"Tsunami! There's a tsunami!"
The people of Cocoyashi Village witnessed what happened. They had originally been hostile to the Marines who wanted to seize Nami's treasure and watched as the Marines boarded their ship to prepare for departure. Suddenly, the unexpected attack smashed the Marine warship, leaving them both surprised and delighted.
But what followed was a terrifying tsunami!
"Colonel Mouse is dead! What kind of pirate crew is this? What terrifying strength!"
"I've never seen a pirate flag with a straw hat before."
"The whole Marine ship is sinking; it's horrifying!"
The shouts of the villagers reached Nami's ears, and she felt a sense of desperation wash over her. Her cheeks, stained with crystal tears, suddenly stopped sobbing.
A pirate flag? With a straw hat?
Could it be… those guys?
"Wait, the Marine is sinking?"
Suddenly, Nami thought of the man—the man who had sunk a Marine ship with a single blow! At first, she had threatened to pay an exorbitant 100 million Baileys to hire him to assassinate Arlong, but he had rejected her offer.
"Could it really be him?"
Nami felt a flicker of hope, but then she quickly realized that it was unlikely Su Yi and the others could know about her situation or what Cocoyashi Village had endured over the past eight years. This might just be a coincidence.
"Please, no! My money! The 100 million Baileys are still on board!!!"
Nami suddenly remembered the most important thing. Colonel Mouse had taken all the 100 million Baileys she had worked so hard to accumulate on the warship. Now that the warship was sinking, wouldn't all her money sink to the bottom of the sea?
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
Nami was completely beside herself—100 million Baileys, gone forever!
"A bunch of wasteful idiots!!!"
Nami ran frantically towards the shore. Immediately, she spotted several familiar figures walking through Cocoyashi Village.
"Wow, what a magnificent village! All the houses are upside down, with the roofs down and the foundations up. It's been a long time since I've seen something like this," Luffy, the leader, said nervously as he looked around.
"Hey, Luffy, doesn't this just look like it was vandalized? And what about that deep ravine in the ground? It's terrifying. What kind of monster could do this?" Usopp commented.
"Hmm—let's find Miss Nami as soon as possible. Otherwise, I won't be at peace," said the man in a suit, with curled eyebrows and a cigarette in his mouth.
"I want to sleep," Zoro said, sounding uninterested.
"Hey, we're here to find Arlong. He's got a bounty of 20 million Baileys. If we catch him and turn him in to the Marines, we'll have food for the next few months," Su Yi explained, whom Nami both loved and hated.
Luffy exclaimed, "Wait, aren't we here for Nami? When did we start looking for Arlong? By the way, who is Arlong?"
Usopp replied, "Captain idiot! Didn't we agree to search for Nami under the pretext of looking for Arlong? That way, Nami won't have any objections!"
Sanji added, "That's right, it's still Su Yi's intelligence. She knew that Arlong ruled over Miss Nami's village and was collecting protection fees. I bet Miss Nami's wealth was for the sake of her village. If we get rid of that scumbag Arlong, Miss Nami will be able to join us at sea without any worries."
Nami overheard their conversation, and her previously angry heart began to calm down.
"You guys, what are you doing?"
"Ah! Nami-san! It's been so long; I missed you!" Sanji said, his eyes turning into hearts as he rushed to her side.
"Yo! Nami!" Luffy chimed in with his usual carefree laugh.
"You took our ship. All our money was on it. To survive, we had to become bounty hunters. We just happened to find Arlong's territory, which has the highest bounty in East Blue," Su Yi explained.
Nami took a deep breath. "You guys are really... so nosy!"
After saying that, her eyes turned red. Throughout her childhood, not many people had regarded her as a true partner. The people in her village had seen her as a traitor. Although she now knew that everyone in the village had been silently protecting her since she was little, the love she had longed for was missing and could never be reclaimed.
And the Arlong Pirates, all mermen, discriminated against humans and didn't treat her like one. As for the pirate crews she had worked with, they would have preferred to see her dead.
So, she had always been alone. No one had ever cared for her so sincerely.
Now, so many men had traveled all the way to her village, willing to help her confront powerful foes. It was simply...
"Although your intentions are really good, I'm very moved, but..."
Nami's face fell, making it impossible to see her expression.
"Hey, hey, that's touching, right? Nami, but that's what we should do," Luffy laughed heartlessly.
Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp joined in the laughter. Only Su Yi sensed something was off.
"But… why did you sink the Marine warship? There's 100 million Baileys on it! Do you understand what 100 million Baileys means? That's what my mother worked so hard to save for eight years!" Nami finally erupted, her frustration spilling out as she sprayed saliva on the faces of the men.
"Ah, we didn't do that; Su Yi did all that by himself," Luffy said innocently.
"Haah~haah~haah~" After Nami roared, she gasped for breath and then sighed while holding her forehead, tears streaming down her face. "Woooooo~ My heart hurts! 100 million Baileys… I'll probably have nightmares about this for a year."
"Now is not the time to joke! Arlong is still alive and kicking!" Su Yi interjected, trying to steer the conversation back on track.
At that moment, the villagers of Cocoyashi Village had already gathered, armed and ready to confront Arlong.
"Even if we can't defeat the mermen, we'll show that guy our determination, even if it costs us our lives!"
"Let's go!"
"Kill!"