Somewhere on the East Blue, Tom and the others continued pursuing Nami on a small boat. During the downtime, they chatted as they sailed.
From Johnny, they learned Nami had likely headed for a place called Arlong Park. The "Arlong" in question had arrived in the East Blue eight years prior and quickly occupied over twenty villages, ruling them through brutal force. Yosaku added that Arlong's base was situated in Cocoyashi Village and was known as the "Arlong Empire."
But what shocked Tom's group most was the revelation that Arlong was a fish-man—one who had once fought alongside Jinbe, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, in the same pirate crew. Arlong's strength far surpassed that of Krieg, the so-called ruler of the East Blue. His current bounty was twenty million Berries, the highest in the entire sea.
According to Johnny and Yosaku, Nami had stared at Arlong's wanted poster on the Going Merry for a long time. When she overheard them mention that Arlong's crew had recently caused trouble again, her expression had turned grim. Shortly afterward, she stole the treasure, took the ship, and ran. Hence, they deduced Nami's destination had something to do with Arlong.
Tom remembered that Nami's hometown was Cocoyashi Village—and Arlong's base was there. It seemed that whatever problem Nami carried, the key to solving it lay with Arlong. The real question was: what exactly was Nami's relationship with him?
Since the Going Merry was completely out of sight now, Tom and the others set sail directly toward Arlong's territory. The difference in navigational skill was painfully obvious. Nami, who truly understood winds and currents, was playing in a different league. Tom's group, who only knew how to hoist a sail, had been left far behind.
"I've never seen a fish-man. Can we beat them by scooping them up like normal fish?" Tom asked, rubbing his chin, turning to Usopp.
"You're oversimplifying! It's not that easy!" Usopp answered helplessly.
"I'm more interested in the Seven Warlords," Zoro said. After fighting Mihawk—the world's strongest swordsman and one of the Seven Warlords—Zoro was now even more eager to enter the Grand Line.
The Seven Warlords were one of the Three Great Powers of the Grand Line, a force made up of seven government-recognized pirate lords whose prestige alone could intimidate ordinary pirates.
"If we could fight another Warlord right after entering the Grand Line… just imagining it is thrilling." Tom grinned.
Usopp's jaw dropped.
"You two just experienced how terrifying a Warlord is!! How can you say something like that?!" Usopp yelled.
"Relax. I was just making conversation," Tom said, noticing Usopp's shaking legs.
"You can't just say things like that!! What if it comes true?!" Usopp cried.
Come true my ass. I'm not cursed.
Tom thought.
There were only seven Warlords in existence. The Grand Line was enormous. Running into another one immediately after entering was practically impossible.
Unless we're as unlucky as Krieg, and run into someone ridiculously strong the moment we arrive…
Just as Tom finished that thought, Johnny complained:
"Are you guys even listening to me?"
Johnny felt defeated. Despite telling them how dangerous Arlong was, Tom and Zoro didn't seem to care at all. Only Usopp looked appropriately terrified, making Johnny and Yosaku feel at least someone was normal among them. They simply couldn't communicate with fearless lunatics like Tom and Zoro.
"Oh—right. Big Sis Nami asked us to give this to you before she left," Yosaku said, taking out a black cloth belt. It had more than a dozen slightly bulging pockets along its length.
Tom took the belt and opened the pockets. Inside were all the specialized attachments for his fishing rods. Judging from the pocket sizes, Nami had sewn them specifically to fit the accessories neatly, wasting no space.
"You asked Nami to make this for you?" Usopp asked.
"No. I never asked her to make anything," Tom said.
He had thought about making a belt like this to hold his rod attachments conveniently, but he'd only muttered the idea to himself once on the ship. He hadn't acted on it. He did remember someone walking past him at the time—but he didn't pay attention.
Apparently, that person had been Nami.
Tom had assumed Nami took the accessories with her. She was the only one besides him who knew their value. They weren't cheap, either. It would've been reasonable if she had sold them.
But instead, she not only returned everything untouched—
she even crafted a belt just for him.
Tom stared at the belt, expression complicated.
Zoro yawned. "What's so special about it? My bandana looks better."
"You green-haired idiot… you asking for a fight?" Tom said irritably, for no logical reason. He tied the belt around his waist—it fit perfectly.
Did Nami… measure my waist? No way…
Just as Tom thought that, Zoro grabbed him by the neck and the two began fighting again.
WHAM! THUD! BAM! CRASH!
Johnny panicked. "They're fighting again! Usopp-oniichan, make them stop!"
"Forget it. At this point nobody can stop them," Usopp sighed.
Meanwhile, back at the Baratie, Luffy, Sanji, and the others were fighting for their lives against the Krieg Pirates.
Just as Tom and Zoro were rolling around punching each other, the calm sea suddenly shifted. The waters surged violently, rocking their small boat. Yosaku, standing near the edge, lost his balance and fell into the ocean.
Usopp and the others rushed to help him—but suddenly, from beneath the waves, a massive sea cow surfaced, churning the ocean and sending Yosaku flying far away.
"What is THAT?!"
"It's huge!!"
Usopp and Johnny clung to each other, screaming.
"A Sea King," Tom and Zoro said at the same time, finally stopping their brawl.
The creature was at least ten times the boat's size.
"It has a nose ring. Maybe it's someone's pet? It looks hungry. Poor thing… maybe its owner doesn't feed it enough," Tom said, watching the sea cow lower its head pitifully and let out a moo.
"You idiot!! Who would keep THAT as a pet?! Let's RUN!!"
Usopp shouted, grabbing an oar.
"What nonsense. I'll make it tow our boat. We'll catch up to Nami faster," Tom said.
Usopp and Johnny froze in disbelief.
"Look at how HUGE it is!!" Usopp cried, pointing at the sea cow's nostril. "One of its nostrils is the size of our boat!!! We need to RUN FOR OUR LIVES!!!"
"The bigger it is, the easier it is to cut down," Zoro said calmly, gripping his swords.
"No—leave it to me. If you cut it up, that's no good," Tom said, extending his rod. As the sea cow opened its enormous mouth to swallow them whole—
Tom smashed its face with his rod.
"MOooooOOOO!!!"
The sea cow wailed miserably and dove underwater, trying to escape.
"Who said you could run?!"
Tom shot a white line that stuck firmly to its body.
Then he yanked.
And hauled the entire massive sea cow out of the ocean.
SPLAAAASH!!
Waves crashed violently, nearly capsizing them.
"You're insane!! It's going to crush us!!" Usopp screamed.
Zoro suddenly realized something felt "off," as if something—or someone—was missing.
"Do. As. You're. Told." Tom said sternly, then smashed the sea cow back into the water.
BOOM!
THUD!
CRACK!
SPLASH!
Tom beat the enormous creature soundly until it teared up, then forced it to obediently tow their boat.
"See? I feel bad for it," Tom said proudly.
"He's the real monster…" Usopp and Johnny whispered, stupefied.
Now sporting a dozen swollen bumps on its head, the massive sea cow dutifully pulled their boat forward.
"With this, we'll catch up much faster! Ahahahaha!" Tom shouted from the bow.
"This will save time… but something still feels missing," Zoro said, frowning.
"Huh?" Tom looked around, then froze.
"…Where's Yosaku?!"
"That's it! I knew something was off!" Zoro exclaimed.
Tom felt his scalp tighten.
The boat was missing a whole person—and they only just noticed.
"Oh no!!!"
Usopp and Johnny screamed.
"Yosaku fell into the sea!!"
"You idiots!! Why didn't you say something earlier?!" Tom and Zoro yelled in unison.
To be fair, the moment Yosaku fell, the sea cow appeared, and the chaos made them forget him entirely.
Now the boat was far from where he fell.
"My partner!! I killed you!!" Johnny wailed, collapsing dramatically to his knees.
Usopp also knelt, crying rivers, as if Yosaku had truly died.
A thick atmosphere of sorrow hung over the boat.
They all felt heavy-hearted.
Before even catching Nami, they had already "lost a man."
Truly tragic.
"Wait… what's that?" Tom pointed toward the distance.
Something was shooting across the sea at incredible speed.
"I see it," Zoro said calmly.
"Let me check," Usopp said, putting on his sniper goggles.
He stared.
He froze.
Then—
"THAT'S YOSAKU!!! HE'S SWIMMING SO FAST!!!"
Everyone gasped.
"No way… he has a fish tail behind him!! Is he a mermaid?!"
"…WHAT?!!!"
The entire boat fell into stunned silence.
"My partner is a mermaid with legendary beauty?! That makes no sense!!" Johnny trembled.
"That's impossible! You must be seeing things!!" Tom said, snatching the goggles.
The moment he saw the figure clearly—
Tom's knees buckled.
There was indeed a fish tail behind Yosaku's waist.
His upper body was human.
His lower body looked like a mermaid's tail.
And he was swimming unbelievably fast.
Tom collapsed to the deck, pounding the floor in despair.
"WHY IS THE MERMAID A MAN?! THIS IS A JOKE FROM HELL!!!"
"You actually LIKE mermaids?" Zoro asked bluntly.
"You green-haired buffoon!!! You don't understand!! Mermaid princess tales were my childhood dreams!! Mermaids are supposed to be beautiful women!! Why is there a MAN mermaid?!!"
The mental image of Yosaku—shirtless and muscular, long fish tail flicking behind him, giving flirty looks—
made Tom want to vomit.
"It IS disgusting," Usopp said, collapsing beside him.
Johnny crawled to the edge of the boat and threw up violently.
"I still haven't seen a fish-man," Zoro said, already erasing the memory from his mind.
In truth, they were all mistaken.
Yosaku wasn't a mermaid at all.
He had simply been swallowed halfway by a shark—his lower body inside its mouth.
From a distance, it looked like he had a tail.
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T/N :
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