Chapter 9: A Slippery Slope (1)

"Hah... it's so boring..." Brody groaned as he opened his mouth while Nojiko, who got a seat once Nami stored everything back into the only compartment of the boat, brought a piece of bread close to his mouth that he promptly ate and gulped.

"Aren't you tired?" Nojiko smiled as Brody continued to row the boat. It had been hours but he didn't seem exhausted at all. Meanwhile, Nami looked at the sky and then her compass. Before kidnapping her, Nojiko did have the foresight to collect a few of Nami's navigation equipment, after all. Still, while keeping the route in check, Nami observed Nojiko and Brody from the corner of her eyes.

"Barely, I can keep this pace for days," Brody yawned, "I just wish you guys recover quickly so that you can row the boat."

"Eh?"

"Huh?"

Nojiko and Nami blinked while Brody added, "Don't tell me, you two still want to remain weak? After all, rowing a boat is a great exercise."

The two sisters grew silent and realized that there was some truth to his words and truly... aside from their 'duties', they wanted to grow stronger and better so that the same misfortune doesn't strike them ever again. Still, as hours passed, Nami questioned Brody, "I remember seeing an island a day's journey before Loguetown. Do you want to make a stop or directly go to Loguetown?"

"Hmm..." Brody looked thoughtful, "Let's check it out. Maybe I'll find something interesting."

As such, Nami changed the course slightly and they even had to drop the miniature sail since the wind was against their flow. But their speed barely dropped as Brody simply picked up the slack from the loss of wind by rowing even quicker— something the sisters thought to be impossible.

"Oye... am I seeing that right?" Brody inquired as they neared a lush green island. Nami and Nojiko had a slightly worse expression when compared to Brody's curious one as a large ship was docked near the coast of the island with its Jolly Roger still hoisted and fluttering.

Hurriedly bringing her scope up, Nami checked out the Jolly Roger and her expression grew weirder when she saw the skull painted on the flag with a round red nose and slit-like shape painted through the eye sockets.

"Buggy?" Nami hummed in surprise.

"Buggy? You know him?" Brody looked at Nami who nodded and explained, "Yes, Luffy, Zoro, and I ran into Buggy Pirates while they were terrorizing a village. That Buggy... he's also eaten a Devil Fruit that has turned him into a Splitting Human. He cannot be damaged by cutting and he can control his body parts by splitting them under a certain range."

"A Devil Fruit, huh... first was Luffy's Rubber Fruit and now this... do every Devil Fruits have freaky abilities! Oh, do you think a Devil Fruit with the ability to destroy the world exists?" Brody grinned, "Now it would be fun fighting someone with THAT kind of strength."

"Wait," Noticing that Brody hadn't slowed down at all, Nami questioned, "We're going to that island?"

"Yeah! Maybe this Buggy saw something. After all, that man could still be in East Blue," Brody chuckled, "And that right there is a Pirate Ship! We ought to have a bigger ship doesn't need me to row it all the time!"

"But... Buggy is dangerous. In fact, and I can't believe I'm saying this, he is trickier than Arlong," Nami frowned while Brody shrugged, "Relax. I'm not about to directly go to this Buggy. If anything, I want to explore the island a bit. It looks... uninhabited so we might find something cool. Maybe a treasure!"

"Let's go!" Nami's demeanor changed in the blink of an eye with her brown eyes glittering like stars.

---

As they got closer to the island with four reasonably high hills covered in vegetation, Brody 'picked' the boat and set it on the beach far from the Buggy Pirate's ship and then covered the boat with a bundle of branches having long, lush leaves. It would work as a disguise and when Nami wanted to stay with the treasure... Nojiko and Brody agreed before departing, making the lone woman follow the 'inconsiderate' duo quickly with her staff assembled once again. But it would be a stretch to assume that she could wield her staff well given the current state of her body.

"Hmm~ Hmm~ This looks delicious~!" Brody hawed loudly before plucking a succulent-looking, peach-like brown fruit and bit on it...

"Peh!" spitting out, Brody threw the fruit away.

"For your information," Nami crossed her arms behind, "That 'looked' delicious only to you."

"Yeah, yeah, let's go and find something better. Anyway, we're here for the night, right? Better to find a comfortable place to sleep before nightfall."

"But there aren't any comfortable mattresses..." Nojiko sighed.

"Don't worry!" Brody grinned and continued moving while Nami saw the chance and hissed softly at her sister, "What are you doing? Did you forget he already has a girlfriend?"

Although taken back by how Nami frowned with a clearly worried and concerned look, Nojiko still managed to chuckle and chime, "I didn't decide to join him just to try and keep you safe. Well, I'm on an adventure now, Nami. Forget your old Ms. Sister who lived a dull life and meet your new Sis who's going to enjoy her time! Besides," leaning against her sister, Nojiko practically purred, "If I am keeping our captain in check... you won't have to sleep with one eye open, right?"

Speechless and quite embarrassed, Nami blushed heavily as Nojiko, truly different than her 'usual' self added with a cheeky smirk, "I mean, you have no idea how many times our journey got 'hard' even while you were sleeping. Who knows, maybe our Captain's partner will share the same concerns as me and decide to accept my 'help'. And even if she doesn't, why do I need to worry about it? We're pirates now. We can be as nasty as we like~!"

Nami could only glare at her sister whose shamelessness she was never aware of. But then again, Nami rarely remained in the village and barely knew how Nojiko had grown and her actual behavior aside from keeping calm in most situations.

The trio continued to move for a few more minutes before a loud ruckus attracted their attention. Hiding behind bushes, the trio watched as a group of pirates dressed in the theme of a circus set a ring by erecting four large trunks and binding it with thick ropes.

"Those are Buggy's men..." Nami whispered. But, she was rightly confused and expressed it clearly as two men got into the ring with one of them holding a whip and the other one still on a Unicycle.

"Why are Buggy's top men fighting amongst themselves? And... where is Buggy?"

"Top men fighting? That's an event that usually takes place in a Captain's absence..." Brody hummed, "What's that?"

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Nami and Nojiko looked in the direction where he pointed and they saw a discreet figure on one of the trees across the clearing where the pirates had set their camp. While Brody had many questions about how the pirate on a unicycle took out a sword from within his mouth, the current group of Devil Back Pirates was more interested in the 'scout' observing the group of boisterous pirates like them.

"I say we steal Buggy's ship and leave. We don't need to stay on the island if we have such a well-built ship," Nami whispered as she was already feeling ominous given the situation. Maybe... just maybe, this island had some unknown occupants.

"Eh? But I have a gut feeling we'll find something awesome here."

"Your gut was growling an hour ago," Nami complained.

"Yes, and it gave me a gut feeling that I'm hungry. My gut's never wrong," Brody muttered, "It's decided, we're going to stay here and see how things go. Of course, we'll first check out Buggy's ship and see if he has any treasure worth looting."

While the idea of staying on this mysterious and possibly dangerous island irked her, Nami's emotions were balanced by the thought of finding treasures...

One can never have too many treasures!

The crew discreetly left the area and made their way toward Buggy's ship before pushing off one of the nearby boats used by the crew members to set foot on the island to reach the ship not so far away. What came next was... highly discouraging to Nami as they found no treasure but...

"Are we really doing this?" She frowned.

"Yes, we are. Now, my skills may not be as good as Sanji but I think I can whip up something good. So, sit down. We have to eat to have the strength for the night!" Nojiko smiled while Brody nodded, "You know, Nojiko is right. You two will only recover quickly by eating well."

"Fine, but then we will find a good place to rest right here and NOT explore the forest in the darkness!" Nami asserted.

"Come on, why are you afraid of the dark?" Brody rolled his eyes.

"I'll let you know, I'm not afraid—" she stopped for a second and looked towards the open door to the deck on which a white bird wearing a hat and straddled with a bag perched over.

"Oh, finally, newspaper!" Nami moved quickly and took out a coin from within the neckline of her shirt before walking out and purchasing the newspaper from the bird after berating the poor employee far away from his nest about the rising cost of newspapers.

"So? Anything interesting?" Nojiko inquired as she was done chopping vegetables, at least, the bare amount present, and set up a rather large pan while increasing the intensity of the flames.

"Our village is on the cover page!" Nami grinned as Brody strained his neck to look over, "Does it say anything about me?"

As Nami read... her expression grew pale.

"I- it says that Arlong's Fishmen Pirates are taken into custody while Nezumi will be imprisoned for his crimes... but... it also says something terrible..."

"Oh, that means good!" Brody grinned.

Flipping to the next page as some flyers slipped down, Nami uttered quietly, "Straw Hat and the infamous Devil Back Pirates' actions have earned the attention of the Marine Headquarters and they promise to send adequate reinforcements to deal with the Criminal of the name of Brody Hanma. Because of unusual circumstances, the bounty of Brody Hanma shall also circulate within East Blue until any further notice..."

Nami slowly looked at the flyers in Brody's hand who was grinning and chiming, "Hey, Nojiko, check it out! Cool, right?"

Holding a poster of a man with his back turned and his eyes staring directly at the viewer, the 'distant' shot barely captured Brody's image as much as it capture the inferno he stood in.

"Hmm... I actually like Luffy's poster better. I can barely make out your face in your poster... have you considered posing for a new bounty profile?"

"That's your issue?!" Nami shouted while slamming the table and then snatching Brody's poster from his hand and pointing at the actual bounty.

"Look at this! 90 Million Bellies! What did you do to get such a moniker and bounty?" She turned to look at Brody who rubbed the back of his head.

"Alright... so there's this really strong king in North Blue. He pissed me off... but I couldn't beat him directly... yet. So, I just ruined his kingdom. Physically. I... broke the structure over which his Kingdom stood..."

Nami gaped and then powerlessly slumped on her chair as she heard Brody speak up, "25 million for a newbie, huh... I wonder when he'll reach 90 mil."

"Here you go. Fried Vegetables and Rice," Nojiko smiled and set the food on the table.

Once they ate their dinner as the sun itself was about to set by this point, sleep came naturally to him. It wasn't even about being tired but more like muscle memory for him. And... as Nami said, the captain's cabin had enough luxuries to support the trio's sleep since Buggy Pirates didn't seem to be returning for the time being.

***

Tomorrow may not have a chap cause it's my birthday and the day after tomorrow is sunday when I take a break from writing entirely so see you monday~!

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