"Why?"
Hearing Nami's words, Gawain was completely stunned.
He blinked and carefully examined the little girl in front of him.
Could this guy disguised as a little girl be a wise old man?
This isn't something Nami would say!
Or rather, Nami's character is designed to be greedy for money; she shouldn't be bothered to investigate where the money comes from...
However, after carefully observing the pain in Nami's eyes, Gawain began to understand Nami's feelings a little better.
After all, Nami still had the burden of earning 100 million Beli on her shoulders.
Even in the original story, before Luffy defeated Arlong, Nami liked to sit alone in the distance watching the sunset.
At that time, she probably felt that no matter how well she Luffy and his friends, she would eventually have to leave...
At that time, Nami believed that Luffy could never be Arlong's match!
But at this moment, the reason Nami directly expressed her feelings to herself was...
Gawain believes that Nami now thinks Arlong is no match for her...
Nami hides her pain and sorrow towards those Nami perceives as weak, trying her best not to talk about them.
But the strongest person in Nami's mind is the one she faces when she confronts Gawain.
Nami likely harbored considerable resentment, specifically resentment towards those who hadn't arrived sooner.
At the same time, she also felt at least a bit aggrieved, namely, the resentment of not being able to live as easily as they did...
Thinking of this, Gawain sighed softly.
Then, Gawain leaned closer to Nami, who had lowered her head.
Meeting Nami's melancholy gaze, he raised his right hand and slowly placed it on the top of Nami's head.
Looking at Gawain's outstretched hand, the melancholy Nami wanted to dodge, but after she instinctively made a half-dodging motion, she seemed to remember something and forcibly restrained her instinct, stopping in place and letting Gawain ruffle her hair.
Feeling the gentle hand on her head, Nami lowered her head and asked softly.
"Although I've never seen Celestial Dragon, you... you're just too kind, aren't you?"
So, do you treat everyone you meet for the first time like this, or are my sister and I special?
If it's the former, then sir, could you be a little gentler? For example, could you do me a small favor, like letting a group of Fish-Man see how powerful humans are?
If it's the latter, then...
"Can I give you more in exchange for you lending us a helping hand?"
Nami raised her hand, grabbed Gawain's wrist, and pulled Gawain hand off her head, trembling as she placed it on her shoulder and chest.
At that moment, Nami's body trembled, but her eyes were exceptionally firm. She stared intently into Gawain's eyes, trying to discern something from Gawain.
And Gawain...
He gently freed his hand from Nami's grasp, then patted Nami's head once more.
"What are you thinking, little girl? You're still a minor!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Gawain ruffled Nami's hair into a mess, then squatted down in front of Nami.
He reached out and took out a cigarette, then lit it by conjuring lightning with Gawain fingers, and said...
"You little girl, you've been tormented by the existence of pirates for a long time, haven't you? To the point that you've even started contemplating philosophy..."
This is awful! You look so unfair that I'm starting to think I should have come earlier.
In short, Nami.
With your intelligence, even if I said I treat everyone the same way I treat you, you wouldn't easily believe me.
So, let's be more honest.
I need a flexible and professional navigator!
At this point, Gawain saw a hint of relief—a "I knew it"—in Nami's sorrowful eyes, followed by a touch of pride and excitement.
It seemed that only after receiving this answer did Nami truly feel a little relieved.
Seeing Nami's relieved expression, Gawain smiled and continued speaking to her.
"I don't actually lack navigators under my command, but they're just navigators..."
Can you understand the difference? Compared to you, they really lack a bit of agility, and even more so, a little bit of creativity and imagination.
Logically speaking, the profession of navigator should require a high degree of meticulousness.
But the reality is quite the opposite. The celestial phenomena of the Grand Line and the New World pose a challenge to every navigator, as the celestial phenomena there are far too unpredictable!
Therefore, to become an excellent navigator on the Grand Line, one must possess sufficient imagination.
She should at least have the imagination to conjure up things like frog rain, candy hail, cotton candy monsoons, and other unreliable celestial phenomena...
In short..."
At this point, Gawain beckoned to Nami, signaling Nami to come closer.
Seeing this, Nami pursed her lips, carefully took two steps forward, and placed her small hand on Gawain's raised hand.
Gently holding Nami's small hand, Gawain smiled and said softly.
"In short, would you like to be my navigator?"
Although you are still young, I understand your abilities and, even more so, your potential. Isn't youth itself a form of potential?
On one hand, I've already wiped out all the pirates I've encountered on my way from Mary Geoise, and Arlong and his crew, who are bothering you, were already within my reach.
On the other hand..
At this point, Gawain couldn't help but pause for a moment, looking at the girl in front of him with concern, and sighed sadly.
Hearing Gawain sigh, Nami was somewhat incredulous. The once radiant Celestial Dragon was sighing?
But why?
Across from her, after sighing, Gawain gently tugged at the little girl's hand.
"On the other hand, Nami..."
I'm so sorry, I seem to be late.
But regardless, now that I'm here...
"Then let me remove the burden that has been weighing on you and Cocoyasi Village, and let Arlong go to the hell he deserves."
At that moment, Nami, who was being led by Gawain, parted her lips slightly, stammered a few times, and tried to say something but couldn't.
Large tears streamed down her cheeks. She wanted to cry, and she did cry, but she didn't want Gawain to see her crying.
So she quickly raised the hand that Gawain wasn't holding, intending to wipe away her tears, but just before she reached out, Gawain reached to the corner of her eye, cupped her face, and wiped away her tears with his thumb.
After wiping away the little girl's tears, Gawain gently pulled the trembling girl into his arms.
He patted the little girl's trembling back and said Gawain.
"If you want to cry, just cry. A good cry will make you feel a lot better, right?"
I'm late, I'm so sorry for making you suffer.
I know what you've been through all these years. You've had to shoulder the responsibility for the entire village since you were ten years old. It must have been crushing you.
"You've worked hard, Nami."
With Gawain's incredibly gentle voice in her voice, Nami nestled in Gawain arms, too exhausted to speak.
At least at this moment, Nami truly wasn't thinking about anything related to money.
She simply wrapped her arms around Gawain's strong body, hiding her head against his chest, so that Gawain n't see her face.
She listened to Gawain's heartbeat, silently shedding tears, and quietly savoring every word Gawain had said to her.
Time passed slowly, and a warm feeling spread between Gawain and Nami. Nami seemed to regard Gawain as a father she had never met before, and tried to vent all her grievances to him.
Unexpectedly, shortly afterward, footsteps suddenly stopped at the kitchen doorway in the distance.
Nojiko had already brewed the orange tea, and she was smiling as she picked up the cup, intending to present it to Gawain and Ichisho, these two extraordinary guests.
But when she walked past the kitchen and discovered what was happening in the living room...
When she saw her younger sister, her face streaked with tears and filled with grievance, clinging to Gawain's arms in pain and resentment...
Duang!!!
A crisp sound rang out; it was the sound of the teapot falling from Nojiko to the ground.
A little bit of the scalding tea splashed onto Nojiko's calf, but Nojiko only trembled slightly; she didn't even feel the urge to cry out in pain!
Looking at Gawain, Nojiko's tears instantly streamed down her face!
"Clearly... clearly I can do anything, clearly I did a good job."
As long as you spare my family, I can pretend to be naive forever and give away everything I have, including myself.
But... but... why can't I protect my family even after all this?
Is this your true nature, Celestial Dragon?
At this point, Nojiko collapsed helplessly to the ground, having lost all the strength to pull herself together.
She was considering seeing Bellemere...
On the other hand, outside the port north of Cocoyasi Village, Rayleigh, with Jinbe by his side, walked with measured steps toward a building about two kilometers away.
As he walked, Jinbe frowned deeply.
"Brother Rayleigh, both you and the lord value Arlong so much."
"Anyone could scout ahead like this, but it turns out even the adults, you, and Brother Yixiao have all come!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Jinbe sighed softly. He really couldn't control the life of his little brother, Arlong!
Listening to Jinbe's words, Rayleigh pondered for a moment and nodded slightly.
"The captain talked to us before we came."
The reason they arrived early was because Lucci's pigeons and Pell's eagle both said that Arlong and his crew might escape.
Although they certainly can't escape, if they were to hide in the ocean, the captain would have a much harder time fulfilling his prophecy!
Or, even if the captain and we all intend to use Arlong to break the prophecy and fate, we wouldn't want that prophecy to be broken by Arlong's escape, right?
"At most, they'll just send someone else to kill Arlong, and let the prophecy go to hell."
As he spoke, Rayleigh looked at Jinbe with a meaningful gaze, knowing that Arlong was Jinbe's brother.
Rayleigh continued speaking.
"After all, we've seen what's going on along the way."
Including Cocoyasi Village, a total of nineteen small islands and villages in the vicinity have all become Arlong's private territory!
In these villages, Arlong committed countless atrocities.
A simple calculation shows that he has taken the lives of at least tens of thousands of innocent people.
After saying that, Rayleigh patted Jinbe waist.
"Even if he had killed a navy officer, the captain and I wouldn't be this angry. Soldiers kill thieves, and thieves kill soldiers; it's the way of heaven."
But dealing with civilians... sigh.
Do you know that the biggest regret of my life is supporting Captain Roger's plan, which led to the Great Pirate Era that brought extraordinary suffering to the common people of the world?
That's why, now that things have come to this, I won't miss any opportunity to make amends!
Your brother, Arlong... just pretend he doesn't exist!
As soon as he finished speaking, Rayleigh strode forward, Jinbe patted his chest hard.
"Don't worry, Brother Rayleigh, there's no need for Arlong to take action like the prophecy said. I can kill him for you!"
Even if Fisher Tiger hates humans, he would never do something as despicable as Arlong!
Arlong has gone too far down the wrong path; he's reached this point and he has no choice but to die!
But as I said, I don't think every Fish-Man he took away back then was the same kind of executioner he is now.
I remember a few Fish-Man followed Arlong, and none of them would ever do something like that!
In short, Brother Rayleigh, please do me the favor of saying a few words for me in front of the adults.
I only ask that while you execute those who deserve to die, you also spare a few who deserve to live!
We've been through quite a few killing fields since we came from Fish-Man Island. I've always felt that the adults killed too thoroughly; it's a bit too extreme!
Murder is inevitable, but we should do it more clearly, more explicitly, and more calmly!
In conclusion, I agree with Brother Yixiao on this point.
Now that we have tens of thousands of people, we are able to conduct more investigations, ensuring that everyone who deserves to die does so justice, and that everyone who doesn't deserve to die receives the redemption they deserve!
At this point, Jinbe frowned and looked at Rayleigh seriously!
Faced with Jinbe's gaze, Rayleigh for a moment, then nodded slightly.
"What brother Yixiao said makes sense, but what the captain did also makes sense. From the captain's point of view, killing more thoroughly can eliminate the chance of evildoers.
From Yixiao's perspective, a more explicit killing would let outsiders know that being a good person can save one's life, thus increasing the likelihood of outsiders turning to good.
Both have their advantages; it just depends on the circumstances in which they are situated.
In short, this time, I will say a word for you.
After saying that, Rayleigh gave Jinbe a reassuring look, and then he looked into the distance.
He raised his hand and pointed to the sign in the distance.
"Arlong Park, haha, looks like we've arrived at our destination."
Tsk tsk, there really isn't a single human here. This Arlong's Arlong Park is even more pristine than Fish-Man Island.
Fish-Man Island has humans, as well as Fish-Man and Merfolk.
And here, not only are there no humans, there aren't even any Merfolk!
At this point, Rayleigh gave Jinbe a push.
"You go see your old friend, I won't go in for now."
Even if it's a pig, if you've had a relationship with it, you'll still say a few words before killing it.
However, let's tell them to stop thinking about running away and just accept their fate.
With me standing here, unless someone intends to escape is one of the Four Emperors or Admiral, none of them will get away!
As soon as he finished speaking, Rayleigh sat down on a tree stump with a cold smile, placing his Cane Sword on his knees.
Jinbe nodded heavily after hearing Rayleigh's words.
"Brother Rayleigh, please sit here and let me go over and have a good chat with them!"
Jinbe finished speaking, he walked slowly toward Arlong Park with heavy steps.
In Arlong Park, the Fish-Man sailors responsible for patrolling the perimeter had long lost all interest in patrolling.
They huddled together in groups of thirty or fifty, sighing with worry and talking about things that interested them.
"Sigh, it seems we have to move. What a pity, the crops here have only grown two cycles."
"Yes, it's not easy to live on land, and we can even turn around and raise those humans who treated us as slaves as slaves!"
In the blink of an eye, they were about to abandon this base and flee to some other corner...
"Don't say that. Brother Arlong can't help it. Although we are Fish-Man and naturally stronger than humans, let's not forget that even that Celestial Dragon trash has Fish-Man under his command!"
"Yeah, yeah, Jinbe is under that guy's command. Those humans are trash, of course, but with Jinbe around, we definitely won't escape..."
"Damn it, what time is it, and you're still calling him Jinbe- san?"
The one who led us to kill humans and avenge Fisher Tiger was none other than our Brother Arlong!
"That's right, Brother Arlong is truly righteous. That bastard Jinbe first became Shichibukai to serve the World Government, and then he became a crew member of the Dark Bird Ship to serve the Celestial Dragon."
"Yeah, a guy like him who always acts like a dog doesn't deserve to be called 'Big Brother' by us!"