7: Chapter 7, Second Partner

"You... you let me go!"

The finger on her chin, calloused and rough yet burning like fire, jolted Nami awake.

Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, she took a sharp step back, pressing herself tightly against the mottled, icy brick wall of the dark alley.

Due to extreme panic and embarrassment, her beautiful, watery brown eyes trembled violently, and her innocent face was flushed with a seductive crimson.

The man's breath was too hot, mixed with the scent of sea salt and a masculine pressure that seemed almost ready to devour her alive. For the first time, she, the genius thief cat who prided herself on navigating through countless pirates with ease, understood what it meant to "play with fire and get burned."

Rice looked at the orange-haired beauty leaning against the wall, her long legs slightly weak, but he didn't press her further.

He shrugged roguishly, slowly tucking his right hand back into his jeans pocket, a wicked smirk hanging on his lips:

"Fine, little wildcat, I'll let you off the hook today. However, name a price for that chart in your arms. Big brother here isn't in the habit of taking things from women for free."

Nami clutched the parchment scroll in her arms tightly, her mind racing frantically.

She knew very well that the man in front of her was a monster capable of shattering steel blades with his bare body; if she went head-to-head, she would definitely suffer the consequences.

But if she just handed over the navigation chart she had worked so hard to steal, she would be completely unwilling.

The instinct honed from years of dealing with vicious pirates allowed Nami to put on a brand-new expression within a single second.

A sweet, flattering, and seductive smile instantly bloomed on her pretty face.

She swayed her slender waist slightly, her skirt fluttering as she took small, clingy steps toward him, her small hands generously grabbing the hem of Rice's white shirt.

"Handsome Captain~ I almost lost my life for this chart."

Nami tilted her head up, blinking her large eyes pitifully, trying to paralyze Rice with that harmless girlish demeanor:

"It's not impossible for me to give you the chart, but... I'm in huge trouble right now, being targeted by a group of very fierce and ugly outlaws."

"If... if you could be my bodyguard and help me beat up those annoying guys, I'll hand over this chart with both hands. Even if you want to do other things to me... it wouldn't be out of the question~"

As she said this, Nami deliberately drew out her tone, a hint of subtle provocation flickering in her eyes.

She was lying, and she was maneuvering.

She deliberately concealed the name of the Arlong Pirates and the truth about the 100 million berries, just wanting to use these "green tea" tactics—a mix of truth and lies—to turn this powerful combatant into a free bodyguard and tool, helping her clear out the pirate riffraff that had been tailing her along the way.

Feeling the subtle rubbing against his arm, Rice chuckled inwardly.

This little wildcat's acting skills were truly masterful.

But he, Rice, was a transmigrator.

He knew this girl's inherent distrust and defense mechanisms all too well.

He lowered his head and suddenly reached out with his free hand, grabbing Nami.

"Eek!"

Nami gasped in surprise, crashing into Rice's steel-hard chest.

The distance between them was extremely close. Rice looked down at her, his voice low and full of dominance:

"Stop playing these 'borrowing a knife to kill' games in front of me. No matter what trouble you've stirred up, since I've taken an interest in you, I'll settle those troubles. However..."

Rice snatched the parchment scroll from her arms and took the opportunity to give her firm, supple bottom a light squeeze. Amidst the girl's glare of shock and anger, he smirked:

"—This chart counts as a deposit for the schemes you tried to pull on big brother today. Let's go; I'll take you to see my ship, the White Dove."

However, before Rice could lead the blushing, struggling Nami out of the alley, the ground of the entire Orange Town suddenly trembled violently without warning.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

Heavy footsteps, accompanied by a bestial roar filled with brutality, erupted from the street deep in the alley.

"Roar—!!"

It was a deafening lion's roar; the violent sound waves even shattered the glass windows of many surrounding abandoned houses into a sky full of debris.

Mohji, the first mate of the Buggy Pirates, was riding his giant beast lion, Richie, waving a spiked whip soaked in black blood and wreaking havoc on the street.

Especially when he saw the dilapidated pet food store and the puppy Chouchou nearby, Mohji's face was filled with a sick, twisted look as he swung his whip, intending to make the huge lion trample the shop and the dog to death.

Rice only hated two things in his life:

First, someone touching his woman;

Second, someone abusing animals.

"Little wildcat, stand here and don't move. Big brother is going to crush a piece of filth."

Rice patted Nami's slightly sweaty face. The teasing in his eyes vanished in an instant, replaced by a terrifying killing intent that caused the temperature of the surrounding air to plummet.

He released his grip on Nami's slender waist, ripped open the top four buttons of his white shirt, tucked his hands back into his jeans pockets, and strode out.

The ensuing battle was nothing short of a one-sided crushing.

Facing Mohji, who was riding a two-story-tall giant lion and slashing wildly, Rice didn't even take his hands out of his pockets.

The extreme speed of Shave erupted instantly, and he tore a violent streak of white light through the air.

By the time Mohji reacted, Rice had already grabbed him by the hair with one hand and yanked him off the lion's back like a dead dog.

Then, he charged power into his right leg; muscles bulged beneath his jeans like tightened steel cables, turning into a heavy whip kick that could split mountains and crack rocks, slamming fiercely into Mohji's abdomen!

[White Dove · Viscera-Crushing Heavy Kick]!

"Boom!!"

Mohji didn't even get to speak.

Accompanied by a dull, extreme thud of impact, Mohji's body flew backward like a kite with a broken string for dozens of meters. After crashing through three thick brick walls of houses, his chest sank in deeply, and he died on the spot!

One strike, and he was sent straight into an eternal slumber!

This scene, landing in the eyes of Nami, who was behind him, shocked her so much that her two small hands clamped tightly over her mouth, and she completely lost the ability to think.

She knew Rice was strong, but she hadn't expected that a "demon" pirate with a not-insignificant bounty on this great sea couldn't even take a single kick from this man in the white shirt.

An even more unbelievable scene occurred.

The brutal giant lion, Richie, upon seeing its sadistic master kicked to death, did not go berserk. Instead, with a "thud," it knelt timidly before Rice.

A beast's intuition for danger made it understand just how terrifying the man before it was.

Richie crawled over and used its massive, furry head to rub gently against Rice's jeans leg, somewhat ingratiatingly and cautiously, emitting the submissive, purring sound unique to felines.

"Alright, just follow me from now on. It just so happens I need a cool mode of transport."

Rice grinned and patted Richie's huge head.

Then, he turned back, and under Nami's terrified and shocked gaze, he leaped up, sitting steadily astride the broad, soft back of the giant lion, Richie.

A tall man sitting astride a giant, wild lion—the image was simply filled with an indescribable visual impact.

"Hey, little wildcat, what are you still standing there for?"

Rice sat on the lion's back, looking down at Nami, extending a hand, and smirked, raising an eyebrow: "Get on the lion; big brother will take you back to the white dove."

Nami walked forward mechanically, and with a strong pull from Rice, she gasped and sat down in front of him.

Richie's massive body stood up steadily, and carrying the two of them and a navigation chart, it rumbled toward the harbor.

Sitting on the back of the giant lion, which felt like a moving fortress, with the man's hot, hard chest against her back, Nami even forgot to struggle for a moment, just gripping the mane beneath her seat tightly, her heart in a state of turmoil.

And Rice, sitting behind her, let his large hand roam restlessly, wrapping around Nami's slender waist.

Feeling the whistling sea breeze in his ears and the incredibly obedient giant lion mount beneath him, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curve upward wildly, and an indescribable sense of secret satisfaction surged in his heart.

"I killed Mohji, and I also swiped Richie, the signature mount, and Nami... When that rubber brat Luffy arrives in Orange Town in a few days, he'll probably be facing a half-empty Buggy Pirates crew that's lost its first mate and mascot, right?"