With his new equipment upgrade complete, Marcus felt incredibly satisfied. In Minecraft, the difference between iron armor and diamond armor might seem like just one tier, but in reality it was a fundamental gap.
In the One Piece world, diamond armor could theoretically withstand even Mihawk's flying slashes, just as Jozu had once demonstrated. Then again, Jozu's Twinkle-Twinkle Fruit might actually be stronger than ordinary diamond gear… Still, with that kind of defense, as long as he avoided Admirals, Yonko, or their top commanders, his life probably wouldn't be in serious danger.
At least in the first half of the Grand Line, he should be relatively safe.
He sold off his half-durability iron armor set immediately.
Looking at the pathetic recycle price of barely a thousand EMC points, his eye twitched.
A single iron ingot cost 216 EMC to purchase. With 24 pieces in a full armor set, that was over 5,000 points worth of materials. Yet the system's buyback price didn't even cover the cost of one diamond ingot.
He pulled out the food Sanji had prepared for the defeated pirates.
"If you can still move, come get the food yourselves!" he called out, setting the containers down near Krieg's ship.
Then Marcus walked away, leaving the barely conscious crew to fend for themselves.
The half-dead pirates looked hopefully at the food. After everything they'd witnessed, they'd resigned themselves to dying here.
But someone was actually offering them food? After they'd tried to take over this restaurant by force?
One by one, tears began streaming down their faces as they dragged themselves toward the meal.
"This... it tastes so good," one pirate whispered between bites.
"Just being alive... it's so good," another sobbed.
The defeated crew members wept as they ate, overwhelmed by this unexpected mercy.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the restaurant, Gin finally woke up from being knocked unconscious. He found himself lying in the corridor outside the kitchen, his ribs still aching.
"You're awake?"
Sanji was leaning against the wall nearby, smoking a cigarette.
"Krieg... he lost, didn't he?" Gin managed to say.
"Yeah. But he's probably not dead yet."
"I see..." Gin's eyes went dull. Even though he'd been unconscious, he'd still caught fragments of what had happened, like how Krieg had released poison gas while he was out cold.
"You're accepting defeat that calmly?" Sanji was surprised. He was here partly because he'd been "banished" from the kitchen, but also to keep an eye on Gin in case he did something desperate.
Gin let out a bitter laugh. "Fifty pirate ships entered the Grand Line. Now only one broken wreck remains. We got lucky crossing the Calm Belt, but our failure was already set in stone. Just being alive at all... that's already more than we deserved."
Seeing Gin's completely broken spirit, Sanji pulled out his cigarette pack and offered him one.
"Smoke?"
"Thanks." Gin accepted it, but immediately started choking hard on his first puff, tears streaming from his eyes.
"If you can't smoke, then don't," Sanji said with a slight chuckle.
Gin covered his face with his hand, unable to tell if the tears were from the smoke or something else.
After a long moment, he composed himself.
"Thank you."
He stood up, preparing to leave for good.
Sanji reached out instinctively, wanting to stop him but not knowing what to say. Looking at that lonely, defeated figure...
"What are you planning to do now?" he finally asked.
"Now?" Gin paused, staring out at the vast blue sea. "Maybe I'll just live quietly on some island somewhere. Find a normal life."
"..."
He eventually left, returning to that tattered pirate ship one last time.
The once-feared "overlord of the East Blue" had become nothing more than a broken man, sailing away from the Baratie in his ruined vessel with what remained of his crew.
Watching all this unfold, Marcus felt conflicted. This tiny butterfly effect had already begun stirring up a different future.
And just moments ago, he'd gained a massive surge of experience points from Gin.
He'd instantly leveled up to 32.
Simply because Gin had chosen to give up on sailing to the Grand Line, Marcus had gained two full levels worth of experience.
Clearly, even though Gin was an early character, he'd been destined to play some role in later parts of the story, maybe even in the New World arc. He must have been connected to future main plotlines.
But now it seemed he had lost all hope and withdrawn from the sea. Whether that was good or bad... who could say?
After all, in the storyline Marcus knew, Gin never appeared again anyway.
"Sanji, have you decided?" Luffy leaped onto the restaurant's railing.
"Yeah, I've decided. I'll be the cook on your ship. But first, let me go say my farewells."
With that, Sanji opened the kitchen door and walked inside.
He went straight up to Zeff and knelt down in front of the old man.
"All these years... damn it, thanks for taking care of me."
Sanji's sudden kneeling naturally shocked the other cooks, but then, one by one, they let out sighs of relief.
Finally, they no longer had to pretend they disliked him.
---
"Yahoo~ Alvida, what kind of drink would you like? Your devoted knight is here to serve you with love~"
Sanji's eyes sparkled with hearts as he dropped to one knee beside Alvida like a man proposing marriage.
Alvida rested her chin on one hand, watching him with amusement. "Then just get me some fruit wine."
"Of course, my lady~"
"And what about you, Nami? What drink would you prefer?"
"Orange juice," Nami replied simply.
"Ah, lovely Kira..."
Seeing Sanji already hitting on every woman right after boarding, Zoro rolled his eyes in disgust. "Damn perverted cook."
"Exactly! Perverted cook, we want drinks too!" Usopp immediately chimed in.
"I want meat!" Luffy declared.
Marcus jumped in as well. "Me too, meat!"
"Alright then, I'll show you all my culinary skills."
And so, the ship was soon filled with laughter and good cheer as they set sail for their next destination.
Next stop: Cocoyasi Village.
---
In the orange grove, Nojiko was carefully pruning the citrus trees, selecting the best oranges to sell at market.
Genzo approached the edge of the orchard with a grim expression.
"Genzo? What's wrong?"
"Gosa Village tried to resist. Arlong destroyed it completely. Many people died."
Nojiko's hands paused for just a moment, then calmly continued trimming the branches.
"How many villages has he destroyed now..." Genzo let out a heavy sigh.
Eight years. They'd been crushed under Arlong's boot for eight whole years.
The island, once famous throughout the East Blue for its premium fruit, had lost most of its population, dead or fled to other islands.
Now Cocoyasi Village itself was probably only a few years away from complete destruction.
Merchants who came to buy fruit were fewer and fewer each season. Business was drying up rapidly. If this trend continued, they wouldn't even be able to pay the monthly tribute of 100,000 berries per adult.
And when that happened...
"There's no need to worry about that anymore."
The sudden voice startled Genzo. He spun around, hand instinctively going to his weapon.
It was Nami.
"There's no need to worry anymore," she repeated with a bright smile, walking up beside him.
"You're back, Nami?" Genzo lowered his head, trying to hide the emotions on his face.
"I've saved enough! One hundred million berries." Nami shook the heavy suitcase in her hand, grinning triumphantly.
Nojiko emerged from the orange grove, dirt on her hands. Seeing Nami's joyful expression, she managed a smile too. "Looks like you had quite a profitable voyage this time?"
"Hehe~" Nami chuckled mysteriously.
Seeing her in such good spirits, Nojiko changed the subject. "Since you're back for once, let's have a meal together. I'll make your favorite orange dishes."
"That sounds perfect!"
Nami walked happily toward her own room.
Watching Nami finally able to put down her burden after all these years, Genzo let out a deep sigh of relief. The promise was about to be fulfilled at last. He was happy for her.
All those years of endurance, of watching her struggle and sacrifice herself for the village, had been worth it.
The sky gradually darkened over Cocoyasi Village. Smoke began rising from kitchen chimneys as families prepared their evening meals.
---
Arlong Park
"What do we do? That bitch actually saved up 100 million berries."
Chew looked nervously at Arlong.
The moment Nami had returned to the village, the Arlong Pirates had been watching. Seeing her carrying that heavy case, combined with the intelligence they'd gathered from their spies, confirmed one thing: she'd really made serious money during her latest voyage.
More money than any of them had expected her to be capable of earning.
"Shahahaha! So is she going to march right up to me and dump all that cash at my feet?" Arlong's shark-like grin showed rows of razor-sharp teeth.
"We could notify the Marines right now," Kuroobi suggested.
After all, if Nami brought the money tonight, Arlong would technically have to honor his promise. That had been the deal for years.
"Perfect timing, we haven't collected this month's tribute yet. Let's go handle that first."
With that command, the fishmen all dove into the sea and swam away from Arlong Park.
Night fell over the island.
Nami arrived alone at Arlong Park. The place that should have been bright and filled with fishmen activity was completely deserted.
Standing before the empty complex, she felt her hands clench into fists.
Taking two deep breaths to steady herself, she walked step by step to her workroom.
Looking at the room filled with hand-drawn maps, she brushed her fingers across them one by one.
Eight years. Countless days and nights echoed in her mind.
"..."
---
The next morning arrived as usual.
A squad of Marines marched into the orange grove, their boots trampling the soil that Nojiko had worked so hard to maintain.
Leading them was Captain Nezumi.
"Search every corner! All of this was stolen by that cat burglar from pirates and should be confiscated by Marine authority."
"Since when do Marines go after petty thieves?" Nojiko stood in her doorway, eyes blazing. "Shouldn't you be out there fighting real criminals?"
Nezumi let out a nasty laugh. "First, let's get one thing straight, we're not here to arrest some small-time thief. We're here to recover property that rightfully belongs to the World Government. And we've even brought a special commendation for that cat burglar."
He held up an official-looking plaque with three words engraved on it: "Justice Served Fairly."
"This is quite the honor. Even at Marine Headquarters, very few people ever receive this level of recognition. You folks sure are fortunate, not only are you cleared of any wrongdoing, you even get a prestigious award. Truly 'enviable' by all standards," Nezumi said, his eyes narrowed to slits.
"You bastard—!"
Nojiko forced herself to calm down, then stared intensely at Nezumi. "Since I'm the family of someone who's made a contribution, if I report pirates to you, will you take action?"
"But of course. That's our duty."
"Then I report this: there are dangerous pirates stationed in the southwest part of this island. I demand you send your forces to eliminate them immediately."
Nezumi nodded seriously and pulled out a notebook. "Southwest corner of the island? Understood. We'll investigate that."
He then put his notebook away and went back to watching his Marines ransack the orange grove.
"Search more thoroughly, men!"
"Why aren't you going to eliminate those pirates right now?" Nojiko asked.
Nezumi looked confused. "One task at a time, don't you think? Right now we're busy confiscating stolen property. Once we've verified that all this money belongs to those pirates you mentioned, we'll move on to the next phase of our operation."
"How convenient. Fine. I 'trust' you Marines completely. Go ahead and search," Nojiko laughed bitterly. But there was nothing she could do against these corrupt officials wearing the banner of justice.
Seeing that Nojiko showed no signs of resisting or interfering with their work made Nezumi slightly uneasy. Had she already hidden the money somewhere else?
Just as that worry was starting to eat at him, one of his subordinates came over carrying a heavy chest.
"Captain! We found it! Eighty-three million berries, plus jewelry and other valuables!"
Hearing his subordinate's report, he finally relaxed. His greedy eyes fixed on the chest full of blood-stained money, though the stains didn't diminish their value in the slightest.
"Since we've recovered the stolen goods, there's no reason to stay any longer. Pack it up and move out!"
The squad of Marines marched away noisily.
Nojiko and Genzo, who had witnessed this entire farce, looked furious but made no move to stop them. What could they do against the supposed forces of justice?
"So it really turned out exactly like this..." Nojiko sighed deeply.
Genzo's fists were trembling. He desperately wanted to march over and pound that rat-faced bastard into the ground.
"Let's hope everything else goes according to plan..."
---
Nezumi boarded his warship, then took a smaller boat with a few trusted officers directly to Arlong Park.
The members of the Arlong Pirates were already waiting, having returned from their "tax collection" mission.
"Well? How did it go?"
"Eighty-three million berries, all secured. So we're doing the usual fifty-fifty split, right?"
"Of course. When have I ever broken a promise?" Arlong said with a grin, spreading his hands.
Nezumi nodded and rubbed his hands together.
Just then, the doors to Arlong Park burst open.
Nami walked in. She witnessed the shady deal between the two.
"Arlong, don't you have anything you'd like to explain?"
"Hmm? Explain what? I'm just having a friendly discussion with our local Marine representatives. What's the problem with that?" Arlong shrugged casually, as if the money spread before him had nothing to do with Nami.
Nezumi added his own sickly sweet laughter to the mix. "The Arlong Pirates are the most well-behaved crew in our entire jurisdiction. If all pirates conducted themselves like Arlong here, the world would already be at peace."
Listening to these two bastards openly colluding, Nami took several deep breaths, fighting to keep her voice calm.
"Are you planning to break your promise?"
"I always keep my promises. The question is: do you have the 100 million berries you agreed to provide?" Arlong's smile carried a dangerous undertone.
Not only Arlong, but all the other fishmen began laughing loudly, convinced they had checkmated the human girl who'd been their slave for years.
Nami said nothing.
She silently walked to her workroom, retrieved her suitcase, and returned to stand before the assembled fishmen and Marines.
Right in front of everyone, she opened the case.
"One hundred million berries. Count it if you want."
The laughter inside Arlong Park died instantly, as if someone had suddenly sucked all the air from the room.
Only the sound of wind and waves remained.
Nezumi stared slack-jawed at the 100 million berries, then back at the bloodstained money his men had confiscated. His eyes widened as he did the math... that was 183 million berries total! How the hell had this girl earned that much money? And she'd supposedly gathered this fortune during just her latest voyage!
The shock was written all over his face, but the others weren't just shocked, they were completely stunned.
Every single fishman in the Arlong Pirates wore the same expression. This was a full 100 million berries! Arlong's own bounty was only 20 million.
Where could Nami have possibly stolen this kind of money... had she robbed an entire kingdom? After all, there wasn't a single pirate crew in the East Blue that could afford to lose that much cash, and even if there had been, there was no way she could have stolen it from them.
"What's wrong? Not going to acknowledge the deal?" Nami's tone was perfectly calm.