Starting with two Kamui, they raised the flag of rebellion in One Piece.

Undoubtedly, the villager uncle who owned the furniture store spoke out of goodwill towards the benefactor who saved the village; otherwise, if it were just a simple business transaction, he wouldn't have risked losing the order by mentioning it.

"I don't actually know much about ships, but I've already had someone look at this one."

Li Mingyuan looked at the middle-aged man in front of him, thought for a moment, and then replied, "It should be able to sail for at least a few years without any problems. I don't plan to keep this ship indefinitely. I'll get a new ship when the time is right."

Upon hearing Li Mingyuan's reply, the bearded man slapped his forehead and smiled sheepishly.

"Haha, it seems I was being nosy. Since you already know what's going on, that's fine."

"But since I've already said so much, I'll say one more thing now."

"Hey buddy, you're really skilled. Taking down that Arlong who's still a bounty hunter, you must be quite an expert, right? Why haven't you considered joining the Navy, or even just any kingdom's guard?"

The bearded man asked doubtfully, "You don't seem to know much about sailing. This kind of life should suit you better than drifting at sea."

"Continuing to be a bounty hunter is too dangerous. You never know when you might run into a vicious pirate and lose your life."

The profession of bounty hunter is indeed a very niche one in a sense.

Leaving aside the danger, the main point is that it doesn't even have much of a presence.

In the main story, Zoro was a pirate hunter before, and his title was pirate hunter. So when Zoro is mentioned, his profession is mentioned from time to time. Otherwise, in the later part of the original story, this profession was almost forgotten by the author, and there is no related scene at all.

In the later stages of One Piece, how many of those wanted criminals with bounties exceeding 100 million were actually killed by pirate hunters?

The bounty system is just for show; bounty hunters have no real ability to fight for it. In the later stages, the bounty is simply a numerical value representing combat power and influence. It's just for show and to incite infighting among pirates. I doubt any bounty hunter actually thinks they can get those heads.

Although Li Mingyuan himself didn't take this identity too seriously, he didn't expect that a villager would now be advising him not to go to sea to become a bounty hunter.

For a moment, Li Mingyuan felt that he was also quite speechless.

"...I'll consider it."

"Thank you for the suggestion, but it's getting late, let's talk about it tomorrow."

After repeatedly reassuring himself that he was just a fake bounty hunter and had nothing to do with the bounty, Li Mingyuan finally looked at the bearded man in front of him again and thanked him for his concern.

After offering his advice, the bearded man seemed quite satisfied.

"It's just some old people's gossip. I hope you don't find me annoying."

"That's settled then, see you tomorrow, buddy!"

He didn't say anything more, just told Li Mingyuan to get some rest, and then turned and left.

After seeing the bearded man off, Li Mingyuan did not linger any longer.

I returned to my room.

Li Mingyuan lay on the bed with his hands behind his head.

"Now that Nami is taken care of, the next step is the ship's doctor. Also, now that we're on the Grand Line, I can finally start looking for a way to solve my eye problem and improve my strength."

"But all of these things can only be considered incidental stops along the way."

"I need a phased, long-term goal to encompass all the experiences of this journey."

Li Mingyuan was contemplating the future.

The bearded man who spoke to him earlier, though only offering a friendly reminder of his true identity, did, in a way, remind him that his outward appearance was merely a disguise to conceal his true nature, and that his real plans were for something else entirely.

Now that Nami's problem has been solved and he has a navigator, he can officially enter the Grand Line. So he has to face a reality - what should he do next?

A sea voyage isn't a one-step process; there's a long time for him to grow along the way. He'll also pass by many islands, and finding a ship's doctor or strengthening his abilities can all be done along the way.

After thinking about it for a while, a hint of certainty flashed across Li Mingyuan's face.

"No matter how I think about it, there really isn't a better option than this. If it's now, it's the perfect time to go there."

"—Let's go to Wano Country!"

A glint of light flashed in Li Mingyuan's eyes.

What does he lack most right now? The answer remains unchanged: the assistance he needs to overthrow the world government.

Once he has accumulated enough functional partners, he will still have to confront the World Government head-on in the end. He can find crew members like Nami without any problem, but if he wants to set long-term goals, he will still have to recruit strong people.

At this point, the first person that naturally came to mind for Li Mingyuan was a very eye-catching character from the Wano Country arc.

The daughter of Kaido, one of the Four Emperors, is a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user with the Dog-Dog Fruit, Mythical Zoan type, and the Great Mouth God form.

Yamato.

She is not only a popular character in the original story, but more importantly, her strength is extremely impressive. Yamato can be said to be the weak Emperor-level expert that he can theoretically obtain in One Piece.

Ordinary Yonko commanders are no match for Yamato. Yamato not only possesses Conqueror's Haki and a Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit, but she also held her own against Kaido in a short period of time.

This configuration and positioning far exceed that of an ordinary royal deputy.

Putting everything else aside, just the sheer presence of Conqueror's Haki alone is enough to reach the absolute threshold of the Emperor level.

"At this point in time, Ace should have only been at sea for a short while. Let alone going to the New World, it's questionable whether he's even reached the Grand Line. Otherwise, I should have seen it on the news by now."

"If Ace hadn't gone to Wano Country yet, I could have used that time difference to take Ace's place in the original story and become a special person in Yamato's heart."

"If handled properly, there shouldn't be any problem bringing them directly onto the ship!"

To be able to intercept a powerful figure of this caliber before the original storyline unfolds is an opportunity that is rare even in the entire One Piece series. Most importantly, it is a high-reward, low-risk endeavor.

Given that, what reason does he have not to do it?

With this in mind, Li Mingyuan had already made his decision.

If it were Yamato, even giving her the position of first mate wouldn't be a problem, but in any case, he would find a way to bring such a powerful force onto his ship.