One Piece: Star Sea Legend

Chapter 22: Clash, Qin Ming vs. Luffy!!!

“That was really dangerous just now, you almost got hit.”

Luffy slowly walked towards Qin Ming, looking at the scattered rubble and tiles from the roof he had smashed, and carelessly remarked.

“Huh? Qin Ming, is that a stone hat on your head? It kinda looks like my straw hat, hahaha.”

Seeing Qin Ming lying on the ground with five neatly stacked stones on the back of his head, the top one noticeably larger than the others, Luffy burst out laughing. From his angle, it looked like Qin Ming was wearing a stone hat.

Since he was standing behind them, Luffy didn’t yet know what had happened between Qin Ming and Nami.

Qin Ming was still in a semi-petrified state. Normally, if he heard Luffy say something like that, he might have jumped up and punched the guy. But right now, Qin Ming was in no mood to deal with Luffy. The moment he realized Luffy was approaching, his first reaction was to quickly get up from Nami.

When Qin Ming stood up, he felt dazed, his thoughts sluggish, as if he had developed dementia.

Glancing at Nami, whom he had just helped up, Qin Ming noticed that she also looked stunned, clearly still in shock.

Everything had happened too suddenly. Without any warning, Qin Ming and Nami had ended up lip-to-lip.

What made it worse was that this was both of their first times kissing someone of the opposite sex, and the experience felt utterly terrible.

Qin Ming couldn’t help but think, “Since coming to the world of One Piece, the first time I met Nami, I ended up touching her chest. The second time we met, I kissed her. Even though it was an accident, it still happened.”

He thought that as a man, if Nami didn’t object, he would take responsibility for what had happened. But what Qin Ming couldn’t accept was that during his first intimate moment with a girl—especially Nami—he had five stones stacked on his head.

“What kind of man kisses a girl with five stones on his head?” Qin Ming felt deeply embarrassed, thinking he had completely ruined his image in front of Nami.

It was natural. When a man kisses a girl, he wants to show his most handsome side.

Nami’s feelings, however, were far more complicated. She knew she had developed some feelings for Qin Ming, but they weren’t at the point where they should be kissing. Yet, it had happened.

What made Nami feel even more awkward was that Qin Ming’s kiss hadn’t been gentle at all. In fact, it had been quite forceful.

When Qin Ming had kissed her, Nami had felt her lips being pressed hard, almost painfully.

Of course, Qin Ming hadn’t been able to control his strength at that moment, given the force of the impact.

Nami’s primary concern was still her hometown. Although she had considered teaming up with Qin Ming before, it had mainly been to quickly raise 100 million Berries.

As for her feelings for Qin Ming, honestly, Nami hadn’t thought that far ahead.

For years, Nami had been living a life of stealing from pirates, constantly risking her life to gather money, all for the sake of saving her village.

Every time she narrowly escaped death, she would think of her home, the orange groves, her sister, the people of her village, and Bell-mère, the woman she considered her mother.

These were the things that kept her going, giving her the strength to continue stealing from dangerous pirates.

But after parting ways with Qin Ming the last time, Nami had found herself thinking about him during her quiet moments. It was the first time she realized that some things weren’t so easy to forget.

When she saw Qin Ming again in Orange Town, she felt a flicker of joy. But before she could express it, the two of them had shared an unexpected “surprise,” leaving her struggling to process it.

“Hey, Luffy, do you know what you did wrong?”

Qin Ming grabbed Luffy by the collar, thinking that if Luffy hadn’t smashed the roof, he wouldn’t have ended up in such an awkward situation with Nami. This glutton had screwed him over again.

“I did go a bit too far,” Luffy admitted, looking genuinely remorseful. “I wrecked someone’s house. When the owner comes back, I’ll make sure to apologize.”

“No, you should be apologizing to us! No, actually, an apology isn’t enough to fix this.”

Qin Ming was driven to frustration by Luffy’s single-mindedness and started yelling in his face.

“What’s wrong with you two? Your lips are all swollen. Did you both get some kind of lip-swelling disease?”

Luffy, completely oblivious to why Qin Ming was so upset, glanced between Qin Ming and Nami, noticing their swollen lips and confused expressions.

“That’s not it! We just—”

Qin Ming, who had just regained his composure, was about to come up with an excuse when Nami, blushing furiously at the memory of Qin Ming’s lips on hers, suddenly exploded, “Stop talking!”

Bam!

Before Qin Ming could finish, Nami’s fist sent him sprawling.

“Ouch, that hurt!”

Qin Ming crouched on the ground, clutching his head. Earlier, he had been hit by falling debris, leaving a bump on his head. Now, Nami’s “Haki-infused” fist had added to his pain. It was a miracle he hadn’t cried out.

“I remember you. You’re with Qin Ming. What’s your name again?”

Luffy scratched his chin, looking at Nami.

“I’m Nami, a thief who specializes in stealing from pirates. Let’s find a place to talk.”

Nami glanced at Qin Ming, who was still crouching on the ground, and sighed. She remembered that both times she had run into Luffy, she and Qin Ming had ended up in unfortunate situations. But right now, her mind was too chaotic to even think about hitting Luffy.

Some time later, in an empty house in Orange Town.

“Is this your home?” Luffy asked, sitting on a chair in the living room.

“No, I’m a wandering thief. I don’t know whose house this is. Everyone in town has fled to escape the Buggy Pirates at the bar.”

Nami sat casually on the table, explaining to Luffy.

Meanwhile, Qin Ming found some bandages and basic medical supplies in the house and started tending to his wounds.

“Oh, are they that scary? That Nami pirate.”

Luffy’s words made Nami furious. “Nami is me! The pirate is Buggy!”

Qin Ming noticed that after talking with Luffy for a while, Nami seemed to regain some of her spirit. He couldn’t help but admire Luffy’s ability to unintentionally say things that drove people crazy.

“Buggy is infamous for his love of cannons. There was a town where some kids made fun of his nose, and he bombarded the entire place. He’s also said to use some strange techniques.”

Nami’s expression grew serious as she explained Buggy to Luffy and Qin Ming.

Qin Ming, however, didn’t react much, still focused on treating his wounds.

Luffy, on the other hand, looked around and asked a question that nearly made Nami lose her temper. “But why is the town so empty?”

“Didn’t I just say everyone’s evacuated? Are you two even listening to me?”

Nami shouted at both Luffy and Qin Ming.

Qin Ming, realizing he needed to remove his shirt to treat some of his wounds, ignored Nami’s yelling and took the bandages and medicine to a separate room, closing the door behind him to tend to his injuries alone.

Needless to say, Qin Ming’s actions infuriated Nami. The fact that she didn’t immediately beat him up showed remarkable restraint.

The truth was, Qin Ming felt awkward around Nami now. Whenever he looked at her, she would avoid his gaze, and when she looked at him, he would instinctively look away. They couldn’t even make eye contact.

It was incredibly awkward.

About ten minutes later, Qin Ming emerged from the room, only to find Luffy tied up with rope by Nami.

“What are you doing?”

Qin Ming rushed over to Luffy, untying him while shouting at Nami.

“Why are you a pirate? Why did you lie to me?”

Nami’s once-bright eyes were now dull, filled with despair as she stared at Qin Ming, asking him these questions.

Hearing her words, Qin Ming’s hands froze as he untied Luffy. He turned to look at Nami, seeing her pale, distraught face, and found himself unable to speak.

While Qin Ming had been tending to his wounds, Nami had learned from Luffy that both he and Qin Ming were pirates.

This revelation hit Nami like a thunderbolt. She had always hated pirates, and now the person she had started to trust, even feel something for, turned out to be one of them.

In that moment, Nami felt as if she had been transported back to eight years ago, to the day Bell-mère had died at the hands of pirates. A heart-wrenching pain filled her chest.

The person she had thought she could trust, the person she had even considered giving her heart to, was a pirate—the very thing she had despised for so many years.

It felt like a cruel joke.

“Do you know who I hate the most in this world? Pirates! All I care about is money and oranges! Why didn’t you tell me earlier that you’re a despicable pirate?!”

Nami’s emotions were out of control. Tears filled her eyes as she screamed at Qin Ming.

“Hey, Qin Ming, why did you make our navigator cry?”

Luffy, still tied up, saw that Nami—who had just agreed to join them as their navigator—was crying. And it seemed to be because of Qin Ming. Luffy, who valued his crew deeply, assumed Qin Ming had done something to upset her.

Nami had initially agreed to join Luffy’s crew with the intention of leading them into a trap set by the Buggy Pirates. But when she saw Qin Ming, she had struggled to keep her emotions in check. She had easily tricked the naive Luffy into letting her tie him up, claiming it was necessary to take him to Buggy.

Luffy, being Luffy, had fallen for it without a second thought.

“Yeah, he treated me really badly. You have to help me.”

Nami sobbed, tears streaming down her face as she spoke to Luffy. Her words were a mix of truth and lies, and Luffy, being the simple-minded person he was, believed her completely.

At this point, Nami still held a sliver of hope for Qin Ming. She naively thought that if Qin Ming and Luffy had a falling out, maybe Qin Ming would stop being a pirate. That would count as turning over a new leaf, right?

“She’s our crewmate now. How could you treat her so badly that she’s crying? And she’s a girl! You’re the worst!”

Luffy’s face was filled with anger as he suddenly stretched his head towards Qin Ming, shouting, “Gomu Gomu no Headbutt!”

Boom!

Qin Ming dodged Luffy’s attack, which ended up smashing a hole in the wall. Seeing that Luffy wasn’t holding back, Qin Ming’s anger flared as well. “You idiot! Are you trying to kill me?”

“Yeah, you should die! Anyone who bullies their crewmates deserves to be punched!”

Luffy’s expression was serious, his brows furrowed with anger. He wasn’t joking around.

“What the hell?”

Qin Ming, already frustrated by the situation with Nami, was now being attacked by Luffy, who hadn’t even bothered to hear his side of the story. Even the most patient person would lose their temper.

“Can’t you think for yourself? Can’t you listen to explanations?”

Qin Ming clenched his fists, taking a step forward as he tried to control his anger.

“Fine, then answer me this: Did you really bully her? Is she crying because of you?”

Luffy stared straight at Qin Ming. “You can’t deny it, can you? Because it’s the truth! So what else is there to say?”

Qin Ming was left speechless by Luffy’s questions. Strictly speaking, he had taken advantage of Nami twice, which could be considered bullying. And Nami was indeed crying because of him.

“Looks like no matter what I say, you won’t listen. Let me ask you one more time: Are you serious about this?”

Qin Ming’s gaze turned cold as he stared at Luffy.

“I don’t joke about things like this. I told you, anyone who bullies their crewmates deserves to be punched!”

Luffy took a step forward, not backing down.

“Fine then…”

Qin Ming walked past Nami, who was still crying, and sighed almost imperceptibly. He picked up a fruit knife from the table and threw it at Luffy without hesitation. “You’re tied up, so I won’t take advantage of you.”

Whoosh!

The knife cut through the ropes binding Luffy.

Without wasting a second, Luffy charged at Qin Ming, fist raised. “You’re injured, but I won’t go easy on you. Be ready!”

“You’re the one who should be ready. Don’t regret your stupidity only after you’re in hell!”

Qin Ming clenched his fists and charged at Luffy as well.

“Monkey D. Luffy!”

“Qin Ming!”

In front of Nami, the two men shouted each other’s names as their fists collided with each other’s faces.

The force of their punches created a gust of wind that blew Nami’s orange hair back. Both men were sent flying in opposite directions, crashing through the walls of the house.

Boom!

Crash!

Qin Ming and Luffy had punched each other so hard that they flew out of the house, leaving Nami standing alone in the wreckage…