Chapter 39: Revisiting Cocoyasi Village

“Here, we are!”

As the boat approached the coast of Cocoyasi island, Ron ended his meditation, opened his eyes, stood up, and came to the deck.

His mental strength was completely restored, and the Fire Arrow was almost mastered.

Ron asked Nami: “Are you going straight to Arlong?”

Nami hesitated a bit, then said: “I’m going back to the village first…”

Seeing this, Ron put his hand gently on Nami’s head and said in a reassuring tone: “It’s okay, even if Arlong doesn’t comply with the agreement, I will help you end him.”

“Arlong… is different… from humans.”

Nami said in a dull tone: “Those guys are non-human, with monstrous that defy common sense…please, don’t take risks.”

Although Ron dominated and beheaded a lot of “considerate” strong pirates, and even annihilated Krieg Pirates with the two thousand fleet alone, the fish-man Arlong was still a lingering shadow in Nami’s heart.

From the age of 8 years old till that moment, in the past 7 years, she witnessed all Arlong’s fights with the marines. The marines, which were considered as the supreme law in all the Blues, under the command of the World government, were beaten by Arlong in every single conflict! He even left every battle unharmed, without even a scratch!

He was a fearless, atrocious monster!

That was Arlong’s image stuck in Nami’s mind.

Ordinary humans wouldn’t stand a chance against Ron’s powerful magic, but against monsters as Arlong, no one would be able to predict what could happen.

Ron knew exactly how much Nami feared the existence of Arlong. without any further comments, he smiled and said: “Maybe Arlong will keep his promise, let’s hope for the best.”

“Ok……”

Nami nodded her head, looked at the island in front of her with complicated eyes, docked the boat on the shore, and boarded the island with Ron, carrying two big suitcases full of money.

Although they used the largest paper currency, more than 200 million Berries was still a big number.

The two quickly walked into the Cocayasi village.

“…”

When the villagers saw Nami, some silently lowered their heads to avoid any eye contact, and some others stood there with a cold face.

In fact, everyone already knew the real reason behind Nami’s joining the Arlong Pirates, but they all pretended not to know, and they all gave her the cold shoulder.

They chose to act this way, so if one-day Nami couldn’t bear staying with those filthy pirates anymore and wanted to escape, she wouldn’t feel obliged to save these “coldhearted” villagers.

A simple and kind village.

Compared to the cruel Grand line, East Blue’s people were indeed so gentle and kind. There were a lot of peaceful villages, like Foosha Village, where Luffy lived his childhood…

“You are back? Heh, and this is …?”

Nami ’s older sister, Nojiko, said as she saw Nami and noticed Ron next to her. Then she shouted in a mocking tone: “Is this your boyfriend? ouwhhh!”

“Nahhhhhhhh……”

Nami stuck her tongue out and said: “Just a companion.”

Nojiko stared at Nami and suddenly chuckled, saying, “You’re not acting like yourself, Nami-chan.”

“Stop making fun of me!”

Nami stared at Nojiko.

Looking at the annoyed Nami, Nojiko couldn’t help but chuckle, then said to Ron: “I’m sorry, I was joking. You’re Ron, right? Nami talked to me about you when she came last time. Thank you very much for taking care of her.”

Ron smiled and said: “To be honest, if it wasn’t for Nami, I would have been killed by the Fish-men.”

Nojiko smiled back and then opened the door: “Come in, let’s talk inside.”

…

As they walked into Nojiko’s home.

On the other side.

In Arlong Park, a fish-man hastily run to Arlong, who was sitting on his recliner chair and said: ”Nami is back.”

“Oh?”

Arlong grinned, showing his sharp teeth, and said: “She came back earlier than expected, does it look like she finally gathered the 100 million Berries?”

Last time when Nami came back, although she was not disclosed, the fish-men under his command still discovered that she had brought back a large amount of money, estimated to be about 50 million Berries.

They didn’t know how Nami made so much money. However, if she managed to get 50 million Berries last time, and as she came back so quickly, maybe she already collected the 100 million Berries.

“I saw Nami carrying two black cases…”

The fish-man scratched the back of his head and said: “I don’t know how much money she got this time.”

Arlong grinned and stood up, said: “Two cases? That’s probably a new harvest. It doesn’t matter how much she got, soon it will be all mine, Shahahaha.”

“Boss Along, what are you going to do?”

“In any case, it is impossible to let go of such an excellent navigator.”

Arlong grinned and added: “However, it is no fun to simply break the contract, let me think about something. Shahahaha.”

…

“Here is 100 million Berries.”

In Nojiko’s room, Nami sorted out 100 million Berries and put them in a black suitcase. After confirming the count again, she exhaled and closed the suitcase.

Nojiko looked at Nami anxiously and said: “Nami… even if Arlong doesn’t follow that agreement…. You’ve done enough …”

“Relax.”

Nami showed a relaxed smile to Nojiko and said: “Although Arlong is very wicked, but rules have never been broken, he will keep his promise.”

With a reassuring look, Nami and Ron walked out. However, as she left the room, after a deep sigh, the ease on her face gradually disappeared.

Ron stood beside and looked at her without saying a word.

Now it depends on what kind of man Arlong was, and what he was really up to. Whether to end things peacefully as agreed, or to go back on his word. Ron was ready for any scenario anyway.

Nami and Ron did say a thing, but there seemed to be a lot of tension in the air. The closer they got to Arlong Park, the more nervous Nami became, she was holding the suitcase tightly, with sweat all over her hand’s palm.

Shortly.

The two reached the gate of Arlong Park.

There was a fish-man guarding the entrance. Looking at him, hesitating a little, Nami said to Ron: “… you can wait for me here.”

Ron thought for a second and then nodded slightly.

Form this position, Ron should be able to hear and respond to any situation. Also, no matter what Arlong was going to do, he wouldn’t do a thing to Nami. After all, nothing was more important than the chart to be drawn by Nami.

Seeing Ron nodding, Nami took a breath, relaxed a little, and walked into the Arlong park carrying her suitcase.