Nami

Nojiko knew that, to the man before them, the only thing of value the two sisters still had was probably their bodies.

And with this man's strength, he should have been able to get them easily without resorting to an excuse like buying oranges.

But they were at his mercy now, so she could only believe that Lott had come to buy oranges.

Then another thought struck Nojiko, and she began to worry again. She knew that powerful people like him all had strange tempers.

At normal prices, all the oranges in their orchard were only worth 200,000 Beli.

If they couldn't produce 100 million Beli's worth of oranges when the time came, would he...

Helpless, she could only venture, "I don't know how many oranges we have here. Nami and I will go up the hill and pick some for you first."

Inside, however, she was thinking she should stall for as long as she could. Perhaps playing on his sympathy later would get them through this.

"Then I'll help too." Lott tossed the last orange segment into his mouth and stood up as he answered.

"Hey! Lott, look at those two over there. They look so strange. Their skin is actually green, and they even have gills beside their ears!"

Lott looked in the direction Ling'er was pointing. Sure enough, he saw two very sleazy-looking figures walking away into the distance.

"Those wouldn't happen to be Fish-Men, would they? I can smell the fishy stink from here." Zoro rested his left hand on his sword hilt, his expression darkening.

Just as Lott snapped a twig off a nearby orange tree and prepared to attack the Fish-Men, someone caught his hand.

"Lott, let's hurry this way before those two Fish-Men notice us."

He glanced back and found that it was Nami.

"What's wrong?" Warmth washed through Lott's heart. Nami wasn't afraid of him for being a notorious pirate. She really was as kind as she was beautiful.

Nojiko hurriedly explained in a low voice, "They're Fish-Men from Arlong Park. If they discover us, our lives could be in danger."

The two girls didn't know how strong Lott was, but having witnessed Arlong's terrifying strength firsthand, neither wanted Lott to be killed by him.

Lott and his three companions didn't object. They quietly followed Nami and her sister away to hide.

Nojiko looked around warily, only stopping once she confirmed that they were safe for the moment.

Puzzled by the two girls' vigilance, Ling'er asked, "What's wrong? Are those two Fish-Men that scary?"

From what she sensed with her Observation Haki, those two merfolk would still be easy to deal with.

"You must have seen what the village looked like when you came to the island, right?" As Nojiko spoke, she glanced behind her again, afraid that the two Fish-Men had followed them.

Lott and the others nodded at her words.

"That's because..." Nojiko recounted what had happened to Cocoyasi Village, as well as the death of her adoptive mother, Belle-mère.

After hearing Nojiko's resentful account, Zoro and the other two were all furious.

They hadn't expected the truth to be even crueler than Kuro's earlier guesses.

Ling'er was the first to lose her patience, clenching her little fists. "I'm going to roast every last one of them and throw them to the stray dogs!"

Zoro curled his lips. "Even the stray dogs might think they stink too much to eat."

"Hey! Keep your voices down! Fish-Men's hearing is several times better than humans' too." Nojiko hurriedly motioned for them to be quiet, terrified that the Fish-Men would hear.

"Since the Fish-Men have taken over this little village, haven't you considered leaving the island?" Kuro asked, pushing up his glasses out of habit.

Nojiko sighed. "Leaving the village where we've lived our whole lives is easier said than done. Besides..."

As she spoke, she gave Nami an affectionate look.

"But I'm about to succeed." Nami clenched her delicate fists, her voice confident.

"Oh? About to succeed at what? Do you have some kind of plan?" Ling'er looked at Nami with curiosity.

"I have an agreement with Arlong..." Nami explained her agreement with Arlong to buy Cocoyasi Village for 100 million Beli.

"Judging by everything they've done in the village, I don't think he'll honor that agreement. He may even interfere to keep you from reaching that goal," Kuro said calmly, voicing his rather cruel deduction.

"No, he'll definitely keep his word." Though Nami's tone was firm, her eyes shifted evasively.

In truth, she didn't quite believe Arlong would honor the agreement either, but the weak had no choice, did they?

"Anyway, how many oranges do you need? We'll pick them together, and then you should leave the island right away. It won't be good if Arlong and his men discover you." Nami raised her head to look at Lott.

Looking at this girl whose eyes were filled with kindness, Lott felt as though something had seared a spot deep in his heart, leaving him unable to resist the urge to protect her.

He thought about how this girl before him bore the life and death of an entire village on her small shoulders.

He didn't know how she had endured all these years. If the Fish-Man Race hadn't considered themselves a superior race and looked down on humans, there was no telling what even worse things Arlong might have done to such a delicate girl.

Sensing the tenderness in Lott's eyes, Nami hurriedly lowered her head and averted her gaze. Only her faint voice reached him. "L-let's hurry and pick the oranges."

Lott looked at Nojiko beside her and asked seriously, "Aren't you afraid we'll take the oranges and run? We're pirates, you know."

Nojiko froze at his words. It wasn't as though that possibility hadn't occurred to her, but what could she do?

Nami raised her head, looked at them, and said, "I believe you wouldn't do that."

Looking at Nami before him, Lott couldn't help inwardly chiding her. Silly girl, how can you be so trusting?

"How about this? I'll pay first."

As he spoke, he took a black case out of System Space and handed it to Nami.

Nami took the case mechanically.

"There's 100 million Beli in here."

"But we don't have 100 million Beli's worth of oranges here. They're only worth 200,000 or 300,000 Beli at most." Nami's hand holding the case began to tremble.

"I just ate the oranges you grew, and they were the best oranges I've ever had. On some islands, 10 million Beli would only buy five kilograms of oranges this good." As he spoke, Lott pushed the case further into Nami's arms.

"But..."

Lott bent down, reached out his right hand, and ruffled Nami's hair.

"Go buy your village back from Arlong first. Then you can pick oranges for us without worrying, right?"

At those words, smiles appeared on Zoro's, Ling'er's, and Kuro's faces.

"Lott..." Nami sniffled.

How could she not feel Lott's kindness? At first, she had thought he was only helping because he coveted her and her sister's bodies.

But when she met Lott's clear eyes, she didn't see the aggression that filled other men's gazes.

"Go on. We'll wait for you here."

She didn't know why Lott was helping her, but she could only ask him the reason after this was over.

As he watched that somewhat frail figure retreat, an inexplicable pang struck Lott's heart.