"How could that be?!"
"Absolutely impossible!"
"He must have warned Arlong in advance, letting him leave before setting all this up!"
"Roya, you have to believe us! He's definitely lying to you!"
Tears had already gathered at the corners of Nami's eyes.
Beside her, Nojiko gently tugged at Nami's sleeve, equally unwilling to accept this.
At that moment, Nojiko said to Roya, "Lord Roya, could we go take a look at Captain Nezumi's office? He definitely has the Belly he collected from us there!"
"Enough. Do you really take my lord for a toy you can toy with?"
"Stop."
Roya spoke softly.
He slowly crouched before Nami and Nojiko, rubbing the two girls' heads.
Feeling Roya's warm palm on her head, Nami looked at him and said, "Believe us. We really didn't lie to you. If even you can't see through Captain Nezumi's disguise, then Cocoyasi Village really will..."
Before Nami could finish, Captain Nezumi interrupted from the side. "Do you think my lord will believe you again? You two little liars!"
Ignoring Nezumi, Roya looked at the two girls and said something to them.
However, it was only a silent movement of his lips.
Before the two girls could react.
Roya stood and said to Kensuke beside him, "You know these two girls, right? Take them home. And teach them properly while you're at it. Don't let them lie again; it's a bad habit."
"I'll take them back right away."
"Kensuke" walked over from behind the crowd, took Nami and Nojiko by the hands, and headed toward the village.
They were still thinking about what Roya's earlier words had meant.
At the same time, they curiously glanced at "Kensuke" beside them.
For some reason, they both felt that there was something strange about this "Kensuke."
Nezumi also found it strange.
Looking at Kensuke, Nezumi thought, When did he get here? How did I not notice him? Or was I careless?
Just then, Nezumi's Den Den Mushi rang.
"Burururu~"
After hearing the Den Den Mushi's report, Nezumi said to Roya, "My lord, the supplies have been replenished."
"Finished replenishing them? Then it's time for us to leave as well."
Kalifa nodded from the side, then followed Roya back onto the warship.
Watching the warship gradually sail away, Nezumi burst out laughing. "Hahahaha! Those two finally left! They scared me to death just now!"
But when he thought of Nami and Nojiko's actions earlier, he felt his chest fill with rage.
Picking up the Den Den Mushi, Nezumi contacted Arlong. "Arlong, you reacted quickly. I never expected someone as proud as you to temporarily leave with the other fish-men, and even find some people to put on an act there. Not bad!"
"I just happened to leave."
Arlong would never admit that he feared an admiral's power!
Nezumi said nothing more and simply told Arlong about what had just happened.
After hearing Nezumi's words, Arlong flew into a rage and immediately said, "Wait for me there. I'm coming to find you right now, and then I'll crush those two girls to death!"
--
On the warship, Kalifa asked Roya, "Roya, do you really believe what Captain Nezumi said? No matter how you look at it, there's something very wrong with Cocoyasi Village."
"Of course I don't believe him. But if what those two girls said is true, then the Arlong Pirates should still be here. They were probably scared off by our arrival, so we need to leave for a while before they reveal themselves."
Roya added, "Otherwise, solving only Captain Nezumi's problem would merely treat the symptoms, not the root cause."
"Then shall we go back after a while? But will those two girls be in danger?"
Kalifa was worried that Nezumi would kill the two girls to vent his anger!
"That's why, Kalifa, I'll leave this warship to you next!"
As he spoke, Roya's figure shattered.
Kalifa stood there, stunned as the phantom before her dispersed.
Then she shook her head. Roya's ability was becoming more and more mysterious.
She simply couldn't make heads or tails of it!
--
Elsewhere, Nami looked at Kensuke, who was holding her hand, and suddenly realized what Roya's earlier lip movements had said!
"Hey~ You're Roya, aren't you?"
As Nami spoke, she was incredibly nervous, but also full of anticipation.
After hearing Nami's words, Nojiko looked at "Kensuke" in disbelief, then said to Nami, "Nami, what are you talking about? This is clearly Uncle Kensuke."
"But you can use your ability, can't you?!"
Nami's big eyes shone brightly as she stared at the person holding her hand.
The corners of "Kensuke's" lips curled upward slightly. The phantom around him faded away, revealing Roya's true appearance.
Although Nami had felt that she was right, she was still incredibly excited when Roya truly stood before her.
Nami leaped up excitedly and clung to Roya's waist like an ornament.
Her beautiful eyes looked at Roya as she said, "Roya, you really believed us after all!"
Seeing how lively Nami was being, Nojiko hurriedly said, "Nami, you can't be disrespectful to Lord Roya. Get down quickly."
Roya gently shook his head at Nojiko, then said to the two girls, "The reason I came to this island was because of Nezumi and the Arlong Pirates."
"So you believed us from the very beginning!"
Nami's eyes lit up.
"Of course. But what we didn't expect was that Arlong wasn't in Arlong Park."
Nami was very clever. Her eyes shifted as she asked Roya, "So that was your double?"
"More accurately, it was a phantom. All right, let's not talk about that now. We only need to go to your home and wait for the prey to arrive!"
Nami nodded heavily, her gaze toward Roya filled with admiration!
At the same time, her heart was filled with a powerful sense of security.
How long had it been since she last felt this way?
It had to be said that a sense of security was truly addictive.
Clutching Roya's finger tightly, Nami felt an indescribable happiness in her heart.
Meanwhile, Nezumi and Arlong had already met up. They hurried toward Nami and Nojiko's home...