The Days of Being the Richest Man in the Ninja World

[V3] - Chapter 7. Get Used To It

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The next day.

Having still not found their Captain, the members of the Spade Pirates had no choice but to enter Alabasta once again to search for him.

You know… this is Crocodile's territory!

That guy had been acting like a madman recently, constantly clearing out pirates who came into Alabasta. So, they couldn't stay here too long—they had to leave as soon as possible.

However…

Today, all of Alabasta seemed a bit strange. Apparently, the king had sent people to smash up the milk tea shop last night, and it had only just been rebuilt today. Of course… all of that had nothing to do with the Spade Pirates.

The most important thing right now was to find their Captain, buy a few cups of Yuto Milk Tea, and quickly get out of here!

"Found him yet?"

"Nope!"

"I found out! I found out!" The Spade Pirates' intelligence officer—Skull—hurried over and said, "Yesterday when kingdom soldiers came to wreck the Yuto Milk Tea shop, someone saw the Captain step in to help."

"This guy… still the same as ever!" The other crew members chuckled helplessly. "It looks like he's gotten into trouble again!"

As they spoke, one of them paused thoughtfully and looked at Skull. "So where is the Captain now?"

"I was just about to head into the milk tea shop to ask! They probably know something there!"

"Then let's go!"

And so… the Spade Pirates followed the lead to the milk tea shop mentioned in the information.

A short while later—

Each of them had a milk tea in hand.

As expected—

Yuto Milk Tea was really delicious!

But they hadn't forgotten their mission.

They quickly stopped one of the shop attendants, pulled out their Captain's wanted poster, and asked, "Excuse me! Do you know this guy?"

Upon hearing that—

The attendant was momentarily stunned, but still lowered his head to glance at the poster, then blinked in surprise. "Of course I know him! That guy ordered a ton of stuff yesterday!"

"?!"

Hearing that the attendant actually knew something, they quickly followed up, "Then—then what is he doing now?"

"He's working!"

"Huh?"

"He finished eating, but didn't have money to pay, so the boss made him work to pay it off. He only needs to work for one day to pay the bill! Our wages here are pretty decent, and we're short on workers—do you guys want to join?"

"…No thanks! But if it's just one day, we waited a whole day and still didn't see him!"

"That, I don't know!"

"I know, I know!"

Just then, another staff member came over cheerfully. "I went to the dance hall last night too—this guy was super generous. Even though he didn't have money, he still treated everyone to drinks! It was a blast! I think he drank a few million Berries' worth! Even Manager Koza showed up."

"???"

What the heck was this guy saying?

Dance hall?

Drinking?

A blast?

Did he throw a party?!

The Spade Pirates all exchanged stunned looks.

The Captain (Ace) sure had a good time last night~

But what mattered now was finding out exactly where he was, so they quickly asked, "And then? Then what happened?"

"Well~" another attendant scratched his head, not quite sure how to explain. "I heard that in the morning, he was still drunk, went wild, and smashed up the building. And since he didn't have money to pay for the damage, he's probably working in the factory now!" Then he lowered his voice, "Between you and me, I heard the boss say this morning… the damages are over a hundred million! It'll take at least ten years to pay it off! Rainbase property is insanely expensive! The boss had just bought that place last night—and it was wrecked by this morning!"

Hearing that—

"…"

All the Spade Pirates were instantly covered in black lines.

Suddenly, they felt… maybe they shouldn't have come looking for the Captain at all!

Look at that!

Just what kind of nonsense had that idiot pulled?!

Throwing a party without inviting them, then going on a drunken rampage and destroying someone's store?

What the hell!

"Let's get out of here! Bail!"

"We don't need this Captain anymore!"

Over a hundred million?!

They might as well sell the Captain to cover it!

However…

They hadn't gotten far when—

"Captain isn't that kind of person!"

The first crew member who had joined Ace—the ship's doctor, Masked Deuce—shook his head seriously. "There's no way he would leave us behind to go party!"

"But they all said he racked up a huge debt because of treating people to drinks and going on a drunken rampage!"

"Yes, yes!"

"Over a hundred million! Why didn't he call me?!"

"Captain was too awful this time!"

"Shut up!" Seeing everyone start complaining, Deuce shouted with a headache, "Ace isn't like that! At most, he just eats and forgets to pay! No—listen, we should trust Ace!" His eyes grew firm as he looked at all the crew members. "If we can't even trust our own Captain, how can we call ourselves partners!" Clenching his fists, he said earnestly, "So! We have to bring Ace back and ask him face to face!"

Hearing this—

All the crew members went silent, clearly hesitating.

However…

As time passed, bit by bit—

Just as Deuce started to feel disappointed, thinking these guys would abandon their Captain over a hundred million, he sighed and turned away. "Forget it. I'll go ask him myself."

Just as he turned to leave—

"Wait a minute!"

A crew member suddenly called out to him.

"???"

Just as Deuce froze—

Everyone gave him a slight smile.

"Deuce! You're right! That's our Captain!"

"No matter what! We have to ask him ourselves!"

"Too cruel! If he was going to party, he should've invited us too!"

"You guys…" Deuce looked at the crew—most of whom hadn't been on the ship for long—but still… they were partners!

A smile appeared on his face as he said, "Since that's the case… let's go ask the Captain ourselves!"

"Right now…"

Everyone looked at each other and shouted in unison.

"Spade Pirates' operation to pay off the Captain's 105 million Berries debt!"

And just like that—

Not a single Spade Pirate gave up. They began plotting how to rescue their Captain, who was being forced to work off his debt!

After all, they had been invited aboard by the Captain himself!

How could they just walk away while their Captain was stuck working to pay off a debt?

That was their Captain!

Each of them had a look of determination on their faces.

At that moment…

The Spade Pirates' unity grew stronger than ever!

…

On the other side.

Robin stared strangely at her new boss.

She kept staring.

She stared so much that Yuto started to feel uneasy, a little awkward all over.

What's this woman doing?

Didn't she know he was a married man?!

Thinking of his three little girls warmed his heart. Now that things in Alabasta had stabilized, he figured he should find time to visit them soon!

So—

"What are you looking at?"

"…"

Robin's face instantly darkened. Then, taking a deep breath, she smiled and asked, "Boss, is our Yuto Group really a legitimate business?"

Just this morning alone, they'd already made over a hundred million. No matter how she looked at it, this didn't seem legit!

It felt more like… highway robbery!!!

And—

She was well aware of the Captain of the Spade Pirates.

A rising pirate from the East Blue who had only recently set out!

That guy's strength wasn't weak either!

Of course—

He was now working a part-time job inside the Yuto Group!

"Of course!" Yuto looked at Robin in surprise, then said earnestly, "Bin-chan! Just because you used to work for black-hearted organizations doesn't mean you should assume all businesses are black-hearted. People need to move forward! Don't stay stuck in the past! You should know, our Yuto Group is different from other places! You'll have to get used to it!"

"…"

I really want to stab you right now, just so you know the wrath of the witch of betrayal!

Robin's eyelid twitched. She decided not to waste too much time arguing here and instead pondered briefly before asking, "What do you plan to do with Crocodile?"

"What to do with him?" Yuto waved it off. "Obviously, we'll deal with him the way he should be dealt with!" As he spoke, he pointed ahead. "Look, isn't it already on its way?"

With those words—

"???"

Robin was slightly stunned, then looked up in confusion toward the dock.

Her mouth twitched.

There was something she wanted to say, but didn't know if she should!

When she saw the massive ship sailing in—her face immediately darkened!

That was—

The Marines!

A Marine warship!

This bastard…

Is he planning to sell me off too?!