Tom sat on the floor, feeling weak and sore all over his body. He sniffled a few times. Just as he reached the chart room's doorway, he heard fish-men talking loudly below.
"You had those Marines steal Nami's money. Is that really not a problem?" Kuroobi, dressed in black, asked Arlong, who sat on the lounge chair.
"Relax. Nami won't abandon the village. Even if she finds out it was me, what can she do?" Arlong looked at Kuroobi and continued, "Thanks to you discovering that treasure map Nami drew, we found out where she hid the money. We lost so much money to that thief. Using the one hundred million Berries Nami worked eight hard years to gather perfectly compensates our loss."
"And from the very beginning, I never truly intended to give her freedom. She is our important companion. She's different from ordinary people—she has excellent navigation skills, and her sea charts are extremely precise. Once we've measured the seas of the entire world, I'll set her free. But that will be decades later." Arlong let out a piercing laugh. "No matter what, I am quite merciful. I'm not a devil, after all! Sha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
"So when you made that agreement with her eight years ago, you already had your eyes on her money? Deceiving an ignorant, foolish child… you really will do anything." Chew said this to Arlong, then laughed along.
"But I truly didn't expect she could gather so much money in less than eight years. From every angle, I'm quite reluctant to kill her." Arlong said.
Tom, above, heard every word of the conversation between Arlong and the fish-men. Learning that Arlong's agreement with the ten-year-old Nami—that one hundred million Berries would redeem Cocoyashi Village—was a lie from the very beginning made his chest feel like it would explode.
This creature lower than pigs and dogs actually deceived Nami for a full eight years! He just gave her a hollow, illusory hope. Just when she thought the nightmare could soon end and life could start anew, he colluded with the Marines to bring her an even bigger, more desperate nightmare.
Also, Nami's money has already been stolen? By the Marines? To collude with pirates… they must be disgusting maggots festering within the Navy.
In his extreme rage, Tom's breathing unconsciously grew heavier. His right hand clenched tightly into a fist. His originally pitch-black pupils gradually turned blood-red. Strength also slowly returned to his body.
While Arlong brazenly revealed his plans to his fish-man subordinates, Nami, having run to the base's stone gate outside, could clearly hear the bursts of laughter from the fish-men inside.
Those laughs felt like they were mocking the Nami who had been deceived for eight whole years by Arlong. They made Nami's heart feel as if it were being sliced by knives, again and again, shattering into pieces. Waves of heart-wrenching pain surged from her chest, unbearably intense.
"You really want your village back that much, little girl?"
"Just bring me one hundred million Berries, and I'll return Cocoyashi Village and your freedom to you."
"No matter how long it takes, any agreement related to money, I will honor."
Nami's mind replayed the conversation from eight years ago, when she was ten, making the agreement with Arlong. The scene was still vivid in her mind.
But eight years later, a cruel truth lay before her. Her agreement with Arlong was just a laughable pretense. Arlong only wanted her to sell her life drawing charts for him.
Thinking this, Nami, standing outside the stone gate of Arlong Park, felt her vision blur with mist. She bit her lip so hard that a trace of bright red blood flowed from it—she had clearly bitten it open.
"ARLONG!!!!!!!!" Nami, fists tightly clenched, finally couldn't hold back and shouted furiously to the heavens. She pushed open the stone gate and walked into the base.
The previously joyful laughter of Arlong and his men abruptly stopped when they heard Nami call Arlong's name.
Hearing Nami's shout, Tom's heart tightened. He knew Nami's money really was gone; otherwise, she wouldn't be this furious. The way she screamed Arlong's name was already hysterical.
I need to recover my strength as quickly as possible!
Tom's skin, due to the high fever, was faintly flushed red. Around his eyes—like a dark crimson blood moon—thin strands of golden light appeared at the edges.
Though his head still felt dizzy, Tom could clearly feel a steady surge of power welling up from within his body. The fist he had clenched tightly was already veins bulging.
Last time, when Nami took the Merry and the treasure and slipped away alone, Tom had also been angry. But back then, he could still remain rational. Now, driven by extreme rage, his emotions were already on the verge of losing control.
Glancing at the chart room stacked full of sea charts—at least several thousand of them—though Nami had drawn them, seeing each one stained with dried blood and piled together made Tom feel disgusted.
These things that made him extremely uncomfortable… without hesitation, Tom lit a fire, intending to burn this room and all those charts to ashes.
Several thousand sea charts—even if Nami had spent eight years drawing them—Tom burned them without a moment's hesitation.
As for the sack with over one hundred million Berries, Tom didn't plan to burn it. He first found a place to hide it, then headed downstairs.
"What's wrong, our talented surveyor? You look so pale. Did something unpleasant happen?" Arlong, sitting on his chair, asked knowingly as Nami walked in with a darkened expression.
"It was you who told the Marines to seize my money, right?!" Nami glared fiercely at Arlong. She no longer wanted to put on an act; she got straight to the point.
"What's this about? The agreement about money… didn't you say you'd honor it even unto death?" Nami ignored the other fish-men, walked straight up to Arlong, grabbed his collar, and shouted angrily.
"So that's it. Your money was stolen by the Marines. Then you can only blame your bad luck. Don't worry. An agreement is an agreement. I will absolutely honor it. Place one hundred million Berries before me, and I'll return the village and your freedom. That's my agreement with you. I remember it very clearly." Arlong said to Nami. "Are you trying to say I'm someone who doesn't honor agreements? When have I ever broken one? It's just one hundred million Berries. You just need to save it up again. For someone like you, used to stealing, that shouldn't be difficult, right?"
"Stop playing dumb! It was you who told the Marines to steal my money!" Nami couldn't stand Arlong's act any longer. But as she was about to continue, Arlong shot her a fierce glare and reached out with a large hand. "When have I ever not honored an agreement? Then say it clearly!"
"She doesn't need to waste words with you, stinking fish anymore!"
Just as Arlong's large hand reached toward Nami, about to clamp over her mouth, Tom—who had just come down from above—caught it with one hand. Arlong's hand stopped inches from her face, unable to move forward even a bit.
Tom? Why is he here?
Nami stared blankly at Tom, who was gripping Arlong's arm with one hand. Seeing his pale face and blood-red pupils, her heart trembled.
Nami had seen Tom's eyes become demonic-looking in battle before, eerie and terrifying.
But in her memory, every time Tom's pupils changed, he would suffer severe injuries afterward. That was precisely what she never wanted to see. Yet now, Tom was already facing Arlong head-on.
Seeing Tom emerge from inside their building, the fish-men were all shocked—the person they had been searching for was hiding so close.
What startled them even more was that Tom's eyes were clearly different from before. Meeting his blood-red gaze, many fish-men unconsciously shuddered, feeling their bodies grow colder.
"Nami, you aren't really in league with him, are you?" Arlong felt his arm aching under Tom's grip. He coldly glanced at Tom, then said to Nami, "You haven't forgotten, have you? If you really betray us or choose to run away, everyone in Cocoyashi Village will die because of you! Do you want to see them all die miserably by my hand?"
Nami, still stunned, suddenly recalled Genzo's earlier words. The villagers had known her secret all along. They had deliberately pretended ignorance and distanced themselves from her so she wouldn't bear too much psychological burden if she chose to leave.
Now that Genzo and the villagers knew Arlong had broken the agreement, Nami feared they might act impulsively and come looking for Arlong. That would only make things worse.
"You have to stay alive!" Nami glanced at Tom, clenched her teeth, wiped the tears gathering in her eyes, and while the fish-men's attention was focused on Tom, she turned and ran.
This wasn't because Nami didn't care about Tom. She understood very clearly that staying here would only drag him down. It was better to rush back and stop the villagers from doing something foolish.
Genzo, everyone, I beg you, please don't act rashly!
You can't die. If you do, everything will be over!
And Tom… you must stay alive. Don't get hurt. Otherwise… what am I supposed to do?
As Nami ran desperately toward Cocoyashi Village, tears streamed down her face, unstoppable.
"So it was you who stole our one hundred million Berries, right? Hand the money back, and I'll let you die a bit more comfortably." Arlong stood up from his chair, looking at Tom, who had already knocked down several fish-men trying to chase Nami. He said darkly.
"Actually, I wanted to beat you earlier. I just had a bit of a minor illness, which let you say those things to her." After grabbing Arlong's arm earlier, Tom had wanted to punch him flying immediately. But with a fever nearing forty degrees Celsius, just holding Arlong's hand steady was nearly his limit; his other hand could hardly exert any strength.
"I said it before. If you stinking fish said anything else to make her unhappy, I'd rip your mouth off!" Tom took the fishing rod from his left arm sheath. His blood-red pupils locked onto Arlong as he spoke word by word. "I also said I'd come back here to tear your mouth apart!"
"Now is the time I fulfill my promise!"
Tom took a spearhead-like fishing rod attachment from his belt pocket and fixed it onto the tip of the extended rod. The rod in his hand gradually changed from silver-gray to bright silver.
At first glance, Tom now held a long spear, though the spearhead looked somewhat blunt.
"You really are a man who keeps his word," Arlong said sarcastically. "It seems you still don't understand. As a human, you cannot compete with fish-men. My fangs alone can tear you to pieces!"
For an extreme racist like Arlong, he didn't care in the slightest about the changes in Tom's eyes. As long as Tom was human, that was enough.
Humans could never defeat fish-men. That was Arlong's belief.
"I really can't communicate with something lower than a beast like you. I'm a man who does what he says. You're just a thing that does nothing but spew nonsense. Saying another word to you makes me feel utterly disgusted. You'd better shut your mouth!"
Tom swept the long spear in his hand, knocking down two attacking fish-men, then charged straight toward Arlong...
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T/N :
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