Inside Arlong Park, Arlong sat upon his massive throne, head resting on his hand as he lazily basked in the sun.
Around him, many fishmen were either playing cards, sleeping, or shooting the breeze, looking quite comfortable.
Just then, Nami walked in. Before she even got close, she shouted, "Arlong! I've come to buy back the village from you!"
Snap!
Arlong's half-closed eyes snapped open. After eyeing Nami for a moment, his jagged-toothed maw pulled into a wide grin.
"Shahahahaha! If it isn't Nami. You took your sweet time coming back this time."
"What was that you just said? I didn't quite catch it. Say it again."
Under his gaze—smiling yet bone-chillingly cold—Nami forced herself to stay calm and offered a thin smile. "Didn't we agree? As long as I earned one hundred million berries, I could buy back the village."
"I have the one hundred million berries now."
Arlong's eyes narrowed, his fingers rhythmically tapping the armrest.
"Oh? You've already earned one hundred million berries?"
"That's right," Nami said, staring him straight in the eye.
"Where is the money?"
"At my house. It's too much and too heavy for me to carry alone. So, I'm asking you to come and count it yourself—and then take it away."
Arlong grinned at her, scanned the surrounding fishmen, and finally beckoned to Hachi, the six-armed octopus fishman.
"Hachi, come over here."
Hachi, who had been soaking in the pool, climbed out at the summons.
"Nyu? Arlong-san, you called for me?"
Arlong stood up and patted him on the shoulder. "Go help Nami bring that hundred million berries back here."
"Make sure to walk slowly and stall for as long as possible."
He lowered his head and muttered those words in a barely audible whisper, out of Nami's line of sight.
Hachi blinked, then replied loudly, "Understood! Arlong-san, I'll get the job done, no problem!"
"Arlong, you're not coming yourself?"
Hearing Arlong tell Hachi to go with her, Nami couldn't help but frown.
"Just let Hachi go with you. I don't feel like moving."
Arlong sat back down in his chair, crossed his legs, and spoke lazily.
"Of course, you have to come back with him. I'll only recognize the agreement fulfilled once I see you standing before me with those hundred million berries."
Although Nami had her doubts about him not going, she immediately agreed.
"Fine. I'll have the hundred million berries in front of you soon. When that happens, you'd better keep your word and let Cocoyasi Village go."
"Shahahahaha! Don't you worry. I, Arlong, am a man of my word!" Arlong laughed boisterously.
"Hachi, let's go!"
Seeing Arlong give such a promise, Nami set aside her lingering doubt for the moment and signaled for Hachi to follow.
Once she had left, Arlong's expression instantly turned grim.
"That woman... I didn't expect her to gather one hundred million berries so quickly."
"Yeah, Arlong-san. I remember the last time she was back, she said she was still quite short. Did she really make up the rest in just one trip out to sea?"
One of the three top officers of the Arlong Pirates, the fishman Chew, stood with his arms crossed, looking puzzled.
"Arlong-san, what do we do next? Are you really going to keep the promise and free her village? If you do, we won't have anyone left to draw our charts."
The other officer, Kuroobi, spoke with a serious expression.
He knew full well that Nami only drew their charts because the village was being held hostage. Without that leverage, she would definitely stop.
"Hmph! As if that would ever happen!"
Arlong snorted coldly.
"We still have many charts that haven't been drawn yet. There's no way I'm letting her escape now."
"As for keeping the promise... as long as she loses the means to fulfill it, I don't even have to worry about that problem."
He let out a cold, calculating sneer.
"Kuroobi, go find Colonel Nezumi immediately. Tell him Nami is about to bring one hundred million berries to me. If he can intercept her and seize the money before she enters my gates, I'll give him half."
"So that's your plan, Arlong-san! If the Marines take Nami's money, she won't be able to fulfill the deal with us!"
A playful smirk played across Chew's lips.
"Understood! I'll head for the Marines right now!"
Having understood Arlong's scheme, Kuroobi felt at ease. He quickly dove into the pool connected to the sea and swam rapidly toward the Marine branch.
...
On the road from Arlong Park to Cocoyasi Village.
After they had walked for a bit, Hachi remembered what Arlong had said. His eyes darted around, and he suddenly clutched his stomach, shouting:
"Aiyee! My stomach hurts so much! Nami, I have to find a bathroom!"
Nami stopped. Without thinking much of it, she waved him off. "Hurry up, then! Go, go!"
So Hachi ran into the nearby woods. After dawdling for a long time, he finally emerged, looking as though a great weight had been lifted.
"Whew! Sorry, Nami. I kept you waiting."
Nami, already somewhat impatient from the wait, bit her tongue and didn't snap at him. She simply quickened her pace.
"Come on, let's go! Don't keep Arlong waiting too long!"
...
On the other side, after Goku and Sanji had tied up the two fishmen and hidden them away, they slipped onto the island undetected.
To avoid being spotted, they stayed off the main roads and moved through the forest instead, keeping the road within sight.
Before long, they saw a village appear ahead on the main road. Following Sanji's suggestion, they still didn't enter the village, choosing to bypass it along the outskirts.
"Goku, can you really smell Nami-san's scent?"
As they moved, Sanji asked through gritted teeth, looking at Goku as if he wanted to devour him.
"Yeah. How many times are you going to ask me that?" Goku tilted his head, looking confused.
Since they were looking for Nami, they needed a direction. Otherwise, how were two people hiding their presence on such a large island supposed to find her?
So Goku had suggested that he could track Nami's scent.
The moment he said it, Sanji lost his cool.
'Nami-san has a scent?'
'Well, she probably does.'
'But even I can't remember Nami-san's scent! How the hell can Goku?!'
'Does that mean Goku had such close contact with Nami-san that the scent is etched into his memory?!'
The more he let his imagination run wild, the more frantic he became.
'Why did Goku get to have close contact with Nami-san?! Why?!'
'Waaaah... I want that too.'
Watching Sanji alternate between frowning, gritting his teeth, and looking like he was in the depths of despair, Goku just found it bizarre.
'What is wrong with him?'
As they continued forward, they soon arrived at a relatively secluded area.
Although it looked like it belonged to the village, there was only a lone house nearby, surrounded by a vast grove of tangerine trees laden with fruit.
Goku paused and pointed at the house. "Nami's scent is really strong there. Do you think she's inside?"
Sanji shook his head to clear out his messy thoughts and his expression turned serious.
"Let's go take a look."
They quickly approached the house. Peering through the window, they found it empty.
"Nami isn't here? But her scent is so heavy in this place."
Goku scratched his head.
"This is probably where Nami-san grew up. Remember, she said this was her hometown," Sanji explained.
Gurgle!!
Just then, Goku's stomach let out a loud growl.
He rubbed his hollow belly and frowned. "I didn't eat much earlier. Now I'm hungry again."
Then, he looked up at the tangerines hanging from the branches, and his eyes began to sparkle.
"Hehe, since Nami lived here, these tangerines must belong to her too. In that case, I won't hold back!"
With that, he pounced on a tangerine tree. Using both hands, he plucked two tangerines and shoved them into his mouth, skin and all.
"Mmm! So sweet!"
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]