Two days later.
Cocoyashi Village, Arlong Park.
Arlong's appearance lived up to his identity as a shark fish-man:
He stood nearly three meters tall, his entire body covered in blue skin. His eyes were as sharp and menacing as a hawk's, his mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. His jagged, saw-like nose resembled a steel blade—hard and deadly.
Coupled with muscles as solid as iron bars and the large red tattoos branded across his chest and arms, he looked like a terrifying mob boss.
And indeed, that was all Arlong was—a terrifying pirate boss.
Though Arlong fancied himself a member of a superior race and constantly ranted about founding some "Arlong Empire" to rule all of humanity, in reality, this self-proclaimed future emperor of the fish-men had, for years, done nothing more than... collect protection money.
The grand territory of his so-called Arlong Empire consisted of only twenty or so villages around Cocoyashi. The only thing remotely related to his lofty imperial dreams was the sea charts he forced Nami to draw of the East Blue.
On this particular day, Arlong was once again exhausting himself over the "national affairs" of his so-called empire:
"That rat—is he coming today?"
"Yes," replied Kuroobi, his loyal subordinate and a master of Fish-Man Karate. "We agreed to meet with Captain Nezumi today."
"Hmph!"
Arlong snorted coldly, his face darkening.
While he extorted protection money from innocent villagers, he also had to regularly bribe the corrupt naval officer, Captain Nezumi. After all, Arlong and his crew were fish-men from the Grand Line. Without the protection of a crooked marine officer, they would have been far too conspicuous.
To maintain his position as the local tyrant, Arlong had no choice but to endure and regularly pay off Nezumi.
Of course, Arlong would never admit he was paying protection money.
"That weak, filthy, inferior creature!"
Arlong consoled himself.
"When we fish-men rule the seas one day, I'll make that greedy rat cough up every last beri he's swallowed!"
"Yes, yes!"
His lackeys nodded eagerly, as if the great Fish-Man Empire were on the verge of being founded tomorrow.
But Arlong's mood was still foul—because he was even greedier than Nezumi.
Every time he had to fork over a bribe, it felt like his heart was bleeding.
And whenever Arlong was in a bad mood, he would look to torment the weak to feel better.
After a moment of brooding, he shouted angrily, "Why hasn't Cocoyashi Village paid this month's tribute yet?!"
His voice was filled with brutality and cruelty.
"We've been urging them, but they still haven't managed to gather the money," one subordinate replied timidly.
"Haven't gathered it?!"
Arlong's expression darkened even further. A cruel grin twisted his mouth.
"Very well,"
"I'll go help them personally!"
…
In Cocoyashi Village, the villagers were gathered in a somber meeting.
"Sigh…"
Genzo the Sheriff looked at their weary faces and asked helplessly,
"Is there really no more money we can raise?"
"If we don't hand over this month's tribute, that bastard Arlong will use it as an excuse to come and wreck the village again…"
"We really have no other options!"
A pale villager spoke heavily.
"Fishing's been poor lately, and the crops aren't ready to harvest yet."
"We just can't scrape together any more money!"
Each villager was required to pay Arlong 100,000 Berries per month just to avoid being slaughtered by his fish-man pirates.
For a remote village that relied solely on farming and fishing, such a burden was unbearable.
"How about…"
One villager hesitantly suggested, "How about we go ask Nojiko for help again?"
Silence fell across the gathering.
Genzo's face turned grim, and the scar on his face twisted more savagely with the expression.
Everyone understood the implication—Nojiko was Nami's sister, and she barely managed to make ends meet by growing tangerines.
Asking Nojiko for help really meant once again dumping the responsibility of protecting the village onto Nami, the orphaned girl.
None of the villagers wanted to do that, but cruel reality always left them with no other choice.
Genzo trembled with frustration and sorrow.
As the sheriff, he'd failed to protect the village and was once again forced to push the burden onto the girl he regarded like a daughter.
"Genzo! Genzo!"
A sudden, excited voice broke through the silence.
Everyone turned to see a blue-haired girl running toward them, her face full of excitement and a newspaper waving in her hand.
It was Nojiko—Nami's sister, whom they'd just been discussing.
"Nojiko, what's going on?"
Genzo forced a tired smile, trying to look less grim in front of the child.
"Look at this!"
Nojiko panted as she reached him, handing him the newspaper without even pausing to catch her breath.
"Eh?"
Genzo took the newspaper with a puzzled look, scanning the headline:
"Special Report on the East Blue Knight Garen?"
"Who's that?"
Nojiko's expression was glowing with excitement. "Never mind that—just keep reading!"
Genzo glanced down beneath the headline and instantly became more excited than Nojiko:
"Nami?!!"
"She made it into the paper?!"
"What?!"
The villagers gasped in unison.
They all crowded in without hesitation, eyes full of concern as they looked at the newspaper.
A prominent photo showed Nami in a beautiful princess dress, standing beside a white-suited Garen, both smiling slightly for the camera.
One elegant and beautiful, the other noble and dignified—just as the paper described them: the "Knight and the Princess."
The villagers were stunned.
They didn't even have time to speculate. Their attention was soon captured by the detailed and dramatic article.
After a long pause, Genzo murmured in disbelief,
"N-Nami has a boyfriend?!"
"Looks like it," Nojiko nodded seriously.
That conclusion was easy to reach, since the "love story" of the Knight Garen featured in the article was entirely a fabrication—an embellished tale created by Nami herself, spurred on by Wallace's enormous payment for an exclusive interview.
What began as a simple encounter between a knight and a thief was transformed into a touching romance by Nami and Wallace's collaboration.
"Nami's really grown up, huh?"
Genzo muttered again, feeling the bittersweet sorrow of a father, whose "cabbage" had been taken by some "pig."
But the other villagers had their attention entirely on the "pig" in question.
"Nami's boyfriend…"
One villager said in awe, "He's such a powerful man?!"
Another chimed in excitedly, "Not just powerful—he seems to be a high-ranking noble from a major kingdom!"
"Sigh…"
Genzo still looked conflicted.
"With Nami's identity, wouldn't dating someone like that be a bit... much?"
"Forget that for now!"
Another villager said eagerly,
"If Nami's boyfriend is willing to help, then our village might be saved!"
Everyone clearly had the same thought.
Their thin, weather-worn faces suddenly flushed with excitement and hope.
"Oh?"
A cold, sinister voice rang out behind them:
"Your village... might be saved?"
The villagers froze in place, cold sweat breaking out on their foreheads.
A massive shadow soon blocked out the sun.
They turned their heads with difficulty and saw Arlong standing behind them with several of his henchmen, all wearing cruel and mocking smiles.
The lively village once again fell into a suffocating silence.
"Ha ha ha…"
Arlong let out a wild, savage laugh and said in his harsh voice,
"I think I just heard something very interesting."
His murderous eyes swept over the crowd.
"Nami's been getting a little rebellious, hasn't she?"
The villagers lowered their heads, not daring to meet Arlong's gaze.
"Bring me that newspaper."
Arlong ordered casually. As one of his underlings handed it over, he sneered,
"Trying to rebel against my rule?"
"I'd like to see who's giving you the courage!"
Soon, the newspaper landed in Arlong's hands. A few of his underlings also peeked over curiously.
"The Righteous Knight of the East Blue?!"
Arlong sneered with disdain just from the title:
"Typical of inferior species—still clinging to the fantasy of righteous knights?"
But as he kept reading, his expression darkened—his face twisted like he'd just eaten two pounds of crap.
The article clearly documented Garen's string of overwhelming victories in the East Blue: punishing the Steel Blade Pirates, defeating corrupt marines in Loguetown.
That alone was impressive enough.
But the real kicker came next—
He had defeated a former crewmate of the Pirate King, and a friend of a Yonko—Buggy the Clown.
He even fought Marine Captain Smoker and the legendary Marine Hero Garp to a draw in just three rounds.
Even elite Marine swordsmen were awed by this lone swordsman's skill—
"B-Boss?"
One fish-man underling trembled and stammered,
"S-Should we run?"
"..."
The once-proud Arlong now trembled all over, speechless.
A storm of emotions churned within him—until it finally exploded in a single roar:
"RUN!!!"
BOOM!
A cannon blasted in the distance.
Arlong turned toward the sound, only to see his beloved Arlong Park engulfed in flames.
(End of Chapter)