Half an hour later, on the coast of Cocoyasi Village, the Going Merry slowly came to a stop. The Straw Hat Pirates all jumped off, ready to head to Nami's home first.
Everyone followed Nami home. "Nojiko, I'm back!" Nami shouted happily from the doorway.
Two people came out of the house: Nojiko and Genzo.
Nami threw herself straight into Nojiko's arms and cried softly. "Nojiko, I've found my true companions. I'm going to sail with them, but before that, my companions will defeat the Arlong Pirates. They're really strong."
Listening to Nami, Nojiko turned to look at Luffy and the others who had come in with her, her gaze lingering on Liu Qing a little longer.
"Nami really has found some amazing companions." Nojiko then addressed Luffy and the others. "Sorry for the trouble, but please protect Nami and take care of her from now on."
Genzo looked at Liu Qing, his face brimming with excitement, and ran over to take his hand. "Oh my! You must be the great Thousand-Armed Zen Venerable-Liu Qing, the rising pirate star with a 500-million-Beli bounty whose name has been spreading across the seas lately! Thank you so much for coming to save us and the people of the twenty nearby villages. Come, come, come! Have a seat inside. I'll get you some water."
Genzo turned to Nojiko. "Oh, Nojiko, how can you leave our guests standing here? Hurry and wash some fruit or something for Nami's companions to try."
"Come on, let's sit down inside first." Genzo pulled Liu Qing and Luffy inside, talking as he walked. "Have you eaten? Are you hungry? How about having a meal and resting before you go deal with the Arlong Pirates?"
Overwhelmed by this reception, Liu Qing was at a complete loss, his face darkening with exasperation. "Genzo, you said I have a bounty? And it's 500 million Beli? How come I didn't know about this?"
"Oh, that? The wanted poster only arrived today. You probably didn't run into a News Coo on your way here. You could say the whole world knows about your fight with Dracule Mihawk now." As he spoke, he took the newspaper he had just bought out of his clothes and handed it to Liu Qing.
Liu Qing took the newspaper and looked. Good grief, Big News Morgans was a clickbait merchant too. The headline read, "Shocking! Member of an unknown pirate crew appears in the East Blue and thrashes Shichibukai Dracule Mihawk! Outmatched, Mihawk hands over his Haki training methods to save his life!"
"It's one of the great miracles of the pirate world that Big News Morgans still hasn't been beaten to death," Liu Qing muttered to himself.
Luffy shouted in bewilderment, "What? Liu Qing already has a bounty? And it's 500 million Beli? I don't believe it! Why haven't they put a bounty on me?"
Nami's eyes lit up. "Liu Qing, I have an idea. Since you're so strong anyway, how about we turn you over to the Marines and collect the bounty, then you get yourself out after we leave?"
Zoro's eyes lit up too. "Yeah, that could work. Give me some Beli afterward. I need to replace my weapons."
Sanji spoke up as well. "That works. We need to buy new kitchen equipment for the ship too, plus a refrigerator, an oven, and plenty of other things."
Usopp cautiously raised his hand. "I need money to buy materials for my research too. I want to upgrade my ammunition."
Liu Qing's face darkened with exasperation at their words, but he rubbed his chin thoughtfully and looked at them. "There's potential there, but the Marine Bases in the East Blue probably can't come up with that much money. How about we give it a try once we reach the Grand Line?"
While they chatted at home, two Fish-Men entered the village. Both leaned backward with their hands in their pockets, swaying from side to side and tossing their heads as they walked, their swagger outrageously arrogant.
The two Fish-Men began going from house to house, collecting this month's protection money. When they reached the house next to Nojiko's, they got into an argument with its resident.
"You damn fool! You, little lady! Hand over this month's grub money right now, or you're dead, dead!" the Kelp Fish-Man shouted arrogantly.
The eighty-year-old woman burst into tears. "Mr. Fish-Man, I'm still a little short this month! Please give me some time. I'll go borrow it right now."
As she spoke, the old woman hurried toward Nojiko's house at a speed of a hundred meters in two minutes.
Chew flew into a rage at the sight of her walking speed. "Ah, idiot! At that speed, it'll be next fucking year before you borrow the money! You're that old already. Just die!"
"Die, you dawdling little lady! Fish-Man Secret Art: Water Gun!" Chew's cheeks began to swell. With two whistles, two balls of water shot toward the old woman at astonishing speed.
Luffy and the others had just come outside when they saw this. Without hesitation, Luffy reached out, grabbed the old woman, and pulled her straight over, handing her to Genzo.
The two Fish-Men looked displeased at the group of strangers who had emerged. "Who are you? Don't you know this is Arlong Park? You dare come here and cause trouble? Hand that little lady over. He can't pay this month's protection money, so we're going to beat her to death."
Sanji looked at the two arrogant fish with disdain. "A pair of things that look neither human nor fish. You don't look strong either. How do you have the nerve to act so arrogant?"
Genzo was furious too. "Why aren't you keeping your word? Didn't we agree that paying would keep us alive? If he doesn't have money, we can pay for her. You won't even give someone time to borrow money?"
"Oh, why are you wasting your breath on those two? We came here to solve the problem. Why bother with all that? Just attack," Liu Qing said, speechless.
The Straw Hats came to their senses. "Right! We're here to smash the place up!"
Then they all launched their attacks.
"Gum-Gum Pistol!"
"One Sword Style: Flying Dragon Blaze!"
"Diable Jambe: Poitrine!"
"Special Attack: Tabasco Star!"
"Ahahaha! Mere humans! How strong could your attacks possibly be? We Fish-Men are seven times stronger than you!" Chew sneered at the people attacking him and immediately unleashed his own attack. "Rapid-Fire Water Gun!"
With a series of whistles, dozens of water shots flew at Luffy and the others.
In an instant, the attacks crossed. As a cry of "Ah! Impossible!" rang out, Zoro sliced off Chew's mouth, Sanji kicked his chest inward, Luffy smashed his nose to pieces, and chili powder filled his eyes.
Chew rolled on the ground in pain, but no cries came out. With his mouth cut off, he could not speak.
Seeing this, the Kelp Fish-Man turned to flee.
Watching Kelp try to escape, Liu Qing clapped his hands together. "Wood Release: Thorn Armor!"
A suit of armor suddenly grew directly over the Kelp Fish-Man's body. The terrifying part was that the thorns were not on the outside of the armor, but on the inside.
As hundreds of thousands of thorns inside the armor pierced the Kelp Fish-Man's body, the pain made him wish he were dead, yet he did not dare move at all. Even the slightest movement would hurt enough to kill him.
Liu Qing dusted off his hands. "Done."
When Genzo and the other villagers saw how easily the Fish-Men who used to lord it over them had been defeated, excitement spread across all their faces.
"Oh! As expected of a pirate crew that even the great pirate Thousand-Armed Zen Venerable is willing to stay with! Amazing, amazing! Awesome, absolutely fucking awesome! My admiration for the Straw Hat Pirates is like a surging river, flowing without end, and like the Yellow River... (one million words omitted here)." Genzo showered everyone with flattery, leaving Luffy, Zoro, and the others floating on air, barely able to tell which way was north. He almost praised them into going off to fight the Four Emperors or a Marine Admiral.
Speechless, Nami gave Genzo a smack. "All right, all right, stop buttering them up. Praise them any more and they'll be off to take on the World Government."
Genzo immediately stopped his flattery and looked at Nami with an embarrassed, foolish chuckle.
"Let's go deal with the Fish-Men at Arlong Park first, before delays cause any trouble. It wouldn't be good if they got word and escaped," Liu Qing said, seeing that the commotion had more or less run its course.
Luffy and the others nodded in agreement. "Sure, let's go."
Nami pointed at a wall not far away. "That's Arlong Park over there. I'll go with you."
Genzo spoke up at the same time. "We're coming too."
And so, the group headed toward Arlong Park in a great procession.
After walking for about ten minutes, they reached the entrance to Arlong Park.
Looking at the wall adjoining the sea, Liu Qing said, "Wait a moment. Judging by it, the sea outside the fence should connect to the inside. I'll block their escape route first so they can't get away through the sea."
Zoro nodded. "True. If we let a few escape and they come back after we leave, that would be bad. It's best to catch them all in one go."
Everyone else nodded in agreement too.
Once everyone had agreed, Liu Qing clapped his hands together. "Wood Release: Thorn Forest!"
A thorn forest began growing from the seabed, surrounding the entire island and continuing to grow until it rose a hundred meters above the island.
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