Chapter 6: Landfall! Sabaody Archipelago Bank!
Grand Line – Sabaody Archipelago
After successfully docking with the Straw Hats,
Rock was immediately dragged off by Nami—alone—to the Sabaody Bank.
Obviously, the little thief-cat wouldn't rest easy until those nearly 10 million Berries were confirmed real and in her pocket.
Rock didn't mind.
The system only required him to "join the Straw Hats' adventure," so staying near any crew member counted.
Besides, he knew Sabaody well enough not to get lost like a certain moss-headed swordsman. He'd be able to reach any incident in time.
Marineford wasn't far; he used to come here on rare leave.
He just avoided it most of the time—too much filth on these islands.
Before splitting up with Luffy and the others,
Rock specifically warned Luffy to keep an eye on Camie so the human traffickers wouldn't snatch her.
Whether Luffy would actually listen… who knows.
"Nami, about last night…"
On the way to the bank,
Rock glanced at her, a little guilty.
Now that they were alone, he figured he should apologize properly.
Even he had no idea what exactly he'd done while delirious.
World Government poison was no joke.
All he remembered was the dream being ridiculously sweet.
"Last night…"
"If you don't want to get punched, never bring up last night again—or I swear I'll kill you!"
Nami's pretty face flushed crimson for a split second, her big eyes flickering as memories flashed.
Then she realized what she was doing—
face instantly switched to full menace, roaring at him.
"Ahaha, fine, fine, I won't mention it. Just wanted to apologize. I'll take that as forgiveness, yeah?"
Rock just laughed awkwardly.
He was the one in the wrong here, and Nami clearly held no real malice.
Still, her shouting drew a lot of attention from passers-by.
"Look, isn't that the Straw Hats' little thief-cat Nami?"
"What? The Straw Hats landed on Sabaody too? This place is stacked with big names right now!"
"Who's that swordsman with her? Is that one of the Supernovas, Roronoa Zoro?"
"Are you blind? Zoro uses three swords, and he's not that handsome. This guy looks way too upright—like some elite Marine."
"Bullshit! An elite Marine flirting with the thief-cat? Gotta be a new Straw Hat recruit!"
Rock heard every whisper.
He'd awakened Observation Haki long ago.
Useless gossip, though.
What actually caught his attention was the silent figure across the crowd.
At that exact moment—
Fallen Marine X Drake, one of the Supernovas, overheard the chatter and turned his gaze toward Nami and Rock.
Instantly,
Rock's aura dropped to "critically injured." He clutched his chest, staggering like a dying man, barely keeping pace with Nami.
Drake's eyes widened when he saw Rock—expression turning grave.
Drake had been Rock's senior at the Naval Academy under Instructor Zephyr.
He never expected to run into him here.
Drake knew about the official story: Douglas D. Rock, traitor to the Marines.
But why was he with the Straw Hats?
From intel and Rock's current state, the poison had clearly ravaged him.
Surviving at all was a miracle—his strength probably reduced to less than 10%.
A guy like that wouldn't qualify to join the rising Straw Hat crew.
Unless… Vice Admiral Garp secretly asked his grandson Luffy to look after him?
Unlikely.
Full of doubts, Drake slipped away once Rock and Nami disappeared into the crowd.
He pulled out a secret Den Den Mushi.
As a member of the Navy's covert SWORD unit operating undercover among pirates,
reporting Rock's whereabouts was his duty.
…
"Hey! What's wrong with you? Why do you suddenly look half-dead?!"
At the entrance of the Sabaody Bank,
Nami panicked and grabbed Rock when he started swaying like a corpse.
Chopper had warned everyone multiple times about the poison.
Was it finally kicking in?!
"I'm fine. Let's go inside."
Using Nami's support, Rock slipped an arm around her and walked right into the bank—then instantly stood tall again, perfectly healthy and radiating charisma.
"Weird guy."
Nami rolled her eyes, but quickly forgot about it.
Hello? This was a bank!
Berries. All the Berries!
Nothing in the world was more attractive than this.
"Good day, beautiful lady! Are we depositing or taking out a loan today?"
Moments after entering, a bank manager approached with a wide smile.
The second he recognized Nami, his eyes gleamed.
Straw Hat thief-cat Nami—big client!
"If it's a loan, I must warn you—interest rates are quite high for pirates!"
He'd already decided she was here to borrow.
Pirates rarely deposited unless they were huge crews.
The Straw Hats had zero deposit history here, so loan was the safe bet.
"Loan? Interest? You've got it wrong—I'm here to withdraw!"
Nami shot him down instantly.
Borrow? Sure. Pay back with high interest? Absolutely not.
"Withdraw?! According to our records, neither you nor anyone in the Straw Hat crew has ever deposited a single Berry with us."
The manager's smile vanished—face turning outright hostile.
Rock almost laughed.
Some things never change, no matter the world. Banks love giving loans and taking deposits… but hate when you actually want your money back.
"I have your bank's certified deposit certificate. You planning to deny it?"
…
==============================================================
Support me and be 100 chapters ahead of webnovel:
patreon.com/inkshield