Starting with two Kamui, they raised the flag of rebellion in One Piece.

Under Nojiko's watchful gaze, Nami put down the package she was carrying.

"The total is about 18 million Berries. Even considering Arlong and his crew's extravagance over the years, it's tens of millions less than I expected. There might be other places where the treasure is hidden, but this is all we can find. Would you like to take stock? Or if you'd like, we can search Arlong Park with you again."

Nami stared intently at Li Mingyuan and spoke seriously.

Upon hearing Nami's voice, Li Mingyuan, who had been somewhat lazy, took off his sunglasses and looked towards the lounge chair next to him.

He stared at Nami and the heavy bundle beside her, then looked up at Nami and Karina.

Li Mingyuan's expression was calm.

"There's no need to count anymore. Since you said there are only these, there shouldn't be any mistakes, right?"

"As for searching Arlong Paradise and such, even if there is still some treasure that hasn't been found, if even you, who are part of the Arlong Pirates, can't be found, then my efforts to search will most likely be in vain."

"Thank you for your hard work, Nami and Karina."

Li Mingyuan's words echoed in everyone's ears.

As if he didn't care at all about the treasure in the package, Li Mingyuan not only didn't open it to take a look, but his gaze was also fixed on Karina and Nami.

Seeing that the two people who were initially very unfamiliar with him were now looking at him intently and carefully observing his reactions.

This fact made Li Mingyuan very happy.

This clearly demonstrates that I am no longer an insignificant presence to them.

They developed a cognitive relationship with each other after learning their names and understanding what they meant to them. They were influenced by each other's emotions and thoughts, and their actions would also cause reactions and changes.

The initial goal of defeating the Arlong Pirates and establishing a connection with Nami has been successfully achieved.

Now that the villagers have left and the spoils have been counted, for Li Mingyuan, A Long Paradise is basically a completed dungeon, and there is no longer any point in staying.

So.

It's about time to leave this wretched place littered with corpses.

"call……"

Holding Ah Long's head, Li Mingyuan stood up from the lounge chair and twisted his neck a few times.

I just took a short walk with the villagers, and I don't have any intention of continuing the walk right now.

So let's get back to business.

"Next, Karina and I will leave Aaron Paradise together."

Li Mingyuan glanced at Nami and Nojiko and said, "If we keep holding Arlong's head, it will rot sooner or later. It just so happens that before we came to Arlong's Paradise, I had a few other Arlong Pirates officers being looked after by others. Later, Karina and I will retrieve all those stored heads and exchange them for bounties at the nearest naval base."

"Of course, I know that the islands around here are under Aron's control. Even the nearest naval base takes some time to get there, so it's unlikely that Karina and I will be back too early. You don't need to wait for us. Enjoy your rare freedom and do whatever you want to release your emotions."

"Also, if possible, you can take this treasure that you helped me sort out later as well. I don't have a good way to sell it, so it would be best if you could help me exchange it for cash."

Nami looked slightly surprised when she heard Li Mingyuan's words.

"You're going to collect your bounty, now?"

Nami hesitated for a moment, but looking at Li Mingyuan's calm gaze, she nodded.

"Alright, I'll go back and tell everyone in the village about this. But if you're not here, many people who want to see what our benefactor looks like will be very disappointed. If possible, I still hope you can come to the banquet."

"Don't worry about cashing out the treasure, just leave it to me, it's all a small matter."

Nami looked at Li Mingyuan calmly, a relaxed smile on her face.

When Li Mingyuan saw that Nami had agreed to his request, he wasn't surprised. He then turned his gaze to Karina, who was standing to the side.

"So, Karina, do you have anything else to take care of?"

"If not, come with me now."

Li Mingyuan held up A Long's severed head in his hand and naturally extended an invitation to Karina.

Karina, who had been hiding silently next to Nami, suddenly looked flustered and looked like she was in trouble when she saw Li Mingyuan looking at her again.

"You want to redeem the bounty? But even the nearest naval base isn't on this island. Do you have a ship to go there?"

The thought of being alone with Li Mingyuan again filled Karina with immense pressure, but on the surface, she still pretended to be concerned for Li Mingyuan, asking with a concerned expression, "Besides, we don't know the undercurrents and sea conditions in this area. Without a nautical chart, how will the ship get there?"

On the surface, this is a reasonable question. After all, it is well known that in the world of One Piece, you can't go anywhere without a ship, and without a nautical chart and compass, the ship will get lost at sea.

But at this moment, Li Mingyuan had already anticipated Karina's prediction.

He wanted to have more time to spend with her, which is why he suggested they go together. Now that things have come to this, how could he let Karina get away?

"A boat? Aren't there ones at Alon Amusement Park?"

Li Mingyuan raised an eyebrow in surprise, while looking in another direction.

Karina subconsciously looked in the direction Li Mingyuan was looking.

The next second, she stared wide-eyed in shock.

"A ship?! Wait, is it real?"

Karina said in surprise.

At some point, a huge sailboat with a serrated nose like that of an evil dragon was moored outside the entrance to the sea of ​​Alon Paradise!

"That ship, if I remember correctly..."

Upon seeing the ship, Nami immediately frowned and muttered to herself.

"Yes, that is the pirate ship of the Arlong Pirates, the Shark Spab."

Nokiko, who had been listening with interest to Li Mingyuan and the others' conversation, sighed and looked at Li Mingyuan. "You, where did you get this ship from? Did you just leave the villagers behind to do this?"

"I haven't seen this ship in the vicinity for a long time since the Arlong Pirates set up camp on this island. I never thought I'd see it again."

Nojiko stared at the giant pirate ship outside the estuary, her expression somewhat dazed.

While it might seem strange that a pirate crew entirely composed of fish-men would need to rely on ships to navigate the high seas, the Arlong Pirates do indeed have a pirate ship.

Even fish-men need containers to store items and supplies. If everything is submerged underwater, most of what they plunder will be ruined. Not to mention, some food will spoil once it enters the water. Even if fish-men don't starve by eating underwater supplies, it doesn't mean they can't have other options.

Seeing the different reactions of everyone present to the pirate ship in front of them, Li Mingyuan remained unmoved. He also stared at the pirate ship, but looking at the design of the ship, he was a little disgusted with A Long's aesthetic sense.

Just as Nojiko had thought.

After taking a walk with the villagers, he specifically looked for the location of Arlong's pirate ship on his way back and used the knowledge he had learned while sailing on the cargo ship to easily navigate it out.

After all, the return journey also takes time. For Li Mingyuan, rather than wasting time walking back, it would be more convenient to take care of the things he planned to do along the way.

As for why he thought of Arlong's pirate ship...

Simply put, this was already part of his initial goal.

Since Li Mingyuan knew from the beginning that it was Arlong, he naturally considered how to maximize the benefits of this trip. Taking Arlong's pirate ship was just one part of the plan. In the end, since Li Mingyuan had thought from the beginning that he couldn't sail on someone else's ship for long and wanted to go to the Grand Line, he would eventually have to have his own ship.

So, is there a better choice than the Arlong Pirates' ship, which itself came from the Grand Line?

After defeating the Arlong Pirates, the ship naturally became his spoils of war, and no one would object to how he disposed of it. Besides, even if he made some modifications to the ship later, such as removing some of the unnecessary exterior decorations that Arlong admired, and making some personal adjustments to the cabin, it would still be much cheaper than preparing a ship himself.

After all, if he really wanted to build his own ship, given Li Mingyuan's understanding of his own character, he would definitely have to prepare the best. Ships can be cheap when they are low-end, but once they are high-end, they will be incredibly expensive. According to Oda's purchasing power of 1 Berry ≈ 1 Japanese Yen, and the price of a warship in Water 7 is 500 million (not the cost of building it), if he really wanted to play around with the money he had, even multiplying it by ten wouldn't be enough for him to squander.

Instead of buying one yourself, you might as well get one that you won't feel bad about if it breaks and just make do with it for now.

"The Shark Spab? So this ship has a name."

"I'm sorry, this ship might bring back some bad memories for you, but I'll be making some modifications to it, so you'll have to make do with it for now."

Li Mingyuan looked at Nojiko and Nami and said, "I've already taken down the pirate flag on this ship, and replaced the canvas with spare canvas that says 'Arlong's Paradise' because Arlong and the others don't often sail this ship out. Unless you really remember them, they probably won't think it's a pirate ship."

"As for nautical charts and compasses, those are also on board, so there won't be any problem even if we set sail right now. However, although I've been learning how to sail recently, I'm still not very good at operating a ship beyond some basic operations. In addition, this ship is surprisingly large, so it would be quite difficult for one person to manage it. Therefore, someone with extensive experience at sea is still very important."

"How's it going, Karina? This is a rare opportunity for you to show off your skills. Don't you want to give it a try?"

Turning his head to the side, Li Mingyuan stared at Karina meaningfully and said.

Karina was shocked upon hearing this.

She forced a glance at Li Mingyuan, her smile more like a grimace, "Since you've prepared everything, that's more reassuring than anything else."

Having said all that, how could she possibly have any objections?

However, just the two of them have to operate such a large ship... Thinking of this, Karina felt a chill run down her spine, and some terrible memories flooded her mind. Surely Li Mingyuan wouldn't let her do it all by herself? Managing such a large ship by herself could really be fatal.

It just so happens that Li Mingyuan will have to go back to the sailors on the cargo ship later to bring the heads of the remaining two Arlong Pirates officers. If all else fails, she will have no choice but to bite the bullet and ask Li Mingyuan to see if they can hire some sailors to set off together.

Hopefully, that won't happen.

Karina prayed silently in her heart.

Seeing that no one had any further objections, Li Mingyuan finished explaining the next steps and, without further hesitation, took the lead and boarded the pirate ship with A Long's head.

Considering the time spent traveling back and forth, the remaining schedule is surprisingly tight.

Normally speaking, since the nearby islands are all under Arlong's control, there would theoretically be nowhere to exchange the bounty, and the nearest reliable naval base would probably take several days to reach.

However, Li Mingyuan, who had the advantage of the plot, knew that there was actually a nearby naval base, but that base had been bribed and colluded with the Arlong Pirates. That was the naval base where Captain Rat was located.

Most people, after knowing the plot, might not want to approach such trash to avoid getting tainted. However, Li Mingyuan was only exchanging bounty money, especially since he was taking the head of Ah Long, who was colluding with Colonel Rat. The other party wouldn't dare to be disrespectful to him. In that case, he should just do it as quickly as possible.

In short, they were all trivial matters.

"So, I'm a captain now, too."

Li Mingyuan chuckled softly. He stood at the very front of the bow, above a jagged nose similar to Ah Long's.

Feeling the sea breeze on my face, I felt a sense of peace and tranquility.

"Kalina, I don't know much about things on the ship, but you've been at sea alone for so many years, and thieves usually operate alone in small boats most of the time, so you know more about the situation at sea than I do."

"Just treat me like a sailor and direct me to steer this ship."

Turning around, Li Mingyuan looked at Karina behind him. After startling her, he said, "My stamina should be a bit stronger than the average sailor. I should be able to take on about ten sailors?"

"Uh, command you? Me?"

Karina pointed to herself, then to Li Mingyuan, her face full of disbelief.

As soon as she boarded the ship, seeing Li Mingyuan leisurely enjoying the scenery, her face darkened. Judging from this, she would most likely be the one doing the work later. Did prisoners of war have no human rights? Was it really necessary to treat her like this?

Such a big ship, and she really came alone? Could it be that Li Mingyuan really knows nothing about sea navigation and thinks she can handle this ship by herself?

No matter what, it's just too outrageous.

Unexpectedly, just as she couldn't help but step forward to discuss the treatment of prisoners with Li Mingyuan, Li Mingyuan suddenly turned around and said these words to her.