Upon hearing Tom say he was going to the Arlong Pirates' base, Usopp initially clung to his leg, constantly urging him to calm down and not be impulsive.
But when Usopp heard Tom say this trip was mainly to find Nami, not to declare all-out war on the Arlong Pirates, and that Usopp didn't have to come along, his attitude did a complete one-eighty. He happily encouraged Tom to head for the Arlong Pirates' nest.
With Captain Luffy not here, Tom had his own considerations. After all, whether one pirate crew declared war on another was usually the captain's decision.
So, for this venture to the Arlong Pirates, Tom had only one goal: to take Nami away from them. If the fish-men didn't cooperate, he would have sufficient reason to act.
"Be careful. Come back alive," Usopp called out to Tom's retreating figure.
"Aren't you going with him?" Nojiko asked Usopp. Seeing Tom actually head for the Arlong Pirates' base without hesitation after learning its location, she felt somewhat worried. Tom was alone. Could something happen?
"I'd just hold him back. Next time there's a chance, I, Captain Usopp, who once made fish-men tremble in fear, will personally step in to help him." Usopp told the truth with his first sentence, but his old habit flared up, and he couldn't help bragging again.
Nojiko didn't speak further, her brow furrowed in thought.
"He's so brave. Can he really defeat those fish-men?" The little boy who wanted revenge on the fish-men looked at Tom's retreating back, raising his head to ask Usopp full of hope.
"He can do it. I, once known as the Bane of Fish-men, have passed on my decades of experience dealing with them to him. Now, facing fish-men, he is invincible." Usopp boasted to the boy. Though his words were mostly bragging, he truly had great confidence in Tom. As a Devil Fruit user who survived fighting a giant Sea Beast alone at sea, there was no reason he should lose to fish-men.
"Wow, you're all so amazing!" The boy's eyes shone with admiration after hearing Usopp.
Usopp wanted to brag some more, but Nojiko beside him unceremoniously delivered a karate chop to each of their heads, knocking them lightly. "We need to leave here quickly. You're coming with me."
This woman is so violent. No wonder she's Nami's sister.
Usopp, with a large bump on his head, and the boy in the same situation exchanged a glance, thinking this as they looked at Nojiko walking ahead.
Just as Usopp and the boy followed Nojiko back to the house filled with the scent of oranges, he suddenly remembered something.
"Oh no! I forgot to tell Tom something very important!"
"What is it?" Nojiko asked curiously, seeing Usopp's face change drastically, sweat beading on his forehead, mouth hanging open.
"I forgot to tell Tom that a friend of ours had bad luck. He was captured by fish-men. That guy was seriously wounded, on the brink of death. I hope he doesn't get killed for provoking the fish-men."
The friend Usopp spoke of, captured by fish-men, was the green-haired Zoro.
As for why Zoro got captured, it wasn't due to lack of strength but because his teammates screwed him over.
Back when Tom and Nojiko arrived at the destroyed Kessa Village, Zoro and the others had sailed their boat near Arlong's base.
Zoro stood at the bow, declaring he would charge right into Arlong's base to find Nami. As a result, Usopp and Johnny behind him knocked him out with a mallet.
Usopp and Johnny then tied Zoro to the boat. Usopp, having spotted the Merry Go, planned to check there first. But as their boat tried to dock, they noticed several fish-men guarding the area.
So, the startled Usopp and company didn't dare dock, letting their boat sail past the fish-men.
Later, two fish-men jumped into the sea, chasing their boat at high speed. Seeing the situation turn bad, Usopp and Johnny decisively abandoned Zoro, still tightly bound to the boat, jumped overboard, and escaped to Kessa Village.
When Zoro, tied to the boat, fell into the fish-men's hands, the thought of slaughtering Usopp and Johnny arose in his heart.
So it could be said, after Zoro screwed over Tom, he was then screwed over by Usopp and Johnny.
And Usopp, who went to Kessa Village, was ultimately screwed over by Johnny, who abandoned him and ran off alone.
It must be said, these three brothers were all quite tragic.
When Tom arrived at the main gate of the Arlong Pirates' base, he looked at the thick stone gate blocking the way, pondering what to do.
The goal of this trip was to find Nami and take her away. If she wasn't inside, charging in would just waste time battling fish-men. Not worth it.
Standing at the entrance to the Arlong Pirates' stronghold, Tom thought this, then immediately shouted loudly:
"Nami! I came to find you! Are you in there?"
Nami had just rescued Zoro, who had jumped into the seawater pool, given the hands-tied-behind-his-back swordsman a good beating, and had the fish-men lock him up, thinking to free him later when she had the chance. Then she heard the voice she least wanted to hear right now.
Actually, Zoro almost drowned in the pool because, after being brought to the base, he learned Nami was an officer—a cartographer—of this fish-man pirate crew.
With limbs bound and suspicious of Nami, Zoro jumped into the seawater pool behind him. In the end, he won his gamble. Nami really saved him.
Zoro said Nami couldn't even stand to watch a person die, yet she was there trying to act tough.
Hearing this, an angry-and-embarrassed Nami stomped hard on Zoro's back and warned him not to get involved with her again.
Zoro, wearing only bandages, no outer shirt, was here on Captain Luffy's orders to bring Nami back. He wasn't about to agree.
Nami said the bandages on Zoro were dirty. Zoro replied coolly,
"Because I have no clothes to change into! How about lending me something to wear?"
Then Nami punched Zoro in the stomach and told the fish-men to take him away. At that moment, she heard Tom's call, making her heart tighten sharply.
This idiot! Why did he come looking for me?!
Nami felt both angry and anxious. Seeing Zoro, she had sensed trouble brewing. She hadn't expected Tom to find them so quickly.
What made it worst for Nami was that the guy dared to shout openly outside the Arlong Pirates' stronghold, straightforwardly saying he was looking for her. She truly wished she was hearing things.
"Nami, it seems many people are looking for you today," Arlong said from his lounge chair, then laughed wildly.
"Is that fool shouting outside so loudly another one you swindled? You cheated quite a few people on this trip, it seems!"
With her back to Arlong, Nami's expression grew very unpleasant upon hearing his words but quickly recovered. She turned with a smile.
"That's right. Those people had a lot of treasure stolen. They're probably unwilling to accept it, coming to find me. The one shouting outside is just an idiot. Don't mind him."
Outside the stone gate, Tom, seeing no response after waiting, took out his fishing rod, planted it, extended it, and climbed up to look inside Arlong's base. He saw Nami.
Just as Tom was about to call out to her, he happened to hear Nami call him an idiot. How could he tolerate that?
"Hey, woman! Why are you calling me an idiot?!"
Tom, tightly gripping the tip of the extended rod high above, pointed at Nami and shouted angrily from his high vantage point.
Nami saw Tom holding the rod extended six or seven meters high, looking down at her, seemingly quite angry. She instantly froze.
You super mega-idiot! Why extend the rod? Why climb so high?! Worried the fish-men don't know what you look like?!
Nami was frantic, almost crying. She had thought that since the fish-men didn't know Tom's face, if he just left, he'd be safe.
Who knew this guy would extend his rod outside the gate and climb up to observe the inside of the base? This left Nami utterly shattered.
Arlong, sitting in his chair, was about to ask who was peeping with a long pole outside. But before he could, a disturbance came from the stone gate.
BOOM! CRASH! BOOM! CRASH!
After landing, Tom had put away his rod and used his fists to pound the thick stone gate blocking his path four times, smashing it to pieces.
Son of a... I come here to find you, haven't even said a word, and you call me an idiot? In front of the fish-men, no less?! This is beyond tolerable!
The more Tom thought about it, the angrier he got. Unable to endure it anymore, he decided to go in and ask Nami to explain herself.
How could she be so careless, talking behind his back? Luckily, he heard it.
The shattered gate fragments crashed to the ground, raising dust. Tom kicked aside a larger piece of rubble and walked into the Arlong Pirates' base.
"Who are you?!" Arlong, seeing Tom barging in so disrespectfully, gave him a cold look from his chair.
"None of your business! Get out of the way!"
Tom ignored Arlong and the fierce-looking fish-men around him, walking straight toward the stupefied Nami. He grinned.
"Great, you're here. On the way, I was worried I wouldn't find you."
Nami stared blankly at Tom, her mind completely blank. She never dreamed Tom would really charge in alone like this.
In all these years, Nami had never seen anyone dare to come single-handedly cause trouble for the Arlong Pirates.
Run away! Why are you looking for me?!
As Tom drew closer, Nami unconsciously clenched her fists, lowered her head, her heart filled with panic.
"You punk! What do you think this place is?! Somewhere you can run wild?!"
Four tall fish-men surrounded him, cracking their knuckles, ready to attack.
"Reek of fish. Go wash off in that pool. Don't get in my way!"
Tom, noticing two attacking fish-men giving off a strong, unpleasant stench, immediately punched them all into the nearby seawater pool.
"You lowly human! Aren't you too arrogant?!" Arlong, seeing Tom attack his comrades, showed bloodthirsty killing intent in his eyes.
"I'm here for her. Don't want to waste words with you."
Tom pointed at the silent, head-lowered Nami. He glanced at Arlong, seeing several seemingly capable fish-men beside him—likely the officers of this pirate crew.
"Alright, let's go. You don't need to stay here."
Tom had come in full of anger, intending to question Nami about speaking ill of him. But when he took Nami's slightly cold hand, those words wouldn't come out. He let it go.
Nami indeed felt chilled all over. Having dealt with Arlong's deceitfulness for eight long years, she understood his temperament well.
Tom attacking fish-men in front of Arlong undoubtedly provoked the extremely protective-of-his-kind Arlong.
Arlong was a complete racist, believing fish-men were born superior to humans and not valuing human life at all.
In her youth, Nami had witnessed Arlong's terrifying power. She saw Arlong Pirates' fish-men easily sink five Navy warships.
These childhood shadows made Nami once believe those fish-men were true monsters.
If Arlong really decided to attack Tom, what would happen?
The more Nami thought, the more cold she felt, her entire body trembling uncontrollably.
"What's wrong? Are you sick? Your hands are so cold!"
Tom asked in shock. Holding Nami's hand, he felt it growing colder, starting to sweat from fear.
"Get lost!"
Nami, head bowed, shoulders trembling slightly, seemed to use all her strength to squeeze out those words.
"What did you say?"
Tom's face darkened. Nami telling him to get lost in such a firm tone really stung.
"Sha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
Arlong sat in his chair, laughing triumphantly.
"So you're just another lowly human she deceived!"
"You don't know, do you?"
Arlong's sinister gaze swept over Nami, then he continued to Tom.
"This woman, for money, can even forget her own parents' death. She's a cold-blooded witch! How could she possibly go with you!"
Tom was about to retort when he noticed Nami, upon hearing Arlong's words, tightly gripping his hand—a reaction clearly showing extreme dissatisfaction and anger.
With Nami's head bowed, he couldn't see her expression. As Tom reached out to lift her chin, a slightly warm drop of water fell onto the back of his hand.
Nami's tears? She's crying?
Tom froze, touching Nami's cheek. He indeed felt a damp, warm streak on her smooth face—the trace of tears.
Indeed, Nami, head lowered and biting her lip, was crying sadly.
Arlong's words were like a poisonous sting, piercing her heart mercilessly, making it ache.
And Arlong said such humiliating things about her in front of Tom, making Nami feel even worse.
She felt that in Tom's eyes, she might now seem like a vicious, heartless woman.
"You're Arlong, right?"
Seeing Nami crying, Tom felt a surge of irritation. Angry flames rising in his heart, he pulled the still-crying Nami along as he slowly walked toward Arlong on his lounge chair.
He saw that Arlong was tall and muscular, with blue skin, a long pointed nose shaped like a saw—clearly a sawshark fish-man.
"That's right! I am Arlong! To think a mere inferior human would know my name."
Arlong watched Tom approach with Nami, killing intent rising, his cold gaze intensifying.
"Just who are you?"
"I'm a pirate. Here to discuss something with you!"
As Tom said this, his left hand held Nami, continuing forward, while his right hand tightened into a fist.
"A lowly human pirate. What is there to discuss with me?"
Hearing Tom was a pirate, Arlong mentally scanned the bounty posters, finding no face matching Tom's—likely not a big shot. He signaled his men not to block Tom.
Tom brought Nami before Arlong. His right hand suddenly swung out, punching Arlong hard in the face, deforming it.
A thunderous boom echoed.
Arlong was punched flying from his chair, crashing heavily into the nearby wall, stunning the surrounding fish-men.
"Listen up, you rotten fish!"
Tom, holding Nami's hand, looked at Arlong slumped by the wall, face dark with anger.
"If you say another word that makes this woman unhappy, I'll tear your mouth off!"
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T/N :
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