Cocoyasi Village

"Twenty million Berries."

That was quite a bounty, Reiner couldn't help thinking.

Too bad they were pirates and couldn't collect it. Still, Arlong had been hoarding wealth for years, so there was probably plenty of treasure to take.

As for whether they could beat him, Arlong had indeed seemed powerful in the original story, but...

Reiner figured he could take him easily.

He was confident that, in a head-on fight, one Wolverine would be enough.

Since it was undead, it had no such thing as life. No matter how badly it was damaged, he could repair it.

Even if it got tied up, Reiner only needed to recall and summon it again.

With its high speed and attack power, as long as it could hurt Arlong, it could wear him down until he died.

As Nami explained, the group gained some idea of Arlong's strength.

"He can flip houses over with his bare hands?"

Usopp collapsed straight onto the ground, clutching his chest with overlapping hands. "Oh no, I've caught a strange disease that kills me the moment I get off the ship!"

"Arlong is up to you guys."

"Are you okay, Usopp?!"

When Luffy turned around and saw Usopp suddenly collapse, he panicked and kept shaking him as he hovered at his side.

Watching those two clowns, Nami and Zoro's faces darkened. They rubbed their foreheads and sighed. "These idiots..."

"Anyway, Arlong is very strong."

Nami said worriedly, "I know you're all strong like monsters too, but honestly, I have no idea what will happen. If we fail, we'll die!"

"Don't worry, Nami."

Reiner smiled and comforted her. "They're very strong, and besides, I have my undead. There won't be a problem."

This was rock solid!

"Besides Arlong, he has several subordinates worth watching out for: Hatchan, Kuroobi, and Chuu."

Nami began introducing Arlong's officers to them again.

Reiner didn't remember any of the people Nami mentioned, except that Hatchan seemed vaguely familiar.

Still, there were quite a lot of them.

Fish-men were naturally ten times stronger than humans. It wouldn't be bad to collect them as fodder troops.

And they were all excellent swimmers, invaluable help at sea.

Thinking about that made him happy again.

Sailing on the sea was boring, and Reiner's undead had already taken over all the chores.

There were only so many things they could do. Luffy and Usopp passed the time fishing.

Nami stayed in her room drawing sea charts, using premium paper and ink she had gotten from Kaya.

Reiner worked out with Zoro. He usually trained diligently, after all, his ability couldn't collect targets much stronger than himself.

Like Garp.

And if he wanted to meet the threshold to learn Two-Color Haki in the future, physical training was essential.

"Come to think of it, Zoro, your strength is ridiculous."

Reiner looked at the enormous barbell in Zoro's hands and couldn't help sighing.

It had to weigh around two tons, yet Zoro had carried it through nearly a thousand squats!

That was insane.

"Ah, I guess it's because I've been training since I was little."

Zoro glanced at Reiner. "You're the one with ridiculous endurance."

The barbell in Reiner's hands weighed one ton, nowhere near Zoro's, but he had already done two thousand squats.

"My undead consume my stamina when they act, so I focus on training that."

"Of course, it's mainly because my Devil Fruit gives me a much better recovery ability than ordinary people."

"I see. Devil Fruits can do that?"

"Yeah, Zoan Devil Fruits can greatly enhance the physical abilities of their eaters."

In the East Blue, Devil Fruits were still legendary things to many people.

They knew even less about their classifications.

Reiner patiently explained it to Zoro.

"Wait! By that logic, aren't Logia types invincible?"

Zoro looked surprised after hearing him out.

The ability to turn one's body into an element sounded completely absurd.

"Not necessarily invincible. There are still ways to counter them."

Reiner explained Seastone and Haki to Zoro as well, leaving him stunned.

"Well, you'll slowly come across it all in the future."

"Is that so? The sea really is full of strange things."

Zoro said with interest, "That man probably has the kind of power you mentioned too. I was planning to challenge him after setting out to sea, but it seems I'm still far behind."

"You mean the World's Strongest Swordsman? He could probably beat you without even using a sword, hahaha."

"If he appeared in front of you right now, would you challenge him?"

Zoro glanced at Reiner and thought for a moment. "I don't know. I probably still would."

"Is that so? Just like you, King of Hard Heads."

"Huh?"

"No, nothing."

Reiner yawned and silently mocked him in his heart.

In ancient times, Zhao Zilong had courage in every inch of his body.

And you, my friend.

You had Zhao Zilong in every inch of yours!

Two days passed like that, and the Going Merry finally carried them into the waters near the Conomi Islands.

This place consisted of more than twenty small islands, each with a village on it.

Without exception, every one of them was under Arlong's rule. Everyone was forced to pay tribute, and those who couldn't pay died.

Several villages had even been completely wiped out.

"Let's go to Cocoyasi Village first. If we head straight for Arlong Park, they'll probably destroy the ship before we even get there."

Nami said quietly with a dark expression.

Her feelings were written all over her face, so the others stayed silent as well.

Reiner directly summoned two undead to steer the ship. Under Nami's guidance, the Going Merry slowly sailed toward Cocoyasi Village.

"Pirates! Pirates are coming!"

"Go find Genzo!"

"Wait, look! Is that Nami up there?"

The villagers were thrown into obvious panic when they spotted the Going Merry, then quickly noticed Nami standing at the bow.

"I'm back, everyone!"

"Nami's back!"

"Go tell Genzo and Nojiko!"

"No need, we can just go over ourselves."

"I see. Come to think of it, Nami, these pirates behind you..."

Several villagers at the harbor looked toward their group, their eyes carrying a hint of wariness.

Nami smiled and waved her hand. "Don't worry, they aren't bad people. They're all my companions."

"Is that so? Anyway, it's good that you're safe, Nami."

"Then I'll head home first, everyone. See you."

With that, Nami led them into the village.

Every now and then, they saw houses that had been completely overturned.

They had heard Nami talk about it, but seeing it with their own eyes still made them marvel at the fish-men's astonishing strength.

"Hey, you're kidding, right? Are we really going to fight monsters like that?"

Usopp had already started trembling.

Nami led the way without looking back.

"Arlong's group doesn't know we're here yet. If you want to back out, now's your chance. I won't say anything if you leave me behind and go."

"You really look down on people, you damn woman. I can do something like that too."

The only person on the ship who called Nami a damn woman was Zoro.

Reiner had no doubt Zoro could flip over a house. In terms of raw arm strength, even Luffy was no match for him.

But when Luffy fought, he could use the tension created by his rubbery stretching to greatly increase his actual attack power.

"We said we wanted you as our navigator. We're not going to give up."

A rare serious expression appeared on Luffy's face.

Reiner lit a cigarette and followed behind them. Before long, the group arrived at Nami's Orange Grove.

The moment they approached, they heard arguing from inside.

"...Stop! Nami worked so hard to save that money."

"What do you mean, saved? It was all stolen! It's dirty money and should be confiscated!"

"You bastards, can you still call yourselves Marines?!"

"Oh no." Hearing the commotion inside, Nami's expression changed. She gritted her teeth and rushed into the Orange Grove.

"Damn it!"