Noyer quickened his pace, the long blade in his hand dancing wildly, sharp sword energy radiating outward. Anyone it touched was either killed or severely injured.
The pirates were failing to stop the increasingly frenzied young man. In the crowd, Yure's face showed terror as he retreated step by step, clearly about to abandon his comrades and flee.
Noyer frowned, raised his blade, and charged forward, cutting down the pirates blocking his way before slashing at the fleeing man.
Yure was stunned but still managed to react, drawing the Ryōwazamono to block. A tremendous force struck. The impact shook him through the blade, his palm aching with pain, nearly losing his grip entirely.
Noyer took advantage of his opponent's vulnerability and kicked him flying with a swift leg strike, smoothly seizing the sword Seikou. Holding the newly acquired blade, his eyes lit up, his grin practically stretching to the back of his head.
This trip was worth it — money to collect and a fine blade to seize!
Seikou's blade was very long. Even with Noyer's current height and arm length, it still didn't quite match. But this wasn't a major problem. With his rate of physical development, he would soon be able to wield it perfectly.
This Ryōwazamono had a snow-white edge with regular cyan-green patterns carved on the blade. It felt heavy in hand, perfectly matching his aesthetic.
"Fine blade. It's mine now!" Noyer said with satisfaction.
Meanwhile, Yure knelt on the ground coughing up blood, his face ashen. He no longer cared that this kid had taken his blade. From just those few exchanges, he could clearly sense that their strength levels were completely different.
He was a pirate known for caution. Seeing things going badly, he immediately turned to flee. At worst, he'd just move to another place and continue robbing — this wouldn't be the first time.
However, Noyer had come for his head. How could he let him escape?
"Want to run? Perfect chance to test my new blade!" Noyer's smile vanished. He sheathed his old blade, gripped Seikou's handle with both hands, and pointed the tip at the fleeing man's back.
His feet violently kicked off the ground, his body shooting out like an arrow from a bow, quickly catching up to Yure. The blade in his hand flashed across his back.
The swift blade's cyan gleam mixed with blood. Yure's back split open with a huge gash, blood spurting out. He fell into a pool of blood with a savage scream, quickly becoming a cold corpse, completely motionless.
"The captain's been killed?!"
"How is this possible? Boss Yure, how could he…"
"This kid's a demon! A devil!"
A pirate crew's backbone is their captain. Seeing Noyer tear through their defense and kill their leader so easily, the underlings fell into chaos.
Fear spread through the panicked crowd. Pirates scattered and fled, not even bothering to retrieve their captain's body.
Noyer looked down at Yure's corpse sympathetically, "Seems you're not very important to your subordinates. Not even one stayed to keep you company."
If Yure could still hear, he would surely be cursing him through his tears.
The fleeing pirates had completely forgotten their boss. One suddenly said while running, "Wait, doesn't Yure have treasure in his vault? Since he's dead anyway, how about we split it?"
At the thought of their captain's accumulated wealth, the other pirates' eyes turned red with greed. They agreed enthusiastically and changed direction, rushing toward the vault.
But when they arrived, they were dumbfounded.
The vault was completely bare. Forget gold and silver — there wasn't even a single coin left!
Damn, even a mouse would leave a donation!
Just as the pirates stood in confusion, one rushed over shouting, "There's a ship at the shore, and those bastards loaded all our money onto it!"
"What?!"
The pirates erupted in fury, grabbing their curved swords and charging toward the shore.
We can't beat that demon kid, but we can't handle you thieves either?
◇◆◈◆◇
On the ship, Nami beamed with joy as she directed Sakura and Momoka to arrange the money.
Earlier, while infiltrating the village, she'd relied on her unique "treasure sense" to find where Yure had stashed his wealth. Within minutes, they'd emptied the place completely.
If the sisters hadn't pulled Nami away quickly, she would have insisted on dismantling that gold-trimmed door and packing it up too.
Gazing at the cabin full of treasures and berries, Nami's eyes — practically glowing with money symbols — shone with brilliant light.
Berries and golden things — Nami loved them most (ღ♡‿♡ღ)!
"Damned thieves! Give our money back!"
"You're shameless! If you dare, come down and fight!"
"Give us back our money!"
Nami was drooling in a daze when suddenly battle cries echoed from the distance.
"Oh no, the pirates are coming — let's run!" Seeing the pirates chase after them, her face changed instantly. She ordered Sakura to set sail.
Sakura hesitated, "But master hasn't come back yet!"
"Ah, this…" Nami was troubled, but her sharp eyes quickly spotted Noyer standing on the shore. She shouted excitedly, "Brother, run! We took all their money!"
Noyer stood on the shore, holding a black cloth with Yure's head inside. Looking at the shouting pirates, he actually felt sympathy for them.
In one day, they'd lost their leader and had their money stolen… How pitiful…
But then — why the hell was there so much extra money on his ship?
Hearing Nami's shouts, Noyer understood immediately — this girl definitely hadn't listened to him again.
His face darkened. He muttered softly, "Little girls just love causing me trouble!"
Then Noyer leaped lightly onto the ship, landing as gracefully as a white crane.
Seeing him, Nami immediately sought credit, exclaiming excitedly, "Brother, look how much money these pirates saved up!"
Noyer wanted to scold her, but seeing her little face flushed red with excitement, he couldn't bring himself to do it.
He instructed his two disciples, "Yure's been dealt with, the money's been seized. We don't need to worry about these small fry. Let's go!"
Sakura and Momoka responded excitedly, "Yes, master!"
The pirates on the shore realized that the person who killed their captain and the thieves who stole their treasure were all in the same group. They collapsed inside.
Where did this gang of bandits come from…
Watching the pirates on shore cry bitterly with expressions of despair and existential crisis, Noyer's mood lifted even more.
But when he looked toward Nami, who was celebrating with his two foolish disciples by clapping, he fell into contemplation. The Arlong plot had already changed, so why did Nami still love berries so much? Why did she still love stealing them?
Could this… be her true nature?
After Arlong invaded Cocoyashi Village, ten-year-old Nami joined the Arlong Pirates to preserve the lives of everyone in the village, enduring humiliation.
She agreed to his terms: gather ฿100,000,000 and she could buy the village's freedom.
To this end, she swindled and cheated her way across the seas, relying on masterful deception to steal berries from pirates.
But in the end, the dishonest Arlong conspired with Marine Captain Nezumi to steal Nami's 100 million in savings. This led the Straw Hat crew to formally declare war on Arlong for her sake.
Noyer had originally thought that Nami loved berries because of this tragic experience — that it made her value money highly and gave her a knack for thievery. But now it seemed to him that her love of berries and mastery of deception were completely ingrained in her bones. It was Talent!
「 Target individual has comprehended a new Talent. Please check, Host. 」
Just then, the system's voice rang out. Noyer's mouth twitched a few times.
It couldn't be this coincidental, could it?
Casting his inspection on little Nami, he saw that she had indeed gained a new Talent in addition to her original red-grade one.
﹃﹃﹃﹃﹃﹃﹃﹃﹃﹃﹃﹃﹃﹃﹃
" Nami "
" Talents:〔 Climate Hyper-Perception [Red] 〕|〔 Cat Burglar [White/5th Rank] 〕 "
﹃﹃﹃﹃﹃﹃﹃﹃﹃﹃﹃﹃﹃﹃﹃
〔 Cat Burglar 〕
〔 Rank: White 〕
〔 Description: Highly values money and possesses masterful natural deception skills. Success rate of stealing or conning depends on the target's intelligence and can reach up to 100%. 〕
﹄﹄﹄﹄﹄﹄﹄﹄﹄﹄﹄﹄﹄﹄﹄
Noyer sighed. Cute little Nami had finally gained her signature skill, but why was it just a useless White Talent?
「 Talents generated after birth are different from innate Talents — they can level up as abilities grow stronger. 」
Noyer nodded. Devil Fruit powers were typical acquired Talents. For example, when Luffy first consumed the Gomu Gomu no Mi, it probably had very low quality — certainly inferior to many Logia-type Devil Fruits. But after the timeskip, his development of Gear Fourth proved this talent wasn't limited to such low quality.
{T/N: In a moment of personal introspection about the One Piece universe, especially with such a strong catalyst as the Devil Fruit, I believe that becoming a failure depends solely and exclusively on the individual. If the talent could be the same for everyone, any Devil Fruit can reach the pinnacle, "All roads lead to the top".}
Noyer looked at Nami. The girl was hugging a large bundle of berries, kissing and nibbling on them, her face full of bliss.
His face wore a cunning smile.
Little brat, if I can't deal with you, someone else will. Did she think Bell-mère was a pushover?
Nami, who was counting money, suddenly felt a chill run down her back — as if a huge "DANGER" sign had appeared above her head.
She looked at Noyer suspiciously, but he was smiling cheerfully with no intention of stealing her money, so she relaxed.
◇◆◈◆◇
The journey there had been quick, and the return was just as fast. Since they hadn't run into any small-time pirates to delay them, Noyer and his companions returned to Cocoyashi Village quickly.
Bell-mère and Nojiko had been waiting at the shore.
After her son departed, Bell-mère discovered another daughter had gone missing from home!
Seeing her children return safely, she breathed a sigh of relief. But when she saw the berries on the ship, her face turned to shock.
Was this trip really that profitable?
Nami felt uneasy — after all, she'd snuck out — and didn't dare look Bell-mère in the eye after disembarking.
But Bell-mère hadn't addressed her yet. Noyer was pulling her aside to tattle.
Embellishing the story of Nami sneaking off and stealing money, he said with feigned grievance, "Bell-mère, you don't know — I was fighting up front while Nami was sneaking around stealing money. That was one thing, but she kept it all for herself, didn't share any with us, and claimed it was all hers and she wouldn't give anyone a single berry!"
"Really?" Bell-mère's anger flared instantly upon hearing her eldest son's complaint. Her fist clenched tight.
"Really, really!" Noyer nodded vigorously. Behind him, his two obedient disciples bobbed their heads up and down frantically, following his lead.
Bell-mère took a deep breath and said softly, "Don't worry, Noyer. I'll make her cough up every last berry."
She put on a smile and walked toward the bewildered Nami, while Noyer covered his mouth and snickered behind her.
Bell-mère approached the anxious little girl with a smile, "I hear from your brother that you're quite impressive — able to steal money right from pirates."
Relieved that she wasn't being criticized, Nami relaxed and showed an innocent smile, "That's right, Bell-mère! So much money! I can buy lots of delicious food now!"
Bell-mère continued, "Didn't Nami-chan share any with your brother and the others?"
Nami froze. She thought about how her brother really hadn't asked for any, so she nodded, "Didn't share."
Bell-mère said, "Nami has so much money all to herself. Bell-mère is really happy for you."
Nami sensed something was off but couldn't control the smug smile spreading across her face.
Before she could feel smug for long, Bell-mère continued, "Nami-chan is still young. With this much money, it's easy to lose. Better let Bell-mère keep it safe for you."
Nami was instantly dumbstruck, "I…"
Bell-mère cut her off, "Don't worry, Nami-chan. Would I steal this little bit of money from you? When you grow up, I'll give it back to you!"
This little bit of money? When I grow up?
Nami scratched her head and hopped around, desperate to reclaim her fortune but not daring to defy Bell-mère's authority.
Seeing she had nothing to say, Bell-mère smiled triumphantly and called out to Noyer and the others, "Bring the money down!"
"Yes!" Having witnessed the entire "mother's innocent money confiscation" tragedy unfold, Noyer happily responded.
{T/N: I suffered a lot from this in my childhood. I would receive money from my grandparents, my mother would sniff out that money God knows how and ask to keep it safe, saying she would buy something special for me later. I never saw my money again…}
Nami at this age was still too green — how could she possibly stand up to Bell-mère?
Under the girl's grief-stricken gaze, a shipload of plundered goods was carried into the house and deposited into the vault. Unfortunately, it wasn't her vault.
After organizing the money, Bell-mère distributed some to Noyer and his two disciples, sending the excited group jumping for joy.
Only Nami stood in the back, biting her handkerchief, tears streaming down her face.
My money…
Afterward, Noyer sent the sisters to take Yure's head to the Marines and collect the bounty. As for the money they collected, naturally Nami still got none of it.
◇◆◈◆◇
Just like that, Noyer officially debuted as a pirate hunter. With his record of killing Kembla and Yure and defeating Arlong, he quickly became a rising star among East Blue hunters.
Over the years, his strength grew increasingly formidable. The bounties of the pirates he slew climbed higher and higher, earning him considerable fame among the Marines, hunters, and pirates of the East Blue.
In East Blue circles, they gradually bestowed upon him the title of "East Blue's Strongest Pirate Hunter."
And in Cocoyashi Village, at Bell-mère's home.
Noyer, whose reputation had risen throughout the East Blue, sat in his bedroom. He slowly opened his eyes and said, his voice thick with excitement:
"Seventeen years old, and my Supreme King Haki has finally awakened!"
◈◈◈
T/N: Comment, give me Power Stones, like and favorite, it all supports me and makes me go foward with this. Appreciate my other stories as well, I guarantee the good work!
If you want more chapters of this novel or enjoy a large catalog of good novels with excellent translations: MrBlackWing (you know where to search)
That's it and happy reading! (-‿◦)