The fire was still spreading, and the acrid smell of scorched wood and fabric drifted over.
Nami stared at the flames until Norton said, "Let's go." Only then did she snap back to her senses.
"Wait," she said, turning toward the burning building. "Arlong's treasure! It's still inside!"
She remembered the money and jewels Arlong had hidden in his secret room, all the things he had plundered from the villages.
Without another thought, she covered her nose and mouth with a wet cloth and charged into the fire.
Nearby, the seven surviving pirates exchanged looks, then tore off pieces of their clothes, soaked them, and covered their faces before charging in after her.
Norton did not stop them. He simply watched them go.
Zoro leaned against a broken wall and snorted.
Inside, smoke filled the burning building, and the heat made it almost impossible to keep their eyes open.
Following her memory, Nami felt her way deep into the corridor and found the heavy metal door. It was locked, but already slightly warped.
For a thief like Nami, opening this kind of lock was hardly difficult. She removed it in a few quick motions.
Beyond the door was a stone chamber the fire had yet to reach. It was piled with chests, bags, and scattered treasure-Beli, gold ornaments, and gems that glittered dazzlingly in the firelight.
"Get it out!" Nami grabbed several jewelry boxes.
The seven men made bundles out of clothes and curtains, frantically stuffing them with treasure. The smoke grew thicker, and the stone chamber began to creak.
"Move! It's coming down!" Nami shouted, hoisting a large bundle onto her shoulder.
They had barely rushed outside when a thunderous crash sounded behind them. The section containing the stone chamber collapsed, and the flames swallowed everything left inside.
The eight of them collapsed in the courtyard, coughing violently, their faces and bodies covered in soot. Bundles of various sizes lay piled beside them.
Norton walked over, looked at the bundles, then at them.
"That's all Arlong had?" Norton was a little surprised. Everything here was worth, at most, a few hundred million Beli. It certainly did not exceed a billion.
He had seen the wealth of Funing's father, the Duke, and it far surpassed Arlong's.
Yet this was wealth Arlong had accumulated by exploiting the surrounding villages for nearly ten years!
Was the gulf between rich and poor really this staggering?
"We took everything we could..." Nami panted, but she was elated. "We're rich!"
Norton nodded, estimated the value, then set aside a portion of the spoils and pushed it toward the seven pirates.
"This is yours," Norton said. "About ten million Beli each."
All seven froze for a moment, then broke into delighted smiles.
Money was the very reason they had risked following Nami into the fire.
But they had never expected Norton to give them so much.
Under Redbeard, they would have been lucky to get a million.
Even Redbeard's head had only been worth eight million. With ten million Beli's worth of treasure sitting before each of them, it all felt unreal.
"You're really giving this to us?" the seven pirates asked hesitantly.
Norton grinned. "What, are you afraid to take it?"
"Of course not!" The seven pirates instantly gathered up the treasure, terrified Norton might take it back. "Thank you, Captain!"
Nami paid no attention to the division of the money. She kept gazing toward the village, toward the little light in the Orange Grove.
The wound on her arm still hurt, but her heart was finally at ease.
"Let's go," Nami said quietly, standing beside Norton. "To my home."
The group left the still-burning ruins and took the path back to the Orange Grove.
The firelight receded, and the familiar scent of oranges grew stronger.
The little house was lit. Nojiko stood anxiously at the door, watching for them. She sighed in relief when she saw Nami, only to look startled at the group behind her and the distant firelight.
"Nami? Over there... what happened to Arlong Park? Who are these people...?"
Nami walked over and threw her arms around her sister.
"It's over, Nojiko." Nami buried her face against Nojiko's shoulder, her voice muffled as tears spilled uncontrollably from her eyes.
"Arlong's dead! It's all over!"
Nojiko went rigid, and the oil lamp in her hand wobbled. She pushed Nami back a little and gripped her shoulders. "You... what did you say?"
"Arlong's dead!" Nami repeated. "The village is free!"
Nojiko stood stunned for several seconds before her knees buckled, and Nami caught her.
She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Tears suddenly flooded her eyes instead.
"R-really? Bellemere... Bellemere, she..." Nojiko could not go on.
The sisters clung to each other and cried.
Norton and the others stood nearby without saying a word.
After crying for a long while, Nojiko wiped her tears and looked at the people behind Nami, particularly the silver-haired man standing in their midst. She hurriedly composed herself.
"I'm sorry... please, everyone, come inside!"
Nojiko ushered them into the house. "We don't have much, but I... I'll make something to eat!"
The little house grew lively.
Nami helped get everything ready, Zoro found a corner and sat down with his eyes closed, Sanosuke slipped into the shadows, and the seven pirates stood awkwardly by the door.
Nojiko brought out hot tea and food, then took a jar of marmalade from the cupboard and carefully opened it.
"This is... Bellemere's specialty, her marmalade." Nojiko spread it on bread and handed it around. "She always said that if we ever had guests, we had to let them try it."
Nami looked at the jar, and her eyes reddened again. Glancing toward the treasure salvaged from the fire in the corner, she said to Norton:
"This money... I want to share it with the nearby villages Arlong bullied. Everyone's suffered so much over the years."
Norton raised an eyebrow as he ate his bread. "You can bear to give the money away?"
Nami blushed. "Of course I'll keep my own share! But... this money was dirty to begin with. Giving it back to everyone is the right thing to do."
Suddenly, the door was shoved open.
Genzo, Cocoyasi Village's policeman, rushed inside, out of breath. "Nami! We've got trouble!"
The room instantly fell silent.
Nami's heart tightened. "Uncle Genzo, what happened?"
"The Marines... Captain Nezumi has landed with a large force!"
Genzo leaned against the doorframe, panting. "They're heading straight here! Something looked wrong, so I took a shortcut to warn you!"
The joyful atmosphere froze at once. Nami's expression darkened, and her hands instinctively clenched.
Nojiko also stopped what she was doing, looking anxiously at her sister and the strangers.
Norton lifted his teacup and took a sip, his expression unchanged.
"What are they here for?" Nami asked, though she already knew the answer.
"What else?" Genzo was both anxious and furious. "They're obviously after you and your money! Those hyenas dressed up as Marines!"
A little over ten minutes earlier.
Captain Nezumi had been patrolling the nearby waters with his men when he received a message from Kuroobi via Den Den Mushi. Nami might have returned to Cocoyasi Village with a vast fortune, and he was to come "collect the stolen goods."
As he eagerly hurried over, he happened to see black smoke rising from the direction of Arlong Park.
"Captain, isn't that Arlong Park over there? Is it on fire? Should we..." an adjutant asked uncertainly.
Captain Nezumi narrowed his eyes at it, feeling a little uneasy himself.
But he soon put his doubts aside, rubbed his hands, and flashed a greedy smile.
"Stay out of Arlong's business! Our goal this time is to arrest that thief named Nami and confiscate all the property she stole from innocent seafaring folk! Understood?"
"But, Captain..."
One soldier spoke hesitantly in a low voice. "Didn't headquarters recently issue a confidential notice ordering every branch to keep a close watch for the wanted criminal who committed regicide?"
"Shouldn't we ask the locals whether there are any suspicious people on this island while we're here...?"
"Shut up!"
Captain Nezumi jumped as though someone had stepped on his tail, his face paling as he snarled, "If you want to die, don't drag me down with you! The King Slayer... he's a demon who dared to kill a king and has hundreds of lives on his hands! Do you think we can handle him?"
"Even if we really find him, our only chance of survival is to turn around, run, and report it! Pretend we never saw him! Understand?!"
He was infuriated by his subordinate's stupid question, and merely mentioning that forbidden title had sent a pang of fear through him.
That was a heinous criminal with a bounty of one hundred million Beli! The Sage Kingdom incident was said to have been horrifically bloody, and the World Government was furious. The farther he stayed from that kind of trouble, the better.
Almost as soon as Genzo finished speaking, a clamor of footsteps sounded outside, along with shouts ordering the villagers away.
Through the window, they could see a large number of figures in white uniforms carrying torches, completely surrounding the clearing in front of the house.
Nami took a deep breath, opened the door, and stepped outside. Norton set down his teacup and followed, with everyone else close behind.
Outside, torches lit the clearing brightly. Dozens of Marine soldiers held their guns ready, led by Captain Nezumi, a greedy-looking man with two ratlike whiskers.
Seeing Nami emerge, Captain Nezumi made a show of clearing his throat. "You're Nami, correct? We've received reliable information that you've been stealing enormous sums from pirates for quite some time!"
"I hereby formally arrest you in my capacity as captain of the Marine 16th Branch!"
"All your illegally obtained assets must also be surrendered immediately for confiscation!"
The soldiers behind him watched them menacingly.
The surrounding villagers were furious but dared not speak, and could only watch from a distance.
Looking at that revolting face, Nami burned with anger, but an even colder feeling settled over her.
She was about to speak when a calm voice sounded behind her.
"She's already given all her property to me."
Norton stepped forward to stand beside Nami and looked at Captain Nezumi impassively.
Deeply displeased at being interrupted, Captain Nezumi glared impatiently at the speaker. "Who the hell are you? How dare you obstruct Marine dut-"
The words lodged in his throat.
His gaze landed on Norton's face, and his expression changed rapidly, from indifference to confusion, then close scrutiny, and finally... indescribable, absolute terror!
That face... there was no mistake!
In that instant, the face from the wanted poster sprang into Captain Nezumi's mind.
After the Sage Kingdom incident, the World Government had sent a top-priority wanted notice to every branch commander. It bore the face of the criminal who had murdered the king of the Sage Kingdom, along with hundreds of royal guards and agents!
The man called the King Slayer!
Captain Nezumi's face instantly turned white as paper. His lips quivered, and his two whiskers trembled violently.
The next second, the captain who had been so arrogant moments earlier abandoned all his men and fled in abject terror!
The sudden turn of events stunned everyone. Most of the Marine soldiers exchanged bewildered looks, completely unable to understand why their commander had suddenly run as though he had seen a ghost.
Once they came to their senses, however, they quickly chased after him, and the space in front of the house soon emptied again.
Genzo, Nami, Nojiko, and the others looked dumbfounded.
Norton was a little puzzled too. Did he really look that frightening?
Still, he had no intention of letting the man escape. Turning to Sanosuke, he said calmly, "Go take care of it."
"As you command." Sanosuke nodded, then flickered away, melting silently into the night like a phantom as he pursued them.
The sharp-eyed Genzo noticed a rolled-up piece of paper that had fallen where Captain Nezumi had been standing. He walked over, picked it up, and unrolled it.
By the torchlight, Genzo read its contents.
It was a brand-new wanted poster.
[DEAD OR ALIVE] Norton Crime: Regicide Bounty: 100,000,000 Berries
At the center of the wanted poster was a color photograph of a silver-haired man with a wild, arrogant smile.
Genzo's hand shook violently, and the wanted poster fluttered to the ground. He slowly raised his head, staring in disbelief at the equally silver-haired young man standing in the doorway.
The flickering torchlight illuminated Norton's face, as well as the face in the photograph on the wanted poster.
They were identical!
Norton picked up the wanted poster, a wild, arrogant smile spreading across his face, exactly like the one in the photograph.
"Oh? A wanted poster from the World Government? They've actually put a bounty on me!"
After so long at sea, he finally had a wanted poster of his own!
"The bounty's a little low, though."
The only thing Norton was not particularly satisfied with was the amount.
"Is that your wanted poster? Let me see..." Nami leaned closer.
"One hundred million Beli?!!"
Even Arlong had only carried a bounty of twenty million Beli. A hundred-million-Beli bounty had never appeared in the East Blue.
It was unprecedented!
And this was only his first bounty! It would only rise from here!
"A hundred million Beli! That's enough to make my swords thirst!" Zoro could not help saying. In all his time as a bounty hunter, he had never come across such a valuable head.
Norton glanced at Zoro.
Zoro coughed, took a drink of liquor, and waved a hand. "Relax. I won't attack someone I owe a debt to."
Norton had taken him off that deserted island, so he owed him for that. Besides, he was currently serving as one of Norton's fighters.
"What exactly did this gentleman do?" Nojiko could not help asking.
"He... he's the King Slayer! And he's got hundreds of lives on his hands!" Genzo pointed at Norton and exclaimed in a low voice, pulling Nami and Nojiko behind him.
Nami hurried to explain. "Don't be afraid, Uncle Genzo! Norton isn't a bad person! He's the reason we were able to get rid of Arlong!"
At those words, Genzo's expression grew conflicted. "I'm deeply grateful to you, Mr. Norton! But for the safety of Cocoyasi Village's people, please leave the village with your associates as soon as possible!"
"You ungrateful bastard! If it weren't for our captain..." The seven pirates stepped forward and surrounded Genzo, ready to teach the ungrateful man a lesson.
Norton had given each of them ten million Beli. This was a perfect chance to prove their loyalty!