My First Companion and Syrup Village

After the endless cascade of donation alerts finally fell silent, I checked the total amount we'd received today.

Roughly sixteen million won. The sum was bigger than I'd expected, and I caught myself grinning so hard it felt like my face might split in half.

"Thanks for all the donations, everyone! Buggy, Kuro, or Krieg—I should leave them for Luffy to farm experience from. If I snatch all the EXP for myself, the Straw Hats might have a hard time growing."

"Like I said before, I've already taken care of Arlong. So I'll offer to recruit Nami again. If she joins, I'll take her to Usopp and have her teach him at least the basics of navigation. In the meantime, I'll look for a Devil Fruit for Alvida."

Just then Nami walked over, a drink in each hand.

"Here, drink this."

"Thanks. I'll enjoy it."

I sipped the sweet tangerine beverage she'd given me and watched the villagers laughing and chatting happily.

"Thank you for saving our village."

"Now the villagers can look forward to only good things."

"Yes, they definitely will!"

Nami flashed a bright, innocent smile as she spoke.

A little while later...

"You said you wanted me as your navigator, right? Let's go together. I'll become your crewmate."

The moment I heard those words, joy surged through me like I'd been launched into the air. I extended my hand for a handshake and introduced myself properly.

"Let me reintroduce myself officially. I don't have an official name for our adventure party yet, but for now I'm the adventurer and captain, Jin."

Nami let out a little "Pfft!" of laughter and took my hand.

"I'm Nami, navigator of this nameless adventure party. Nice to meet you, Captain!"

Just like that, we naturally dropped the formal speech, clinked our drinks together, and giggled like idiots.

"My dream is to draw a map of the entire world. Jin, what's your goal or dream?"

"To gather beautiful women, build a harem, and travel the world."

"Ah, so Jin's dream is to travel while maintaining a harem."

The moment she heard it, Nami laughed, then smacked me on the head with her fist and shouted.

Ouch!

Nami definitely had talent for Armament Haki. Her punch hurt more than Luffy's. We kept ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠joking around like that for a while before I explained our future plans.

"Our party won't head into the Grand Line right away. We'll stay in the East Blue for two years. Nami, you need to get stronger, and I need to recruit one or two more crewmates to travel with us."

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I'm not strong enough like this."

"We still have time, so there's no need to rush. I also have a favor to ask."

"A favor?"

"Yeah. Tomorrow we're going to Syrup Village. There's a guy there I'd like you to teach navigation to."

"Navigation? Is he going to be a crewmate?"

"No, not quite. He's going to be my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠little brother's crewmate, but they don't have a navigator yet... So as a temporary measure, I want you to teach him at least the fundamentals."

"Even just the basics would take three months, you know?"

"That's fine. Teach him for three months, then spend a year training in combat with me. After that, we can spend the remaining time resting and traveling around the East Blue."

"Okay. So what are you going to do for those three months, Jin? Looking for crewmates?"

"There's one more candidate. I need to bring her in."

"It's a girl, isn't it?!"

Nami shot me a sideways glare as she spoke.

"Yep. I want a harem, so in two years you'll become my woman too, Nami! You're still too young right now."

"Who said I'd ever become your woman?!"

Thump!

Another bump appeared on my head. She was clearly into it but still playing hard to get.

"Let's enjoy the festival today. Things are going to get busy starting tomorrow."

"No thanks! Enjoy it by yourself! I'm leaving!"

She stormed off, probably embarrassed. I chuckled as I watched her go, then headed for Belle-mere's grave.

Genzo was already there. When he saw me, he said,

"So Nami decided to follow you?"

"Yes. She's agreed to become my crewmate."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Good. Since you'll be with her—the man who saved our village—I'll feel at ease."

"Of course. Nami, who will become my woman, will be protected by me."

"Who are you calling your woman!!!"

I laughed at the shouting old man.

"Don't worry. I won't let the smile disappear from Nami's face."

"I'll trust you on that. If Nami ever becomes sad, I'll come find you and you won't get off easy."

"Hahaha! Understood."

The next day at the harbor.

The villagers had gathered at the port to see us off.

I boarded the ship and waited for Nami, but she still hadn't shown up.

"Why isn't Nami here yet?"

Right then—

"Jin!! Set sail!!"

The line reminded me of the original story. Smiling, I slowly started moving the ship forward. Nami dashed between the villagers and leaped toward the ship.

She landed perfectly, then lifted the hem of her shirt.

Clink... thud... clatter...

Wallets poured out from inside her clothes. The villagers shouted in outrage at the sight, but soon they were waving goodbye to Nami with warm smiles.

"Hey chat, Nami is my woman. No sexual harassment allowed."

Feeling a surge of annoyance, I ignored the chat and walked over to Nami.

"Nami, there's something you need to be careful about in Syrup Village."

"Something to be careful about?"

"Yeah. There's a rich girl who looks like a noble living there. Try not to get involved with the people in that house as much as possible."

"Why? Are they dangerous?"

"Not exactly, but there's no need to get tangled up with them."

"Got it. Anyway, I'll only be teaching navigation and staying in the village."

And so we arrived at Syrup Village.

From the top of the hill, a kid's Observation Haki caught us.

"Hey!! You two over there!! Are you pirates?? I am Captain Usopp! I have eight thousand subordinates! If you're pirates, get lost right now!!"

"That's a lie."

"Yeah, it's a lie."

"Ack, I've been found out!"

"Haha. Hey you, you're Yasopp's son Usopp, right?"

"Huh? You know my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠father?"

When he heard that I knew his father and that we weren't pirates, Usopp lowered his guard and approached us.

At a restaurant in Syrup Village.

"Huh? You want me to learn navigation from this woman?"

"That's right, Usopp. Don't you want to become a pirate? A true warrior of the sea."

"What?! How do you know my dream!!"

"You can achieve it if you learn navigation. Well, in about two years, to be exact."

"Two years? What does that mean?!"

"I can't explain the details right now. But even if you don't believe me, if you're going out to sea, you need to know navigation, right?"

"W-well, that's true..."

"It's a chance to learn for free. We don't have much time, so we'll only teach you for three months. If you don't want to learn, that's fine too. But surely someone who dreams of becoming a great warrior of the sea wouldn't want to be treated like an idiot who doesn't even know navigation?"

"Who are you calling an idiot!!! Fine, I'll learn it!!"

Having easily hooked Usopp, I handed twenty million berries from my funds to Nami along with a request to take good care of him.

"This should be plenty for living expenses over three months, right?"

"Yes!"

Nami's eyes instantly transformed into berry symbols. I could have sworn I heard a *cha-ching* sound effect.

After that, I left Syrup Village and began searching for a Devil Fruit, focusing on small, nameless islands.

I turned the broadcast on and off. Several days later, one viewer analyzed the original story and explained it to me.

"So you're saying it might be on the same island where Coby and Alvida met??"

It seemed more promising than searching randomly, so I traveled to islands that matched the terrain from the original manga.

"It looks like finding it will take longer than I thought. Watching me sail around all day would probably be boring for those watching the broadcast, so I'll turn it off and search. I'll turn it back on when I find it. In real time, that would be tomorrow. See you then!"

With that, I ended the broadcast and continued searching for the fruit.

Two months later...

Broadcast Title: Goddamn, Took Two Months to Find the Fruit -_- [Starting Broadcast]

"Yeah. It was harder to find than I thought. According to the illustration book, this is definitely the Slip-Slip Fruit. Here, take a look."

I held the fruit up. The viewers cheered when they saw it.

"Ah, about that! Just a moment! Status window."

"I got so frustrated that I raised my Observation Haki rank. While I was at it, I ranked up my stats and a few skills, and did some gacha rolls. I probably spent close to ten million won. Hehe!"

"While I was looking for the fruit, it just wouldn't show up... I got so pissed that I forgot I was streaming and just went for it. Still, I'll explain. I ranked up some skills, and the big one is the Heavenly Demon Divine Art! Man, after I got that, the Mana stat appeared, so I immediately ranked it up to A. The knowledge that flowed into my head was slightly different from the Heavenly Demon Divine Art I knew, so I skimmed through the Peerless Dad manhwa too."

"Yeah, that should give us a rough idea of the power scale."

"And the Devil Fruit that came out in the first gacha roll—I wasn't planning to eat it originally, but when I looked it up just to see what it was, I realized I had to eat this one."

"This isn't Kizaru's fruit. To explain, it's a movement ability that lets me travel through mirrors I've set up in advance to other mirrors I've prepared. It's like a kind of portal. That's good, but the real reason I ate it is the second ability... Ta-da! It's cloning!"

As I spoke, a clone stepped out of a mirror.

"If I use the ability while looking at a mirror, I can summon a clone that possesses about half of my power!"

"There's an even more important reason beyond that!"

"No, can't you tell just by looking? It's the most important element for a harem! The clone ability! Instead of just doing 3P or 4P with multiple heroines by myself, it could provide a whole new kind of stimulation. Like Nami or Vivi surrounded by me and my clones!"

"Hey! Honestly, you guys are jealous, right? Aren't you? Say it!"

"You'd all do the same thing if you were in my position... Anyway, that's how it is. With the Soul Contracts in my inventory, recruiting Alvida as a companion is as good as done!"

"Exactly! Now I just need to find Alvida. Once she eats the fruit, no one will recognize her face, so I'll give her an alias and launder her identity and we're done."

"Once Alvida eats the fruit, people probably won't recognize her even with just an alias. But just in case, I should save it."

"That's true too. If she doesn't personally shout 'I'm Iron Club Alvida!' then people will probably just let it slide. Let's think about that after we catch her!! Shall we go find our joyful new companion (slave)?"

Using my Observation Haki, which I'd raised all the way to rank B, I set out to find Alvida.

[Nami]