Arlong's fate was sealed.
Nami had personally avenged her mother.
With Arlong's death,
Nami's emotions were incredibly complicated.
After a moment of silence, she threw her arms around Nojiko and Gen and burst into tears.
"Bellemere, I finally avenged you! Waaah~~"
Nojiko and Gen could no longer hold back their tears either, and soon began sobbing loudly.
The other villagers were also weeping uncontrollably.
Even as they were moved, everyone applauded and cheered at Arlong finally getting what he deserved.
At that moment, an elder from Cocoyasi Village stepped forward.
His name was Nago. He was the village doctor and knew a little about tattooing as well.
Nago took a deep breath, then suddenly bowed ninety degrees to Can Yue, Luffy, and the others with his aged body.
Sanji immediately moved to help him up, but Nago stopped him.
"I am a doctor. I can treat pain in the body, but I can do nothing about the pain in Nami's family's hearts.
Before today, every time I thought of what Nami's family had suffered, I felt terribly distressed.
If that sickness of the heart continued to worsen, it would have taken Nami's life sooner or later.
But there was nothing I could do.
Thankfully, Nami met all of you.
What you did today was life-saving medicine for Nami.
So please, do not stop me. This is the gratitude this old man must show."
Can Yue, Luffy, and the others heard the heartfelt words of the village doctor.
Yet they did not feel particularly moved.
Because to them, doing this for Nami
had been inevitable.
Why?
Luffy steadied his straw hat and said those words with utter seriousness.
"Because Nami is our companion!"
As soon as he spoke, everyone was stunned.
The village doctor Nago and the other villagers all revealed joyful smiles.
They were genuinely happy for Nami.
Even the members of the Straw Hat Crew were more or less touched by Luffy's words.
'Companion.' What a simple word.
But in the eyes of the Straw Hat Crew,
once I recognize you as a 'companion,'
if you need help, I will offer it without asking for anything in return. Of course, some people would still demand something on the surface.
If you are in pain, I will do everything I can to comfort you.
If you have enemies, I will fight for you with my life.
Because a 'companion' is worth it!
Can Yue unconsciously smiled.
That was why he was willing to help Luffy achieve his dream.
That was why, despite being far stronger than the Straw Hat Crew, he still stayed with them.
Because such pure friendship was too rare.
Being with companions who treated others sincerely gave Can Yue peace of heart.
There was no need to tread carefully, no scheming or deception.
That was enough.
As for the other three fish-men,
the whale fish-man Kuroobi and the kissing fish-man Chuu had been knocked out and tied up in the warehouse.
They could be handed over to the Marines later in exchange for bounty money.
That would improve the villagers' lives somewhat.
As for Hachi's fate, Nami was conflicted.
Just moments ago, Nojiko had brought the little girl to her.
With a sincere expression, the girl made her plea.
She hoped Nami would spare Hachi, who had saved her.
Strictly speaking, the hatred between Nami and Hachi was difficult to resolve.
Because Hachi had been the one to discover Bellemere's existence.
Hachi had also told Arlong that there were two children in the house.
That directly led to Bellemere, who had only one hundred thousand Beli in savings, having no choice but to give up her life in order to save Nami and Nojiko.
At the time, Arlong's protection fee had been set at one hundred thousand Beli for an adult's life and fifty thousand Beli for a child's life.
If Arlong was the primary murderer,
then Hachi was the foremost accomplice.
But ever since Nami joined the Arlong Pirates eight years ago, Hachi had also been the fish-man who treated her the best.
He often came by to cheer Nami up.
As Nami gradually grew up, and her secondary sexual characteristics began to develop, increasing her sexual appeal,
Hachi had also been the one to stop the other fish-men who wanted to do improper things to her.
Hachi was usually very kind to the village children as well.
How to deal with Hachi truly left Nami torn.
At that moment, Can Yue walked over to Nami.
He patted her shoulder and said,
"When you cannot make a decision, try accepting the first thought that comes to mind."
Nami froze upon hearing Can Yue's advice.
A moment later, Nami made her decision.
"Hachi, throw him into the sea with his sword wound and let him fend for himself. From now on, he is forbidden from coming back!"
When Hachi heard Nami's decision, his eyes grew moist. He still wanted to say something.
But Nami stopped him.
"Listen carefully, Hachi. Letting you go only means I do not want to kill you. It does not mean I forgive you, understand?"
After saying that, Nami walked step by step toward the back mountain.
Watching this, Luffy asked Can Yue,
"Should we follow her? Nami looks so lonely."
Can Yue shook his head slightly.
"She is strong. She is probably going there to say goodbye to the past, so let us not disturb her."
"Okay."
Many things had happened since Can Yue and the others landed.
But in reality, less than two hours had passed.
And from the start of the battle between the Arlong Pirates and the Straw Hat Pirates to its end,
the actual time had not even been a quarter of an hour—just fifteen minutes.
Captain Nezumi had only recently returned to his Marine 16th Branch office after inspecting his territory.
He was just about to symbolically deal with the civilian requests and other work in his jurisdiction.
At that moment, a Marine hurried into Captain Nezumi's office.
"Captain, something terrible has happened!"
Captain Nezumi looked impatient.
"What could possibly happen around here? Pirates?"
"Yes, Captain. It is a pirate matter."
Hearing that, Captain Nezumi became even more dismissive.
"Then there is no need to worry. Arlong will deal with it for us. After all, in that guy's eyes, my jurisdiction is his territory."
Thinking of that, Captain Nezumi even revealed a crafty expression.
By taking advantage of Arlong's possessiveness, pirate disturbances in his jurisdiction had been quite rare.
But the reporting Marine still stood before Captain Nezumi with a tense expression.
"Hm? Is there anything else you need to say?"
The Marine swallowed and stammered out the words.
"The Straw Hat Pirates and the Fish-Man Pirates have started fighting."
Upon hearing that, Captain Nezumi, who had been so calm moments before, instantly broke into a cold sweat.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Our informant saw them begin fighting and immediately ran back to the secret base to call us."
Upon hearing the news, Captain Nezumi paced back and forth.
I reminded Arlong about this today. How did they start fighting so quickly?
The Straw Hat Crew is the publicly acknowledged overlord of the East Blue pirate world, while Arlong's group is the nightmare of East Blue's human pirate crews.
The Straw Hat Crew does not have a terrifying individual like Buggy among them, so the battle should not end up being completely one-sided.
No matter how I look at it, this is an opportunity for me.
Thinking of that, Captain Nezumi once again revealed a lecherous grin.
"Ki ki ki, give the order. Bring fifty men, prepare the warship, and head for Cocoyasi Village. Objective: capture the Straw Hat Pirates and Arlong's crew."
"Yes!"
Before you continue