El had originally intended to use his second ability to read the gangsters' memories and gather more information about this town—and even the wider East Blue.
However, after seeing Carina's mental toughness and realizing how mature this girl was for her age, El dropped the idea.
Once their bond was truly established, or once he could freely turn his ability off, he wouldn't mind telling the two girls about his powers.
But for now, he felt it was better not to scare them away.
After all, it was honestly disgusting to think about following someone who could see straight into your heart at all times and hear every passing thought.
So, El decided to enter town normally and see what he could learn there instead.
When the trio reached the town, Nami and Carina put on their cutest smiles and easily managed to pull some local information out of passing adults.
After that, the three of them went to the local gold exchange to sell the treasure.
During the appraisal, El's ability came in handy again. By listening to the shopkeeper's "inner voice," he instantly understood the true value of their hoard.
Then…
El drew his sword and casually demonstrated cutting steel right in front of the shopowner.
The sight of a boy so young slicing metal in a single smooth motion completely stunned the boss of the gold exchange, and in the end, El managed to sell all the treasure at the highest price the man could bear to offer.
It had to be said—even if that pirate crew hadn't been particularly strong, they'd certainly been rich.
The treasure in their possession was worth more than three million Belly.
For reference, in the original story, the treasure Nami stole from Buggy was worth around ten million Belly.
Ten years from now, Buggy would become one of the prominent pirates in East Blue.
So, it was clear this pirate group had recently plundered something big…
And before they could even sell their loot, they'd been wiped out by El.
After selling the treasure, the trio rented a small suite in a local inn and began, at least in name, to divide the spoils.
However, all of this treasure had been obtained by El alone—even before their "team" existed.
On top of that, Nami and Carina both desperately wanted to cling to El's golden thigh and didn't want to leave a bad first impression by seeming greedy. So they both firmly refused any formal share.
El, who could clearly see their thoughts, couldn't be bothered to argue with them. Instead, he simply handed each of them 50,000 Belly as pocket money and took them out shopping.
Now that he had money, El's first thought was to give himself a new look.
They went first to a local hair salon, where he asked the barber to tidy up the long silver hair he had been growing for the past three years.
He didn't cut it short. In his previous life, he'd been hopelessly biased toward long white hair.
In this life, he was very satisfied with his natural hair color.
A swordsman with silver hair and red eyes should look pretty cool, after all.
So El had no intention of cutting his hair short.
Even for the next ten years—when he would be training intensely every day, sweating buckets, and spending a lot of time washing his hair—he still had no plans to cut it.
After trimming it to make the long silver hair look neater and more stylish, El took Nami and Carina to the town's clothing shops.
They bought clothes for all four seasons and even had special battle outfits custom-made.
During his three years of training, El hadn't had the conditions to treat himself well.
Now that he did, he had no intention of being stingy.
Even though the three of them were still growing and would quickly outgrow their clothes, El still bought and customized a large number of outfits for himself, Nami, and Carina—spending several hundred thousand Belly in the process.
As always, no matter what world you're in, children's things are the most expensive.
Once his hair was cut, the clothes were bought, and they had eaten their fill, the three returned to the inn.
That was when El began his "surface-level" work.
This superficial effort, of course, was asking where the girls' homes were.
Nami and Carina, who had already decided to cling to El's thigh for dear life, immediately moved into action.
They told him a tragic story: how they'd been kidnapped long ago, how they'd been moved from place to place, and how they no longer knew which island their home was on.
Their faces showed confusion and sorrow.
El cooperated perfectly, putting on an expression of sympathy and pity.
In the end, his "kindness" seemed to win out. He sighed softly and said, helplessly,
"Alright… If that's the case, then you can follow me for now. I'll see if I can help you find your home."
"…Thank you, Nii-san!"
Looking at El's sincere expression, both Nami and Carina felt a rare pang of guilt—but on the surface, they still acted deeply moved.
And so, the trio—each hiding their own secrets—was officially formed.
"Nii-san, where are you from?"
"Nii-san, why did you go to sea at such a young age?"
"Nii-san, you're so strong—are you one of those legendary master swordsmen?"
"Liar… Nii-san, you're only eight years old? You're just a few months older than us?!"
"Nii-san…"
Once they'd formally joined up, learned a bit of his personality, and confirmed that he wasn't a bad person, Carina and Nami quickly relaxed.
No longer afraid of him, they dragged El into the rented suite under the excuse of playing cards, chatting, and "getting closer"—while in reality trying to peel away the layers of mystery around him.
Their power lay in their precocious minds and exceptional stealing skills.
Every time they joined a new crew, they would quickly gather as much information as possible.
Only in this way could they avoid being in a completely passive position.
And now, faced with this "Nii-san" whose existence had shattered their worldview, both girls were overflowing with curiosity.
All of their thoughts were crystal clear under El's Observation Haki.
He didn't mind. In fact, he was happy to deepen their relationship.
"I don't know where I'm from," he began calmly. "When I became self-aware, I was already living in an orphanage."
"But the dean there was a bad person. One day, I discovered that whenever he 'adopted' a child, he was really just selling them once they reached a certain age. So, I escaped in secret…"
"I don't know where my strength came from. By the time I realized anything, I already knew I was different. Since I was little, my body and sword skills were far better than other kids. That flying slash you saw— I only understood it after fighting a lot of beasts in the forest."
"As for being a legendary master swordsman, I'm not at that level yet. That's a title given to famous swordsmen known all over the world."
"As for why I went to sea… it's kind of stupid. The beasts on my island stopped being a threat at all, so one day I suddenly wanted to fight sea creatures instead. But then, a massive sea beast swallowed me, and when I finally got out… I couldn't find my way back."