Ian looked at the direction of the voice, and his eyes lit up. It was Nami-Swan <3! she="" was="" still="" wondering="" why="" he="" would="" come="" to="" arlong="" park?="" she="" might="" be="" the="" reason="" for="" his="" arrival,="" but="" even="" ian="" himself="" didn't="" expect="" her="" to="" jump="" out="">

This voice was naturally Nami's, the beautiful teenager girl with short orange hair. When she arrived at Arlong Park, she saw the scene of Arlong being burned by Ian's flame. When she saw the destruction of Arlong's majesty, she was overwhelmed with excitement and joy. She was hiding and peeking from the outside, but when she saw Ian handing Arlong over to the marines, at that time, she couldn't help jumping out.

With a stick in her hands and tears in her eyes, she shouted at Ian and Tas.h.i.+gi, “Kill him! Do you know what he did?! Why are you letting him live?”

Tas.h.i.+gi and the marine soldiers stared at Nami in amazement, wondering who was the girl that had suddenly appeared and why she hates Arlong so much.

But the fish-men Pirates looked at Nami grinding their teeth.

Only Ian knew why, so he couldn't help sighing.

Tas.h.i.+gi said with a straight face, “It's not up to you to kill him. Us, the Marines will keep him in prison…”

Before finis.h.i.+ng her words, Ian suddenly reached out and stopped her. He bent over and picked Arlong. Then he threw him forward and said to Nami, “If you want to kill him, do it yourself!”

Her mother was killed in front of her eyes. Ian knew the pain in Nami's heart, so he planned to give Nami a chance to get revenge. Tas.h.i.+gi did not understand Ian's practice. She stood up and tried to stop this strange event, but Ian held her back.

With a face full of tears, Nami walked to the dying Arlong. She raised her stick high and pointed it at his head.

However, for some reason, the opportunity for her revenge was in front of her, but Nami found herself unable to do it.

Suddenly she dropped the stick and sat on the floor with her arms on her knees, and burst crying.

Ian smiled and found that Nami was still the same, as he remembers. Although her hatred for Arlong made her think of getting revenge all this time, she was not completely blinded by hatred. Her nature was so kind. (Really!!? She is the same devil as Ian)

Whether was the result, good or bad, Ian wasn't sure about it, he couldn't guess what was Nami thinking, he did not disturb Nami crying, but he secretly observed.

To be honest, there was a big difference between Nami and Ian at this time, because she was only 15 years old at that time! Now she was just a little girl who's beginning to develop, completely unpredictable to the kind of choppy figure. She looked very young, which makes Ian slightly disappointed.

Tas.h.i.+gi was relieved to see that Nami could not kick him, and walked over to tie Arlong.

Ian went to Nami, squatted down, and asked her, “What's your name?”

Although he knows her name, it was impossible for him to call her out directly. Otherwise, it would feel strange.

Nami sobbed and answered Ian without raising her head. “My name is Nami.”

Ian thought for a while and said, “I don't know what hatred you have against Arlong, but now that he's caught, you can rest a.s.sured. What are you planning to do in the future?”

“I'm going back to Cocoyasi!” Nami finally raised her head, wiped away the tears from her eyes, then she smiled and said, “I'm going to tell everyone this good news! Arlong has been caught. Our nightmare is over!”

Huh! After hearing this answer, Ian felt so upset that he wanted to stab himself. This was not the answer he wanted!!!

In fact, he wanted to ask Nami directly if she would like to go out with him (hihihi to the sea! Not to a date!!!), but this was not easy to ask.

Yeah, Ian's trouble with the Arlong Pirates was not only for his bounty, but also for Nami. After talking to Johnny and Yosaku, he felt that he needs some partners. So Nami was the best one in the East Blue who deserves to be his partner. Not only will she be transformed into the beautiful women (we all love) in the future, but also she is a gifted navigator, where else would he find such talent?

So, even though he knows that Nami is Luffy's partner, Ian had to try.

To be honest, Ian also figured out that people are doomed for their own sake. Since he came to the world inexplicably, he naturally had to think about himself. He has become one of the partic.i.p.ants in this world, not an onlooker. It is impossible to say that because Nami will become a partner of Luffy in the future, she will deliberately avoid it.

However, the tentative inquiry did not get the result Ian wanted. Just as Ian hesitated how to ask her again, Nami smiled at him and said, “Are you Ian, the famous pirate hunter? I've heard your name, and you did really come!”

“Did you know that I was coming?” Ian asked in some surprise.

“Well, when I heard that you have defeated the Buggy and Krieg Pirates in a row, I knew you might not let the Arlong Pirates go!” Nami's face showed a charming smile and said, “Now that you're here, I was not mistaken! Thank you!"

Ian slapped his forehead. He felt that something was not right. Now, listening to Nami's words, he suddenly remembered an important thing!

'My way of appearance! d.a.m.n it, My way of appearing was wrong!'

Nami became Luffy's companion because he met Nami halfway and then defeated Arlong together, but Ian's way was different. It was completely heroic, or it was like a savior's way of appearance. This way made the distance between him and Nami widened, but there was no sense of ident.i.ty for a partners.h.i.+p!

Ian suddenly felt as if his plan had failed… There was a sense of discouragement.

But he still refused to give up easily, gritted his teeth, and said directly, “I'm preparing to go on an adventure in the Grand Line, but I don't have any partners. Would you like to go with me?”

Nami was a little strange and asked, “Why are you thinking about inviting me?”

Of course, Ian can't say, 'I know you're a gifted navigator, so I want you on my side.' This would be too strange, and she will ask him, 'How did you know?' Ian might not be able to answer that question.

Nami and Ace are different. Ace is a man. It is easy to reach trust between men, but women are very sensitive to lies. Ian can't fool Nami the same way he fooled Ace.

So Ian could only come with a thick-skinned old face: “Because I think… You're my type…”

Even Ian blushed when he said this, and felt that he had really put together a fight to kidnap Nami…

Nami listened to his words, and got stunned for a moment, but the next second, she grabbed Ian's waist skin and twisted a circle. She said to Ian fiercely, “Are you perverted? I'm just a 15-year-old girl!! Should you say such embarra.s.sing words in front of me??!"

Ian also knows that it is impossible for her personality to make such a shy expression, but he never thought that he would be scolded as a pervert by Nami, and that she would catch him and screw him up regardless of his hero and benefactor status. This made Ian angry for a while.

In fact, Ian did not know, at this time, Nami's heart was still a little warming, not because Ian said that he likes her, but because she thought of her own dream!

Nami's dream was to one day she would draw a map of the whole world. To accomplish this dream, she must go out to the sea. So when she heard Ian's invitation, she was still very heartwarming. She just couldn't give up her sister Nojiko and everyone in the village of Cocoyasi for a while. So she did not immediately agree, just hesitated.

However, just at this moment, a marine soldier who was in charge of searching the Arlong stronghold came back with a report to Tas.h.i.+gi and said, “Sergeant Tas.h.i.+gi, in the stronghold, we found a safe box of the Arlong pirates, and we did open it. There are about 20 million Berries in cash. Please give us instructions on what to do with it!”

Ian was still immersed in grief and anger. But when Ian heard this, he jumped up and said, “That's Mine!”

His idea was very simple. Arlong was overthrown and caught by him. Then Arlong's money should be regarded as his trophy.

But just when Ian shouted out and Tas.h.i.+gi had not yet spoken, Nami stood up and shouted to Ian, “What's yours? That's the stolen money that Arlong blackmailed many people of our villagers for!”

Ian did not want to back down. Listening to Nami's words, did she want to take the money back and return it to the villagers? What kind of joke is this? More than 20 million Berries, which was higher than Arlong's bounty. In front of such a sum of money, does she want Ian to give it up?

“No! That's my spoils!” Ian said to Nami.

“What spoils!?” Nami also showed no weakness: “It is obvious that this money is stolen, which must be returned to its owners!”

The two quarreled for a while, and Tas.h.i.+gi could not say a word while they were talking. The marine soldiers looked at Ian in dismay. They thought that their instructor was a rich man.

After the quarrel, Nami finally got so angry. Suddenly, she crossed her arms on her waist and said to Ian, “I was thinking about going out to the sea with you, but now I regret even thinking about it!”

Ian was stunned: “Huh… What did you just say?"

Nami snorted, “Didn't I make myself clear enough? I refuse your offer, I'm not going with you!”

“Why? For such a trifle?” Ian shook his hands and said innocently, “This is a good matter to discuss. Let's split it, leave some for me, and take the rest and return it to the villagers?”

Nevertheless, Nami shook her head and said to Ian, “I've thought that we might not be able to get along with each other. When we get on your boat, are you willing to let be in charge of the money?”

Ian hesitated, how could that be possible? The reason he decided to catch pirates was to desperately make money! How could he possibly hand over the money to someone else?

Nami understood Ian's hesitant expression, so she sighed, came up, approached Ian's face, kissed him gently on the cheek, and said, “Thank you for inviting me, but let's forget it. This is a thank you kiss for what you did for us! I won't forget you.”

Ian tried to weep, but failed to shed a tear. Such thanks, he didn't want her to do at all?

He never expected that Nami had some desire to sail with him. He thought she wanted to be with her relatives. After all, it was understandable that a 15-year-old girl still loves her family. After the wrangle, he was happy to know that Nami had such an idea.

So, this girl's mind was really hard to guess…

When she said this, it is impossible to invite her again. After that, Ian also found that his thoughts were too simple. His personality was different from Luffy's. It was impossible to repeat Luffy's way of collecting partners. Moreover, even as a partner, there is a problem of compatibility between him and Nami. Likewise, he is also a person who likes to take charge of money in his hands. Only a careless fellow like Luffy would not mind Nami's character. For him, Nami, even a gifted navigator, would not be a compatible partner.

In this way, Ian also decided to look for other partners. He was thinking about going to the Baratie, the ocean-going restaurant, to try his luck and see if he could ask Sanji to join him. But could a fellow like Sanji get along on board with Ian?