A Reasonable Elevation (Thanks to Cai Bu Shi Wei Zhen Tian for the 15,000 Qidian Coins)

It's probably just a coincidence.

The rain gradually stopped as the tomb-sweeping ceremony ended.

It was a bit of a shame that no rainbow appeared in the sky.

The ground in the Orange Grove was very muddy.

Nami's snow-white skin was covered in mud splatters, and her little feet looked like they were covered in dark chocolate cream cakes.

She became a veritable "Cat Burglar".

"You may have easily killed A Zhang, but Arlong is not such an easy opponent!"

Nami wiped away her tears and walked unsteadily beside Ma Qiao, saying earnestly, "That's a truly terrifying demon. I hope you'll consider your own abilities..."

Wallace, a reporter from the East Blue Daily, was taking notes in his notebook.

"Do you know...?"

Nami's tone was chilling, and her body trembled slightly from the inertia of fear. "Arlong once bit a rifle to pieces!"

Ma Qiao nodded. "Wallace, did you hear that? This Arlong once bit through a 64-pound cast iron cannon!"

Nami: "Arlong, with overwhelming strength, subdued a terrifying giant manatee!"

Ma Qiao: "Did you hear that? Arlong has kept Sea Kings as pets. Those guys in the Calm Belt are just French fries to him!"

Nami: "Arlong can smash through a ten-meter-high wall with one punch!"

Ma Qiao: "Did you hear that? Arlong's punch can shatter a red clay mountain hundreds of meters high... If it weren't for that brat Fisher Tiger meddling back then, that riot wouldn't have been as simple as just the so-called 'Fish-Man Hero' climbing onto the Red Line..."

Nami: "Even the strongest Pirate Hunter in the East Blue can't stand up to Arlong!"

Ma Qiao: "Did you hear that? Admiral Kizaru was defeated by Arlong!"

Nami: "..."

Finally, Nami couldn't suppress her anger any longer. She activated her "Conqueror's Haki," which she used to beat up her teammates, and jumped up to tightly choke Ma Qiao's neck with her handcuffed arms.

"You idiot! Do you even know how powerful Arlong is?! Stop adding fuel to the fire with all this weird stuff! Mary Geoise, Fisher Tiger, Kizaru... what the hell are those people?!"

Wallace timidly reminded him from the side:

"Miss Nami, your revelation is far too bland. Mr. Ma Qiao is just trying to elevate it artistically... Those big shots he mentioned, the strongest bounty hunter in the East Blue that you call yourself, are nothing but ants in front of them!"

"Huh?"

Nami jumped off Ma Qiao, looking incredulous, and said, "No way! He's the strongest in the East Blue!"

"For certain reasons, our East Blue has always been just so lame..."

Wallace wiped the cold sweat from his brow. "However... Mr. Ma Qiao, while news writing emphasizes reasonable embellishment and appropriate exaggeration, our newspaper has always wanted to create a Big News Morgans..."

But isn't what you're saying a bit too shocking...?

Even if I dared to write it like that, the newspaper editor wouldn't dare to report it like that...

"Exaggerate?"

Ma Qiao shook his head. "I'm not exaggerating at all. The Arlong Pirates are a group of vicious and ruthless pirates!"

"Um, Mr. Wallace, don't you know who the commander-in-chief is leading this operation?"

"Ah?"

Wallace hesitated, then asked uncertainly, "Isn't it Mr. Smoker, who is a colonel at headquarters?"

"Ugh, that Smoker, he didn't tell you anything... Honestly, he doesn't respect our journalist friends at all!"

Ma Qiao took out a white helmet and personally put it on Wallace.

"A white helmet—that's the highest standard of journalistic ethics! Only those who are truly masterful in the ways of journalism can carry off this honor..."

Ma Qiao silently added in his mind, "Because my conscience will hurt."

"In short, the overall commander of this encirclement, no, this war, is Lieutenant Vice Admiral Garp, whom you just met. He has arrived at the 16th Branch base and is ready to support us at any time!"

"And the deputy commander is none other than Vice Momonga, the commander of the G-1 Branch, which ranks first among the more than one thousand branches in the Navy, and is known as 'The Justice of Good Men'— Vice Admiral Twitch!"

"Smoker is still a long way from being a pro!"

Wallace was dumbfounded as he listened to Ma Qiao rattle off this super-luxurious lineup with such familiarity.

So it turns out that Lord Garp doesn't just provide protection from afar, but personally leads the charge and gets into battle?

Nami's eyes grew brighter and brighter.

She didn't know anything about the Momonga or the G-1 Branch.

However, the name of naval Garp the Hero is as well-known in the East Blue as Germa 66 Stealth Black is in the North Blue; every child has heard of him.

Such a legendary figure has taken action...

Arlong...

It must be over, right?

After all, she was a naive 16-year-old girl who had never seen the world, and the childhood trauma that Arlong left on her was too great, so even now, Nami still feels a little uneasy.

"Speaking of which..."

Nami raised her hands. "When are you going to unlock my handcuffs?"

"Untie?"

Ma Qiao shook his head. "Aren't you Cat Burglar? One thing at a time. You still have to eat your jail food, and after that, you'll have to work as customer service for me and do labor reform!"

"That's outrageous! I'm just an innocent girl being coerced; I have my own grievances..."

Nami shouted loudly, but before she could finish speaking, she was surprised to find that this damn bastard had stopped in front of a small house.

This is Nami's house.

Ma Qiao raised his foot and kicked the door open roughly, then turned around and said with a grin, "If we search this place carefully, we might find some incredible stolen goods... Don't you think so... Miss Cat Burglar?"

"Um... how could that be? I'm just a newcomer who just debuted... Nojiko, no!"

Just as Nami was trying to fool them, a dark-skinned, blue-haired girl suddenly jumped down from the roof beam, holding a stick in her hand. (See picture)

"Nami, run!"

Just as Nojiko's club was about to strike Ma Qiao's head, a Long Sword easily blocked it from the side.

Nojiko was trying to adjust her angle in mid-air to kick the guy who had "kidnapped" Nami when Garen had already lifted her upside down with his bare hands.

"Let me go! You bastards!"

Nojiko slapped Garen's arm with all her might, but it didn't even qualify as scraping.

"They dare not defy Arlong, yet they openly attack the navy?"

Ma Qiao shook his head. "It seems the grassroots governance in this world is truly broken down..."

Garen put the girl down, who wasn't exactly a threat. She wanted to do something else, but luckily Genzo managed to push through the crowd and stop Nojiko.

Nami quickly explained, "It's not what you think, Ma Qiao... Ma Qiao isn't a bad person... he's just a little lecherous..."