"Cheers—!"
At night, a ship was quietly anchored on the open sea.
Inside the cabin's dining room, the four of them were in the middle of a small celebration.
They raised glasses filled with juice, clinked them together, and sat back down to enjoy the dinner carefully prepared by the three girls.
"…Nii-san, at this point you're already a famous 'big shot' in East Blue," Carina said after a while, steering the conversation back to business. "Most of the big-name pirates whose info was on this year's rankings have already been taken down by us."
She swirled the juice in her glass thoughtfully.
"So what's next? Do we lay low for a while and wait for the rankings to refresh? Or"—her lips curved into a sly smile—"do we start hunting the 'little pirates' with lower bounties? Mosquitoes are still meat, right? The small fry with public information are easier to find."
"Let's take a break for now."
El took a sip of his freshly squeezed juice, then shifted his gaze and stared straight at Nami, who was sitting beside Carina.
"Next, we're going somewhere to look for something."
"Where?" Nami asked. She didn't notice the subtle look in his eyes—she just assumed he was about to test her navigation knowledge again.
"Sixis Island," El replied. "Do you know it?"
"Sixis Island? That name sounds so familiar…"
Nami frowned, trying to recall.
Carina also set her glass down, pinching her chin as she thought deeply.
Sitting on El's other side, Kuina glanced at the two of them and felt a sharp sting of envy.
It had been more than ten days since she joined the crew.
But all this time, Kuina felt that aside from spending El's money and eating El's food, she hadn't contributed anything to the team.
Growing up in the small, closed-off Shimotsuki Village, her world had held nothing but the sword.
She wasn't like Nami, who possessed a terrifying talent for navigation and geography.
She wasn't like Carina either, who was precocious, sharp, naturally gifted at gathering information and manipulating conversations so no one would ever guess she was only eight.
And she definitely wasn't like El, a monster of a swordsman who, at the age of eight, slaughtered pirate crews as easily as chickens.
Compared to the three of them, Kuina felt like a pampered, useless girl who only knew how to swing a sword in a dojo.
For someone as proud as her, that realization hurt.
"…Don't be discouraged. You're not standing in the same place they are yet."
Just as Kuina's thoughts were spiraling, a warm hand suddenly landed on her head and gently ruffled her smooth blue hair.
She looked up to see El smiling at her.
"You're an important member of our crew," he said. "Starting tomorrow, I'm going to train you hard."
"Mm. I'll do my best!"
Kuina nodded firmly. In her eyes, a flame called fighting spirit burned brighter than ever.
"I… I remember now!"
Nami's voice suddenly broke the moment.
She smacked her palm onto the table and looked at El, puzzled.
"Sixis Island… If I'm not wrong, it's a really famous and dangerous uninhabited island in East Blue."
"Uninhabited island? Right, I remember too…"
At the word uninhabited, Carina's eyes lit up in recognition.
"'Desert island' doesn't mean it's literally a desert," she explained. "The reason Sixis Island is so famous is actually because it's beautiful."
Her expression darkened slightly.
"But under that beautiful surface, it's a death trap."
"Sixis Island is an uninhabited island with no animals, no fresh water, no trees, no fruit… nothing you can eat or drink."
"If someone's shipwrecked and they drift there by accident, they'll starve to death unless they get lucky and a passing ship happens to spot them."
"Because of that, Sixis is very well-known in East Blue—but no one dares to go near it."
After finishing her explanation, Carina looked back at El, eyes narrowing curiously.
"Nii-san, what exactly are you planning to look for on Sixis Island?"
"I'm going there to find a fruit… to be precise, a Devil Fruit," El said calmly.
"Devil Fruit?"
The unfamiliar term made Nami and Carina freeze for a moment.
Then, as if the same thought struck them simultaneously, both girls' eyes went wide.
"Could… could it be…?"
Carina, who recovered first, actually stuttered for once.
"Is it… that Devil Fruit? The legendary 'treasure of the sea'…?"
El nodded with a small smile.
"Hiss…"
Both girls sucked in a sharp breath.
"The secret treasure of the sea… actually exists?"
"This is… unbelievable…"
But because it was El saying it, neither of them doubted it for long.
Still, Carina's curiosity wouldn't let it rest.
"Nii-san, if you didn't know where Sixis Island is exactly, how did you find out that there's a Devil Fruit there?"
"As expected of you—you always go straight to the heart of it."
El gave her a thumbs up.
Then he decided to reveal just the tip of the iceberg of his abilities.
"Remember what I told you before about Observation Haki?"
"Mm-hmm…"
Carina and Nami nodded quickly.
Kuina quietly set down her chopsticks and turned toward El as well, her attention fully focused on his boyishly handsome face.
"Before I met Kuina's father," El began, "I actually didn't know the ability I had was called Observation Haki. I thought I was the only one in the world with that kind of power."
"It wasn't until I challenged that senior that I learned what Observation Haki really is… and realized my Observation Haki seems to be different from other people's."
"Because mine is innate—something I was born with. And along with it, there's another special ability."
He paused for a second, then looked straight at Carina and Nami. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly.
"That ability is… as long as I touch someone, I can read their memories."
"…"
The room fell utterly silent for a heartbeat.
Nami, sitting across from El, and Kuina, who had just been patted on the head, both went pale.
Carina, however, didn't panic at all.
Instead, a knowing expression rose on her face, as if she'd finally confirmed a long-suspected answer.
"No wonder," she said softly. "When we first met, Nii-san put his hand on our heads, then your attitude and words changed right after…"
Her eyes narrowed, a mix of admiration and exasperation flickering inside.
"So at that moment—you were reading our memories."
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