Ash had already decided long ago that he would come to the East Blue to find Nami. Aside from the personal amusement of recruiting and training her himself, the Dawn genuinely needed a skilled navigator.
Navigation was not a simple task. It was an extremely specialized profession. Near-shore fishermen like Sali and Youki might understand coastal waters, but that knowledge was nowhere near enough for true ocean navigation.
According to Ash's understanding of the timeline, only two exceptional freelance navigators existed at this point in history.
One was Nami.
The other was Lafitte, a former security officer from a kingdom in the West Blue who would later become the navigator of the Blackbeard Pirates.
If Ash truly wanted to ignore both of them and train a rookie from the beginning, he might as well choose Nami anyway.
Ever since the strange ability inside him had awakened, Ash had only one real goal in life.
Enjoy life.
If there was a second objective, it would be his desire to dismantle every illogical twist he remembered from the original storyline.
Among those plot points, the most absurd one in his eyes was Nami joining the crew of Monkey D. Luffy.
Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp could all become pirates because they either dreamed of adventure or simply did not care about the moral implications.
But Nami was different.
Her adoptive mother, Belle-Mère, had been murdered by pirates.
Nami hated pirates with every fiber of her being.
So how could someone like that willingly join a pirate crew?
Was she supposed to forget everything after only a few days of sailing together, after hearing a few speeches about friendship and trust?
Yet that was exactly what happened.
In Ash's mind, it made no sense.
Either the story should never have emphasized the deep bond between Nami and Belle-Mère, or it should never have turned Nami into a pirate afterward.
The contradiction left a permanent flaw in her backstory.
When someone was young, it looked passionate and heroic, dazzling people with emotional scenes about loyalty and friendship.
But once someone matured and began thinking more critically, the whole thing felt deeply inconsistent.
Back then, when Ash had only been reading the story from another world, he could do nothing more than complain about it with his friends.
Now things were different.
He was standing inside the real pirate world.
And he refused to believe that the real Nami would abandon her hatred of pirates so easily.
Otherwise, the world's logic would have to twist itself beyond recognition.
More importantly, now that Ash was here, Nami would never have the opportunity to join Luffy's crew.
As he studied the orange-haired girl in front of him, these thoughts passed through Ash's mind.
Then his gaze shifted to the other girl.
Carina.
Until this moment, Ash had barely paid attention to her existence. But once they met face to face, memories about her surfaced clearly.
In their childhood clashes, Nami had never once truly defeated Carina.
Carina was clever, bold, and skilled. In almost every aspect besides navigation, she outperformed Nami.
Nami's natural navigation talent was exceptional, but Carina had spent over a decade wandering the seas alone. She survived by stealing, tricking, and deceiving others, yet she was never captured.
That alone proved that her sailing skills were solid.
Otherwise she would never have dared to plan the massive heist at Gran Tesoro, the legendary Gold City, years later.
Aside from navigation, Carina would eventually grow into a top-tier performer.
Which meant something very convenient.
Ash's crew would gain a musician.
Originally, this trip to the East Blue had only been meant to recruit the little cat burglar.
Now he had also encountered the clever little fox along the way.
A two-for-one deal.
Not bad at all.
And judging by how she would grow in the future, Carina would become a stunning purple-haired beauty whose appearance rivaled Nami's.
Ash certainly did not mind that.
"So," Ash said, suppressing a smile, "have you two decided how to repay me yet?"
"You… you're pirates too?" Nami asked cautiously.
"We're not pirates," Ash replied calmly. "We're pirate hunters. We collect pirate heads and exchange them for bounty rewards."
Carina's eyes flickered slightly at those words, though she remained crouched on the ground without speaking.
Nami suddenly switched to an innocent expression.
"Oh, that's great!" she said sweetly. "Since you're not pirates, could you release us? We're just harmless girls who were kidnapped."
"Innocent girls?" Ash repeated with amusement.
"The Cat Burglar Nami and the Little Fox Carina, just ordinary innocent girls?"
The moment Nami heard her nickname spoken aloud, her eyes widened in shock.
Before she could respond, Carina lifted her head sharply.
"I'll give you everything," she said quickly. "All the treasure of the Trejack Pirates, plus every Berry I've saved. Just let us leave."
Ash's smile grew playful.
"I'm not forcing you."
"It's voluntary," Carina insisted immediately. "Just let Nami and me go."
Ash nodded slowly.
"Alright. Nami stays here as collateral. You go collect the treasure and Berries. If you're not back before sunset… well."
He smiled calmly.
Carina stared at him for a moment.
"I'll come back," she said firmly before turning and running toward the cave entrance.
"Actually," Ash added suddenly, "I think it would be safer if someone accompanied you."
Carina stopped instantly.
After a brief pause, she slowly turned back.
"That's fine," she replied calmly. "The treasure and Berries together are quite a lot anyway."
Ash chuckled.
"In that case, let's all go together."
The moment she saw the expression on his face, Carina understood.
Her little plan had already been seen through.
Nami also realized what had happened.
"You damn fox!" she shouted angrily. "You were going to sell me out!"
Carina simply sat down again beside her.
"Even if we handed everything over, they wouldn't let us leave."
"No way!" Nami protested.
"Idiot."
Carina rolled her eyes.
"They already know our nicknames. That means they know we've stolen a fortune from pirates over the years. Pirate hunters who live off bounty money won't release walking treasure like us."
"Who's the idiot here?" Nami snapped. "Don't say it like it's nothing!"
"Hey, Ash," Youki said from the side with his arms folded.
"Why do I feel like this cat burglar isn't as smart as the fox?"
Ash burst into laughter.
After calming down, he wiped the corner of his eye.
"She's probably just too obsessed with Berries."
"The whole saving-her-village-with-a-hundred-million-Berries plan?" Youki said thoughtfully.
Although she continued arguing with Carina, Nami had been secretly listening to the conversation the entire time.
The moment she heard those words, her body froze.
She turned around suddenly, staring at Ash with wide eyes.
"H-how do you know about buying back my village?"
"That's a long story," Ash replied casually.
"No time for the short version right now. For the moment, you two are coming with me."
Among the items seized from the Trejack Pirates was a sea chart showing that this small island was not far from Cocoyasi Village.
Because of that discovery, Ash abandoned his original plan of purchasing a chart from the nearest island.
Still stunned by the sight of Ash and his companions flying through the air earlier, Nami and Carina were shocked again when they finally saw the Dawn.
The ship was enormous.
From a distance, it looked less like a ship and more like a floating island.
Half a day later, the Dawn arrived in the waters near the island where Cocoyasi Village was located.
High in the lookout tower, dozens of meters above the deck, Youki suddenly called down with a report.
"A Marine warship is approaching."
"It's heading toward Cocoyasi Village."