Setting Sail

With Hachi sent flying by Sanji's kick,

the matter of dealing with Arlong's gang came to an end.

Amid Luffy's loud shouting, Party 2.0 officially began.

Can Yue and the others had arrived on the island at around four in the afternoon.

By now, it was nearing evening.

The villagers lit bonfires, and with Sanji and the other housewives working tirelessly in the kitchen,

all kinds of delicious food once again took center stage at the banquet.

As for where Nami and Nojiko were,

the two of them were with Gen.

The three stood together before Bellemere's grave atop the mountain.

Taking turns speaking, it was as if they wanted to tell that great mother in heaven about everything they had experienced over the past eight years.

The three of them laughed at times and cried at others.

But one thing they shared was that their grief was gradually fading.

Their anticipation for the future was growing stronger and stronger.

Half an hour later, the three poured their final cups of wine over Bellemere's grave.

Gen looked fondly at the two sisters, who had gradually emerged from the shadows of their childhood.

Then he removed the pinwheel that had accompanied him for eighteen years from his head.

He placed it before Bellemere's grave.

This pinwheel was something Gen had used to cheer Nami up when she was little.

But at that moment, Gen thought to himself,

Now that you have these companions, the pinwheel can retire.

Seeing this, Nami smiled knowingly.

"Mr. Gen, thank you."

Gen smiled happily.

"Nami, from now on, you're free!"

"Mm!"

At the banquet,

Usopp stood somewhere high up, singing the "Usopp Support Song."

Luffy, Johnny, and Joseph were dancing wildly with chopsticks stuck up their nostrils.

Zoro was still competing with the men in drinking.

Sanji was surrounded by a pile of women, immersed in sweet bliss.

Can Yue did not remove his mask. After eating a little, he took a jug of wine and stood at the dock with Chouchou.

Looking out over the sea, Can Yue knew someone was coming.

Why did he know that?

Because at Can Yue's feet was a bound Marine intelligence officer.

While everyone else was celebrating, this guy had secretly slipped toward the dock.

That suspicious behavior caught Can Yue's attention.

So Can Yue captured him, before he had even started interrogating him.

This Marine intelligence officer immediately confessed everything.

Because he had clearly witnessed Can Yue's tremendous strength and the vicious way he had beaten Arlong.

The intelligence officer knew full well that resisting would only bring suffering. Besides, his superior was probably doomed this time.

There might not even be anyone left to hold him accountable for betraying them.

So he told Can Yue about the first report he had already sent to the Marines.

Originally, he had planned to secretly inform the branch about the Straw Hat Crew's terrifying strength.

But before he could make his report, Can Yue captured him alive.

Can Yue sat on the dock, drinking as his eyes occasionally drifted toward the horizon.

Near midnight, a Marine warship entered Can Yue's field of vision.

Can Yue snorted. That warship should belong to that corrupt official, Captain Nezumi.

Trying to reap the rewards without lifting a finger?

Can Yue looked at Chouchou and gave an order.

"Sink that warship!"

Chouchou answered with a bark. As he ran toward the dock, he transformed into his dog demon form and flew toward the warship.

Captain Nezumi had been gleefully fantasizing about being promoted and getting rich after capturing two groups of pirates.

Suddenly, a massive demonic beast appeared above the warship.

The terrifying Demonic Aura made the useless drunks aboard the ship tremble in fear.

Captain Nezumi's reaction was even stronger. He had climbed from an ordinary Marine to his current position through nothing but scheming.

As for combat strength, he was probably weaker than even his own soldiers.

When he suddenly saw such a gigantic flying demonic beast, his legs went weak and he collapsed to the ground, able only to order his men to open fire on the giant dog.

But the outcome had long been decided.

One minute later, the warship sank.

Chouchou returned to Can Yue's side.

Can Yue casually cut the rope binding the Marine intelligence officer at his feet, grabbed his clothes, and tossed him away.

The intelligence officer flew dozens of meters before plunging into the sea.

"No one gets to ruin this party."

In Can Yue's eyes, this banquet was the opening ceremony for Nami and the entire village's freedom.

He would never let those Marines spoil the mood.

As for whether the Marines might later learn that the Straw Hat Crew had attacked the warship?

Can Yue did not care in the slightest.

What pirate crew hadn't sunk one or two warships?

The banquet ended, and the morning sun rose over the horizon.

The Straw Hat Crew woke up one after another.

Can Yue and the others were resting briefly inside Nami's house.

But the atmosphere was somewhat awkward.

Nojiko stared fixedly at Can Yue with curious eyes.

She repeatedly asked him to take off his mask.

Seeing this made Sanji intensely jealous.

The others secretly delighted in it. They loved seeing Can Yue look awkward.

Even Nami was just watching the show.

Can Yue truly could not sit there any longer and turned to leave.

Everyone burst into laughter.

Can Yue narrowed his eyes, no longer able to suppress his anger.

In the end, everyone except Nami and Nojiko lay on the ground with huge lumps on their heads.

That included Chouchou, who had just returned from outside with a bone in his mouth.

When Can Yue got angry, even passing dogs got smacked a few times.

Nami felt a little guilty as she watched, and eventually stopped Nojiko from teasing Can Yue.

Given Can Yue's character, Nojiko would definitely be fine, but what if he took revenge on her later aboard the ship?

The chances of someone getting accidentally hurt during club training were far too high.

Two hours later,

the Straw Hat Crew carried the food gifted by the villagers onto the Merry bit by bit.

There was enough food to last them for months of sailing, provided Luffy could keep his mouth under control.

Once they finished, Sanji saw that Nami still had not boarded the ship and immediately began to panic.

"Why hasn't Miss Nami come yet? Is the tattoo taking that long? Don't tell me she's decided not to sail with us?"

Luffy was nervous too, but if Nami was determined to stay, he could only accept it.

Can Yue simply leaned calmly against the mast.

Two hours earlier, he had told Nami that she should give the villagers a special farewell.

At the very least, in the Marines' eyes, Nami had to appear incompatible with the villagers, or even hostile toward them.

Otherwise, the Marines could later use the villagers supporting Nami becoming a pirate as an excuse to arrest some of them and vent their anger.

Sure enough, within the Straw Hat Crew's sight,

an orange-haired, sexy young woman came running toward them from the distance.

As Nami approached the Merry, she shouted for Luffy and the others to set sail.

When the villagers saw Nami coming, they were about to happily say goodbye, but just then,

Nami weaved through the crowd, then leaped onto the Merry, which had already started moving.

"Shishishi! I, Nami, can finally leave this crappy village!"

Nami revealed an evil grin and looked arrogantly down at the villagers.

"At least you know what's good for you, handing over food as protection money.

But that's not enough. Your money belongs to me too! Hahahaha!"

With that, Nami pulled up half of her short-sleeved shirt, revealing her slender waist.

Then a huge pile of wallets came clattering down from her body.

Seeing this, the villagers immediately flew into a rage and cursed Nami for being shameless, though every one of them wore a smile.

In the end, amid the two sides' back-and-forth "insults,"

the Merry vanished from the villagers' sight.

This scene was witnessed from afar by Captain Nezumi, who had struggled all night before finally crawling ashore.

From so far away, Captain Nezumi could not see everyone's expressions clearly.

But listening to the sounds of both sides cursing each other, he roughly understood what had happened.

"Tsk, those Straw Hat Pirates stole food and money too. They're really vicious.

"I know Nami. She must have betrayed Arlong, then found the Straw Hat Crew as her new backers.

"The villagers are pitiful too, raising such an ungrateful woman.

"Forget it, none of this concerns me. I should hurry back and report this to Headquarters.

"What a loss, what a loss. Where did that demonic beast even come from?"

That Marine intelligence officer happened to crawl ashore alongside Captain Nezumi and the others.

He had originally been struggling over whether to confess.

But if he confessed, not only would he lose his job, he might even be thrown into prison.

Just then, he heard Captain Nezumi muttering to himself and immediately came up with a solution.

I was only attacked by a demonic beast while preparing to return to base. I don't know anything.

Captain Nezumi was in an awful mood. Right now, all he wanted was to return to base, with no desire to concern himself with the village.

As for the treasure in Arlong's base, Captain Nezumi assumed the Straw Hat Pirates had already taken it all.

And he had no way of dealing with the Straw Hat Crew now.

He could only report it to Headquarters.

And so, Cocoyasi Village completely returned to peace.

It had also received the nearly one hundred million Beli in treasure Nami had deliberately left behind.