"𝓑𝓪𝓫𝔂, 𝔀𝓮'𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓷𝓮𝔀 𝓻𝓸𝓶𝓪𝓷𝓽𝓲𝓬𝓼. 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓫𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓹𝓮𝓸𝓹𝓵𝓮 𝓲𝓷 𝓵𝓲𝓯𝓮 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓮."

***

Things were different after the conversation that Nami and Artemisia had. Artemisia saw a new side of Nami, and Nami was more understanding of Artemisia. This changed how the two interacted with each other. The difference was noticed by the two boys on the ship. They noticed that the girls were more open with each other, and even hanging out together with Nami not getting annoyed at Artemisia. Even now, the two girls were acting much closer than the day before.

Both girls were sitting together at the tip of the ship. Nami was sitting on some crates while she looked over the Grand Line map. Artemisia stood by her side, looking over her shoulder to scan the map herself. Luffy was happy to see this change, while Zoro didn't know how to react. It was like they were two different people.

Glasses rested on Nami's nose as she looked over the map. First, she was only trying to find certain landmarks. This changed when some specific caught her eye, "Never seen that before."

"Seen what?" Artemisia inquired. She stared at the map intently, trying to see what Nami was referring to. Everything looked normal to her. Then again, she wasn't exactly good at reading maps. She had gotten herself lost many times when trying to read a map. She's had to ask for directions because she no longer knew where she was. Now, you might be wondering, why are you looking at the map with Nami? The answer is simple. Because she's doing it with Nami.

The orange-haired girl pointed at a specific part of the map, "This-"

"Hey, Nami," Luffy called out.

The girl didn't answer him. She completely ignored him. Artemisia looked at Nami for a moment before glancing over at Luffy. Luffy was looking at the girls. For a split second, Artemisia thought that she just didn't hear him. She lightly tapped the girl's shoulder, making her look at her, "He's calling for you." Artemisia pointed in the direction of Luffy.

There was not even a glance spared for the boy. Nami turned her attention back to the map. She spoke in a hushed tone so the boy wouldn't hear, "Ignore him."

Ah, so this was a "ignore him until he goes away" tactic. These almost never worked. Especially when you're dealing with someone as persistent as Luffy. Artemisia gave Nami a look that said everything she was thinking. Still, Artemisia chose to voice her thoughts out loud, "You know he's gonna keep annoying you, right?"

You will not believe what Nami did. She used the same exact tactic. At least with Artemisia, she used her hand to wave her off instead of flat-out ignoring her like she did with Luffy. Speaking of Luffy, he was crouched down in front of the closed cabin door. He was staring at her with squinted eyes, trying to keep the sun out of them, "Nami!"

The tactic didn't work, and Nami didn't have the patience to try and continue it. She looked up from the map to give an annoyed glare to Luffy, "What?" She looked completely done with him. It almost made Artemisia laugh. She kept it inside since she had a feeling it was about to get even funnier.

A grin spread across Luffy's face as he held up the most horrendous thing that Artemisia had  ever seen, "It's ready!" What... Even... Was that? It was a freak of nature is what it is. Hurry, someone put it out of its misery. It can't go on looking like that. Seriously, what was he thinking when he made that?

It seemed like Artemisia wasn't the only one who was confused, "And what is that?" Nami asked.

What Luffy held up was something that Artemisia hoped she'd never see again. It was a piece of black fabric with a poorly made skull and crossbones. The skull was wearing a straw hat, similar to the one Luffy always wore. The only way that Artemisia could think to describe it was that it was horrifying to look at. Luffy looked more than happy to tell them about it, "Our Jolly Roger."

Mouth drop. Quite literally. Artemisia's mouth dropped open from shock. She gave a "Are you serious?" look to Luffy, "I pray to God that you're joking." No offense to Luffy, but she was sure a school-age kid could make a better flag than that.

"Nope!" Luffy exclaimed. Oh, hell, no. This was not happening. "Every pirate crew has to have one. And now we do!" They do not have one. Absolutely not. She would not let him fly that flag on her watch. She'll toss it into the ocean and act like she didn't know where it went. It was the perfect plan.

Meanwhile, Nami looked Luffy up and down. She knew he was serious and wasn't happy about it either. She gave him a dead look, "We're not a crew, and you are not hanging that on my boat." Artemisia shot the girl a glance. She thought that they had this conversation already when they were held captive by the circus freaks. At this point, they were a crew. It was time to admit it.

The grin on Luffy's face fell a little. It made Artemisia feel bad until she looked at the flag again. Nothing could excuse making that flag. The door to the cabin opened, and Zoro walked out. Luffy quickly turned to the man, "Zoro! Zoro, check it out." The boy held the flag up for the swordsman to see.

There was a moment of silence. Zoro looked at the flag, narrowing his eyes at it. He then turned his gaze to Luffy. Unlike the girls, he chose to be a bit nicer with his comments, "That's unique," Zoro walked past Luffy, walking straight to the two girls. "Nami, I think the toilet's busted."

Now this was news, "We have a toilet?" Artemisia was confused.

Nami blinked, "We don't have a toilet."

A thoughtful expression made its way onto Zoro's face. Well, as much as it could with his usual emotional face being present as well. Quietly, he said, "Oh," There was a moment of hesitation before he looked at the girl again, "Well, then something back there's leaking." That was not a good sign.

This much was obvious in the way Nami reacted, "What?" She quickly jumped up and ran straight into the cabin. The door closed behind her. The other three on the deck shared a look. They were waiting for the freakout that was bound to happen. Not even a second later, Nami came out of the cabin and did not look happy, "We're taking in water. What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything," Zoro stated.

Looking directly at the swords on Zoro's person, Nami shot out, "The way you're clanging those swords around all the time, you must've broken something."

"Maybe you should've stolen a better boat." Zoro snapped.

Okay. There was no way to really mediate this fight. Artemisia decided to add to it instead of trying to resolve it. She sat down on one of the crates at the bottom of the stack and crossed her legs, "To be fair," They all turned to look at her. Artemisia's gaze was firmly on Zoro, "You do swing those swords around sometimes. I was almost left with a bald spot coming back to the cabin one night." One night meaning literally the other night.

She hadn't let go of the incident since it happened. It was starting to get on Zoro's nerves. He stared at her with his teeth gritted and his eyes narrowed, "I wouldn't have swung at you if you hadn't been sneaking around like you broke in."

It was the middle of the night? Artemisia scoffed, "Sorry for not wanting to wake anyone up." Next time, she'll just bust the door open and knock some stuff over. That way, he'll be notified of her presence entering the cabin. She didn't doubt that she would still almost lose her head either way.

Sensing the animosity, Luffy cut in, "Guys. Guys. Guys," Everyone turned to him with exasperation. Artemisia let out an annoyed sigh. "Okay, crew meeting." Luffy folded the flag and set it to the side so they could have a better conversation. However, the flag was not what everyone was focused on anymore.

"Not a crew!"

"Not a crew."

The specific term he used seemed to be a problem with two people on the boat. Artemisia rolled her eyes and stood up, "Does it really matter what we call ourselves? We travel together, might as well call ourselves a crew." They were literally the definition of what a crew is. If you looked up the meaning of the word crew in a dictionary, their picture would be there.

"We're gonna need a better ship to make it to the Grand Line. A real pirate ship," Luffy chose to ignore the complaints about the term. He held up his index finger with a grin, like what someone does when they've got an idea. He did not have an idea. He instead said, "Worthy of the Straw Hat Crew."

Okay. What? "Wait," Nami spoke up again. "Straw Hat Crew? Really?"

A smile broke out on Luffy's face, "Yeah, I thought it had a nice ring to it."

Someone had a different opinion on this, ""Demon" has a nice ring to it," Zoro started. "Headgear?" He shook his head, "Not scary." Nothing about the Straw Hat Crew screamed you should be afraid of us. It didn't even say that you shouldn't mess with us. It sounded like something you would come up with while playing pretend.

"Who says pirates have to be scary?" Luffy questioned.

Well, he did have a point. But pirates were scary. Sometimes. Most of the time. It was a complex conversation that Artemisia didn't want to get into at the moment. None of them said anything. Zoro and Nami looked out at the ocean. Artemisia decided to say one thing: "Haven't you thought of anything more original? More... Cool?"

They should at least have a cool name if they weren't going to have a scary name. However, Luffy seemed to think differently, "The Straw Hat Crew is cool," His smile fell as he thought to himself. After a moment, he jumped right back into the conversation, "The point is we need a new ship. So where do we get one?"

Sighing, Nami grabbed her journal and looked in it, "Our best bet is the Gecko Islands. We can probably make it there before our ship sinks," Her eyes scanned their expressions, trying to gauge any kind of reaction from them. "Ditch this one and get a better one."

Seemed like a good idea to everyone. With the water coming in from the bottom, there was no way it was going to last much longer. It would be better to get a new one now than wait for this one to break down in the middle of the ocean. Zoro was the first to speak his approval, "Good. With a working toilet."

"Just don't go putting holes in the ship." Artemisia shot a sarcastic grin at a certain sword-swinging bounty hunter. The bounty hunter only stared back at her with a blank expression. She shrugged, nonchalantly. It was true. He needed to be a little more careful with his swords. She just didn't want to accidentally get her head cut off one night.

Grinning, Luffy pointed at Nami, "Great job, navigator."

Seeing Luffy go for the flag he made, Nami stated, "You're still not hanging that on my ship." The only response she got was a smile as he looked between her and the flag. Artemisia only smirked to herself. She just needed to execute her plan before they reached the island. Just take it when he wasn't looking, drown it in the ocean, and tell him she doesn't know what happened to it. Perfect. It was all coming together.

It didn't take long for the group to end up on an island. Unfortunately, the island was not the Gecko Islands. It was somewhere called Syrup Village. It was a small and quaint island. It reminded Artemisia a little of the island she stayed on when she was with Axel. Nami went out on her own to try and find information on whether or not there was some kind of shipyard. This left the other three to their own devices.

One of them was told to push their previous ship out into the ocean. That person was Luffy. Artemisia and Zoro decided to look around while he did that. The three ended up meeting up in the middle of the village. There was a board with a bunch of posters on it. One poster in particular caught the attention of the group.

"You got to be kidding me," Zoro looked at the poster. It was a poster of Buggy. It was the poster that Artemisia had seen when they were in Shells Town. She can remember what she thought previously when she looked at the wanted poster. About how she didn't want to meet the clown in the picture. That did not go as planned. "That clown was worth 15 million berry. We should've stuffed his head in a bag and brought it with us."

That's right. While Artemisia was annoyed about just seeing the clown, Zoro was mad about missing out on the money. Artemisia didn't blame him. She wanted money too, bad, "That's what I've been saying," Artemisia threw her hands up. "We're broke. We need to get some money soon."

A certain someone spoke up, "What Marine would pay you that bounty anyway?" Artemisia cast a glance down at him. Luffy was lying on his back with his feet up against the wall and his head behind his head. He was getting real comfortable down there. "You're kind of a wanted man yourself now."

A hum came from Zoro, "Didn't think of that."

Grunting, Luffy flipped over and stood. He looked directly at Zoro, making sure to lock eyes with him. Well, as much as he could with Zoro focusing on Buggy's poster, "All the more reason to get to the Grand Line," Luffy patted Zoro's shoulder, "Fresh start!"

Words of agreement were Zoro's response. Artemisia didn't agree. She was a money-hungry person. If there was an opportunity to make money, she would take it. In fact, she'd already come up with the perfect plan. A plan to get money and get back at the annoying clown. She shrugged and leaned closer to Zoro, "I don't know. You could have found Buggy's enemies and sold him off to them."

"I like that idea." Zoro nodded.

Just then, Nami joined the group. A smile grew on Artemisia's face at the sight of the girl. Maybe she had good news for them. Either way, Nami was a nice sight to stare at. Luffy was equally as happy to see the navigator, "Hey! You got us a ship?"

A grin grew on her face, "Working on it," Nami stared pointedly at the straw hat boy. "Did you push the sloop out to sea like I told you?"

"Yeah!" Luffy exclaimed. "No Marines are gonna be following us here."

The mention of Marines made Artemisia look around. She didn't see a single one in sight. In fact, she hadn't seen a single one since they boarded the island. Did the island even have any? Artemisia voiced these thoughts, "I'm surprised this place doesn't have any." She doubted that there was any here. If there was, they would've found some by now.

For a moment, Nami, Artemisia, and Zoro shared a glance. Nami focused her attention back on Luffy, "Well, we're not gonna be here for very long. Turns out Syrup Village is known for their ship building," Luffy grinned. That was definitely good news. They needed to get going if they were going to be going to the Grand Line. Artemisia couldn't wait to get out there where the real pros were. "Lots of options."

"Well, what are we waiting for then?" Luffy asked.

Upon asking that question, Luffy took off in a direction. A direction that was opposite of where Nami had come from. Nami stared at him in confusion as she glanced at where she came from. Artemisia had no idea how he could that unaware of his surroundings. He literally watched Nami walk toward them. He saw where she came from. Why was he going the opposite way?

This was what Nami was thinking. She stuttered out something and gave a confused glance to Artemisia. Artemisia only shrugged, "Probably better to just go with it."

The girls were the first to head after him. Zoro stayed behind for a moment before following them. They walked out to the shipyard, where multiple ships waited for them. Some were being built while others were already finished. It was a beautiful sight. Artemisia had seen plenty of ships out in the ocean, and these ships were just as beautiful as the ones she'd seen out there. They all had their own personalizations that made them unique, which she appreciated.

Luffy looked around, admiring, "Look at 'em all."

"How much do these cost?" Zoro inquired.

"If you have to ask," Nami glanced back at him. "You can't afford it."

A scoff escaped from Artemisia, "We can barely afford new clothes," She crossed her arms over her chest, "How would we be able to buy a ship?"

On the other hand, Luffy was focused on something else entirely. To him, money was not a problem. He was only thinking about getting the finest things when buying a ship, "Okay, so we need to get one with a very, very impressive figurehead," Artemisia gave him a look from the corner of her eye. How much money did he think they have? "At least two... No, no, three masts!" Nami shook her head at him. "And a really high crow's nest."

"We are not gonna be able to sail a ship anywhere near that size," Nami told him. "There's only four of us."

"Four of us right now." He corrected her.

The comment made Nami laugh a little, "Well, unless you can find another weird, desperate soul to help us." Ah, who knows? There could be quite a few out there. Artemisia didn't doubt that they could find someone else to join them. Especially with the charisma that Luffy had. The only problem would be getting someone to stay.

"Speak for yourself," Zoro said. He said it in a dark and brooding way that would make someone question whether he was forcing it. Artemisia didn't really know. Zoro wasn't a very emotional person, it was hard to get to know him when you first met him. If you even approach him. With how intimidating he is, some people would rather stay away.

But moving on from that. Artemisia shrugged, "Knowing him," Meaning Luffy. "He can probably talk someone into joining us." Again, it's his charisma. He was very charismatic. He could get anyone to do anything. Like Artemisia said before, the only problem would be getting someone to stay. With how reckless Luffy is, some people would want to leave out of fear for their lives. Not that she blamed them.

There was a moment where Nami glanced back at both Zoro and Artemisia. She thought about their words for a second before moving on to the important problem, "Listen. We are going to need something a little less flashy if we want to sneak out of here." Upon hearing this, Artemisia started scoping out the shipyard for a nice, but boring ship.

A different reaction was shown by Luffy. He slowed down his walking, "You want to steal a ship?"

Eventually, the group came to a full stop on the walkway. Nami scoffed with a grin as if she didn't believe that Luffy would ask that. Artemisia knew he would ask it. He had very high morals for someone wanting to be a pirate. Nami crossed her arms, "How else did you expect us to get one?"

Luffy shrugged, "I don't know. But we can't steal one."

"What kind of pirate are you?" Nami narrowed her eyes.

Looking puzzled, Luffy stared back at the girl. His gaze moved to Zoro and Artemisia, who were in agreement with the girl. Luffy moved his attention back to Nami, "A ship is not just a ship. It's part of our crew," The comment made Nami glance at the other two. Artemisia shrugged while Zoro gave no response or reaction. "We need to find the perfect one. And we're gonna get it the right way."

"Okay, pitch that to the salesman," Nami stated. "I'm sure that'll win him over."

It was obvious that Nami was being sarcastic. Anyone could tell. Even an idiot can tell. Unless you're an idiot named Luffy. With full sincerity, Luffy smiled at her and said, "Exactly." Before walking ahead of them to look at more ships.

Blinking a few times, Artemisia watched Luffy with an unexplained expression, "I'm gonna be honest," She shook her head to knock herself back into reality. She turned to the others, who seemed to feel the same way. "I worry about him sometimes."

A sigh came from Nami. The other three stayed firmly in their spots, not yet heading after Luffy. They needed to come up with a better plan than just asking someone to give them a ship for free. The other two were in agreement with Artemisia's thoughts. Zoro was the first one to ask what the actual plan would be, "So what are we actually gonna do?"

Once again, Nami sighed, "Find a ship and see how lax the security is around here," Zoro nodded and voiced his agreement. Artemisia only nodded. The three headed in the direction they saw Luffy go. It took a while, but they eventually found him. He was standing on a deck in front of a ship with a sheep mast. A man with a bandana was on the boat. Nami spoke to alert the two of their presence, "There you are."

Hearing the voice, Luffy turned to look at them, "Guys!" He had the biggest grin on his face. A grin grew on Artemisia's face as well. What could she say? His happiness was contagious. He was bouncing on his heels excitedly, "I found it. I found our ship," He rushed down the steps to meet them, "And this guy will sell it to us."

With a smile still on her face, Artemisia glanced at the other two, "Does he think we're made of money or something?" Neither responded. They were looking at the man on the boat.

Except, the man was already walking toward them on the group. He looked confused when he heard Luffy say those words. He stared between the four, stumbling over his words, "Uh, wait. What? Uh..."

"Yeah!" Luffy exclaimed. "The ship, we'll take it."

Judging by the look on the man's face, Artemisia was starting to doubt that he could sell it to them. He still looked really confused and was backtracking on what Luffy was saying, "Technically, she's not for sale," Luffy made a noise of question. The man shrugged with a grin, "And technically, I'm not a salesman." And Artemisia was right.

Shaking her head, Nami placed her hands on her hips, "Do you even work here?"

He was quick to respond, "Of course I do," He glanced at Luffy before facing the others once more, "I'm Chief Technician in charge of encrustation removal and aviary waste eradication." Ah, okay. Now Artemisia really understood. Bottom of the food chain. They found the wrong guy to talk to about buying a ship. Well, stealing a ship, but what did it matter?

Meanwhile, Luffy wasn't able to keep up, "Encru-what?"

Before the man could answer, Zoro spoke up, "He scrubs barnacles and cleans bird shit."

"He can't help us," Nami stated.

Artemisia sighed, "We'll have to find someone else then."

Both girls turned to leave. This guy couldn't help them, so they needed to focus on the plan of stealing a ship. The girls couldn't get far since the man quickly called out, "Wait! Wait! Wait!" They froze in their tracks, waiting to hear what he had to say. "I can help you," The statement made Nami raise an eyebrow in suspicion. "The owner of this ship just happens to be my closest friend in the world."

And this is where he was losing them. The first to speak on it was Nami, "Your friend owns this ship?" She didn't seem to believe him. Artemisia wasn't entirely sure if she believed him either. Why would he be in charge of a crappy job if he personally knew the person who owned the whole ship? He could've easily asked to be placed with a better job. That's what any rational person would've done. Well, maybe not Luffy. Well... Who knows? Maybe, maybe not.

"Not just this one," The man stated. "She owns the whole shipyard," Luffy started to look like his whole day turned into the best of his life. Artemisia was staring at the man in utter confusion. This guy knew the woman who owned the whole shipyard? How was that even possible? Again, he is basically bottom of the food chain. "She's rich rich."

"Oh!" Luffy quietly exclaimed.

None of this was adding up. Artemisia raised an eyebrow at him, "You're serious?" She was trying to gauge his expression. He could've been lying. Maybe he was wanting to seem more important than he was. However, when she really looked at him, she couldn't see any tells that suggested he was lying.

"Absolutely!" The man grinned. "I'm sure you could strike a deal with her."

A certain boy with a straw hat turned to the other three, "See?"

At first, there was silence. Nami glanced at Artemisia and Zoro before turning her attention back to Luffy and the man. A smile grew on her face, "Well, I guess it couldn't hurt to say hello." Artemisia rolled her eyes. She knew that Nami wouldn't resist when you brought in the rich aspect.

And so the man led them to where his friend supposedly lived. After a while of walking, a mansion came into sight. There was an impressive garden on the premises as well. Artemisia had to admit. The whole place definitely screamed rich. Maybe the man they learned was named Usopp was telling the truth. But, then again, the only way to know it is to continue to wait and see what happens.

"I've never seen a house this big before," Luffy commented.

Taking the lead, Usopp turned to grin at Luffy, "Impressive, right? Kaya's given me an open invitation to drop by anytime I want." Seemed like he and the woman were close then. Not everyone would let someone come over whenever. Once Artemisia got her own shack on the island, Axel said to not come over unless she needed something or there was an emergency. How she loved to break that rule.

"Wow," Luffy said. The two walked to the well that was in the middle of a brick circle. They hopped on the ring of the well and admired the mansion from afar. "All of this just for one person?"

"Well," Usopp rested his elbow on the ledge of the well, "She lives here with her butler and a few other staff." Artemisia nodded. Luffy jumped onto the ledge of the well and looked down inside it. He whistled as he saw how deep it was. There was a moment where Artemisia thought about how funny it would be to push him inside.

She chose not to. She was instead focused on something else, "Must be lonely."

A scoff came from Nami, "Rich people don't get lonely," Artemisia only glanced at the girl from the corner of her eye. She doubted that was true. She chose to keep her mouth shut either way. No sense in getting into it over something that didn't matter too much in the end. "Money really shows you who people truly are. Most people only care about themselves and what's theirs."

Zoro glanced at the girl before looking back at the mansion, "Sounds like someone I know."

"And a small staff makes for easy pickings," Nami stated.

The group started walking again. Usopp and Luffy led the way as they practically skipped toward it. The other three followed behind them as they took in their surroundings. They were heading toward an entrance that led them through a hedge entranceway. Zoro commented on Nami's words, "Why? Gonna rob the place blind?"

"At least a little blurry." Nami grinned.

Shaking her head, Artemisia smiled as well, "Wouldn't expect anything else from you." Nami glanced back at the two, showing them her bright smile. Artemisia had to admit, it made her heart speed up a little. She was sure that she was blushing. She looked away from Zoro, not wanting him to bring it up. It was too late, he'd already seen it. She avoided looking at him.

It was then that Luffy asked something they'd never considered, "So if you have an invitation, why are we going around the back way?" They made their way to a different part of the garden.

The garden was truly impressive. The most impressive part was the pond. The pond had clean water. A seahorse-shaped hedge was in the pond, and lilies rested in the water. It was beautiful. Artemisia could only imagine what it would be like living here. She hadn't even noticed that this was a back entrance. It was all so grand that it didn't even seem to matter much. Whoever Usopp's friend was was lucky to have all this.

Speaking of Usopp, his answer wasn't entirely believable, "Oh, I never use the front entrance. This is more of a VIP entrance reserved for special guests." Yeah, he was not telling the truth at all anymore.

And Artemisia wasn't the only one to pick up on it, "This guy's full of shit." Zoro spoke up.

"Yeah," Nami agreed. "But as long as he gets us inside the house, who cares?"

Something caught Artemisia's eye, "Looks like we're about to find out if he's telling the truth," Nami gave the girl a confused expression, not understanding what she meant. Artemisia gestured with her head toward what she saw, "Look." The girl did so.

On the porch were two staff members. One was a woman with blue hair. She was mopping the porch while the other staff member was taking care of a bear skin. That's what Artemisia assumed he was doing, at least. She couldn't tell much from having to jump on lilypads to get across the pond. The other staff member was a man, who was losing hair.

As soon as he saw them, Usopp turned around, "Oops. You know, there's actually a more exclusive entrance back this way."

Pursing her lips, Artemisia glanced at Nami and Zoro, "And there's your answer."

It was too late for Usopp. The staff members already spotted him. The male staff member walked forward and threw a knife at him. Artemisia jumped slightly as it landed on the lilypad Usopp was standing on. Usopp gasped and, instinctively, turned to the staff. The man didn't look happy to see him, "The hell are you doing here, Usopp?"

"Buchi, buddy, uh, Kaya's expecting me." Usopp made the excuse.

The female staff member stood near the porch. She was holding the mop like she was ready to use it as a weapon. The man, Buchi, looked ready to throw down with Usopp, "Another one of your lies," Buchi grabbed Usopp by his vest, bringing him closer so they could be eye to eye, "You ain't welcome here and you know it."

"I know nothing of the sort," Usopp said cheekily. "Uh, I'm here to give Kaya an extra-special gift." Buchi sneered down at the man. Artemisia was convinced that this was the end. They went through all this trouble just to have to go with their original plan of stealing a ship. What a hassle.

~~~

This was a long chapter, and it's not even halfway through the episode yet😭. I hope you liked the Nami and Artemisia moments. I've been working on the original storyline that I was telling you guys about previously, and it's coming along great. I already have four chapters written of it already. I would like to thank the people who checked out the TikTok account! The support is greatly appreciated! If you missed it previously, the TikTok account is snowkat2003_. I already posted more edits of this story if you would like to check it out.

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!