Chapter Fourteen: Planning

Laffitte walked downstairs, drawing the attention of Mord and Nami.

Beli got up, muttered quietly to himself, and scurried over to the pile of food.
Eating was simply much happier.
Now that his training was bearing fruit and he could rapidly digest whatever he consumed, his appetite had skyrocketed.
History had proven that the boss had not lied to him back then.

Laffitte glanced briefly at Nami, then walked up to Mord.
"Mord, there should be a navigator with exceptional skill on this island."
As he spoke, Laffitte lifted the sea charts in his hand.
Actually, Laffitte had originally wanted to address Mord with titles like captain or commander, but at Mord's request, they ended up using first names instead.
In Mord's words, there was no need to draw such a rigid line between superiors and subordinates.
In truth, however, Laffitte personally felt that establishing a clear hierarchy was quite necessary.
Yet, since Mord had insisted, he didn't press the matter further.
As for Beli, he simply stuck to calling him "Boss" out of habit and saw no reason to change it.

"Mord..."
Hearing Laffitte's words, Nami finally learned Mord's name.
Mord glanced at the charts in Laffitte's hands. Knowing full well that Nami had drawn them, it wasn't easy for him to just blurt it out.
"Laffitte, if it's enough to make you say that, she must be an outstanding navigator indeed."
"Hoh-hoh, truly outstanding."
Laffitte lowered his gaze back to the charts in his hands.
Certain aspects of his personality were quite similar to Saul's.
When faced with undeniable facts, he would never deliberately belittle someone simply because they were in the same profession.
Good was good; there was no need for petty twisting of facts.

Having been praised by both Mord and Nami because of these charts, Nami lowered her head, Belle-mère's image involuntarily surfacing in her mind.
She recalled the time Belle-mère had praised the very first sea chart she had ever drawn.
Laffitte had no idea that Nami was the one who drew these charts, and from the moment he came downstairs to now, he hadn't paid her presence much mind.
Spreading the charts open with one hand, he said, "Mord, exceptional navigators are rare. I suggest we track this person down and recruit them."
"Don't we already have you?"
Mord looked surprised, completely unexpected that Laffitte would make such a suggestion.

Laffitte replied calmly, "When it comes to navigation, having multiple navigators brings only benefits and no drawbacks."
"Unnecessary. As for a navigator, having you is more than enough. Besides, in this field, I don't believe anyone could surpass you."
Mord refused without a moment's hesitation.
He understood Nami's abilities and potential far better than Laffitte did—one could even say he understood them better than Nami herself did at this current stage.
However, that was a matter for several years down the line.
Most importantly, the present Nami was far too weak, so weak that she failed to arouse even a shred of his interest.
Furthermore, in order to secure the crucial advantages in the grand upheaval two years from now, he himself was in urgent need of personal growth. How could he possibly have the spare time and energy to nurture Nami?
Besides, having an all-around powerhouse of a navigator like Laffitte was truly enough.

Sensing the resolute tone in Mord's voice, Laffitte pressed the matter no further.
Instead, he tapped his hard-soled leather shoes against the floor a few times.
This was the gesture he used to express his pleasure.
As the central figure of the conversation, Nami listened to Mord and Laffitte's discussion with highly complicated feelings.
Wanting to discuss some business with Laffitte, Mord looked toward Nami and said tactfully, "Nami, we have some things to take care of in a moment..."
"..."
Catching the dismissal in Mord's words, Nami opened her mouth.
In the end, harboring a swirl of complex emotions, she ultimately said nothing and simply left Arlong Park.

Passing through the breach in the wall and stepping outside, Nami raised a hand to pat her cheeks, quickly pulling herself together.
"The destruction of the Arlong Pirates is a tremendously good thing. What on earth am I feeling down about?"
Nami muttered to herself, rubbed her temples, and began walking in the direction of Cocoyasi Village.
A moment later, a bright, genuine smile bloomed across her face.
With the Arlong Pirates gone, she was already mapping out a beautiful future.

As she walked, Nami spotted a large crowd of people running toward her from the direction of Cocoyasi Village.
She knew they were the villagers led by Genzo and Nojiko, coming specifically to express their heartfelt gratitude to Mord in person.
Only...
Nami glanced back at the towering, steeple-like building and murmured to herself, "Mord wouldn't care about things like that at all."

***

Mord led Laffitte into the room where a massive fortune of Beli was stored.
Upon seeing the mountain-like pile of Beli, a sharp gleam lit up in Laffitte's eyes.
A pirate crew with a bounty of a mere twenty million berries actually possessed this vast amount of capital.
Laffitte was not Mord and lacked prophetic intelligence, so he was quite astonished by the profound financial foundation of the Arlong Pirates.

Observing Laffitte's reaction, Mord smiled and said, "Feeling like you made the right choice coming here?"
Laffitte tapped his shoes against the floor a few times and said earnestly, "I wonder if there are any other places in the East Blue where we can reap such massive rewards with virtually zero effort. If there are, it would certainly be worth making a few more trips."
"Haha, you can forget about that. For now, our priority is to get our hands on a decent-masted ship as quickly as possible."
Mord walked over to the pile of cash and sighed, "The problem right now is that our small sailboat can't possibly carry away this much money, and there are no decent large ships nearby. At times like this, I really wish a Marine warship would just sail right into port."

Laffitte pondered for a moment before saying, "This island is indeed a bit strange. Along the way, we hardly saw any decent-sized vessels. However, transporting the money shouldn't be too difficult."
"You have a plan?"
"Yes."
Laffitte picked up the sea charts in his hand. "There is an island nearby that takes four days of sailing to reach. It falls under Navy jurisdiction, which means there will be at least a garrison of one warship stationed there."
"Therefore, we only need to clear out the food and fresh water on our ship until only a four-day supply remains, freeing up the space to load all this money."
"Once we arrive at that island, finding a way to trade for a proper ship will be simple enough."

The method Laffitte proposed involved compressing their navigational supplies to make room for the Beli.
It was a strategy only a supremely confident navigator would dare to consider.
After all, out on the open sea, food and fresh water were the ultimate lifelines.
Finding the proposal viable, Mord nodded. "Let's do it that way then. Pack in as much as we possibly can."

Having resolved the issue, Mord turned his attention back to Laffitte and proactively brought up the topic of the Hunter's Notebook.
"Laffitte, I possess an ability that allows me to strengthen my own power by killing people."
"Oh?"
Laffitte was stunned.
He had never even heard of such an ability; not even Devil Fruits could achieve something like that, could they?
Mord continued, "This is the leverage I hold. Do you know what this signifies?"
"Hoh-hoh."
In an instant, Laffitte pieced many things together.
So that was how it was.
For some reason, a chill ran through Laffitte's entire body, goosebumps erupting one after another as if his very soul was trembling.
Immediately following the chill was an indescribable, surging excitement.
"Looked at this way, I've truly hitched my wagon to a monster of a captain..."

Laffitte suppressed his boiling excitement, though faint traces of it still leaked onto his face.
He had bet correctly!
The man standing before him possessed a towering, undeniable potential to conquer the world!

Looking at Laffitte, Mord asked, "So, how do you think we can make the most efficient use of this ability of mine?"
"The position of the Warlords of the Sea," Laffitte replied without a moment's hesitation.