I Came Here and They're Still Alive? Then Wouldn't That Mean I Came for Nothing? (Please Keep Reading)

Nojiko, standing beside A Jian, seemed to notice Nami's confusion. She quickly explained, a hint of apology in her voice:

"Sorry, Nami."

"I actually told the people in the village about your agreement with Arlong a long time ago."

"Everyone pretended not to know and kept their distance from you because we hoped you wouldn't feel too burdened."

"Burdened?" Nami blinked in surprise.

"That's right." A Jian nodded gravely.

"We deliberately acted distant toward you because we hoped that if you couldn't scrape together 100 million Berries,"

"you could leave here quietly on your own without worrying about our safety or feeling burdened."

"And you wouldn't have to live under Arlong's threats and control anymore."

Everyone in the village smiled and nodded in agreement.

Clearly, they all felt the same way.

"You... everyone..."

Nami was stunned. Deeply moved, she felt tears welling up in her eyes once again.

She pressed her lips together, holding back her tears, and broke into a radiant, heartfelt smile.

"Thank you... thank you, everyone."

Now that she knew why they had kept their distance,

Nami felt that everything she had done had been worth it!

"No."

A Jian shook his head slightly. A smile appeared on his usually stern face as he said gratefully,

"We're the ones who should be thanking you, Nami."

Then he hurriedly turned to the two people beside her and offered his sincere thanks. "And you two as well. Thank you so much for your help!"

Nojiko, watching this, froze. Only then did she awkwardly remember

that, in her haste, she'd only given the villagers a rough explanation of the situation.

She hadn't even had time to introduce Will and Carina to everyone.

Nami noticed as well and immediately introduced the two of them to the villagers.

She also told them how the three of them had first met.

When A Jian heard that Will had once saved Nami, he hurried to thank him again.

At the same time, his gaze toward Will grew even more approving.

"It's a shame we couldn't do much to help."

A villager holding a water pipe said regretfully.

At that,

Will, who had been silent until now, looked thoughtful and suddenly spoke up.

"Actually, there is something you can help with."

"Huh?" A Jian and the villagers were taken aback.

Will reminded them, "You must have noticed that quite a few fish-men here are still alive."

"So you wouldn't want the people in the surrounding villages to suffer their revenge later just because a few got away, would you?"

"Well..." The simple, honest villagers stared blankly at one another, clearly not quite understanding.

But A Jian immediately understood what Will meant and asked seriously,

"Mr. Will, are you saying we should take care of the fish-men who are still alive?"

"That's right." Will nodded slowly, his gaze full of meaning.

"I'm a little tired. Could you help me with this?"

The villagers now understood what Will meant, and their expressions varied.

Some looked nervous, others excited or eager, and a few even seemed delighted.

But not one of them looked afraid or unwilling!

"No problem! Leave it to us!"

"Exactly! We're already here!"

"Don't worry! We won't let a single one get away!"

"That's right!"

The villagers shouted as they raised their various weapons and fanned out, carefully searching the area.

Whenever they found a fish-man still breathing, they swarmed him and beat him to death with their clubs.

Will had already crippled the fish-men, leaving them with no strength to fight back. All they could do was take the blows and wait to die.

"This..." Nami watched, astonished, and murmured to herself,

"Why is everyone so eager?"

Carina came over and quietly explained,

"Can't you tell? They've probably been suppressing their anger for a long time."

"So when Will told them there was a chance to take revenge with their own hands, how could they not be eager?"

"I see..."

Nami understood at once, and couldn't help sighing to herself.

It made sense. Under the rule of Arlong's gang,

most of the villagers had suffered oppression and humiliation at the fish-men's hands.

They must all have hated the fish-men.

Will had naturally seen this too, which was why he had deliberately asked them to help clean up.

He wanted to see

whether people who had been oppressed by the fish-men for so long still had any fight in them, and whether they dared to strike back.

The result was more than satisfying.

Will stopped watching the villagers cheerfully finish off the fish-men and began to ponder.

From the moment he'd decided to come to Arlong Park, he hadn't planned to spare a single fish-man.

He couldn't be bothered to care whether Nami would choose to forgive them in the future.

All he knew was that when he'd read this part of the manga, the fish-men's actions had infuriated him.

Now that he had the chance to kill them himself, he wasn't about to let them go.

"If I hadn't come to the world of pirates, these fish-men would still be alive. Now that I have come to the world of pirates, these fish-men are still alive."

"Then wouldn't that mean I came for nothing!"

The more Will thought about it, the more sense it made. He nodded to himself.

A little while later,

after the villagers had searched the area again and again, not a single fish-man had survived.

"Good, good. That's more like it."

"The fish-men traveled all the way to the East Blue together, so of course they should leave together too."

Will nodded approvingly. He was pleased that the villagers had dared to kill the fish-men.

Then he used Observation Haki to sense the area carefully once more, making sure none of them had escaped.

But the next second,

Will's expression suddenly changed, and he slowly turned to look toward the southern gate that opened onto the sea.

"What is it?"

Carina noticed Will's reaction and asked curiously.

"A ship is coming across the sea."

As soon as Will spoke,

the bow of a large ship came into view, gradually emerging from the southern horizon.

Nami and the villagers noticed it too, and all turned to look.

As the ship drew closer,

a few sharp-eyed villagers cried out, "It's a Marine warship!"

"Huh? Why are the Marines here?!"

Nami's gaze sharpened, and she looked uncertain.

She had once accidentally seen Marines meeting privately with Arlong's gang.

Unfortunately, the other fish-men had been on guard, so she hadn't been able to make out the Marines' faces.

That meant Nami couldn't tell whether the Marines approaching now were friend or foe.

But when she saw that Will remained calm beside her, she relaxed a little.

Then she turned and reassured the other villagers.