Nami had waited for far too long and finally encountered a glimmer of hope.
Carina had told her straight out that Arlong's promise to let her buy Cocoyasi Village for 100 million berries was simply impossible to achieve. Arlong would just find another way to keep coercing her into working for him.
Nami knew this well, but for someone who had been drowning for years, even a sliver of hope was enough to make her grab on desperately. Arlong's promise was like that, and Hiroto's appearance was even more so.
Compared to the former, she would rather give everything she had to trade for Hiroto's purge of the Arlong Pirates.
"Fine then." Hiroto agreed to Nami's plea.
"Long live the Captain!"
Excitedly, Nami threw her arms around Hiroto's neck and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. She then quickly scurried out of the Captain's quarters, leaving Hiroto to raise an eyebrow as he felt the moisture on his cheek.
He shook his head and summoned his status panel.
The business at Marine Branch 153 was finished, and the Buggy Pirates were annihilated. He had handed Buggy over to the Marines, keeping the heart fragments in his hand for later use.
As for Nami, as long as Arlong was dealt with, she would become one of the crewmates on the ship.
Adding all these things together, the changes to One Piece's plot would inevitably have a huge impact.
Especially Buggy, a future member of the Four Emperors. Although his weight in the story wasn't high, he still participated in the late-game plot. He was much better than Smoker and Tashigi, who were also in the East Blue but were almost non-existent in the later stages.
The panel appeared, still offering three options. This time, the screen flickered with a brilliant purple light, as magnificent as a gemstone.
'A purple entry?'
Hiroto rubbed his hands together and pressed the extract button.
The dazzling, gorgeous purple light exploded before his eyes, turning into a message that surfaced.
[Entry: Fiery Heart]
[Quality: Purple]
[Type: Passive]
[Effect: Adds fire damage to any attack. The range, power, and temperature are determined by the amount of stamina invested.]
[Consumption: Stamina]
[Remark: Set your heart ablaze.]
Hiroto carefully looked over the description, and his expression became subtle.
As the saying goes, wind feeds fire, and fire feeds wind.
[Fiery Heart] clearly synergized perfectly with [Thrust] and even [Steel-Severing Slash]. His combat capability would be significantly raised by a level.
Furthermore, the description 'any attack' basically meant he could throw fire punches even with his bare hands. Of course, provided his stamina could support it.
Hiroto thought for a moment, reached out his hand, and suddenly clenched it. As his fingers closed, flames were suddenly born, wrapping around his fingers.
Bang!
Fire flared up, and the scorching heat dissipated, making the space in front of Hiroto's eyes shimmer slightly.
But this wasn't enough.
He stood up, found his previous sword, and gripped the blade. His stamina drained rapidly and in the blink of an eye, the blade turned red-hot and then melted into a pool of molten iron, dripping onto the floor and burning a fist-sized hole.
'This power is pretty good. I guess Ace, who just ate the Flame-Flame Fruit, would be at about this level?'
Hiroto withdrew his hand with satisfaction, looking with some regret at his former sword, which had turned into molten iron.
Then he looked at Wado Ichimonji at his waist.
He had already felt it when testing the sword at Marine Base 153. The boost a famous sword gave to him was immense. Wado Ichimonji felt very compatible in his hand. Or rather, the character of this sword was as gentle as water.
But if he felt carefully, he could sense a hidden resilience, just like its previous owner, Kuina.
Therefore, there was no resistance at all when slashing, and when he used it to perform sword techniques, he could even feel it cooperating with him.
"So this is a famous sword."
Hiroto drew Wado Ichimonji, and raging flames wrapped around the blade. After a long time, it hadn't even changed color. Instead, he received feedback from Wado Ichimonji that the flames wrapped around the blade had already become one with it.
He only needed to swing the sword, and a flaming slash would fly from the blade.
Honestly, Hiroto was starting to crave a famous sword of his own.
He dispersed the flames, sheathed Wado Ichimonji, and left the Captain's quarters.
Nami was busy preparing for the next departure, while Yosaku and Johnny had become errand boys, continuously purchasing various supplies from the town.
Zoro and Carina hadn't returned yet, but even if there were any problems, with the strength of Marine Branch 153, they wouldn't be able to pose any threat to Zoro.
Hiroto took a rare moment of leisure to stand at the bow of the sloop and look out at the sea.
The sea breeze blew gently, and white seagulls circled in the sky.
He suddenly felt that everything was good—the weather was good, the environment was good, and the people by his side were good.
'Is it because I can see the future that I can't see the future, or is it that I can see the future because I can't see the future?' Hiroto suddenly smiled.
It wasn't enough, it wasn't good enough. At least, there were still many, many things he disliked.
Looking further ahead, there were the Celestial Dragons of Mary Geoise. Closer at hand, there was this low-quality sloop beneath his feet.
'Let's go see Kuro and take the Going Merry while we're at it. The harsh weather of the Grand Line isn't something this ship can withstand.'
Hiroto set his next goal.
He wasn't in a hurry to go straight to Arlong, Kuro's side was still worth a harvest.
Thinking about it, Hiroto simply sat cross-legged, placed Wado Ichimonji on his knees, and began to meditate.
For most people, effort was a painful and long-drawn-out process, and they couldn't even be sure if they would get a corresponding reward. The only benefit after failure was probably to comfort oneself by saying, 'at least I tried.'
But for Hiroto, who held [Effort King], any insignificant effort multiplied by 200 was a conspicuous improvement.
Besides, in a week or rather, six days, Zoro would challenge him.
Effort King—Activate!
A short while later, Zoro and Carina returned with 30 million berries.
A portion of the treasure on the ship had also been sold for quite a bit, adding about another 10 million berries to their account.
Hiroto decided to set sail, as their goals had been achieved.
But just as they were slowly setting sail, a large group of armed Marines, surrounding a Marine Staff Officer, arrived at the harbor.
"What are they trying to do?" Nami was a bit nervous.
"Don't worry. If they make a move, their entire force will be wiped out." Carina reassured her, though she had some guesses in her heart.
Hiroto seemed to have thought of something and didn't wake Zoro, who was catching up on sleep.
"Salute!"
Under the lead of the Marine Staff Officer, the bearded Lieutenant and the other Marines faced Hiroto and the others as they slowly left the harbor.
Under the astonished gazes of the surging crowd of civilians, they suddenly bowed in thanks.
"Mama, the Marines... the Marines are thanking pirates." A little girl with white marks on her neck tugged at her mother's hem.
Her father patted her head and said softly, "Because they are the ones who saved this town."
"Is it that really slippery big sister?"
"Yes, she is also our saviour."
The civilians at the harbor seemed moved. Although the ones who had raided and destroyed the town were also pirates, saviours and villains were clearly different. Thus, the civilians followed the Marines' lead and bowed their thanks toward the sloop.