Novel Full [604] : At Least He’s Handsome
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“…” Hearing Shin’s bounty, Nami’s entire world ground to a halt. Surely her ears were playing tricks?
Six billion Berries—was that even within the realm of possibility? Instantly, her eyes underwent a familiar transformation, morphing into glowing Berries symbols powered by pure avarice.
“You’re not thinking of taking my head to exchange for money, are you?” Shin was stared at by Nami and couldn’t help but ask her.
Knowing Nami’s character intimately, the thought had definitely crossed her mind. Given her pathological obsession with wealth, such mercenary ideas came naturally.
Shin’s Six billion Berries bounty stood as legitimate fact—surpassing even the legendary Pirate King Roger’s final valuation.
His astronomical price tag had been earned through acts that shook the world’s foundations: obliterating Enies Lobby, executing Celestial Dragons with impunity.
The Celestial Dragon murders in particular had sent his bounty into the stratosphere. Though Shin hadn’t personally delivered the killing blows, the World Government’s fury fell squarely on his shoulders.
Then there were the Five Elders’ barely concealed fears. If asked to name their greatest nightmare among the seas’ powers, Shin topped their list without debate.
Whitebeard? A magnificent relic of bygone days. This new era had already sailed past his anchored ship.
Although he was still one of the Four Emperors, everyone knew that he had fallen.
As for Kaido… if Big Mom still drew breath, the Five Elders might lose sleep over their potential alliance.
United, they’d represent a catastrophic threat—
—But Big Mom lay cold in her grave, eliminated by Shin. Kaido alone posed manageable danger—troublesome certainly, but containable.
One Emperor could be handled through careful strategy and overwhelming force.
The Marines possessed sufficient might to defeat Kaido using internal resources alone. Deploy the three Admirals alongside Garp and Sengoku in coordinated assault—even the Strongest Creature would bend the knee.
But Shin Uzumaki remained an equation with too many unknowns. His overwhelming power defied conventional military doctrine.
So they’d inflated his bounty to absurd heights, desperately hoping some fool might attempt collection.
Well, the Five Elders primarily sought to paint a target on Shin’s back. A Six billion bounty would tempt even the most cautious pirates into foolish dreams.
Though few still seriously pursued that impossible prize now. The entire world understood this fundamental truth—this reward would never be claimed.
If the other Four Emperors combined couldn’t handle him, what hope did lesser pirates have against the Strongest Emperor?
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But returning to the present moment—learning of Shin’s incomprehensible bounty, Nami’s lingering doubts evaporated like morning mist.
A bounty of six billion Berries was almost unimaginable. With strength like that, taking down Arlong should be no problem, right?
“You look pretty thin… How’d you earn such an insane bounty?” Nami couldn’t contain her burning curiosity.
Mainly because Shin didn’t look like the type who radiated strength and power. He wasn’t built like a tank or anything. He usually seemed pretty harmless, so Nami had always doubted just how strong he really was.
After all, every powerful person she’d encountered before had been some intimidating brute who looked like they’d tear your head off if you looked at them wrong.
“Never judge combat potential by physical appearance—that’s an excellent way to find an early grave.”
Shin delivered the lesson with patient wisdom.
Appearances meant less than nothing in their world. If intimidating physiques equaled power, the giant tribes would rule unchallenged.
Yet many ordinary-looking individuals could obliterate entire giant armies without breaking a sweat.
Besides, Shin wasn’t exactly ordinary in appearance—at minimum, he possessed striking Good looks.
In terms of pure aesthetics, Shin felt confident claiming the pinnacle. That much self-awareness came naturally.
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“This is Arlong Park. Look—there are the fish-men.” Nami said to Shin.
“I’m quite familiar with fish-men, thank you. Besides, Shirahoshi herself is a mermaid.” Shin glanced at Nami with mild exasperation.
“Shirahoshi’s a mermaid?” Nami had heard tales of mermaids—weren’t they supposed to have fish tails?
Why did Shirahoshi appear completely human in form?
Nami stared at the pink-haired girl walking beside Shin, searching for any sign of her supposedly aquatic nature.
A normal mermaid definitely couldn’t shed her tail at Shirahoshi’s age. Ordinary mermaids had to wait until they were over thirty to transform.
The only reason Shirahoshi could change her fish tail into legs was because of Shin’s help—without it, even being a mermaid princess wouldn’t have mattered. She’d still have to wait until her thirties like everyone else.
“My fish tail already turned into legs,” Shirahoshi said to Nami with an adorable expression. At the moment, Shirahoshi was actually several years younger than Nami.
“So that’s how it is.” Nami nodded with newfound understanding. She’d learned something today—apparently mermaid tails could transform into legs.
Actually, only female mermaids possessed this transformation ability. Males remained permanently tailed throughout their lives, as King Neptune’s form demonstrated clearly.
“Shirahoshi happens to be royalty—princess of Ryugu Kingdom,” Shin mentioned with casual pride.
Nami’s expression turned completely blank. Where in the four seas was Ryugu Kingdom located?
Seeing her utterly confused face, Shin realized she’d have zero frame of reference for such information.
Living isolated in the East Blue severely limited one’s knowledge base. She didn’t even recognize his name—how much could she realistically know about the wider world?
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“Well, well—if it isn’t little Nami. Boss Arlong was looking for you earlier.”
An obnoxiously familiar voice interrupted as several fish-men swaggered forward, their movements radiating casual menace.
“Let’s skip the tedious posturing.” Hancock’s hand found her sword’s hilt with practiced ease, drawing and striking in one fluid motion.
Pink sword energy erupted from her blade, tearing through the earth itself as it raced toward the approaching fish-men with lethal intent.
The two fish-men died before their minds could even process the danger, bodies bisected cleanly.
“Gulp!”
Nami swallowed hard, her throat suddenly desert-dry. Fifty meters of separation—and Hancock had executed them with a single, casual slash?
Plus that rose-colored energy—was that the legendary sword aura she’d only heard about in stories? Hancock could actually project pure cutting force through empty air?
“Don’t look so shocked. This barely qualifies as a warm-up,” Shin observed, noting her open-mouthed amazement with amusement.
Indeed, it represented the barest minimum of effort—just two insignificant fish-men eliminated with Hancock barely exerting herself.
If she’d channeled real power into that strike, one slash would have torn the earth asunder and split all of Arlong Park into scattered ruins.
Witnessing that level of destruction might leave Nami catatonic from sheer incomprehension.
“Actually, you might develop comparable powers yourself someday.”
Olvia patted Nami’s shoulder with encouraging warmth.
At Olvia’s optimistic words, Nami shook her head in immediate denial. She didn’t dream of wielding such earth-shaking power—besides, raw strength had never been her ambition or focus.
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