East Blue, Shells Town
That afternoon, a small boat slowly approached the pier. Sunlight reflected off the surface of the sea, making the water shimmer like gold around the wooden hull floating peacefully on the water.
It was Luffy's boat. They pulled alongside the pier and tied it up so it would not drift away with the current. Before getting off, Luffy secretly wrapped Nami's sack of treasure in a piece of cloth, then put it into his inventory.
Nami watched from the corner of her eye, assuming that the sack had simply been stored inside the boat. She already had a plan of her own: wait for the right moment, then escape with the boat as soon as the opportunity presented itself.
Coincidentally, she also had another reason to visit Marine Branch 153. According to the information she had heard, there was a map of the Grand Line stored there. So far, stealing from East Blue pirates had been far from satisfactory, two million Berries from one group, and only four million from Alvida's ship, which she had just robbed. That was why she had begun thinking about targeting pirates operating in the Grand Line instead. Even though that sea was famous for being dangerous, to the point of being called the graveyard of pirates, she believed her navigation skills were good enough to survive there.
The three of them got off the boat and walked toward the town. Before that, Luffy briefly spoke with a man who seemed familiar with the ins and outs of the pier, asking him to sell his small boat and find him a larger one, preferably one that had something like a small house on top of it. He promised to pay him if he managed to fulfill the request. In his opinion, the boat he had now was too cramped for three people to ride in at the same time, especially if they had to sail farther to the next island later.
After that matter was settled, Luffy returned to Coby and Nami, who were already waiting.
"What were you doing just now?" Nami asked curiously.
"Secret," Luffy replied mysteriously.
"Fine, if you don't want to tell me."
The three of them then began walking toward the center of town.
"Luffy-san, you should think twice about your intention to recruit that person," Coby said, trying to warn him after learning that Luffy intended to invite a pirate hunter named Roronoa Zoro to join him. "He's a bad person. According to the rumors going around, he's a cold-blooded killer who can kill someone without even blinking once."
Actually, Nami also did not want to share a boat with someone like that, but she quickly reminded herself that she would only be tagging along temporarily, until an opportunity to escape appeared.
"Don't think too much about it. He might not even be a bad person," Luffy said casually.
"He's being captured precisely because he's a bad person."
Luffy simply laughed lightly, ignoring Coby's warning, then approached a fruit stall by the roadside.
"Uncle, do you know where Zoro is now?"
The moment those words were spoken, the previously lively market suddenly froze. The people around them simultaneously took a step back, as though Luffy were carrying some kind of plague.
"Luffy-san, he might be at the Marine base right now. They say Captain Morgan himself captured him," Coby answered.
Hearing that name, everyone's faces in the market grew even paler, and they moved even farther away from Luffy's group.
Eventually, the three of them arrived in front of the entrance to Marine Branch 153. A large iron gate with the Marine symbol displayed prominently stood before them.
"Whoa, it's huge!" Luffy stared at the gate in amazement.
"I still don't understand," he muttered. "I get why the townspeople are afraid when they hear Zoro's name, but why were they also terrified when they heard the name of this base captain?"
"Maybe the people in this town are weird," Luffy joked.
"Or maybe it's because the Marines here oppress them," Nami replied sarcastically. To her, pirates and Marines were not that different.
Back in her hometown, the Marines had done nothing even though they knew Arlong and his men had taken control of the island. They had not protected the villagers. They had not stopped Arlong. They had not even tried to help the people who were being oppressed.
Instead, they accepted bribes from Arlong and secretly helped cover up all of his crimes.
Nami had seen it with her own eyes.
That was why the word "justice" meant very little to her.
It was easy for someone like Coby to believe that the Marines existed to protect people. He had probably never been forced to watch helplessly while the people around him suffered, knowing that the very organization that was supposed to protect them had chosen to look the other way.
And it was not just something that happened on her own island. It was the same elsewhere.
To steal from a group of pirates, Nami always needed careful planning, sometimes gathering information for days. She had to know their movements, their numbers, their habits, and most importantly, where they kept their money. She had learned to rely on herself because trusting the wrong person could cost her everything.
Several times, she had heard plans for pirates to attack a town, then hurriedly reported them to the nearest Marine base.
Every time, she had hoped that perhaps this time would be different.
Every time, she had been disappointed.
They ignored her, saying it was nothing more than something she had made up, a baseless rumor. Nami could only grit her teeth and leave, carrying the frustration with her because there was nothing else she could do.
But once the town was actually attacked, she learned the truth.
The Marines there had apparently already been conspiring with the pirates who attacked.
She had been right.
And yet being right brought her no satisfaction.
It happened several times. Each time, Nami's trust in the Marines disappeared a little more. Eventually, there was almost nothing left.
She stopped believing that anyone would come to save people simply because it was the right thing to do. She stopped expecting help from others. She could only watch from afar as towns she knew would be attacked were destroyed, knowing what was coming but lacking the strength to stop it.
The guilt always gnawed at her.
Sometimes, she wondered whether she should have done more. Whether she should have risked herself and tried to save them anyway.
But what could she do?
She could not even save her own home.
That was the cruelest part.
No matter how much she hated watching others suffer, no matter how badly she wanted to help, she was still just one girl trying to survive while carrying a goal that had consumed most of her life.
So she learned to stop relying on anyone.
She learned to steal.
She learned to deceive.
She learned to smile when she needed something and run when she had gotten it.
Not because she enjoyed living that way, but because she had learned that depending on others only ended in disappointment.
Since then, she had stopped trusting anyone and relied only on herself.
To her, pirates and Marines were no different. One wore a uniform, the other did not. One claimed to uphold justice, while the other openly admitted to being a criminal.
But when innocent people needed help, both could choose to look the other way.
That was the only difference.
"That's impossible," Coby shook his head repeatedly, unable to believe it. "The Marines are responsible for upholding justice. There's no way they would oppress the townspeople. This must be some kind of misunderstanding."
"Justice, huh," Nami said mockingly.
"Hey, where do you think Zoro is?" Luffy asked, looking around.
"He must be held somewhere with the tightest security," Coby answered confidently.
"Then he's inside." Luffy immediately looked for a section of the fence that was somewhat lower so he could peek into the base compound.
"Wait for me, Luffy-san!" Coby hurried after him, while Nami followed behind without saying much.
"Hey, looks like he's over there," Luffy said, hanging over the fence while pointing toward an open field. In the middle of the field stood a wooden post, and a man was tied to it, his head hanging limply.
"No way," Coby climbed up as well to get a clearer look. "He should be held somewhere enclosed with extremely tight security." He examined the features of the man tied up there more carefully. "Ah, that's really him!"
"Green hair, wearing a haramaki, three earrings in his ear. That's Roronoa Zoro."
"Heh... so that's what he looks like," Nami muttered, also watching Zoro tied up in the distance.
The green-haired man looked completely different from the image of a cold-blooded killer she had heard about all this time.
Before they could comment any further, a ladder suddenly appeared beside the three of them. All three turned simultaneously, finding a little girl climbing up the steps. The girl looked at them one by one, then placed her index finger against her lips, signaling them to be quiet. The three nodded obediently.
After that, the little girl took out a rope, dropped it down below the fence, then climbed down using it skillfully. She immediately ran toward Zoro, carrying something in both hands.
"Hey, that's dangerous!" Coby tried to warn her, but the little girl completely ignored him.
Zoro slightly raised his head, looking at the little girl in front of him. His voice was hoarse, almost gone. "What are you doing here, kid?"
"Go away."
"Big Brother must be hungry, right? I brought you some onigiri," the girl said, showing the three onigiri she was holding. "This is the first time I've made onigiri by myself. I want Big Brother to try them."
"Huh? What are you talking about? Hurry up and leave this place."
"But..."
"Don't be so rude, Roronoa Zoro."