At the same time, they silently accepted Lister's demand.
No—this can't go on. Otherwise I'm finished! We've fought side by side for years, and now a slave flips the table, sits on my head, and throws his weight around? How could anyone stomach that?
"Brothers, while we've got the numbers, let's kill him now! Captain Henry is dead, Vice‑Captain Andrei is as good as dead. As long as I kill him, the Hammer Pirates will be mine."
"All the gold and Beli on this ship—kill him, and it all belongs to me."
In a heartbeat, pirates who had been ready to surrender started getting restless again.
"Kill him!"
"I'll go first!"
Blood fountained madly, and Fat Dog fell with bitter unwillingness written on his face.
Pft, pft, pft—
Like a wraith, Lister appeared before Skinny Dog, Bamboo Pole, and Bear Two. His hand‑blade fell.
The whole thing took less than five seconds. The flicker of rebellion was snuffed out at once.
Lister's gaze swept the faces before him. Every pirate dropped his weapon on the spot and fell to his knees, begging for mercy.
"I submit. Boss Lister, from now on you're my boss! Tell me to go east and I won't dare go west; tell me south and I'll never head north."
"For now, here's your task: clear every corpse off this ship."
"Aye!"
The remaining twenty‑odd pirates answered at once and hurried to work.
After seizing control of the ship, Lister didn't sit idle. He turned and headed back to the warehouse, thinking of Nami. But when he arrived, Nami—and all the gold—were gone.
"Awake already?" He scratched his head, then hurried toward the captain's cabin. Earlier he'd told Nami that Henry kept half his wealth there.
"No, no!" Nami shook her head quickly.
"The captain's cabin will be my turf from now on. Is it strange for me to be back in my own place?" Lister said, amused.
"Your turf? You killed Blood Hammer Henry and seized the crew?" Nami's eyes widened.
"More or less," Lister nodded, then smiled. "Now that the Hammer Pirates are mine, everything on board naturally belongs to me."
"No way. I've set my eyes on it," Lister said, domineering.
He had been a law‑abiding citizen for more than twenty years in the modern world, but in just ten days of slavery, every bottom line and scruple had been cast aside. In ten days, the sea had taught him the law of the jungle—do as you please, so long as it makes you happy.
"Can you really be like this?" Nami was on the verge of tears.
"Enough, don't cry. Be my woman, and I'll treat you well."
Looking at Lister's earnest face, Nami felt a wave of helplessness. She drew a deep breath and steadied herself, then fixed him with a solemn look.
"As things stand, I have to tell you my true identity. I'm a cadre of the Fish‑Man Pirates—Cat Burglar Nami. If you know what's good for you, let me go. Otherwise, when my big brother Arlong comes for me, you won't like what happens. My brother Arlong is a great pirate with a bounty as high as twenty million."
Pfft—
Listening to Nami's grave declaration, Lister couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Laughing?" Seeing he wasn't cowed—in fact laughing—Nami bristled.
"I heard a joke. Couldn't help it," Lister said, smiling. "I know what a 'great pirate' is—those guys have bounties in the hundreds of millions, even billions. A mere twenty million daring to call itself 'great pirate'? That's a first for me."