The Dream ship sailed forward with the gentle sea breeze, but the mood on deck wasn't great.
Someone's pout was so big you could hang a kettle on it.
"Nami, didn't you agree to this too? And you were the one who decided what to trade for it. So why are you blaming me now?" Ryuen felt completely innocent.
That Devil Fruit had ultimately been traded to Boa Hancock.
1 billion Berries, plus an agreement that when they mapped the Calm Belt in the future, the Kuja Pirates would serve as guides. With those two venomous sea snakes around, they'd be much safer.
Aside from these two conditions, there was something else—something only the women discussed. Ryuen and Hogg had no idea what it was.
Now that the deal was done, Nami was pinning the blame on Ryuen. After all, he had said that the Devil Fruit wasn't ordinary, and now she felt like she had lost a lot of money.
"If you hadn't made me take out the Devil Fruit, would any of this have happened? So tell me, whose fault is it?" Nami huffed.
Ryuen froze for a moment. She had a point—it was indeed him who suggested taking it out.
At the time, he had just been curious to see if Boa Hancock could really eat two Devil Fruits. He hadn't expected it to actually be possible.
"Alright, alright… maybe this is my fault. What do you want this time?"
"Just so you know, I have nothing left! Even my spare change has been taken by you!" Ryuen sighed, feeling a headache coming on.
Nami's sly grin appeared the moment she heard that.
"Ahem…"
"Everyone, you're my witnesses! I didn't force our dear captain into anything—he owes me fair and square!" Nami coughed lightly and declared smugly.
Then, she opened a portal, took out some paper and a pen, and hurried to the table to start writing something.
"Me, me, me! I can be a witness for Nami!" Daisy immediately volunteered.
Ryuen shot her a glare. This girl used to be so well-behaved—now she was learning all kinds of bad habits.
Daisy quickly hid behind Kuina, peeking out with a playful expression as if to say, "What can you do about it?"
"I can be a witness too," Kuina said calmly.
"Alright, it's done. Ryuen, just sign this." Nami walked over with the finished document.
Ryuen took the paper and pen without a care. He had already sold everything he could—what else was there to lose?
"Wait a second…!"
"A contract… for selling myself?!"
"Nami, this is too much! Are you even human?!"
"Pfft—hahahaha!"
"I'm dying—this is genius!"
"Nami, you're a step ahead of that woman!"
"Yeah, no matter what, you still win in the end!"
"That's our Nami!"
The girls on the ship burst into laughter as soon as they saw the title of the document.
Listening to them, Ryuen immediately sensed that there was something going on behind his back.
"You guys… are you hiding something from your captain?" he asked suspiciously.
"Just sign it first. If you don't, I'll tell Bellemere. Besides, you already agreed," Nami urged.
"Fine! I'll sign!" Ryuen gritted his teeth.
At this point, there wasn't much difference between this and selling himself.
With a few quick strokes, he signed his name on the contract. But that wasn't enough—he even had to press his fingerprints down to make it official.
"Hehehe…"
"Brother Ryuen, from now on, you belong to me."
"Don't worry, aside from certain things, you're still free." Nami grinned, looking like she'd just pulled off a scheme.
"Certain things?"
"Be more specific. I might accidentally do something I shouldn't." Ryuen asked calmly.
"I can't tell you that right now, but I can tell you this—your contract is worth 2 billion Berries!" As Nami spoke, her eyes unconsciously turned into the shape of Berries.
"Two… Berries?"
"Nami, what do you mean?"
"Did someone give you 2 billion Berries, and you kept it all for yourself?" Ryuen immediately jumped up.
"No!"
"I didn't!"
"Don't make stuff up!" Nami quickly put away the contract and returned to her usual calm expression.
"You… you're definitely hiding something!"
Before Ryuen could finish, Nami grabbed six other women and ran into the ship's cabin.
As they entered, Ryuen vaguely heard words like "splitting the loot," "number one beauty," and "I won."
"Ryuen, I think it's best to let it go. There's only two of us, and we can't win against seven of them." Hog reassured him.
"Sigh…"
"Being a man is tough. Forget them. I'm going to make some food, let's have a few drinks." Ryuen said helplessly.
With that, he walked over to the ship's kitchen and started preparing some side dishes.
Standing on deck, keeping an eye on their course, Hog glanced at the kitchen before quickly looking away.
In his mind, he apologized to Ryuen. There was no way he could refuse a request from his little sister. Besides, Ryuen himself had always said that uniting the majority was the right move…
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Ryuen had no idea that his so-called friends had already schemed against him, leaving him with nothing—not even his underwear.
After a few days of leisurely sailing, thanks to Nami's rapidly improving navigation skills, the Dream Exploration Team managed to avoid the Devil's Triangle and successfully landed on Sabaody Archipelago.
Sabaody Archipelago!
News of their arrival quickly spread, and most people already knew about it.
On the surface, Sabaody Archipelago seemed peaceful, but beneath the surface, tensions were rising.
Ever since the Dream Exploration Team set sail, they had clashed with several major powers, especially the World Government.
Some factions had suffered massive losses because of them. The World Government, in particular, had been steadily losing its influence within the Marines.
Many Marine officers who had defected in recent times had all interacted with the Dream Exploration Team before their betrayal.
The government officials believed that the team's actions were directly linked to the loss of so many Marine leaders.
More importantly, the powerful figures behind the government—certain Celestial Dragon families—were now looking to settle the score with the Dream Exploration Team at Sabaody Archipelago.
"Whoa!"
"Looks like everyone is coming for us. I guess this trip to Sabaody won't be boring after all." As soon as he stepped off the ship, Ryuen noticed the hidden gazes watching them.
"I don't care!"
"You handle that stuff. We're just here to have fun. This place is so pretty!" Nami said happily, watching the bubbles floating around.
The other girls agreed.
Handling trouble was up to Ryuen, the captain, and Hog, the helmsman. They were just here to enjoy themselves!
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