"Kairos, that was amazing! You've got more of those things, right? Quick, give me another one!"
Nami's eyes sparkled with excitement. If she could get another boost, wouldn't she be able to become a full-fledged bounty hunter on her own?
"Are you dreaming? You think those things grow on trees? That was the last one," Kairos replied flatly, casting her a look of disbelief.
What he had just used was a high-grade body crystal—something synthesized from ten regular ones. It was a rare item capable of adding a full point of numerical experience to his current body's progression. Since he was still in the process of improving himself, there was no reason to give away such a valuable item.
He had only handed it to Nami earlier as a test—to see if the crystals generated by his golden finger could actually be used by others. The result confirmed his theory.
But that didn't mean he'd go handing them out freely.
Those crystals were limited resources. He needed to focus on leveling himself up first. As for Nami? If and when he had extras, he'd consider giving her a boost.
"Tch, stingy," Nami grumbled, curling her lip in annoyance as she resumed cleaning up the bodies.
Soon enough, the corpses were dealt with.
Most of them were dumped into the sea as fish food. The ones with bounties on their heads were kept for bounty redemption—naturally.
"We found two million Beli on their ship. Since we agreed to split everything fifty-fifty, one million is yours," Kairos said after the cleanup was finished.
He was planning to haul the bounty-worthy corpses to Rogge Town for the payout. Even though they had taken precautions to preserve the bodies with antiseptics, time was still working against them. No matter how good the preservation, decay was inevitable.
So, after a brief discussion with Nami, they decided to redeem the bounty first.
If they cashed in this particular pirate crew, both he and Nami would earn an additional 16.7 million Beli each. When combined with the loot from the ship, this one raid had netted each of them roughly 26.7 million Beli.
"I never thought being a bounty hunter could be this profitable," Nami sighed in amazement. One mission, and they'd made a fortune.
They'd only been out at sea for five days this time. That meant nearly half a million Beli in earnings per day. If they could keep that up for a year, they'd break the hundred million mark easily.
It was almost painful to think about.
If she'd known bounty hunters made this much, she would've partnered up with someone long ago! Why had she spent the last eight years struggling just to scrounge together a hundred million Beli—and still hadn't gotten there?
Well, better late than never.
"Nami, are you serious right now?" Kairos said with a sigh. "The East Blue is huge. We just got lucky finding a weak pirate group in only five days. If we weren't so lucky, we might not see another pirate ship for a whole month."
He rolled his eyes at her.
The ocean was vast—really vast. To be a bounty hunter, you had to actively track your targets. But out here, with no tracking devices on the pirates, all you could do was rely on rumors or buy tips from informants, then hope the pirates were still in that area when you arrived.
Basically, it was all a gamble.
Hearing that, Nami's mood cooled a little. He was right. She'd sailed these waters for eight years, and pirate encounters weren't exactly frequent. Realistically, running into a group of pirates was more luck than anything.
Still, considering they'd made almost ten million Beli in such a short time, she couldn't complain. That was already an impressive haul.
If she kept this up, she could finally save up the hundred million Beli needed to buy back her village.
A few days later…
They arrived once again at Rogge Town.
Nami had suggested just stopping by a nearby Navy branch to cash in the bounties and keep sailing, maximizing their remaining time for hunting more pirate crews.
Naturally, Kairos shut that idea down immediately.
Sure, the Navy was better than pirates, but very few actually stood for true justice. If they ran into a corrupt officer like Captain Nezumi, the entire bounty might just "disappear."
And if that happened, this whole mission would've been a waste.
Not that money was his ultimate goal anyway. It was secondary—just something to help improve his quality of life. His real objective was the ability crystals, which only dropped when he killed enemies.
After docking at the port, Kairos paid the harbor fee to have someone guard the ship. This way, it wouldn't get stolen—or at least, the chances of it happening were lower. Why didn't Luffy and his crew ever do this kind of thing?
Simple. They were pirates.
The people guarding ships here were part of the Navy, musket-carrying types who only dealt with customers they considered lawful. Pirates trying to pay docking fees? That was just asking to be arrested and served a heaping plate of prison rations.
Then, as usual, Kairos grabbed a cart and followed his familiar routine—loading it up with the pirate corpses and pulling it through the streets toward the Navy base in Rogge Town.