Island Rules

A beautiful woman with short blue hair tied back with a red headband walked out.

"So it's you, Nojiko. We're only here to find something. This has nothing to do with you."

Captain Nezumi continued eating oranges, making no attempt to stop his men.

Nojiko shoved a Marine aside and walked up to Captain Nezumi, planting her hands on her hips. "This is my orange grove. Don't you think this is a little inappropriate? And does Nami know about this?"

"So what if she does? By the time Nami comes back, I'll have already found what I'm looking for."

Captain Nezumi spoke indifferently.

"Captain, we found it!"

"That was fast! Excellent. Hurry up and take it out. We're bringing it all with us."

Nami had put all the money she had saved over the years into a large chest and hidden it in this orange grove. She thought she had concealed it well.

In reality, the moment she returned, every move she made had been watched.

"You can't take that money!"

Nojiko saw the Marines carry out a large chest, with quite a few gold coins spilling out of it.

She knew it was the money Nami had been saving all this time. In fact, all the villagers of Cocoyasi Village knew about Nami's agreement with Arlong.

They all knew that Nami was working hard for the sake of the village by herself.

That was also why they had endured the humiliation in silence all these years.

"Why not? Get out of my way, you stinking woman. You're really getting on my nerves."

Captain Nezumi had run out of patience after Nojiko's repeated protests and shoved her aside.

Nojiko fell to the ground in a sorry state, biting down hard on her lip.

No. Nami had saved all this money through so much hard work. There was no way she could let anyone take it away like this!

"Give me all that money back!"

Nojiko endured the pain in her body and lunged toward the chest.

Captain Nezumi pulled out a gun and glared viciously at Nojiko. "You forced me to do this!"

With a gunshot, Nojiko collapsed as well, blood staining the earth.

At the edge of the island, Moyun and his group finally arrived at Cocoyasi Village.

"Is this Nami's hometown? It doesn't look too bad!"

Usopp stretched lazily, looking thoroughly at ease.

"We should hurry inside. Nami may already be in danger."

Moyun glanced around and found the place unusually quiet. There wasn't even anyone along the shore.

The moment Sanji heard that Nami might be in danger, he immediately ran toward the village, shouting as he went, "Miss Nami, you have to wait for me! I'm coming to save you!"

Before long, Sanji had vanished from sight.

Moyun sighed. "You two go find Nami first. As long as you find someone from the village, you should be able to learn where Arlong is."

"You're not coming with us?"

"No, I have things of my own to take care of. If fate allows, we'll meet again. Oh, right—is that your ship over there?"

Moyun pointed toward a small ship in the distance.

"It's the Going Merry! Great, we finally found it! Boo-hoo-hoo!"

Usopp shouted with tears streaming down his face. It seemed Nami was here too, but he didn't know whether the two bounty hunters were here.

They probably haven't been captured, have they?

And so Moyun's three-person group parted ways with Luffy's group here. Moyun knew Captain Nezumi wouldn't stay here for long, so they had to move quickly.

After all, this was Arlong's base. It wouldn't make sense for Captain Nezumi to remain here for too long.

"Let's go. Olvia, what's wrong?"

Moyun was about to leave when he noticed Olvia standing there, looking dazed.

"I feel like I've been here before."

"What did you come here for? There aren't any historical artifacts here."

So much time had passed that Olvia couldn't quite remember either, but she was certain it had been something very important.

"Take your time thinking about it. We'll go find someone first."

Moyun planned to take them into the town to look around. Perhaps they might happen to run into Captain Nezumi on the street.

That would be quite interesting.

There were still some people on the streets, but fish-men could be seen everywhere, swaggering about. They casually picked up goods from roadside stalls and didn't even pay.

"How can they be so awful?"

Kuina muttered, her delicate brows tightly furrowed. There wasn't even a smile on the faces of the people here, only endless exhaustion.

"Hey, I'm sorry!"

A little boy carrying an ice cream had been running too fast and failed to notice the tall fish-man standing in front of him.

"You despicable brat! Don't you have eyes? Can't you watch where you're going?"

The fish-man glared angrily at the stain on his body. His vicious appearance frightened the child into tears.

Just then, a thin woman rushed out, pulled the child into her arms, and desperately apologized to the fish-man.

"I'm truly sorry! The child was running around and didn't see you here. I'm sorry!"

The woman's frail body trembled uncontrollably, but the fish-man had no intention of letting the pitiful mother and child off.

"Pay up. At least one million Beli!"

The moment he said that, the woman's face turned deathly pale. Where could she possibly find that much money?

The taxes in this town were already frighteningly high. It was difficult enough for them to maintain their daily lives.

"This is outrageous! The child only bumped into you by accident, and she apologized. Even if you want compensation, it doesn't have to be that much!"

A man in the crowd couldn't help shouting out. The others stared at him in horror.

"Stop talking! Shut your mouth before that fish-man takes offense. You'll be finished!"

"I've had enough!"

The man stepped out of the crowd. He looked somewhat nervous, and his height of one hundred eighty centimeters seemed so small beneath the fish-man's powerful two-and-a-half-meter frame.

The fish-man's gaze turned sinister as he looked coldly at the man. "What did you just say?"

"I..."

Before the man could finish speaking, the fish-man knocked him to the ground with one punch. He vomited mouthfuls of blood.

"What an idiot. Filthy human!"

"Damn it!"

The man stood up and tried to fight back, but the onlookers nearby held him back.

"Have you forgotten the rules of this island?"

Ever since Arlong's crew had come to the island, they had established a rule: no matter what happened, no one was allowed to attack a fish-man here. Otherwise, the consequences would be horrific.

The fish-man looked excitedly at the man without making a move. Instead, the curve of his lips grew wider and wider, making his already ugly fish-like face look even more terrifying.

"Were you just about to attack me, human?"