Handwritten Notes

Luffy and the others also headed toward Arlong Park.

On the way, they saw portraits of Johnny and Jonathan.

"So those two were captured. No wonder we haven't run into them after all this time."

Usopp stroked his chin as he looked at the two people in the portraits. They appeared to have been tied up. Whatever else one could say, the way those two cried was truly miserable.

"Then I'll rescue all three of them at once. I just happen to want to ask Nami why she left. She's my navigator!"

Luffy rolled up his sleeves and strode forward, only to spot a familiar figure.

"Hey, Nami!"

"Luffy, what are you talking about? How could Nami possibly be here?"

Usopp laughed and patted Luffy on the shoulder. When he looked up, he saw Nami walking alone ahead of them, her back looking frantic.

"Nami really is here. What are the odds?"

Nami, walking ahead, heard Luffy's voice. She stopped, her gaze cold and empty.

They must have come to rescue those two good-for-nothings. I'm so jealous.

I can only rely on myself.

"I'm an officer of the Arlong Pirates. You came here to rescue those two, didn't you?"

"Miss Nami, what are you talking about? Why do you look so haggard?"

Sanji hurried over to Nami, his face filled with delight.

After looking her over carefully, he noticed that Nami's hands were covered in blood. Her hair was disheveled, and the bloodshot look in her eyes made her look terrifying.

"This has nothing to do with you. Come back later. I have something to discuss with Arlong right now."

Nami tossed out those words flatly, then turned and walked away.

Anyone who saw Nami in that state would know that something was seriously wrong.

"What happened?"

"Hey, Nami! Aren't you my navigator? Where are you trying to run off to?"

Luffy shouted, still not understanding what was going on.

Hearing Luffy's voice, Nami's body stiffened. That idiot still thought she was part of their Pirate Crew.

"I'm not your navigator. Didn't you hear what I just said?"

"Huh? Why not? You already agreed to it. I don't care—you're my navigator."

Luffy puffed out his cheeks. He did not even look at Nami, turning his face to the side instead.

It had to be said that Luffy was unexpectedly persistent when it came to finding companions.

"Are you sick?!"

Nami shouted in exasperation. Her head slowly drooped as tears poured down her face. How was she supposed to stay strong after hearing this? She clearly didn't want to trouble them anymore.

The others quietly watched Nami release her emotions. They were already companions now—how could companions care about such things?

Nami actually knew her own strength. There was no way she could defeat Arlong.

She might not even make it to Arlong before the other officers took her out.

"Luffy... sob... help me. Please, help me!"

Luffy sighed and walked over to Nami. He took the straw hat off his head and placed it on hers.

"I won't let anyone bully my navigator."

Sanji silently lit a cigarette. Usopp also readied his slingshot, while Zoro yawned and quietly followed behind Luffy.

Meanwhile, a Villager had already brought Moyun to the village chief's house.

"Chief, someone's here to see you!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming. Oh my, who would come looking for me? Is Nami back?"

The village chief opened the door and saw several strangers standing outside.

"Who are you?"

The smile on the village chief's face quickly vanished. He eyed the people before him warily and defensively.

"Do you remember me? I left a notebook here before."

"You are?"

Olvia removed the mask from her face. Her silver hair was striking, and she had unusually deep-set eyes for a woman, along with a pair of dark green eyes.

The village chief studied her closely for a long while. He seemed to remember a woman like this, but she did not appear to have been so young before.

"I remember you, but you didn't look like this before."

"Yes, some things happened. I came here to retrieve the item I left here before."

Olvia smiled bitterly. She had forgotten many things that happened in the past.

She could only rely on the notebook to recall them.

"I know, I know. I remember now. I've kept your things safe all this time."

The village chief shakily walked over to a bookshelf. Rising onto his toes, he took a notebook down from the very top shelf.

The notebook had already begun to yellow, and quite a bit of dust had settled on it.

"Time really flies."

The village chief handed the notebook to Olvia. "When you came here before, Arlong didn't exist on this island yet."

Olvia eagerly accepted the notebook. The moment it reached her hands, her memories of the East Blue suddenly became much clearer.

"Then we'll be leaving now. Sorry for the trouble."

"All right, all right. Go on, go on."

After leaving the village chief's house, Moyun clasped his hands behind his back and kicked a pebble on the ground somewhat listlessly.

"Olvia, could there be a Poneglyph nearby?"

Olvia was flipping through her notebook. She was startled when she heard Moyun's question. There shouldn't have been any on this island.

But according to what was written in the notebook, there was one on a small island not far from here.

The notebook did not record what the Poneglyph said. Olvia had not wanted to write such things down.

"No. There's an island called Sea Root Island nearby. It's very small, but there seems to be a space stored beneath the ground."

The island was simply too small and had no useful resources, yet it was filled with danger. As a result, even pirates would not set foot there lightly.

"I never thought there really was one in the East Blue."

Moyun muttered to himself, "Good! We'll set out right now!"

When Moyun and the others reached the shore, they found their ship surrounded by several fierce-looking fish-men.

One Fish-man was even unusually tall and seemed to be about to start fooling around with their ship.

"How much longer are we supposed to wait?"

"What are you in such a hurry for? Didn't you see that Mr. Oobi hasn't said anything?"

Several fish-men whispered among themselves when a voice suddenly rang out.

"Hey, thanks for watching our ship for us. We're back now, so you can leave."

"Oh, okay."

Wait a second—who said they were watching his ship for him?!

"What did you say?"

"Oh, are you only realizing it now? Looks like fish really do have somewhat sluggish minds."

Moyun swore he was not prejudiced against any species—but these fish-men were the exception, since they had tried to lay hands on his ship!