The smell of blood had yet to fully fade from the Orange Grove.
Colonel Nezumi's corpse, nailed to the ground, was like a resounding slap that completely woke everyone in Cocoyasi Village.
Genzo and the villagers, drawn over by the commotion, stood before box after box of treasure. There was no joy at having it returned to them—only endless sorrow and rage.
Since Arlong could collude with a Marine colonel to seize this money, it meant that from the very beginning, that Fish-Man had never intended to keep his promise.
This had been an eight-year-long scam.
"Unforgivable... absolutely unforgivable!!"
No one knew who shouted first, but the fury in the crowd instantly ignited like a wildfire.
"If we're going to die either way, we might as well fight them!!"
"That's right! For Bell-mère! For all the suffering Nami has endured these years!!"
Their eyes red, the villagers grabbed hoes, shovels, even kitchen knives.
Though crude, those weapons now bore their resolve to fight to the death.
Like an enraged torrent, the crowd surged toward Arlong Park.
"No... don't go!!"
Watching this, the last of Nami's defenses completely crumbled.
She stumbled forward, spreading her arms in an attempt to stop the villagers who had watched her grow up.
"Please! Don't go! It's Arlong! You'll die!!"
Yet no one stopped.
Genzo gently moved Nami aside, a death-defying smile appearing on his scar-covered face.
"Nami, enough. You've suffered enough these past eight years."
"Leave the rest to us adults."
The villagers went around Nami and charged resolutely toward that Paradise of death.
"Everyone..."
Nami's outstretched hand froze in midair before finally falling limply.
In the empty Orange Grove, only dust filled the sky alongside one despairing girl.
"Why... why did it turn out like this..."
Nami's knees gave out, and she fell to