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

With Karina collapsing completely to the ground, and her undisguised terrible expression, Karina's reply almost indirectly confirmed Nami's suspicions: she was deceiving Lee Myung-won again, and that Lee Myung-won's guess was entirely correct.

Seeing Karina's weak appearance, Nami realized that Karina's mental state might really be nearing its limit.

Karina believed she was about to reach a dead end, which is why she used the secret of her hideout, Golden Island, as a trigger to expose what she would never have revealed otherwise.

Nami could perfectly guess Karina's purpose in desperately delaying the trip.

Based on her thinking, she probably felt that since she really couldn't pay the ransom, no matter how impossible it was, her only option was to run away. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't dare to run away under Li Mingyuan's nose, but by extending the journey and using Golden Island as bait, she might still be able to find a weakness in Li Mingyuan's plan.

It's likely that Karina brought this up in front of her because she wanted to seek help from someone who was already an "insider" on Li Mingyuan's crew, to find an opportunity.

Thinking of this, Nami couldn't bear to look at Karina in front of her and almost immediately wanted to tell her that she had already helped solve Karina's situation and that she could stay on the ship with peace of mind.

Just a moment before he opened his mouth.

Nami's rationality prevailed, suppressing the impulse and swallowing her words.

"No... I can't reveal our private agreement without his permission!"

Nami suddenly became alert, and a strange sense of crisis welled up in her heart along with this thought.

Because Nami suddenly realized something.

Her agreement with Li Mingyuan was not entirely a straightforward monetary transaction.

While she did hand over a huge sum of money to Li Mingyuan—a sum many in Donghai could only dream of—it was given to him as a thank-you fee, primarily as a gesture of "sincerity." This was a way to get Li Mingyuan to accept her decision to let Karina go.

Li Mingyuan never asked her for money, nor did he ever actually tell her a specific amount he wanted.

Everything was given by Nami in tacit agreement, keeping her promise.

Similarly, from this perspective, the reason why Li Mingyuan initially made a deal with Karina to buy her life was that he approved of Karina's apologetic attitude towards the money.

Even if he promised himself he would be lenient with the 20 million Berries figure and let Karina off the hook, the situation would be completely different if she told Karina about it beforehand. Because in that mindset, no matter how much money Karina paid, it wouldn't be an apology. If this situation really made Li Mingyuan very dissatisfied, to the point that the agreement broke down, based on her current understanding of Li Mingyuan's personality, he might actually kill someone... If the situation turned from a perfectly happy and funny ending into that scene, she really couldn't bear the responsibility.

And so, while Karina leaned against the wall, taking deep breaths to calm herself, and Nami struggled intensely but ultimately remained silent.

The topic of Golden Island has come to a temporary end.

After that, everything proceeded smoothly and continued according to Li Mingyuan's plan.

The afternoon's cargo transport went smoothly under Karina's supervision. With Karina and Nami's assistance, the three of them had basically arranged the layout of each room, including the ship's decorations and the specific configuration of the rooms.

Even in the captain's cabin, Li Mingyuan gradually adjusted to his optimal comfort zone, referencing his previous life.

In the blink of an eye.

Another day has passed in a flash.

The next day, the morning sea breeze, carrying a bit of mist, caressed the harbor.

Li Mingyuan walked out of his room. After a night of trying out his room and confirming its comfort level—far surpassing all the places he had slept in since arriving in this world—he began to feel a sense of warmth towards this former pirate ship.

As expected of a ship he personally decorated, it's incredibly comfortable.

Li Mingyuan stretched.

With his body completely relaxed, he let out a long sigh and began to stretch his muscles on the deck.

About ten minutes later, probably noticing the commotion on the deck, the two cabin doors in the crew quarters opened one after the other. Nami, who had stayed behind the night before to test the room, and Karina, who had no choice but to stay on the ship with Li Mingyuan from the beginning, both walked out of their respective rooms at the same time.

However, unlike Li Mingyuan, who had a good night's sleep and looked relaxed, he was different.

Nami and Karina both have some dark circles under their eyes now.

obviously.

For the two of them, their first night on the ship last night was probably not a pleasant memory.

"Are you up so early?"

Nami rubbed her eyes, looking a little listless, and said, "It's nothing, it's okay to rest a little longer."

"There's nothing I can do. After all, I already spoke with the villagers after the last group of porters left last night."

"The departure time is 8:00 AM today."

Li Mingyuan wiped his forehead with a towel, put down the exercise equipment he was holding, and turned around to say, "I can't go back on my promise to the villagers just to sleep a little longer."

Yes.

This morning at eight o'clock, that was the final time Li Mingyuan decided to leave.

After the final repairs on the ship yesterday, and after confirming that all supplies were complete and there were no more missing items, he decided to set sail the next morning and not stay on the island of Cocoyasi Village any longer.

Karina and Nami had no objection to his decision, since Li Mingyuan had told them from the beginning that the voyage would be coming soon, which was why Nami hurriedly moved her luggage onto the ship.

Although I didn't expect to leave immediately after the rest was over, it wasn't surprising considering Li Mingyuan's decisive and efficient style.

"But then again, didn't you tell the villagers yesterday that you would be leaving today?"

"I don't see many villagers gathered at the port."

Karina leaned against the ship's edge, looking at the situation at the harbor, and said with some surprise, "Normally, shouldn't we be seeing you off in this situation? After all, you are the hero who saved this island, and even just to prevent you from oversleeping, someone should have come in advance."

"The scene is far too desolate right now."

As Karina said, there aren't many people at the port right now.

Even on a normal fishing trip, there should be a lot of people around at this time, but today, the day of farewell, is surprisingly quiet.

This is a somewhat unusual scene.

Li Mingyuan glanced at Karina, who seemed completely unaffected, his gaze lingering on her dark circles, which were similar to Nami's, before replying, "The villagers probably have some other plans. We'll find out if we wait a little longer before the appointed time."

"Of course, even if no one sees me off, it's really not a big deal. I didn't defeat the Arlong Pirates specifically to get thanks. It's just that since someone is willing to treat me as a benefactor, I will take that identity into account. Even if others don't treat me in any special way, I won't feel bad about it."

"Let nature take its course."

Li Mingyuan's words reached Nami and Karina's ears.

Nami nodded in agreement, clearly satisfied with Li Mingyuan's statement. However, Karina, as always, showed some disapproval, but she didn't refute him because of his expression.

For the next period of time, just as Li Mingyuan had advised, everyone continued doing what they were doing.

Eat, wash up, and gaze at the sea and admire the scenery.

Soon, it was eight o'clock in the morning.

To Nami's surprise, even at this time, there were still very few people to be seen at the port.

It wouldn't matter if the ordinary villagers didn't come, or even if Nokiko, who disapproved of her trip, didn't come. But the fact that even A-Jian, who represents the 'windmill,' wasn't there surprised her greatly. For a moment, she even worried that something might have happened in the village again.

Karina was initially indifferent to this, but seeing Nami's vaguely anxious expression, she sighed, straightened her clothes, and prepared to disembark and check on the situation later.

Only Li Mingyuan remained calm at this moment.

Standing on the deck, he gazed at the entire harbor, his mind replaying the scene from the original manga when the Straw Hat crew left Cocoyasi Village. In the anime, before the Straw Hat crew even left, the villagers waited near the pirate ship to say goodbye. It was Nami who came up with a unique 'farewell ceremony,' arriving late just before the pirate ship departed.

Now, because of his interference, the special farewell ceremony in the original storyline is gone. Nami didn't board the ship as a partner, so she probably doesn't have the energy to do anything like leaving behind treasure and stealing from everyone in the village. Right now, she's just waiting with him to set sail.

But if Nami stops doing things, does that mean the villagers won't do things anymore?

Li Mingyuan felt that this was not the case.

Sure enough, the very next second that Li Mingyuan was thinking this, it happened.

He then saw a group of people running towards him, panting, on the shore at the edge of his field of vision.

Some of the villagers in the middle seemed to be carrying something on their shoulders.

"Wow! Great, the ship hasn't left yet!"

"Hurry up, hurry up! Move faster!!"

Amidst the shouts of the villagers, a group of people quickly arrived near the ship, and began to carry the items they were carrying onto the deck, much to Karina and Nami's surprise.

There were boxes and boxes of soil, and several orange trees with their roots tied up.

"What is this??"

Just as Nami was still staring in astonishment at what was in front of her.

Among the crowd, A-Jian and Nuoqi Gao also carried a box of soil together, walking heavily onto the deck.

"Phew! It's pretty heavy."

Nojiko wiped the sweat from her forehead, a smile on her face, and turned to look at Nami. "How was it, Nami? Surprised? I didn't approve of your voyage this time, but I still ended up here."

"Nojiko!"

"It was Ken who reminded me. Although you only boarded the ship as an employee, you must be feeling terrible about leaving Cocoyasi Village and not being able to realize your dreams. For someone like you, this is all we can do—take these orange trees with you, Nami!"

Nojiko raised his fist and laughed cheerfully, "Don't worry about anything else, just do whatever you want!"

After saying that, as Nami stared blankly at Nojiko, unable to speak for a moment, Ken walked up to Nami's side. However, he did not speak to Nami, but instead looked at Li Mingyuan.

"This is the third time we've met, right, Captain Nami?"

Ah Jian lowered his head slightly and said in a deep voice, "I'm leaving Nami in your care from now on."

"I see. So that's what happened before."

Li Mingyuan nodded and said, "It's just a small matter. It's not a big deal to leave the orange tree on the ship. After all, it's good to have some fruit to eat from time to time, which is a good thing for sailing."

"I am extremely grateful."

Under Nami's somewhat confused gaze, A-Jian thanked her again and breathed a sigh of relief.

Looking up again, Ah Jian finally saw Nami.

"Actually, yesterday afternoon, I already met with the captain with Nojiko and asked him about some things beforehand. We originally planned to bring the orange tree over as a surprise, but we almost ended up being late."

A warm smile appeared on A-Jian's stiff face as he said to Nami, "Nami, Cocoyasi Village will always be your home. You can come back anytime if you get tired."

Nami took several deep breaths to barely suppress her emotions. She wiped her eyes, didn't say much, and just nodded vigorously to Nojiko and Ken.

"Okay! I understand."

Nami's face blossomed into an incredibly radiant smile.

"I'll take good care of the orange trees, so everyone can rest assured. I'll definitely come back from this voyage with a smile!!"

This touching scene moved the surrounding villagers, and many of them had tears in their eyes.

Looking at the scene before him, Li Mingyuan was also filled with emotion.

In a sense, Nami's predictions about Nojiko, which she had told him before, were actually correct. Nojiko did find him, but at the time, besides Nojiko, Ken was also with her.

Ah Jian dared to say to Straw Hat Luffy, "You must not let Nami lose her smile, or I will definitely kill you." However, for Li Mingyuan, who is not a crewmate, the two hoped that he could take care of Nami more and hoped to give her some mysterious gifts so that Nami could have a place to relieve her emotions on the ship.

Li Mingyuan's judgment that the villagers might use tricks was based on this.

Although he didn't know exactly what they wanted to do, since they had informed him in advance, they must have something to say.

I never expected that after all the twists and turns, the so-called mysterious gift would actually be these orange trees, and the original treatment would fall on my shoulders.

In a sense, this can be considered a completion of the handover of Nami's storyline.