Across the boundless sea, a small boat drifted gently over the waves, creating a picture of serene natural beauty.
Then a coarse voice instantly shattered the peaceful atmosphere.
“Damn it!
This is driving me crazy.
Even with a sea chart and a compass, sailing is still this difficult.
Nami, my navigator… I miss you so much.”
Lucas lay listlessly on the boat, staring at the compass and sea chart in his hands.
He was almost tempted to slice them all into pieces with his sword.
Without Nami, Lucas immediately encountered all sorts of difficulties.
Sometimes it was the wind direction, and other times it was some enormous sea monster.
Only now did he realize that in the original story, whenever Luffy and the others sailed across the sea, aside from encountering enemies, they seemed to have smooth sailing most of the time because they had Nami, a genius navigator, with them!
Thinking of this, determination returned to Lucas’s eyes.
Nami had probably already managed to save 100 million Berries—far faster than she had in the original story.
That meant he had to get there before the major events began!
Grabbing the oars, Lucas began rowing with all his strength.
The little boat immediately cut through the waves and headed into the distance.
Cocoyashi Village
Looking at the familiar village, a smile appeared on Nami’s face.
She jogged toward her orange grove.
“Haha!
23 million Berries, plus the money from selling that sailing ship.
I’ve finally saved up 100 million Berries!”
Nami’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
She quickly ran home.
Her older sister was picking oranges from a ladder.
The moment she saw that familiar figure running toward her, she smiled happily.
“Nami, you’re back.”
Nami leaped forward and threw her arms around her sister, Nojiko.
“Big Sis!
Our Cocoyashi Village can finally be free!
I’ve saved up 100 million Berries!”
“Really?”
Nojiko was overjoyed when she heard those words.
“That’s wonderful!
Finally…”
Before she could finish, tears streamed down Nojiko’s eyes.
Seeing her like that, Nami was moved as well, and the two sisters tightly embraced each other.
Arlong Park
Arlong, the captain of the Arlong Pirates, was lazily reclining in a chair with his eyes closed, basking in the sunlight.
His pointed nose glistened under the sun.
Suddenly, one of his Fish-Man subordinates came rushing in from outside.
“Hey, Arlong!
I heard Nami is back.
She’s already saved 100 million Berries.
What should we do?”
Hearing this, Arlong bared his sharp teeth and let out a sinister grin.
“She saved that much money so quickly?
But she still hasn’t finished drawing the sea charts.
Besides, how could a lowly human possibly be worthy of doing business with me?”
With that, he waved his hand and said to the ugly Fish-Man, “Go inform Captain Nezumi.
Tell him… well, you know what to do!”
The Fish-Man’s face was filled with admiration.
“As expected of Arlong!
You even came up with such a brilliant plan!
I’ll go right away!”
With that, he hurriedly ran off.
Arlong gave a few sinister chuckles before continuing to lie there without a care in the world, lazily basking in the sunlight with an arrogant expression.
Meanwhile, Cocoyashi Village was celebrating.
Everyone was filled with joy.
The days under Arlong’s rule were finally over!
Nami looked at the villagers, tears welling up in her eyes.
They were tears of happiness.
The villagers had already told her the truth.
They had known everything all along.
They knew everything Nami had done for the village.
And now, she had become their hero!
Just as everyone was celebrating without a care in the world, a sinister, mocking laugh suddenly shattered the peaceful atmosphere.
“Heh heh heh… What’s got everyone so happy?”
Captain Nezumi arrived with dozens of Marines, wearing an insidious smile.
The villagers stopped celebrating and stared at them.
Nami’s eyes widened.
She immediately noticed the boxes several Marines were carrying.
Those boxes…
They were the boxes where Nami had hidden her money!
Her smile slowly froze.
Nami stood up and demanded, “Marines, what are you doing here?
Those are my treasures you’re carrying!”
Captain Nezumi burst into laughter.
“What proof do you have that these things belong to you, hmm?
Thieving Nami?”
He folded his arms across his chest, his sinister grin growing even wider.
“As far as I know, all of this is treasure you stole.
It’s pirate property.
Therefore, on behalf of the Marines, I hereby confiscate it!”
“No!
How can you do this?!
Put that down!”
Fury flashed across Nami’s face.
She grabbed a wooden club and was about to charge forward.
Captain Nezumi merely sneered.
“Do you dare oppose the Marines?
We’ll report you immediately and have everyone in this village killed!”
Nami froze where she stood.
The villagers who had been protesting also fell silent, staring blankly as Captain Nezumi laughed all the way out of the village with Nami’s treasure.
Only after watching them disappear into the distance did the villagers finally react.
Genzo’s face was filled with fury.
“They… they’re in league with Arlong!
To hell with this!
Let’s fight!
Let’s go together and kill those bastards from the Arlong Pirates!”
The villagers who had witnessed everything were equally enraged.
One voice immediately became a hundred.
“Let’s go!”
“No!
Don’t!”
Nami finally came to her senses and hurriedly tried to stop them.
“Everyone, don’t go!
You have to stay alive!
It’s only 100 million Berries.
It’s fine.
I can do it all over again!”
“No, Nami.”
Genzo looked at her with a gentle expression.
“You’ve already done more than enough.
Leave the rest to us.”
With that, Genzo looked at the villagers who had already armed themselves with various weapons and shouted,
“Let’s go!
We’re going to take Arlong down!”
Nami hurried forward, desperately trying to stop them.
But the enraged villagers were completely deaf to her pleas.
Their blood was boiling, and they were determined to fight Arlong to the death.
“Don’t go!
You’re no match for Arlong… Don’t…”
Nami helplessly sank to the ground, tears streaming from her eyes as she watched the villagers march away, prepared to risk their lives.
“Arlong!
You bastard!
You damn bastard!”
Nami picked up a dagger and stared at the Arlong Pirates’ tattoo on her left shoulder, her eyes filled with overwhelming rage.
Just as she was about to stab her shoulder, just as she had in the original story—
A faint flash of sword light passed by.
The dagger in her hand was gently knocked away.
Nami was startled.
She raised her head and saw a familiar figure standing more than ten meters away, breathing somewhat heavily.
That figure…
She knew him better than anyone.
Lucas took several breaths before slowly walking toward her.
Looking at the tears continuously streaming down Nami’s face, he smiled and said,
“I just made it in time… How could I… let you hurt yourself?”
“Get lost!
All of you, get lost!
You’re all bastards!”
“Nami.”
“Get lost.”
“Nami!”
Lucas’s expression suddenly became extremely serious.
His voice rose to its highest point as he shouted angrily.
Nami’s body trembled from the force of his voice as she stared at him.
The madness in her eyes suddenly turned into pleading.
“Lucas… help me.”
Seeing her pitiful expression, Lucas felt a faint pain in his heart.
He gently stroked her orange hair and pulled her into his embrace.
“Of course.”
At that moment, the furious villagers had already surrounded Arlong Park, armed with various weapons.
Just as they were about to attack, a flash of sword light swept past.
Without a sound, a huge crack appeared in the wall of Arlong Park.
A figure sheathed the sword in his hand and slowly walked forward with steady, resolute steps.
The villagers stared at him in astonishment and parted to make way.
“Who are you?
What are you doing here?”
Genzo watched him warily.
Lucas’s expression was cold as he slowly approached the crack in the wall.
“My name is Lucas.
I’m here to take down Arlong.”
“Why?
You and Arlong…?”
Genzo and the villagers stared at Lucas in surprise.
They had never seen this man before.
“There is no particular reason…”
Lucas paused before quietly answering,
“It’s simply because… they made my Nami cry.”
He then extended one finger and gently tapped the wall.
The instant his finger touched it, the entire wall collapsed along the existing crack.
Boom!
The enormous section of wall crashed to the ground with a deafening roar.
Arlong and his subordinates, who had been lazily basking in the sun, were all shocked.
They immediately sprang to their feet and warily stared at the slender figure slowly approaching them.