Angel investor in the One Piece world

"We can already see the islands!"

On the lookout tower of the ship's mast, the lookout calls out to the deck.

Damian, who had been standing like a statue on the ship's railing gazing at the sea, relaxed and turned around. "Have we finally arrived?"

He cracked his neck, even though he was someone who exercised regularly. "Don't come any closer, the ship is stopped right here."

If the ship goes there, it will definitely be discovered by the fish-men in the sea.

The fishmen are naturally insignificant, but as I said before, we need to see Nami first.

"We'll go there ourselves."

Damian said, "Then the ship will move further away and wait for my instructions."

"past?"

Kuina asked疑惑地, "If the boat doesn't go, how will we get across?"

There are no lifeboats on this ship.

"Of course,"

Damian raised his right hand. "Let's go this way."

"Puppet manipulation techniques".

The puppet strings surged from his palm, snake-like, and instantly landed on Guina, James, and Riel.

Then, the three of them suddenly took to the air.

"You can do that?"

Kuina was quite surprised.

"It's very interesting, isn't it?"

Damian's smile remained unchanged. "Self-control!"

The puppet strings wrapped around Damian's own body, and then he too was propelled into the sky.

This is very unscientific, but it's also very Devil Fruit-like.

The four ascended at an alarming speed, reaching an altitude of over a thousand meters in just a few seconds.

"this--"

Riel's face turned pale. It was too high! If someone fell from that height, even the sea would shatter into pieces instantly.

In the few days since he came to Cocoyasi Village, his father had already told him everything, including Damian and his deal, and just how terrifying Damian really was.

It wasn't until then that Riel felt a sense of dread.

However, those were all his father's accounts; he had never personally witnessed Damian's horrors.

Until this very moment.

"They can even fly?"

Kuina was slightly surprised. "Damian, your abilities are truly quite versatile."

"It's still a long way off."

Damian chuckled softly.

His fancy skills might not even match Doflamingo's ability to manipulate threads, let alone compare to the truly all-powerful Paw-Paw Fruit.

However, his Puppet Fruit is indeed very powerful.

Once he felt the altitude was sufficient, Damian instantly carried the three of them, turning into afterimages as they flew towards the distant island.

------

Cocoyasi Village is a poor seaside village with not many households.

On this day, the villagers did not struggle for survival as they usually did.

All the villagers spontaneously brought their families out and gathered in the open space in the center of the village.

The pale and emaciated villagers looked at each other in silence.

After a long while, the village sheriff, a man named A-Jian with hideous scars on his face and a windmill stuck in his hat, spoke in a hoarse voice, "They'll probably be here soon. If you haven't raised enough money for this month, let us know now so we can all think of a solution together."

People remained silent.

After a long while, a sob broke out from the crowd: "I'm so sorry, I'm so useless! I injured my leg at sea last month, and I'm still 70,000 Berries short!"

People made way, revealing a man kneeling on the ground, covering his face and crying uncontrollably.

Beside him was a woman who was also covering her mouth and crying silently. The woman was holding a girl in her arms, and a slightly older boy was holding her leg.

"Tony? You have two children and you've never asked anyone for help all these years. That's really remarkable."

Ah Jian simply pulled down the brim of his hat. "Don't worry about it. Everyone has been doing this for so many years."

He raised his voice, "In that case, let's all chip in and help Tony's family get through this difficult time."

The villagers did not hesitate and lined up in an orderly fashion, handing over banknotes to A-Jian, some giving him a thousand, others three thousand.

However, the village has a small population, with only about twenty households, and they all bear heavy burdens every month.

and so.

"How could that be?"

Ah Jian carefully counted the money in his hand, and his face turned deathly pale in an instant.

"Isn't that enough?"

Among the crowd, a beautiful young girl with short, flowing sky-blue hair and slightly dark skin also showed a slight change in expression.

"We're still short by more than 20,000..."

Ah Jian looked blank.

He knew there wouldn't be any more; everyone had already taken out all the remaining money.

"Who's still short over 20,000? We heard you all!"

A mocking voice came from behind.

Ah-Shen's body trembled involuntarily, and he turned around in horror.

Four tall, burly fishmen carrying various weapons strode over.

The moment they saw them, the villagers fell silent, heads bowed, not daring to breathe.

The fat fishman at the head of the group walked up to Jian, looking down at him condescendingly. "Brother Long's orders: 100,000 Berries per month for adults, 50,000 Berries per month for kids. Anyone who doesn't pay enough will be executed!"

"Is it because you don't have enough money?"

Ah Jian instinctively wanted to deny it.

But the next moment, he stopped.

Tony has two more children!

Taking a deep breath, Ah Jian spoke, "Yes—"

"It's me!"

Ah Jian only managed to utter one word before a sharp, high-pitched voice rang out from behind him, "It's because I don't have enough money!"

"Tony?"

Ah Jian suddenly turned around.

What is this guy doing?

Tony wiped the tears from his face, staggered to his feet, looked at Ah Jian, and then at the surrounding villagers, "Ah Jian, and everyone else, I'm entrusting my family to you!"

Behind him, his wife was already sobbing uncontrollably, but she still held tightly to their eldest son, who wanted to run into his father's arms.

Upon witnessing this scene, the surrounding villagers couldn't help but shed tears.

However, the fishmen sneered, "Those who can't earn enough money don't deserve to live!"

He waved his hand, and a fishman behind him immediately raised his musket and aimed it at Tony.

"Wait! Wait!"

Ah Jian mustered his courage and stood in front of the gun, frantically pleading, "Can we hold off a little longer? We're only 20,000 Berries short!"

The blue-haired girl, Nojiko, hurriedly spoke up, "If he dies like this, won't Arlong's income decrease?"

However, the fish-man only smiled cruelly, "Who cares about that kind of thing? If everyone procrastinates, what will happen to Boss Long's money?"

"If you don't want to die with him, get out of the way!"

Ah Jian and Nuoqi Gao looked particularly grim, and the girl's hands were trembling.

Just like back then, nothing could stop it...

"stop!"

A cold voice rang out, "I'll pay up for the money he owes."

Nojiko's body suddenly trembled. Almost instinctively, she turned her head to look at the girl approaching from behind the fishmen. "Nami..."

"Oh! It's Nami?"

The fishmen turned around and looked at the orange-haired girl approaching with a cold expression. "Are you sure you want to pay for this guy? These guys all hate you, don't they? After all, you're one of us."

"It's none of your business."

Nami spoke indifferently, reaching into her bag and casually tossing a stack of banknotes into the fish-man's arms. "Is that enough?"

The merman glanced at it briefly, then nodded in satisfaction, "Hehehe, of course!"

"But Nami,"

The fat fish-man narrowed his eyes. "Brother Arlong has already graciously allowed you to become a member of the great Arlong Pirates. You'd better not get too close to these lowly humans, otherwise, Brother Arlong will be unhappy."

Nami's fingers trembled, instinctively wanting to clench them, but she forcefully suppressed the urge. She knew she absolutely couldn't anger these fish-men—

"It seems we've arrived at the perfect time."

A burst of amused laughter came from above.

Nami looked up almost instinctively.

They met a pair of slightly surprised eyes.

Damian looked down at the girl below and couldn't help but be astonished.

Oh, it really suits her orange color.