One Piece: Star Sea Legend

Chapter 9: A Sudden “Disaster”

“I really…”

Qin Ming stared at his hands, seemingly oblivious to Nami’s words, muttering to himself.

“I truly…”

Qin Ming’s shoulders trembled slightly. Nami, standing in front of him, looked puzzled, unsure what was going on with this man.

Just as Nami was about to tap Qin Ming’s shoulder to ask what was wrong, Qin Ming suddenly raised his arms and shouted to the sky, “I’m no longer a weakling!”

The shout wasn’t earth-shattering, but it was enough to startle Nami, who had been unprepared. She froze in place, her expression blank, as if petrified.

In truth, Qin Ming was genuinely excited. For the first time in his life, he had defeated real pirates—seven of them, no less—and he had done so with ease. This filled him with joy.

To be fair, the Laughing Fish Qin Ming had caught earlier was no less dangerous than the seven pirates he had just defeated, if not more so.

But the sense of accomplishment and validation from defeating other humans was incomparable to defeating an animal. Qin Ming’s reaction perfectly demonstrated this.

“If I can defeat those pirates, then as long as I keep training, I can become even stronger!”

As Qin Ming thought this, Nami, standing in front of him, had a glint in her clever eyes. “This guy seems like a bit of a fool. Maybe I can really use his strength to achieve my goals.”

With this in mind, Nami cleared her throat and brought up the topic of cooperation again.

“Cooperation?”

Finally calming down from his excitement, Qin Ming noticed Nami’s presence. After hearing her proposal, he asked skeptically.

He saw that while Nami’s smile was bright, there was a hint of cunning hidden within it. This made him wary.

From what Qin Ming knew, Nami was not only an exceptional navigator but also skilled in deception, gambling, and theft. She was also a talented actress. Until they established mutual trust, how could he let his guard down?

“Still, it feels strange that my first conversation with Nami is about cooperation.”

Qin Ming had imagined their first meeting would be more pleasant, but it seemed they were already starting to scheme against each other.

“That’s right. We can work together to steal treasures from those stupid pirates and keep them for ourselves. If we succeed, I’ll give you a share of the profits. Trust me, partnering with me will make you rich.”

Nami spoke eagerly, as if afraid Qin Ming would refuse. Her tone even carried a hint of flattery.

This only made Qin Ming more suspicious.

He knew full well that Nami was a money-obsessed woman. For her to offer a share of the profits to a stranger she had just met—Qin Ming would sooner believe a pig could swim across the four seas than believe Nami would give him a single berry.

“No, I don’t want to work with you.”

Qin Ming flatly refused Nami’s offer. He thought it would be better to reunite with Luffy first. As for cooperating with Nami, they could discuss that after she officially joined their crew.

“Hey, don’t leave yet!”

Seeing Qin Ming walk away so decisively, Nami quickly caught up to him. “By the way, why were you in that treasure chest? And you seemed really angry when you came out. Did someone upset you?”

“I’m in a great mood now. I’m not angry at anyone. As for why I was in the chest, it was just an accident.”

After a moment’s thought, Qin Ming decided not to tell the truth. If he told Nami that Luffy had stuffed him into the chest, she might laugh at him. Better to keep it to himself.

As Nami left, she efficiently packed all the treasures from the storage room into a bag. Qin Ming noticed a shallow wound on her left arm, likely from her earlier fight with the pirates.

But Nami was so focused on the treasures that she ignored the wound.

“It’s not a life-threatening injury, but you should at least bandage it.”

Qin Ming frowned. “Why aren’t you treating that wound?”

“It’s nothing serious. Once I finish packing these treasures, the wound will start healing on its own. My skin is great—it won’t leave a scar.”

Nami casually replied, her attention fully on the treasures. She even tapped a few larger gold pieces, seemingly estimating their value.

“What? Because your skin is good, the wound won’t leave a scar?”

“If I believe that, I’m an idiot!”

Qin Ming looked at Nami in disbelief. The wound on her left arm was still bleeding.

The wound happened to be on Nami’s tattoo, which depicted a ferocious shark wreaking havoc in the sea. Qin Ming immediately understood why Nami was indifferent to the wound—it was on the tattoo she hated, so she chose to ignore it.

Rip!

Qin Ming tore off a piece of his sleeve, grabbed Nami, who was still engrossed in the treasures, and quickly bandaged her wound.

Nami seemed completely unfazed by Qin Ming’s actions, which only reinforced his understanding of how obsessed she was with money.

“Actually, this kind of wound doesn’t need treatment. It didn’t hit any bones or tendons, so it’ll heal on its own.”

It turned out Nami wasn’t unaware that Qin Ming was bandaging her wound. She just didn’t object since Qin Ming wasn’t doing anything else and was genuinely helping her. Her focus remained on the treasures.

“You fool, don’t you know wounds can get infected?”

Qin Ming thought to himself. When he had first started fishing, he often got minor injuries due to his lack of skill. Over time, he had gained some experience in treating minor wounds.

“This haul isn’t bad. Let’s get out of here quickly.”

Nami’s beautiful face showed a hint of satisfaction as she deftly tied up the bag of treasures and prepared to leave.

“Was there really treasure in that chest you were lying in?”

Nami asked as she and Qin Ming walked out.

“Yeah, there was a lot of gold, but it was all thrown into the sea.”

Qin Ming answered honestly. He wasn’t surprised that Nami, after collecting the treasures Alvida’s crew had plundered, didn’t offer him a single berry.

“How could you throw gold into the sea? Tell me where you threw it. Maybe we can still retrieve it.”

Nami’s eyes turned into money symbols at the mention of gold, and her voice became noticeably sweeter. She then asked, “What do you do?”

“Strictly speaking, I’m a fisherman.”

As soon as Qin Ming said this, Nami, her eyes still sparkling with greed, excitedly said, “Then you must be great at salvaging! Come with me to retrieve that gold. It must be longing for my help.”

“Damn it, I’m good at fishing, not salvaging. There’s a big difference. Don’t let your brain short-circuit just because you heard the word ‘gold.’”

Qin Ming looked at Nami’s money-obsessed expression and felt that she was tarnishing his professional integrity.

When Qin Ming and Nami reached the deck, Nami kept pressing him with questions. Finally, Qin Ming couldn’t take it anymore. “You’re really annoying. I don’t have time for this.”

Looking around, Qin Ming noticed that the ship was adorned with heart symbols, and the bow was shaped like a cute swan’s head.

Thinking of Alvida’s (obese and ugly) appearance, Qin Ming felt a chill. The ship’s feminine design was completely at odds with its captain.

Just as Qin Ming was about to leave this uncomfortable ship as quickly as possible, something resembling a large meatball came flying straight at him.

“What’s that?”

Nami exclaimed.

“Damn, isn’t that Alvida, the short, fat woman? Did Luffy punch her so hard she’s flying towards me?”

Qin Ming quickly realized what was happening. He stepped back, gathered all his strength into his right fist, and swung it forward. “Get lost!”

Boom!

Qin Ming’s punch sent Alvida flying in a different direction. She crashed into the ship’s bow, and the cute swan head flew off into the distant sea with her.

As Alvida flew away, she screamed, “You straw-hat brat! And you, you damn kid! I won’t let you get away with this!”

“Damn, good thing I reacted quickly. Otherwise, I would’ve been sent flying into the sea with that fat woman.”

Qin Ming shook his right arm, which was numb and sore from the impact. Luffy’s casual punch had sent Alvida flying far, showing the gap in their strength.

“Luffy must be leaving with Koby now. I need to find him quickly.”

With this in mind, Qin Ming quickened his pace. But just then, Nami called out to him, “Wait, we need to go somewhere else.”

Nami had suddenly remembered that Alvida, despite her unattractive appearance, likely had valuable jewelry and other treasures in her captain’s quarters.

She had planned to search the captain’s quarters after looting the storage room, but meeting Qin Ming had almost made her forget.

As Nami shoved the bag of treasures into Qin Ming’s hands and insisted on going to find more loot, a cannonball exploded near their ship.

“It’s the Marines. We should leave now.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! There’s still treasure to be found. We can’t leave yet.”

“Which is more important, treasure or your life? It’s not the time for this!”

“Are you stupid? Of course, treasure is more important!”

As the Marine ships began firing at them, Qin Ming and Nami argued. Nami, after saying this, ran towards the captain’s quarters, determined to add Alvida’s personal treasures to her haul.

Boom! Boom!

The Marine ships continued to bombard the pirate ship. Some pirates who had returned to the ship saw Qin Ming on the deck but were too busy fleeing to bother with him.

As for the few pirates who tried to attack Qin Ming, they were all sent flying.

Some pirates even jumped into the sea, only to be blown to pieces by incoming cannonballs.

Under the relentless bombardment, the pirate ship began to sink, riddled with holes.

By chance, Qin Ming overheard some fleeing pirates mention lifeboats. He followed them to where the lifeboats were stored, taking out the pirates who led the way.

Seeing that the pirate ship wouldn’t last much longer and was on the verge of sinking, Qin Ming waited for Nami for a while. Just as he was about to lower the lifeboat and leave alone, he heard Nami’s voice. “Wait for me! Catch this!”

Nami ran towards Qin Ming, throwing a large bag at him.

Qin Ming caught the heavy bag and jumped into the lifeboat with Nami. She took the bag back and told him it contained valuable jewelry, necklaces, and gems that Alvida had collected.

This made Qin Ming cringe. Despite Alvida’s hideous appearance, she had amassed a collection of beautiful accessories. It seemed that even the ugliest women had a love for beauty.

Splash!

After quickly lowering the lifeboat, Qin Ming and Nami found themselves back on the sea.

“Damn, where’s Luffy? Shouldn’t he be on another lifeboat nearby?”

Qin Ming stood on the small lifeboat, looking around. To his surprise, Luffy and Koby, with his pink hair, were already far away in their own boat.

“Luffy! I’m still here! Why are you so far away?!”

Qin Ming grabbed the oars and began rowing furiously towards Luffy, shouting at the top of his lungs.

“Haha, Qin Ming! I knew you wouldn’t die in that whirlpool! Hold on, I’ll get you over here!”

Luffy, standing at the stern of his boat, saw Qin Ming seemingly unharmed and laughed happily. He stretched his arm towards Qin Ming, clearly intending to grab him.

“Who is that guy? His arm is so long. Is he your friend?”

Despite the ongoing cannon fire, Nami was still shocked by Luffy’s stretching arm.

Qin Ming saw Luffy’s hand approaching and grinned, turning to say something to Nami. But just then, a cannonball happened to be heading straight for Luffy’s arm.

Seeing the danger, Luffy had to swing his arm to avoid the cannonball.

While Luffy managed to dodge the cannonball, Qin Ming wasn’t so lucky.

As Luffy swung his arm, it changed direction. Instead of grabbing Qin Ming, it ended up slapping him.

Slap!

The crisp sound echoed as Qin Ming, having been unexpectedly slapped by Luffy, lost his balance and fell forward, landing on Nami.

In the chaos, Qin Ming’s hands instinctively grabbed something soft.

Then, amidst the cannon fire and the vast sea, a voice like a roaring lioness rang out: “Where do you think you’re touching, you idiot!”