Rejected!
Mark was not discouraged. He continued speaking to Nami, "You have an incredible talent for navigation. Now that Arlong has been dealt with, are you willing to give up that talent? Join my pirate crew..."
Nami slowly walked to the water's edge and looked at the azure surface.
After a long while, she said, "Mark, I'm sorry, but I still refuse."
"For the sake of the village and Nojiko, I became a pariah in the eyes of the villagers. My former neighbors would avoid me whenever they saw me. Whenever I returned to the village, they would shut their doors. But I don't blame them."
After taking a deep breath, she glanced at the Arlong Pirates tattoo on her left arm and continued:
"As long as I gathered one hundred million Beli soon enough, Arlong would spare Cocoyasi Village and those innocent villagers. Then... everything I sacrificed would have been worth it."
"I just never expected that those days would suddenly come to an end today."
As Nami spoke, tears suddenly streamed down her face, and her voice became choked with emotion.
Mark silently watched this girl who had endured so much alone, and his heart felt heavy as well.
"Thank you for saving everyone in Orange Town, and thank you for recognizing my abilities. But I don't want to join any pirate crew. I'm really sorry..."
Mark took a breath of sea air and said calmly, "All right. If that's how it is, I won't force you."
After hearing so much from Nami, he finally understood the gap between himself and Luffy from the original story.
It was not that he lacked Luffy's protagonist aura.
Rather, some things had to happen step by step. Nami first formed deep friendships with the Straw Hat Pirates, and only after the Arlong Pirates were destroyed did she join the Straw Hat Pirates.
He had appeared too suddenly. Nami was still somewhat resistant to the very words "pirate crew." Even if they had crossed paths as children, that had been more than a decade ago.
Even though he had killed Arlong and wiped out the Arlong Pirates, getting someone who resisted pirate crews to join one was not a simple matter. Besides, Mark was not someone who liked forcing people.
All he could say was that fate had arranged it this way. Perhaps Nami was ultimately destined to belong with the Straw Hat Pirates.
Since he could not get her to join, Mark had to leave as well.
For the next destination.
But before leaving, Nami still brought him to meet Nojiko and the others.
When they learned that Mark was Bawatt's son, Nojiko did not react much. A-Jian, on the other hand, was extremely excited.
It turned out that A-Jian and Bawatt had once been comrades. They had both served as police officers in this village and had been friends who could talk about anything.
Because of his affection for Bawatt, A-Jian naturally cared for Mark as well.
Meanwhile, the conflict between Nami and the villagers was successfully resolved through Chiu Chiu's explanation, delivered with the skill of a master trash talker.
Especially after learning that Nami had been trying to gather one hundred million Beli, the villagers all felt deeply guilty toward her.
"Boss, Arlong's Shark Superb has finished being remodeled. We can set sail!" Chiu Chiu came to Mark's side and said quietly.
Mark's spirits lifted.
The Shark Superb had been the pirate ship of the Arlong Pirates. It was a medium-sized pirate ship, on an entirely different level from his little boat.
There had not even been room for Chiu Chiu to sleep on his pirate ship. He had to squeeze into a room with Daisy.
The two of them and one bird had already taken up the bedroom and kitchen. If another person joined them, there would be nowhere to stay except on the deck.
"Oh, right, Boss... there's an unexpected bonus too!" Chiu Chiu continued.
Mark looked at Chiu Chiu, who gave him a wink.
It looked like it was quite a sizable bonus.
Now that the ship was ready, it was time for them to leave.
"Uncle A-Jian, Nojiko, Nami, we're setting sail again."
Mark said his goodbyes to A-Jian and the others.
A-Jian and the others insisted on seeing Mark and his crew off at the shore. Unable to refuse, Mark could only agree.
When they reached the shore, Mark was astonished to discover... the Shark Superb had been completely transformed.
Its large nose, which had originally resembled a sawshark, had been turned by Chiu Chiu into a bird beak like his own. The ring of steel teeth surrounding the pirate ship had been remodeled into golden feather-like shapes.
The holes along the sides of the ship had also been covered with a layer of golden feathers, while the Arlong Pirates flag on the sail had been replaced with white canvas.
The Shark Superb had completely changed. It had gone from a shark to a golden bird.
"This... was your doing?" Mark was dumbfounded.
The remodeling project was enormous. He had thought Chiu Chiu had merely made a few simple changes.
"Sharks are ugly, Boss. Doesn't the pirate ship look much cooler now?" Chiu Chiu puffed out his chest.
Mark was speechless. It probably only looked cool to Chiu Chiu himself.
Didn't the ship's appearance just look like an oversized Chiu Chiu?
"Forget it. Daisy... let's board and see what our new ship is like!"
Mark did not have high hopes for this ship. After all, it had once been Arlong's ride, and he had no habit of settling for someone else's leftovers.
Once they had saved enough Beli, he could replace it with a pirate ship of his own.
"Goodbye, Uncle A-Jian! Goodbye, Nojiko and Nami!"
After stepping onto the deck, Mark waved goodbye to A-Jian and the others.
"Goodbye, Mark... Remember to come back and visit Cocoyasi Village someday. Everyone here is very grateful to you!" A-Jian said.
"Goodbye..."
Mark suddenly said, "Oh, right, Uncle A-Jian. In a few days, the Marines will definitely come to ask you about the 16th Marine Branch. When that happens, don't hide anything. Tell them that I, Mark, did it—that it was the Moss Pirates!"
The Moss Pirates was the name Mark, Daisy, and Chiu Chiu had agreed upon in memory of the people of Moss Town.
"But then..." A-Jian said hesitantly.
"Uncle A-Jian, don't worry about it... We're pirates, after all. We don't even have bounties yet. What kind of pirates are pirates without bounties? Hahaha!" Mark waved as he raised the sails.
"Goodbye, Uncle A-Jian, Nami... Goodbye, Cocoyasi Village!"
With a splash, the sea breeze rose... and the pirate ship began to move!
A-Jian watched Mark's pirate crew and murmured, "The Moss Pirates..."
By doing this, Mark was also helping Cocoyasi Village cut ties with him. And by telling the Marines the truth about the 16th Marine Branch, the villagers could receive a considerable sum of money. Even as he left, Mark was still thinking of them!
In truth, Mark had not thought as deeply as A-Jian believed. What he had told A-Jian was the truth.
A bounty represented fame. Since he had become a pirate, he naturally had to build his reputation.
Destroying a Marine branch—if news of that got out, his reputation would naturally grow much greater.
At the very least, he would no longer be a nobody in the East Blue.
With fame, many things would become much easier.