Lu Zhuo... Help Me

A small boat drifted across the boundless sea, carrying a sense of natural harmony.

But a gruff voice instantly shattered the tranquility.

"Damn it, this is driving me crazy. Even with a map and compass, sailing is this difficult. Nami, my navigator, I miss you so much."

Lu Zhuo lay listlessly in the boat, staring at the compass and map in his hands. He wished he could slice them both to pieces with his sword.

Without Nami, Lu Zhuo had immediately run into all kinds of trouble. One moment it was the wind direction; the next, a giant monster fish.

Only now did he realize that Luffy and the others in the original story had smooth sailing across the ocean, aside from their encounters with enemies, because they had Nami, a genius navigator!

At the thought, determination returned to Lu Zhuo's eyes. Nami had probably already gathered 100 million Beli, much faster than in the original story. He had to get there before things took a turn!

Grabbing the oar, Lu Zhuo rowed with all his might. The little boat cut through the waves and headed for the distant horizon.

In Cocoyasi Village, Nami gazed at the familiar village, a smile on her face.

She jogged toward her tangerine grove.

"Ha ha, twenty-three million Beli, and with the money from selling that sailboat, I've finally gathered 100 million!" Nami's eyes sparkled.

She dashed home in a few strides. Her sister was picking tangerines from a ladder when she spotted the familiar figure running toward her and broke into a happy smile.

"Nami, you're back."

Nami leaped forward and threw her arms around her sister, Nojiko.

"Big Sis, Cocoyasi Village can finally be free! I've gathered 100 million Beli!"

"Really?" Nojiko was overjoyed to hear it. "That's wonderful. At last..."

Tears welled in Nojiko's eyes. Seeing her like that moved Nami, too, and the sisters held each other tightly.

Arlong Park.

Arlong, the leader of the Arlong Pirates, lounged in a chair with his eyes closed, basking in the sun. His pointed nose glinted in the sunlight.

One of his Fish-Man underlings suddenly rushed in from outside.

"Hey, Arlong. I heard Nami's back and has gathered 100 million Beli. What should we do?"

At the news, Arlong bared his sharp teeth and let out a sinister laugh. "She's saved up the money that quickly? But she hasn't finished drawing the maps. Besides, how could a lowly human possibly make a deal with me?"

With that, he waved a hand at the ugly Fish-Man. "Go inform Captain Nezumi. Tell him... Yeah, that's it!"

The Fish-Man's face was full of admiration. "As expected of Lord Arlong! Only you could come up with such a brilliant plan! I'll go right away!" He hurried off as soon as he finished speaking.

Arlong chuckled coldly, then continued lounging in the sun without a care, looking every bit the arrogant ruler.

Meanwhile, the people of Cocoyasi Village were celebrating. Everyone was overjoyed. At last, their days under Arlong's rule were over!

Nami watched the villagers, tears in her eyes—tears of happiness.

The villagers had told her they'd known everything all along. They knew all she'd done for the village. Now, she was their hero!

Just as everyone was celebrating so wildly that they'd forgotten themselves, a sly, discordant laugh rang out.

"Heh heh heh, what's got you all so happy?"

Captain Nezumi arrived with dozens of Marines, all wearing sinister smiles.

The villagers stopped celebrating and stared at them.

Nami's eyes widened. She immediately spotted the boxes in the hands of several Marines.

The boxes... They were the boxes where she'd hidden her money!

Her smile slowly faded. She stood up and demanded, "Marines, what are you doing here? The treasure you're carrying belongs to me!"

Captain Nezumi burst into laughter. "What proof do you have that it's yours, hmm? You little thief, Nami?"

He folded his arms across his chest, his sly grin growing wider.

"As far as I know, all of this treasure was stolen by you. It belongs to pirates. So, on behalf of the Marines, I'm confiscating it!"

"No! What gives you the right to do that? Put it down!" Nami shouted furiously, grabbing a wooden stick and charging toward them.

Captain Nezumi snickered. "Would you dare fight the Marines? We'll report you at once and have everyone in your village killed!"

Nami froze at the threat.

The villagers, who had been protesting nonstop, stared in shock as Captain Nezumi walked away laughing, taking Nami's treasure with him.

Watching them disappear into the distance, the villagers finally came to their senses.

Genzo's face twisted with fury. "Those... They're working with Arlong! To hell with this! Let's go! We'll kill those bastards in the Arlong Pirates!"

Every villager who had witnessed what happened was furious, and they all joined in.

"No! Don't!"

Nami finally snapped out of it and hurried to stop them.

"Please, everyone, don't go! You have to stay alive! It's only 100 million Beli. It's all right. I can earn it again!"

"No, Nami." Genzo looked at her gently. "You've done more than enough. Leave the rest to us!"

With that, Genzo turned to the villagers, who were already armed with all kinds of weapons, and called out, "Let's go! We're taking down Arlong!"

Nami rushed forward to stop them, but the enraged villagers no longer listened to her. They were determined to fight Arlong with everything they had.

"Don't go! You're no match for Arlong... Please..."

Nami sank helplessly to the ground, tears in her eyes, and watched the villagers march off, ready to risk their lives.

"Arlong! You bastard! You filthy bastard—you deserve to die!"

Nami picked up a dagger and stared at the Arlong Pirates' mark tattooed on her left shoulder, her eyes burning with fury. Just as she was about to stab her shoulder, like she had in the original story, a faint flash of sword light flicked the dagger from her hand.

Startled, Nami looked up at the familiar figure standing some dozen meters away, panting slightly.

Lu Zhuo took a few breaths, then slowly walked over. Looking at Nami as tears streamed down her face, he smiled and said, "I made it just in time... How could I... let you hurt yourself?"

"Get out! All of you, get out! You're all bastards!"

"Nami."

"Get out."

"Nami!" Lu Zhuo's expression turned unusually stern. He raised his voice to its highest and shouted.

Nami's body trembled at his voice as she looked at Lu Zhuo. The madness in her eyes suddenly gave way to a pleading look.

"Lu Zhuo... help me."

Seeing how desperate she looked, Lu Zhuo felt a pang in his heart. He stroked her orange hair, pulled her into his arms, and whispered, "Of course!"

At Arlong Park, the furious villagers had already surrounded the place, armed with all kinds of weapons. Just as they were about to charge in, a flash of sword light swept past.

Without a sound, a huge gash appeared in the wall around Arlong Park.

A figure sheathed his sword and walked toward them, slow but sure. The villagers stared at him in astonishment and parted to let him through.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Genzo asked warily.

Lu Zhuo's expression was cold as he walked to the breach in the wall. "My name is Lu Zhuo. I'm here to take down Arlong."

"Why? What do you have against Arlong...?" Genzo and the villagers stared at Lu Zhuo in surprise. They had no idea who he was.

"No particular reason... It's just that... they made my Nami cry!" Lu Zhuo replied softly. Then he extended a finger and gave the wall a light tap.

The wall crumbled along the gash and crashed to the ground with a thunderous boom!

Arlong and his underlings, who had been lazily basking in the sun, were all startled. They sprang to their feet and warily watched the lean figure slowly approaching.