"All right, then. Be careful!"
After a moment of silence, Nojiko cautioned her again.
"Don't worry, sis. I'm the Cat Burglar! I'll definitely be fine!"
Nami smiled and patted Nojiko's shoulder. As she looked toward Arlong Park in the distance, a figure couldn't help flashing through her mind.
But Nami soon banished it, let out a quiet sigh, and murmured to herself.
"Treasure has a bounty of eighty-nine million Beli. I hope they'll be all right!"
"But with that guy's strength, even if he can't win, he should be able to protect himself, right?"
Jumbled thoughts flashed through Nami's mind. In the end, she cleared her head and hurried away.
At the thought of using the hundred million she had painstakingly saved to buy back Cocoyasi Village, an unconcealable glimmer of joy flashed in Nami's beautiful eyes.
She had even long since worked out what she would say when she left the Arlong Pirates.
Half an hour later, outside Arlong Park.
Looking at the tightly shut gates before her, Nami felt her heart pound faster.
After quietly taking a deep breath, she reached out and pressed her hand against the closed gates.
Eight years. This moment had finally come.
Looking at those ugly faces inside through the gate's opening, Nami felt a little more urgency.
Arlong, here I come!
"Hahaha, Brother Arlong, did you just say Nami actually contacted you and said she'd scraped together a hundred million Beli to buy back Cocoyasi Village?"
Laughter laced with drunkenness suddenly rang out.
Looking at Chew, whose flushed cheeks made him look thoroughly drunk, Nami's outstretched hand suddenly froze.
An inexplicable unease welled up in her heart.
"Chew, why would Brother Arlong lie to us?"
Dressed in a judo uniform, Kuroobi spoke with a serious expression.
"It's just that the last time we investigated where Nami hid her money, she only had about fifty million Beli. How did she suddenly get enough? Could she be planning to trick us?"
"If she really has enough, will Brother Arlong let her go?"
In the East Blue, the Weakest Sea, a bounty like Arlong's twenty million Beli was already an astronomical sum.
Per capita wealth had always been low.
It had taken Nami eight years just to save fifty million.
Another fifty million suddenly appearing was undoubtedly beyond their expectations.
"Heh, don't underestimate Nami. She's the navigator I chose. With her abilities, getting a hundred million Beli isn't surprising."
Arlong gave a savage grin.
"As for whether I'll let her leave, of course I'll keep my promise. But that hundred million Beli only counts if she delivers it to me in person."
Kuroobi and the other Fish-Men froze for a moment. Beside them, Chew suddenly caught on.
"Boss Arlong, I saw you contacting that guy Nezumi earlier. You didn't secretly leak the location of Nami's treasure stash, did you?"
"If that's the case, this has nothing to do with us. Nami was just so unlucky that Nezumi cleaned her out!"
"Right, she was just too unlucky. If she finds out the treasure she's painstakingly saved for years was all carried off just before she got here, I wonder if she'll burst into tears and start crying about killing herself."
"You guys had better keep a close eye on her later and comfort her properly. Otherwise, who's going to make money for us?"
The place erupted at once.
Nami's hand pressed against the gates trembled uncontrollably.
Her eyes had already gone red.
Bang!
The gates were kicked open.
The vast courtyard fell deathly silent.
At the sight of this uninvited visitor,
the mocking smile on Arlong's face deepened.
"Look, our navigator has finally returned. Let's raise a glass to her!"
"Right, a toast to Nami! Here's hoping she really scraped together a hundred million Beli..."
"Just how much money is a hundred million Beli? It's all thanks to Nami that we'll get to see it!"
"Right, so we should thank her..."
The pirates present roared with laughter.
Looking at those ugly faces, Nami tightened her grip on the staff in her hand, bit her red lip, and spoke through gritted teeth, one word at a time.
"Arlong, you actually lied to me! I'll kill you all!"
Nami rushed toward Arlong, swinging the staff clenched in her hands straight at his face.
Bang!
Arlong caught the staff in one hand and grinned savagely.
"Nami, I said all that just now specifically for you to hear. If you'd listened and obediently backed off, I wouldn't have taken it to heart."
"But since you insist on asking for trouble, I'll just have to teach you a good lesson like before!"
At that, Arlong shot Kuroobi a look, picked up his wineglass, and said with a mocking smile.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. On this sea, the person who can kill me hasn't been born yet!"
"Kuroobi, beat her up first. Then go to Cocoyasi Village and teach those stupid humans what it means for the weak to be prey to the strong!"
"Understood, Brother Arlong!"
Kuroobi smiled coldly, loosened his joints, and walked toward Nami.
Nami's face went white, as though a basin of cold water had been poured over her head.
With no time to think, she hurriedly turned and bolted.
She had to get the villagers to flee as quickly as possible before Arlong and the others went to Cocoyasi Village.
"Hmph, a mere inferior human dares to run from noble Fish-Men? Don't forget, you humans are like babies before us Fish-Men. Stay right there!"
Kuroobi snorted coldly and sprang after Nami.
Nami was instantly cornered against a wall. As she watched that rough, large hand rapidly grow in her pupils, her face turned as pale as paper.
She could only shut her eyes in despair!
Boom!
A dull impact suddenly rang out.
The wall beside Nami was pierced straight through.
Endless golden light surged out wildly, and a wooden saber came tearing through the air with overwhelming force.
Kuroobi's expression changed, and he hurriedly raised both hands to block.
Unfortunately, his so-called defense was as flimsy as paper.
As both arms and his chest caved in, he opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood.
His entire body flew straight backward like a cannonball.
Bang!
A deafening impact rang out.
Kuroobi smashed through the thick wall behind him.
Both arms and his chest were pierced clean through, and he was forcibly nailed to the wall, his eyes wide and his face full of disbelief.
After struggling a little, he croaked completely.
The vast park instantly fell deathly silent.
Kuroobi, who had been boasting about how powerful Fish-Men were just a moment ago, had now been killed instantly by a flying wooden saber.
That slap in the face had come far too fast.
Nami had already opened her beautiful eyes. Looking at the vaguely familiar wooden saber, a hazy figure flashed through her mind, as though she had caught hold of a life-saving straw.
"Lord Bai Yu, what are you doing here?"