"Shahahaha!"
"Well, look who's back. It's Nami~" A Fishman with a long, saw-toothed nose and a loud Hawaiian shirt sat lounging in the sun. He let out a triumphant laugh as he saw Nami approach.
This was Arlong.
Around him, the other Fishmen stared at Nami, their faces twisted into malicious grins.
"Nami~ Did the map-stealing go smoothly?"
"Nami~ I heard someone in your village died yesterday, and you didn't even flinch! Hahaha..."
"Nami-chan is a natural at betraying her own kind, after all~"
Nami looked at the sea of mocking faces. Her fists clenched instinctively, but then she forced them to go limp.
Clatter— She dropped the heavy chest in front of the Fishmen and spoke to Arlong, her voice flat and devoid of emotion. "Arlong—I've fulfilled my end of the deal. Here is your 100 million Berries!"
"Ga—" The laughter cut off instantly.
The Fishmen looked on in shock, turning their heads toward Arlong. Arlong's smug grin slowly vanished, replaced by a cold, calculating expression. At his nod, a Fishman stepped forward and pried open the chest. He stared at the glittering pile of gold and treasure inside, then turned back to Arlong, his voice trembling.
"A-Arlong, Boss... it's... it's really 100 million."
Hearing the confirmation, Nami couldn't help the look of relief and hope that flooded her face. "Well, Arlong? I kept my word. Now it's time for you to keep yours!"
"From today on, Cocoyasi Village is free from your rule. And I... I'm finally free too!"
With that, she turned to walk away from the nightmare that had imprisoned her for eight years.
"Hold it right there..."
Arlong stood up, his oppressive aura sending a wave of fear through even his own men. Nami froze and turned back, her eyes narrow and guarded. "What... are you going back on your word?"
"Don't forget, you said it yourself: you would never break a promise involving money, even if it killed you!"
Arlong walked leisurely over to the chest. Without warning, he delivered a brutal kick to the Fishman who had been counting the money.
BOOM! The Fishman screamed as he was sent crashing into a nearby building, his fate unknown.
"When did I ever say I was breaking the deal?" Arlong's face twisted back into that loathsome, arrogant smirk. "You said there was 100 million. I just need to 'verify' it myself, don't I?"
He reached into the chest and slowly pulled out a single gold coin. He tossed it casually toward the center of the lake. The coin traced a golden arc through the air before disappearing into the water with a soft plop.
Arlong turned back to Nami with a mocking shrug. "Oh dear, oh dear..."
"The count is off, my dear cartographer. There are only 99,999,999 Berries here. You're just a little bit short~"
Nami watched the coin vanish, and her pupils shrank to pinpricks. The sheer weight of his treachery snapped her last thread of sanity. A vein throbbed on her forehead as she lunged forward, grabbing Arlong by the collar.
"You bastard—! You dare break our promise!!"
Arlong's eyes turned ice-cold. He stared her down with terrifying intensity. "When did I break the promise?"
"Don't get cocky, little map-maker." He backhanded her so hard she was sent sprawling onto the ground. A cruel grin spread across his face. "I said you had to bring 100 million Berries before my eyes all at once. You're short. What a shame~"
"But hey~ I'll take the money anyway." He ordered his men to take the chest, then walked over to the collapsed Nami, looking down at her. "Bring the 'full' 100 million next time~ Oh, and I expect you back at your desk. You're far too talented a navigator to lose."
"Shahahaha!"
As Arlong's grating laughter echoed through the park, Nami felt the last of her strength drain away. The image of her foster mother Bell-mère's death, the years spent lying and stealing, the villagers dying under the weight of oppression, the child who just lost his father...
All the pain rushed back like a tidal wave. The despair finally broke her. Tears streamed down her face.
She had been so naive... to think a cold-blooded Fishman would ever have honor. The "hope" she had been chasing was a lie from the very beginning. The nightmare would never end.
"Bastard! You bastard, bastard, BASTARD—!" She screamed, pounding the ground with her fists until her knuckles were raw and bloody, but she couldn't stop.
Finally, she ran out of strength. She curled into a ball on the dirt, her voice a fragile, broken whisper. "Someone... please help me..."
"Anyone... please... help."
---
BOOM—!
A deafening explosion of sound erupted right above her! Nami looked up in a daze, and what she saw was impossible to believe.
She saw Chrollo, his face as calm and unbothered as ever. And in the distance, she saw Arlong's massive body being sent flying backward like a ragdoll!
"!!!"
"How... why are you here?!" Nami snapped back to reality, her voice frantic. "Run! Get out of this village!"
"I told you, I'm here for trade~" Chrollo's lips curled into a slight smile.
"Are you stupid?!! What trade! They're Fishmen!"
"Fishmen are exactly what I'm looking for~"
Nami stared at him, the realization slowly dawning on her. Her eyes went wide. "You... you're pirates!"
"No," Chrollo shook his head. "We are thieves."
"But honestly, it's basically the same thing." He waved a hand dismissively. "In trade, you move goods from their origin to another location. As a thief... I do the same thing. I just move them into my own pocket."
Chrollo looked at her with a cryptic, half-smile. "You stole my money. I'll solve your little problem here. As an exchange... how about you become the navigator for my ship?"
As they spoke, dozens of Fishmen began to swarm around them, surrounding the area. Nami looked around in terror. "Stop joking! You can still run if you go now!"
She pointed at the three lead Fishmen, her voice trembling. "Do you even know who they are?"
"They're Fishmen! They have ten times the strength of a human! They can catch bullets with their bare hands!"
She pointed to the trio. "Those three are the strongest of the strong!"
"Kuroobi! A Manta Ray Fishman, Level 40 in Fishman Karate! One hit from him will kill a normal person! Bounty: 9 million Berries!"
"Chew! A Kissing Fish Fishman who can spit high-pressure water like a sniper rifle! Bounty: 5.5 million Berries!"
"And him—" Nami pointed to the tallest of the three. "Hatchan! An Octopus Fishman with six arms! A terrifying swordsman who uses six blades at once! Bounty... 10 million Berries!"
"You're going to die if you face them!"
Before Nami could finish her warning, a burly figure behind Chrollo charged forward with a trademark, booming laugh.
"Hahahaha!"
"BIG BANG IMPACT—!"
BOOM—!
A terrifying shockwave ripped through the air, flattening everything in its path. The wind roared, nearly tearing the roofs off nearby buildings. As the smoke cleared, a massive, fifty-meter-long crater was plowed into the earth.
Nami stood there, her jaw dropped. The "Fishmen," the "strongest of the strong," the bounties... all of them were gone. Vanished.
Uvogin dug a finger into his ear and shrugged.
"Where were the strong guys? Oh... I guess they were just total small-fry~"
---