At the natural harbor where the Arlong Pirates had set up camp, a few crude houses had been built.
These houses were not intended as permanent residences for Arlong and his Fish-Man crew. Arlong, with his grand ambition of establishing an empire in the East Blue, envisioned a "palace" as magnificent as the parks he had seen during his childhood on the Sabaody Archipelago.
The current structures were merely temporary shelters, one of which was a "mapping room" built specifically for Nami.
Constructed by the villagers enslaved by the Fish-Men, the mapping room appeared shabby on the outside but was equipped with an impressive array of tools on the inside. All the books and instruments related to cartography that Arlong and his crew had looted from the area were stored in this room.
Despite his arrogance, Arlong wasn't so deluded as to think that a few Fish-Men could easily dominate the East Blue forever. He had his own strategies. Aware of the strength of certain top-tier human fighters, he decided to leverage the Fish-Men's innate advantage—the power of the sea—to counter humans, who were limited to living on land.
This was why Arlong had chosen to come to the so-called weakest sea, the East Blue. It was also why, whenever he enslaved a village, his first priority was to search for tools, books, and skilled individuals related to cartography.
Compared to the might of nature, human strength was insignificant. The Fish-Men, with their natural talents, could easily gather information about the sea—weather patterns, currents, hidden reefs—but they lacked the ability to chart this information into maps or compile it into books.
Now that they had found the exceptionally talented Nami to serve as their navigator, and with their superior combat strength in the East Blue, they could steadily grow their power. Their ultimate goal was to map the East Blue in detail, turn it into a paradise for Fish-Men, and use it as a starting point to expand their influence to other seas.
With such a plan in mind, Arlong was even less likely to let go of someone as gifted as Nami. His promise that she could buy back Cocoyasi Village for 100 million Beli was nothing more than a ploy to deceive her into working for him willingly. At any time, Arlong could have someone steal all the wealth Nami had painstakingly accumulated, forcing her to continue making maps for him.
At this moment, young Nami was still unaware of Arlong's true intentions and goals. The small, cramped mapping room had become one of her few spaces of activity in recent days. Despite being only ten years old, Nami was treated like a laborer, forced by Arlong to spend her days and nights organizing the oceanic data gathered by the Fish-Men and turning it into maps.
From a young age, Nami had loved learning about navigation and cartography. But now, she hated—no, she resented—her talent. The pen in her hand was even stained with blood. To prevent the blood from ruining the maps, she had wrapped bandages around the pen to stop the blood from dripping.
This wasn't because Nami was diligent. She had already learned her lesson from Arlong. She had tried slacking off and even deliberately drawing incorrect maps, but each time, she was met with brutal punishment. Arlong would even use the lives of the villagers of Cocoyasi Village to threaten her.
Whenever Nami felt she couldn't endure it any longer, she would lift her head and look at the wall in front of her.
On the somewhat weathered wall, a piece of paper was pinned with a single line of small text:
"One Piece:The True Codex"100 million Beli = Freedom
Every time she saw this line, Nami would find the strength to carry on.
But as she lay on the table drawing, she suddenly heard a commotion outside, causing her to frown.
Although Arlong was harsh with Nami, he valued her talent and her work in cartography. He would never allow his crew to disturb her. Yet today, something seemed different.
This wasn't the first time Nami had heard disturbances outside today. Earlier, it sounded like Arlong was throwing a tantrum, and there were voices trying to calm him down. Now, she heard shouting, as if the Fish-Men were rallying their comrades.
Rallying comrades?
Nami's heart skipped a beat. Could it be the Marines or the kingdom's army coming to rescue her?
But then, her heart sank again. When she was captured by Arlong's crew, she had witnessed their ship sink five Marine warships that had come to stop them. This was the main reason Nami had given up hope of resisting Arlong's crew.
Still, despite her lack of hope, Nami's curiosity got the better of her. She walked to the window and looked toward the commotion at the harbor.
A large, unfamiliar ship had docked at the shore. Even from a distance, Nami could recognize Arlong's towering figure. Although she couldn't make out the faces of the people on the shore, she could see Arlong leading a group of Fish-Men, arms crossed, head held high, watching as a group of humans descended from the ship via a gangplank.
Nami deduced they were humans because none of them had dorsal fins on their backs. While not all Fish-Men had dorsal fins, those without were rare. Additionally, the figures descending from the ship were generally smaller in stature compared to the Fish-Men, matching the human physique Nami was familiar with.
The humans and Fish-Men exchanged words, but Nami was too far away to hear what was being said. However, she could tell that the atmosphere had suddenly grown tense. The Fish-Men began grabbing their weapons, many of them looking eager to attack. If not for their comrades holding them back, it seemed they might have already charged at the humans.
In the end, the Fish-Men didn't attack. With a wave of his hand, Arlong quieted them down. He even ordered them to step aside, creating a path for the humans to pass through and head toward their settlement.
"Why would humans willingly come here?" Nami wondered, her young mind filled with confusion.
She had every reason to be puzzled. From her daily interactions, she already knew that Arlong and his crew were typical racists who looked down on humans. To them, humans were only good for enslavement or exploitation. Yet, despite his obvious anger, Arlong had suppressed his fury and refrained from using force against these humans.
Nami's guess was correct. Arlong was indeed furious because the newcomers were none other than William and his crew.
Earlier that day, Arlong had received news that the Fish-Men he had sent to White Pine Town to rob the Flash Gold Bank had been completely wiped out. The message had come from two Fish-Men whom William had deliberately spared. There was no doubt about the authenticity of the report.
Arlong's first reaction was to rally his crew and storm White Pine Town to rescue his comrades and take revenge on William's crew.
However, the messenger, who had been with Kuroobi during the attack, mentioned that their enemy was a Logia Devil Fruit user. This revelation made Arlong reconsider his plan.
No one in the Arlong Pirates understood the difficulty of dealing with a Logia user better than Arlong himself. After all, he had once been effortlessly defeated by Borsalino, the Marine Admiral known as Kizaru, a Logia user. That defeat had landed him in a Marine prison.
If not for Jinbe becoming one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea and negotiating for his release, the infamous Arlong of the East Blue might still be rotting in a cell.
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