly roger of a saw-nosed shark with the tail curving inward.
Even if I already knew it was coming though, that didn’t stop the sudden feeling of extreme cold fury that took over my being for a moment at seeing that symbol on Nami’s shoulder. Getting to actually interact with Nami and know her these past weeks, the impact was completely different.
Just thinking about all she went through in her time with those racist pieces of shit threatened the control I had over my Color of the Supreme King but thankfully I was able to hold it back as I took a deep breath.
“The reason I hate pirates so much was because I was forced to join the Arlong Pirates and draw maps for them for the past eight years.” Nami revealed bitterly as her eyes became misty before noticing that there was no surprise on my face and blinked.
“You knew all along?” she asked with wide eyes.
Letting out a small sigh I explained. “Did you think with all that time we spent together and during training I wouldn’t see it? I saw it on the second day and made some educated guesses.”
Blinking Nami nodded a moment later. “I somehow always forget that despite your usual childish attitude, you are pretty observant and knowledgeable about a lot of things.” She said with a fond shake of her head.
“Being serious all the time is boring and exhausting.” I said with a playful roll of my eyes in an attempt to cheer her up a bit and was glad that it seemed to work as I saw her lips curl up slightly.
After that, Nami fully explained her story to me. How Arlong came to her island when she was eight, killed her mother in front of her and her sister, and then took over the island forcing everyone who lived there to pay a tax every month.
How Nami was forcefully recruited into his crew to draw maps for them and her deal with Arlong to gather 100 million Berry to set her island free.
What she left out and I was immediately able to pick up were the hundreds of times she risked her life gathering all that money by stealing from pirates and the many times she probably came close to death.
Sometime during the conversation we ended up next to each other with my hand over her shoulders in a comforting manner and slowly caressing her back while she leaned on the side of my chest.
When she was finished, there were a few tears running down her cheeks as she looked down at her lap letting out small sniffles here and there.
After a moment she looked up at me with tears at the corner of her eyes and dried ones on her cheeks and opened her mouth.
“L-Luffy, will you help me?
Taking a small breath pushing back my rage, I surprised her as I set down my straw hat down upon her head and declared strongly.
“Of course! Was there even a reason to ask? I have only one question. When do you want to deal with them?” I asked with a serious expression.
Holding my hat against her head, Nami looked down before leaning against my chest again and muttering quietly. “…Thank you.”
We stayed like that for a moment, before Nami spoke again. “I’m not scheduled to be back in the village for about another month so we can wait. I still want to try to resolve this with money but in case it doesn’t work out, I will need your help.”
“Very well.” I said simply not really knowing what else to say or how to properly comfort her since I hadn’t gone through her situation so I just stayed put silently caressing her back in our embrace.
It took Nami a few minutes before she was able to get herself back together before she pulled away and wiped her face.
“C-Can you please not tell the others yet? I want to wait a bit before doing that.” Nami asked me nervously.
“It’s your story to tell Nami, no one has any right to judge you or make you talk before you are ready.” I said with a small shake of my head.
“Thanks.” Nami muttered before a small blush rose to her cheeks as she slowly pulled herself completely from my embrace and slowly got to her feet as I joined her a moment later.
Just as Nami was about to take my hat off her face, I gently held her hand and shook my head causing her to blink in confusion.
“You can keep it on a little longer if you want. It looks good on you.” I muttered somewhat in embarrassment as I scratched my cheek and turned to the side slightly.
I didn’t what expression she made after that but I did hear her mumble another quiet thanks.
With the atmosphere light and relaxed around us we finally made our way back to everyone to see that Zoro had awakened by now. When Zoro and Usopp gave us questioning looks when they noticed Nami’s red eyes and puffy cheeks from crying, and especially my hat on her head, I just shook my head silently at them.
Thankfully they understood and didn’t say anything to Nami’s relief.
With nothing else to do except wait until our ship was ready and looking after our prisoners we made ourselves comfortable as light conversation began among us.
I did notice though that Nami was sitting next to me and closer than usual but I kept it to myself as we talked about our next destination.
=====
Following Day
Before we knew it another day greeted us with Kaya waking us at dawn at our camping location with the happy news that our ship was ready and she was there to lead us to where it was.
After making sure we left nothing behind in our small boat, we followed behind Kaya with our prisoners being carried by Zoro and I carrying the treasure.
Merry was already waiting for us there standing in front of a caravel type ship as smiles lit our faces.
“A caravel~” Nami yelled in excitement with stars in her eyes.
“Hmm! Looks like we will finally have some room to train properly.” Zoro said with a pleased smirk.
“It will be nice to have some proper shade.” Tiche muttered quietly also looking pleased.
‘Welcome to the crew, Merry.’ I thought silently with a big smile as I admired the small but iconic ship.
Merry smiled at us. “I made sure to properly stock it per Kaya-sama’s orders as thank you for everything you have done for us. Here is a list of everything you might need to know.”
Smiling, I patted Nami’s back. “You can explain it to our Navigator here.” I grinned before walking ahead with Zoro and jumping onto the ship before setting our cargo down.
As Kaya was thanking us again for saving the town from Kuro and his crew, we paused as we suddenly heard a high pitched yell and turned as one to see Usopp with a huge backpack rolling down the hill at top speed.
“Heeeeelllpppp meeeeeeee!! I can’t stop!” Usopp yelled at the top of his lungs in fright.
“Usopp-san!” Kaya exclaimed with a worried face.
Me and Zoro shrugged before raising our foot and sticking it forward causing Usopp to crash into us as he abruptly came to a stop.
“T-Thanks.” Usopp muttered in relief before springing up with sudden energy. “Did you have to hit me though, you cruel bastards!?” he yelled in mock anger.
“You stopped, didn’t you?” I asked with a small shrug and grin.
That only earned me a glare in return before Usopp then turned to Kaya and bade his farewells declaring he was leaving the island and going to become a brave warrior of the sea while me and Zoro got back on the ship.
Once their little moment was done Usopp turned to us and a nervous expression appeared on his face.
“Hey guys, is that offer from before about joining you guys still on the table?” Usopp asked with a hopeful face.
Smiling at the question I nodded as I took the lead being the captain and all. “Of course it is. We still do need a proper sniper on the crew.” I said with a grin.
At my answer Usopp seemed to deflate a bit. “You mean I can’t be the captain?” he asked in a sad tone.
Before I could deny it, I didn’t have to as I was beaten to the punch.
“Over my dead body!” Nami surprisingly exclaimed a little stronger than I thought she would.
“Not a chance.” Zoro said with a shake of the head.
“My loyalty now and always will be with Luffy-sama.” Tiche said with a blank face.
All their responses made Usopp slump even more in depression.
“Well as long as you understand, get on board already, Usopp. The sea of adventure is calling.” I said with a smile.
Perking up at my words, Usopp grinned happily. “Yeah!”
As Usopp got on board and we raised the anchor and rolled down the sail I noticed two notifications.
[Feat Achieved! Acquired the Going Merry]
+1 Gold Random Ticket
[Feat Achieved! Usopp Joined the Crew]
+1 Gold Random Ticket
‘Well, let’s see what I get. Roll!’
[Rolling…]
[Peak Specimen]
|Epic Trait|
You are genetically the peak of your race, all those impurities or genetic defects your race could have had don't affect you, it's almost like you were selectively bred to be the peak specimen of your species.
[Daily Grind]
|Elite Ability|
When this ability has been in an active ability slot for a total of 24 hours, the strength and endurance of a regular grown human man get permanently added to your own physical stats. This can be repeated as many times as needed.
‘Whoa I think I just hit the jackpot!’ I thought in giddiness.