On a small forest path.
"Arlong!!! Arlong!!! Arlong!!! Arlong!!!..."
A beautiful figure ran wildly along this small forest path, constantly repeating the name "Arlong" in an extremely angry and resentful tone.
She clenched her teeth, two long tear streaks on her face, tears constantly flowing from the corners of her eyes, blown backward by the wind as she sped, and the center of her pupils had turned pale from extreme anger, as if losing focus.
"You really want me to return the village, little girl?"
"Alright! Gather 100 million Berries and bring them to me."
"If you do that, I'll free the village, and I'll also give you your freedom, truly."
"It doesn't matter how many years it takes, I will keep my promise!!!"
In her mind, she kept replaying the scene where Arlong had once made her that promise.
Just as she was about to achieve her goal, the money she had saved for eight years was so casually taken away.
That promise was as worthless as toilet paper.
And she herself looked so naive and foolish.
Thinking of all these things, Nami's anger was ignited to its extreme.
When she saw the entrance to a towering, pagoda-like building appear before her, the anger suppressed in Nami's heart completely erupted at that moment, letting out a hysterical, sky-shattering roar,
"Arlong!!!"
Inside Arlong Empire.
Arlong was sitting by the pool, enjoying wine and sunbathing.
Suddenly, he heard a sky-shattering roar, then turned his head to look, and saw the woman, her fists clenched, her face terrifyingly grim, walking towards him with extremely heavy steps, one step at a time.
Arlong's lips curved into an arc, his eyes filled with mockery, and he feigned confusion, saying,
"Oh?! What's wrong? My excellent surveyor!! Your face has changed..."
Nami lowered her head and walked step by step to Arlong's side, muttering in a low voice,
"It's you..."
Suddenly, Nami sharply lifted her head, her angry, unfocused pupils staring fiercely at Arlong, and she said angrily,
".....You ordered those Marines to steal my money, didn't you?!"
Looking at the Fishman in front of her, who had a smile on his lips and a subtle expression, Nami suddenly burst out, tears gushing from her eyes like a spring.
She grabbed Arlong's collar with both hands, frantically pulling and shaking him, crying and angrily demanding,
"What is going on?"
"Didn't you say you would uphold a promise based on money to the death?"
Arlong glanced sideways at Nami beside him, feigning a confused and innocent look, and asked with feigned confusion,
"Hmm? Uphold..."
"When did I ever break our agreement?"
Nami continued to tear at Arlong's collar, angrily retorting,
"Don't play dumb, you're the one who made those Marines take my money...."
"...Ugh!!!"
Halfway through her sentence, Nami's face was suddenly tightly gripped by Arlong's massive Fishman palm, preventing her from speaking a single word.
At this moment, she saw Arlong suddenly frown, his eyes instantly bloodshot with anger, his mouth open to reveal sharp, saw-like fangs, and he demanded in a deep voice,
"When did I... break the agreement? Tell me!!!"
Nami's eyes were filled with fear and anger, but she was gripped by Arlong's powerful, vice-like hand, unable to resist or respond.
"Hahahahaha..."
Arlong laughed uproariously, taking his hand from Nami's face, which he had been casually gripping and controlling like a quail, and instead gripped her neck.
The agreement between him and Nami was to buy the village for 100 million Berries.
Nami giving him the money and him freeing the village, that was the agreement.
Anything else, he wouldn't acknowledge!
Arlong continued to feign innocence, saying,
"You said the Marines took your money? That's really bad luck!"
"But, an agreement is an agreement."
"If you can't prepare 100 million Berries in front of me, I can't return the village, can I!"
"Hahahahaha..."
Arlong laughed uproariously again.
But Nami, whose neck was tightly gripped by Arlong, was completely powerless to resist, and the tears on her face had not dried since they started flowing.
Looking at Arlong, who was laughing uproariously as if he controlled everything, Nami could only weakly and sadly curse him,
"Despicable! Shameless!!"
Arlong didn't care about Nami's weak curses and laughed heartily,
"Hahahahaha..."
"It's just 100 million Berries! Just save up again!!!"
Suddenly, Arlong stopped laughing, turned his head to look at Nami, grabbed her by the collar, lifted her up, his expression angry, and said in a threatening tone,
"Or... do you want to escape from here?"
"But don't forget, by then, all the villagers of Cocoyasi Village will... all die because of you!"
When Nami heard Arlong mention the villagers of Cocoyasi Village, she suddenly remembered something.
When she was eating with Nojiko, she had mentioned that the villagers still disliked her and didn't want to get close to her.
At that time, Nojiko's expression was conflicted, and finally, unable to bear seeing her continue to misunderstand, she told her that the villagers had already known about her saving money to buy the village.
Everyone didn't want to get close to her simply because they didn't want her to know and put pressure on her.
And now, she had run to Arlong Empire alone to find Arlong, which the villagers must have already known about.
If that was the case, would everyone do something impulsive in a moment of excitement?
The more Nami thought about it, the more worried she became. The villagers were simply no match for Arlong's crew. She had to go back quickly and stop everyone.
Nami forcefully pushed away Arlong's hand that was holding her collar, then ran out of Arlong Empire without looking back.
"Nojiko, Akin, everyone, don't act rashly!"
"You absolutely cannot die, or everything will be over."
"Isn't it just 100 million Berries? I'll just save up again."
"If everyone dies, then it's truly all over."
Nami cried and shouted in her heart, praying that the villagers wouldn't act impulsively.
However, what suddenly made her heart sink like a stone was seeing a large group of villagers holding shovels and wooden sticks at the entrance of the Arlong Empire.
Nami immediately panicked; if the villagers charged in, everything would be over.
She immediately raised her arm, wiped away the tears from her eyes, and then forced a bright, happy smile.
She quickly walked up to the group and spoke in a relaxed tone.
"Everyone, wait a moment!!!"
"Just wait a little longer, I'll try again."
"Whew…"
"Saving 100 million Berries isn't actually hard; I already have a lot of experience."
"This time, I'm sure I'll save enough very quickly."
"By then, the village and everyone will be…"
Before the word "liberated" could leave her mouth, Nami suddenly froze, seeing the familiar Straw Hat behind Nojiko.
"Nami!!!"
She heard a voice so deep it seemed to suffocate her.
Then, Nami saw the Straw Hat behind Nojiko slowly move, coming to stand before her.
Nami stared blankly at the familiar man in front of her, then saw him raise his hand and wipe away the unshed tears from the corner of her eyes.
In an instant, the grievances in Nami's heart seemed to suddenly become uncontrollable, and tears gushed wildly from her eyes like a spring.
Her feigned strong body also seemed to completely lose its strength at this moment, and she instantly softened, squatting down on the ground.
She looked up at the man standing under the sun, whose face was obscured by the Straw Hat, making him unclear to see, and spoke in an extremely helpless, pleading, choked voice.
"L-Luffy…"
"…Save me!!!"