Cocoyasi Village, by the shore, on the merry go.
"Great! It looks like the merry go wasn't harmed at all!"
As soon as Usopp got close, he thoroughly inspected the merry go.
Only after finding it completely intact did he let out a long breath.
"That woman seems to have taken all our treasure."
Although Zoro's injuries hadn't fully recovered yet, he could still move normally. When he checked the items on the merry go, he found that only the treasure was missing.
Luffy nodded upon hearing their reports.
Just as he was about to lead everyone to find Nami, he suddenly noticed a large group of people walking out of the village, carrying hoes, shovels, wooden clubs, and other tools.
Each of them looked very angry and enraged.
"What's wrong with these villagers?"
Uta asked.
At this moment, the others also noticed the angry villagers, and one by one, they came to the ship's side, looking at them.
Luffy immediately recognized the two leading figures: Akin and Nojiko.
Without seeing Nami, he had already guessed something.
"Let's go ask them!"
Luffy said, then leaped down from the merry go, with the others following closely behind.
...
On the villagers' side.
They also noticed Luffy and the others.
When they saw the five of them standing in a line, blocking their path, they all became wary.
"Who are they? Pirates?"
"They came from the ship Nami brought back; did Nami steal their ship, and they came to hunt her down?"
"If that's the case, it's not good. Let's help Nami drive these pirates away!"
"..."
While the villagers were discussing, Nojiko suddenly noticed the Straw Hat on Luffy's head.
She thought carefully; the idiotic Captain Nami mentioned wore a Straw Hat!
Then she looked at the people standing beside the Straw Hat man.
A fashionable, cute, beautiful young girl.
A green-haired man with three swords. Huh? Why is there only one sword now?
A long-nosed man.
And a curly-browed man Nami hadn't mentioned.
Although there were a tiny few differences, it seemed this group was the strange pirate crew Nami had talked about!
After identifying the newcomers, Nojiko immediately greeted Luffy with surprise.
"You're Nami's idiotic Captain, aren't you?"
Luffy was still wondering how to open his mouth to make these villagers believe they weren't bad guys when he suddenly heard Nojiko on the opposite side call out in surprise.
He was stunned for a moment, then showed a slight smile.
"A foolish Captain?"
"Is that what that foolish Navigator said about me?"
Nojiko immediately realized she had misspoken when she heard that; in her excitement, she had blurted out Nami's nickname for him, and she quickly waved her hands in a flustered panic, saying,
"No, no, no! It wasn't Nami who said it!"
"It was me just now..."
Just as Nojiko was thinking about how to explain, she saw Luffy smile slightly and say, uncaringly,
"It's fine."
Nojiko was stunned.
The pirates in her impression were all those who committed all kinds of evil, fierce and brutal.
But the pirate in front of her seemed very easygoing!
She couldn't help but recall what Nami had told her about Luffy and the others.
She sighed with a smile in her heart.
"Nami, you're right. They really are a strange bunch!"
At this moment, Akin, who had been watching from the side, suddenly spoke up and asked,
"Nojiko, do you know them?"
Nojiko's thoughts were pulled back by Akin, and she shook her head, replying,
"No, it's my first time seeing them too."
"I heard about them from Nami."
Saying that, Nojiko turned to face everyone and said seriously,
"Akin, everyone, they are a good group of pirates!"
"Nami... she really likes this group of people!"
Hearing Nojiko's words, Akin and the villagers immediately lowered their guard.
People Nami liked would definitely not harm them.
"Is your name Nojiko?"
Luffy suddenly spoke up.
Nojiko turned at his words and heard Luffy continue,
"I am Monkey D. Luffy, Nami's Captain."
"That foolish Navigator ran off without my permission, abandoning us."
"As long as I haven't agreed, she's still my Navigator."
"Now we're going to find her and bring her back."
"Nojiko, do you know where she is?"
Upon hearing Luffy's words, Nojiko was moved and felt fortunate, thinking to herself,
"Nami, you've found a good group of companions!"
Pulling herself back, Nojiko's eyes suddenly filled with anger, and she began to tell Luffy and the others about Nami's ordeal.
...
A long time later.
"That Fishman bastard, how dare he bully my Navigator like that."
Luffy's voice was low, and his expression was furious.
He pulled his hat brim down, the shadow obscuring his eyes, making his gaze unclear, and said in a deep voice,
"Let's go! Let's beat up that group of Fishman bastards and bring my foolish Navigator back."
Uta, Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji all had grim expressions, and they simultaneously muttered in low voices,
"Oh! (x4)"
Seeing this, Nojiko, Akin, and the other villagers were all flustered, their eyes filled with worry, and they tried to dissuade them,
"No, Arlong and his crew are Fishmen. Fishmen are naturally 10 times stronger than us humans. It's too dangerous for you to go like this."
"That's right, there are only 5 of you, and they have dozens of Fishmen. The power gap is too great."
"We know you're very good to Nami, but Nami is suffering so much for our sake. We just need to risk our lives to rescue Nami; you don't need to go and throw your lives away."
"Yes, Luffy. I thank you on Nami's behalf. But this time it's really too dangerous; you'd better not get involved. If Nami saw you, whom she likes, killed by Arlong's crew, she would be very sad."
Nojiko cried, pulling Luffy's arm, wanting to prevent the tragedy she envisioned in her mind.
Unexpectedly, Luffy pulled his arm free from her hand and said angrily,
"I can deal with trash like that with just a flick of my finger!"
"Nojiko, lead the way!"