One Piece: Star Sea Legend

Chapter 11: Embrace

East Blue, Shells Town. Qin Ming and Nami had successfully infiltrated the naval base.

On their way to the naval base, they encountered a very cute little girl, but she was crying non-stop.

“Why are you crying so sadly? What happened? Who are you, and where are your parents?”

Seeing the little girl crying so pitifully, Nami quickly went up to ask what was wrong.

Qin Ming noticed Nami’s concerned expression as she comforted the little girl, whose big eyes were swollen from crying. It seemed she really liked children.

“Wah, my name is Rika. I worked really hard to make onigiri for that big brother, but… but…”

Rika kept sobbing, and as she spoke, she suddenly burst into tears: “I wanted the big brother to eat the onigiri I made, but that mean person stepped on them and ruined them. Now the big brother can’t eat my onigiri. I’m so sad.”

“What? Who would do such a thing? Bullying such an innocent child! I won’t let them get away with it!”

Nami was furious after hearing Rika’s story.

“I think the person who did this is none other than the son of Captain Morgan, Helmeppo.”

As soon as Qin Ming said this, Nami was stunned. She hadn’t expected the person bullying the little girl to be the son of a naval captain. She had initially thought about teaching the guy a lesson, but now it seemed much more complicated.

However, Nami quickly regained her composure and immediately said to Qin Ming, “Alright, you go charge into the naval base and beat up that Helmeppo guy!”

“Beat him up? You’re the one who made a big promise to little Rika, and now that it’s complicated, you want me to do it? Do you think I’m an idiot?”

Although Qin Ming was also indignant about Helmeppo’s actions, he wasn’t about to charge into the naval base and beat him up as Nami suggested.

After all, Qin Ming was well aware of his own limitations. He wasn’t capable of taking on the entire naval base by himself.

Ignoring Nami’s words, Qin Ming walked over to the sobbing Rika, crouched down, patted her head, and gave her a warm smile: “Don’t cry. I think the big brother you mentioned will definitely eat the onigiri you made, and he’ll enjoy it very much.”

“Really?”

Rika stopped crying and looked up at Qin Ming with her big, tear-filled eyes.

“Of course. The onigiri is filled with your heart and effort. Even if it got dirty, he would still eat it. He would never let your efforts go to waste. He’s that kind of man.”

As Qin Ming said this, an image appeared in his mind: a man with a dark green bandana, tied tightly to a post, chewing on the onigiri that had been stepped on and covered in dirt, saying with a smile, “It’s delicious.”

“That’s great!”

Rika cheered, her small face still streaked with tears, but now with a bright smile.

“Thank you, big brother and big sister. I need to go help at my mom’s shop now. Goodbye!”

Rika ran off a short distance, then turned back and waved at Qin Ming and Nami with a smile.

Watching Rika’s small figure disappear into the distance, Nami glanced at Qin Ming: “How did you know who Rika was talking about?”

“Don’t be silly. I didn’t know who she was talking about. I was just comforting her.”

Qin Ming then looked at Nami with a teasing smile: “You seem to like kids so much, but you can’t even comfort them. How disappointing.”

“Yeah, you’ll definitely make a great dad in the future.”

Nami snorted, then said to Qin Ming, “We can’t enter the naval base from the front. We need to take a different path to get around.”

As Qin Ming and Nami took the small path to the naval base, Luffy and Koby appeared at the spot where they had just been.

When Luffy and Koby told Rika that Zoro had eaten every last bit of the onigiri, Qin Ming and Nami had already infiltrated the naval base and were searching for the navigational charts to the Grand Line.

“Listen, if we get a chance to see Helmeppo, you need to teach him a lesson.”

Nami, hiding in a dark corner of the corridor, whispered to Qin Ming while keeping an eye out for anyone approaching.

“Why do I have to be the one to do it? And why should I listen to you?”

Qin Ming, seeing that no one was around, relaxed a bit. Earlier, when they had infiltrated the base from another entrance, he hadn’t seen Zoro tied to the post.

“Idiot, have you forgotten? You owe me 100 million Berries. If you listen to me, I might consider reducing your debt.”

Nami said this with a serious expression.

“What the hell? When did I ever agree to owe you 100 million Berries?”

Qin Ming looked at Nami, who was skillfully picking the lock of a tightly sealed door with a small wire, and sighed. He followed her into the room.

The room appeared to be a naval dormitory, with four bunk beds and several cabinets.

Nami quickly ransacked the entire room but didn’t find the navigational charts she was looking for. She did, however, find a small amount of loose change.

“The people in this naval base are really poor. The four cabinets combined only had less than 300 Berries. Even you have more than that.”

Nami said with a look of disappointment, glancing at Qin Ming.

“What?”

Qin Ming’s heart skipped a beat, and he quickly checked his pockets.

“Damn it, all my money is gone!”

Qin Ming’s face darkened, and he whispered to Nami, “When did you steal my money?”

“It’s less than 1,000 Berries. That’s not even enough for interest. You owe me 100 million Berries, so taking a little bit from you isn’t too much, right?”

Nami shrugged, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Qin Ming looked at Nami’s innocent expression, as if it were his fault for having so little money to steal, and felt extremely annoyed.

“Don’t steal from me anymore!”

Qin Ming sternly warned Nami.

“Fine, you’re so poor now that all you have left are your clothes. There’s nothing left for me to steal.”

Nami said indifferently.

After wandering around the naval base for nearly fifteen minutes, Nami still hadn’t found what she was looking for. During that time, Qin Ming had knocked out several marines for her, or else their presence might have been discovered.

“The navigational charts to the Grand Line should be here.”

Nami glanced around and slipped into a luxurious-looking room with Qin Ming. Inside, there was a large safe.

“Such an extravagant room must belong to the tyrannical Captain Morgan.”

Qin Ming thought to himself as he looked around the opulently decorated room.

“This safe is quite advanced. It won’t be easy to open.”

Nami studied the large safe in the corner, feeling a bit frustrated.

“You can’t open it?”

Qin Ming walked over to Nami and asked.

“Of course I can open it, but it’ll take some time.”

Nami said to Qin Ming, then prepared to carefully examine the safe.

Just then, there was a click, and the previously closed door was opened by someone.

Both Qin Ming and Nami’s expressions changed.

Nami quickly hid behind Qin Ming, and Qin Ming tensed up, ready to confront whoever had entered. But when he saw who it was, he was stunned—it was Luffy, wearing his straw hat.

“Could the three swords I’m looking for be here… huh?”

Luffy, who was searching for Zoro’s swords, muttered to himself as he opened the door. When he entered the room and saw the situation inside, he was also shocked.

When Qin Ming saw Luffy, he felt a surge of excitement, but then he remembered how Luffy had screwed him over last time. He rolled up his sleeves, thinking that no matter what, he had to punch this guy first to vent his anger.

As Qin Ming strode towards Luffy with a fierce expression, Luffy, upon seeing Qin Ming, happily jumped over.

To Qin Ming’s astonishment, Luffy gave him a big bear hug, holding him tightly and shouting excitedly, “That’s great, Qin Ming! I’ve been worried about you since we last parted. If something had happened to you, I would have been so sad that I wouldn’t have been able to eat meat for months!”

Qin Ming felt his bones creak from how tightly Luffy was hugging him, which showed just how relieved Luffy was to see him.

But because of this, Qin Ming could also feel the genuine joy Luffy felt upon seeing him. Luffy had truly been worried about him.

Otherwise, Luffy wouldn’t have reacted this way upon seeing Qin Ming safe and sound.

Nami watched as Qin Ming and Luffy hugged so tightly that it seemed like nothing in the world could separate them.

Normally, when two men hug, it’s because of a strong bond and unwavering friendship. This is a kind of romance that only men can understand.

A man hugging a woman can have many reasons, but when two men hug, unless they’re in a romantic relationship, there’s only one reason—they consider each other true brothers!

As a man, you might have many friends, but you might go your entire life without meeting a friend you can hug so openly. It’s a sad truth for many men.

“It’s great that you’re okay. Now we can sail together again!”

Luffy said sincerely, finally releasing Qin Ming from the hug.

“Haha, of course I’m fine.”

In that moment, Qin Ming felt a surge of calmness, and his resentment towards Luffy faded, almost to the point of being negligible.

“By the way, who is she?”

Luffy glanced curiously at Nami and asked Qin Ming.

“It’s you! You really screwed me over last time!”

Nami seemed to remember something, her face turning red as she spoke to Luffy with a tone of indignation.

“Did I really do something to her?”

Luffy looked puzzled and asked Qin Ming.

“Yeah, you screwed me over too.”

Qin Ming nodded, honestly telling Luffy. If Luffy hadn’t slapped him that time, he wouldn’t have been beaten up so badly by Nami.

“What? I screwed both of you over at the same time?”

Luffy’s eyes shifted between Qin Ming and Nami, his face filled with shock.

Qin Ming nodded again, thinking to himself: “If you apologize, I’ll let bygones be bygones.”

“You two must be really unlucky to have been screwed over by me at the same time. Hahahaha!”

Luffy clutched his stomach, laughing heartily, but Nami’s expression darkened, and Qin Ming’s mouth twitched.

“Damn it, I was too naive to think he’d apologize. I’m such an idiot!”

Qin Ming rolled up his sleeves again, and he and Nami, with perfect coordination, started pummeling Luffy, who was still laughing happily.

Thud! Thud! Thwack!

After a while, both Qin Ming and Nami were panting heavily.

It couldn’t be helped—Luffy was just too durable. They couldn’t help but keep hitting him, which ended up exhausting themselves.

“You better reflect on what you’ve done!”

Qin Ming crossed his arms, breathing heavily, as he spoke to Luffy, who was now lying on the ground, beaten to a pulp.

“Sorry, I really didn’t mean to screw you guys over.”

Luffy, now with a face swollen like a pig’s, finally said something reasonable…