Nami carried a bulging bundle on her back, her heart pounding as though it might burst.
She kept her footsteps as light as she could, like a cat creeping along.
The moonlight was bright, so bright it frightened her. If anyone woke up now, they would spot her at a glance.
The bundle held all the treasure Nami had accumulated during her time here.
She had already made up her mind to slip back to Cocoyasi Village while everyone slept. Once she bought the village from Arlong, she would decide what to do next.
Ahead, a boat lay hidden among the reefs, covered with branches and vines. It was the same boat Zoro had used to reach the island, and the crucial reason Nami had decided she could leave.
Without a boat, she could never cross the vast sea. She would have no choice but to keep following the White Pearl.
She had already stocked the boat with fresh water, dry rations, basic navigation tools, and a chart she had drawn herself. Once she boarded and rowed across the bay, she could slip away without a sound.
"Where are you going?"
The sudden voice made Nami freeze.
She knew that voice all too well. Its low tone sent a chill down her spine.
She slowly turned and saw Norton standing in the moonlight three meters away.
"Hi..." Nami gave an awkward smile, her guilty conscience showing.
Norton glanced at the bundle on her back. His gaze made Nami turn even paler, and she instinctively shifted the bundle behind her, just as she had in the hold where the treasure was stored.
He caught me again...
"Where were you planning to take my money?" Norton asked casually.
"You knew all along?" Nami was mortified.
Norton nodded calmly.
"You knew back in the hold last time, didn't you?" Pale-faced, Nami stared straight into his eyes. Now that she had been caught, she somehow found a little courage to face him.
"That's right."
"Then why didn't you expose me?"
"Because there was no need." Norton's voice was calm.
"No need?" Nami blinked.
Just then, Sanosuke appeared behind Norton.
"My lord, should I..." Sanosuke first gave Nami a cold glance, then drew a hand across his throat.
Nami's hair stood on end.
She had witnessed Sanosuke's ruthlessness firsthand. When a Ninja made that gesture, it could mean only one thing: he intended to kill!
But Norton shook his head and said softly, "Don't say things like that again, Sanosuke. Nami will always be our navigator."
Sanosuke paused, then bowed his head deeply. "Yes. I understand."
He did not understand why Norton would not punish Nami for stealing the treasure, but once Norton had spoken, it was not his place to interfere.
As a Ninja, Sanosuke understood that well. His lord's will could not be defied.
Only after hearing Norton's words did Nami quietly breathe a sigh of relief.
"What do you mean, there was no need?" After a moment of silence, Nami looked into Norton's eyes.
"You stole this money because you wanted to buy your hometown from a certain pirate, didn't you?" Norton answered with a question.
"How did you know? Did you investigate me?" Nami was startled.
She had never told Norton any of this. How did he know?
"There was no need to investigate. I know everything that happened to you." Norton smiled.
"What does that mean?" Nami grew wary.
Norton said quietly, "My identity is very unusual. That's my secret, and I won't tell anyone. All you need to know is that I understand you better than you imagine."
"I turned a blind eye to your theft because I knew you needed the money, and not for yourself. You wanted to buy your village from a Fish-Man named Arlong."
"But let me tell you this: even if you hand over the hundred million Beli you worked so hard to gather, Arlong won't keep his promise."
"Impossible! Arlong will keep his promise! He may be a bastard, but he loves money more than anything! And he promised me himself!" Nami grew agitated, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
The reason she worked so hard, using every means she could to save up Beli, was to rescue Cocoyasi Village from Arlong through her own efforts.
Yet now Norton was telling her that nearly ten years of effort had been for nothing!
Norton looked into Nami's eyes, his voice turning cold. "Stop being naive, Nami! Who do you think Arlong is? He's a pirate who rules over more than a dozen villages and towns through violence!"
"And he's a Fish-Man extremist!"
"The hatred between Fish-Men and humans has built up over centuries. Why would an extreme racist like Arlong let a human village go just for money? To him, humans are an inferior race, slaves, toys. Would you honor a promise to a toy?"
Norton's words struck like thunder, and Nami could not help beginning to doubt. As though all her strength had been drained away, she slumped to the ground.
The bundle slipped from her shoulder, spilling treasure everywhere. Gold coins gleamed coldly in the moonlight.
"That's impossible... Arlong will keep his word..."
As she murmured, a tear rolled from the corner of her eye.
"Nami." Norton softened his voice. "You're a brilliant navigator. You can read currents, predict the weather, and find the safest routes across the sea. But your understanding of human nature is still far too shallow."
He bent down slightly, reached out, and wiped the tear from Nami's face.
"No... he wouldn't..." Nami shook her head, but her voice had lost its conviction.
"Then let's make a wager," Norton said suddenly.
Nami froze. "A wager... on what?"
"On whether Arlong keeps his promise." Norton straightened. "If he honors the agreement and sells Cocoyasi Village to you, we'll call it even."
"But if Arlong goes back on his word and takes the money without honoring the deal..."
"Then what?" Nami looked up.
Norton grinned. "Then you'll have to formally join me. Not as a hired employee like you are now, but willingly, as my navigator."
"Use your talents to help me conquer this sea!"
The sea breeze swept past, carrying the distant sound of the tides and the cries of night birds in the forest.
Nami looked at the treasure scattered across the ground. Nearly ten years of her life, her struggles, her perseverance in the darkness-all of it flashed through her mind like an electric current.
"But... Cocoyasi Village isn't to the northeast," Nami said suddenly.
Norton smiled. "That's easy enough, my dear navigator. This time, you'll decide the White Pearl's course!"
Mongula woke in a spotless white hospital bed, pain stabbing through his entire body as though every bone had been snapped. His vision was as blurred as a day shrouded in thick fog.
Enduring the pain, he struggled to sit up. Even that simple movement exhausted all his strength.
That terrifying fist still seemed to loom before his eyes!
Only after several deep breaths did Mongula recover enough to lift his head and look around.
It was a sealed hospital room, bare except for a table. His damaged Black Chrysanthemum Mask lay on it.
"Where am I?" Mongula murmured.
But as he tried to think harder, a tearing pain suddenly shot through his head. Mongula clutched his head in agony and trembled against the bed.
"You're awake?"
A man's voice suddenly rang out.
Mongula looked up and saw a face appear on the white wall.
"Dr. Vegapunk?" It took Mongula a while to recognize him.
"That's right." The face nodded. "Feeling any better? Your body sustained catastrophic injuries. If your Devil Fruit hadn't awakened at the critical moment, allowing your Mythical Zoan's exceptional healing ability to repair your body automatically, you would be dead by now."
"Doctor, where am I? What happened? I remember escorting Saint Ari to the Sage Kingdom to obtain the Cursed Ship that the kingdom's duke's daughter was rumored to have built..." Mongula struggled painfully to remember.
"That's correct. Later, someone attacked the Royal Palace. The king of the Sage Kingdom was brutally murdered, and even Saint Ari was not spared. The killer also slaughtered hundreds of royal guards and CP Agents."
The face answered, "The World Government and the Five Elders take this incident very seriously. Unfortunately, there were no key eyewitnesses, so they sent you to me and asked me to use technology to help you remember the killer's face."
"As for where you are, this is Punk Hazard."
Mongula was stunned. He had not expected to have already been brought to the New World. Punk Hazard was the island where Dr. Vegapunk's research institute was located.
The surrounding walls opened, and dozens of slender tubes writhed like tentacles as they connected to Mongula's brain. At the same time, the face spoke again. "Use the equipment to help you recall the killer's face, Mongula."
"Yes." Mongula nodded and closed his eyes, forcing himself to remember through the agonizing pain.
In the darkness, fragments of his past memories surfaced one by one. A silver-haired figure emerged from the chaos, drawing steadily closer...
A handsome face, as finely sculpted as a statue, gradually came into focus!
As Norton's face surfaced in Mongula's mind, his body began trembling violently at the same time! Alarms blared from the equipment in the room!
Seeing this, the face on the wall looked somewhat amazed.
"Just remembering him makes his body tremble instinctively. How deeply did this man traumatize Mongula?"
As the equipment operated, Norton's portrait appeared on the screen. Vegapunk finally saw the man Mongula feared from the depths of his heart.
"He doesn't look particularly dangerous..." Vegapunk muttered, casually uploading the data to the cloud and sending a backup to Mary Geoise.
"Lie back down, Mongula. Next, I'll modify your body. Only then will you recover enough to fight again."
"Don't be nervous. There has already been a successful case. Compared with when I modified Mr. Zephyr's arm, I have much more experience now..."
The Holy Land of Mary Geoise, Pangaea Castle.
"My lords, Vegapunk has sent over the killer's portrait."
After delivering his report, the Marine placed a newly produced photograph on the table before the five elderly men.
"Understood. You may leave," the long-haired elder said.
"Yes, sir." The Marine withdrew, closing the door behind him. The Five Elders' gazes naturally settled on the portrait on the table.
"I never imagined the man who defeated Mongula would be so young," said the bald member of the Five Elders, clad in a white robe and holding an ancient sword.
"Fortunately, word of Ari's death in the East Blue hasn't leaked. Otherwise, it would have dealt a severe blow to the Celestial Dragons' prestige." The elder leaning on a cane wore a grave expression.
Although the incident was serious, fortunately, no news had leaked. Everyone who knew about it was already dead.
The Marines stationed at the Sage Kingdom branch and the surviving Royal Palace guards had all been disposed of.
"Have all the loose ends been tied up?" the elder with the mustache asked quietly.
"The God's Knights have been entrusted with it," the blond elder replied.
The God's Knights had always been reliable. With them handling it, there was no need to worry. Though unspoken, this was the consensus among the Five Elders.
After all, the God's Knights, like them, served that lord. They were fundamentally different from ordinary Celestial Dragons.
"Good. Now all that remains is to eliminate the culprit! Send out the order. Issue a bounty for this man through every channel!"
"On what charge?"
"Regicide!"
At dusk two days later, the White Pearl sailed into the waters off Cocoyasi Village.
Seen from the sea, the village was eerily quiet. There were no fishing boats at the dock, no farmers in the fields, and no children playing in the streets.
Only Arlong Park's towering structure stood beneath the setting sun, like a gravestone weighing down the entire village.
Nami stood at the bow, gripping the railing so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
"Do you need me to go with you?" Norton walked over to her.
"No." Nami shook her head. "This is my own business."
With the bundle on her back, she disembarked alone. After entering the village, she headed straight for the little house beside the Orange Grove.
It was harvest season, and the familiar scent of oranges eased Nami's nerves a little. She looked around inside and out, but Nojiko was not home, and the house was empty.
After a short rest, Nami set down her bundle, picked up the shovel in the corner, and walked into the Orange Grove.
A little over seven minutes later, Nami emerged from the Orange Grove covered in dirt, carrying a heavy treasure chest. She took a secluded path toward Arlong Park.
Arlong Park.
The gates stood open. In the courtyard, Fish-Men sat or stood, watching Nami enter with somewhat surprised looks.
"The thief's back!"
"Hey, Nami! That's a huge treasure chest. Don't tell me you've saved up enough money?" Hachi exclaimed.
A hundred million Beli was no small sum. Even to Arlong, it was a considerable fortune.
Could a fifteen-year-old girl really save up that much money on her own in less than ten years?
On the raised platform, Arlong sat with his legs crossed, toying with an apple. At the sight of the heavy treasure chest Nami carried, a flicker of surprise passed through his eyes too.
"Well, well, our talented surveyor is back!" Arlong grinned, revealing his sawlike teeth. "You look ready to settle everything once and for all. How much treasure have you brought?"
Nami said nothing. She set the heavy chest on the ground and opened its lid.
Bundles of Beli shone golden in the sunlight.
Besides cash, there were jewels, gold objects, and antiques.
"One hundred million Beli," Nami said, her voice trembling slightly despite her efforts to keep it calm. "As agreed, Cocoyasi Village... is free!"
After all these years, she could finally say those words to Arlong!
But as she remembered her wager with Norton, Nami's excitement was tempered by scrutiny as she stared at Arlong's face.
Come on... Arlong. What will you do?