Inside a dilapidated wooden house in the abandoned village, Luo Chen sat on the floor with his eyes tightly closed, his breathing steady.
His consciousness was still in the [Taijutsu Training Space].
On the small, green planet, Luo Chen was drenched in sweat, lying on the ground and panting heavily.
The woman in the tight leather suit cracked her whip and said coldly:
"One hundred push-ups complete. Next up are one hundred sit-ups, one hundred squats, a ten-kilometer run, and practical combat."
"No resting. You can't die in this place. Continue!"
Luo Chen was bare-chested, with several red whip marks on his back.
He had been a little too slow on the gravity push-ups just now and had been lashed a few times by this woman.
He had already discovered the secret of the [Taijutsu Training Space].
The simple act of doing push-ups, when combined with gravity, had a powerful training effect on his body.
And whenever he was exhausted or injured, the green planet beneath his feet would release a stream of life energy that would merge with his physical body.
It helped him relieve fatigue and heal his injuries.
His physical strength also increased rapidly under the enhancement of this life energy.
Luo Chen had asked the woman in the leather suit; although it was his consciousness that entered the [Taijutsu Training Space], the effects of the training were synchronized with his body in the outside world.
Moreover, the flow of time in the [Taijutsu Training Space] was different from the outside world.
Ten thousand Cultivation Points could open the [Taijutsu Training Space] for ten hours.
In the outside world, only one hour would have passed.
The time flow rate was ten to one.
'I never thought I'd get to use the Saitama training method one day.'
Luo Chen muttered to himself as he lay on the ground and started doing sit-ups.
One hundred gravity push-ups had raised his Taijutsu to Lv2, an increase of one level.
This was equivalent to a Marine Headquarters Major, or a pirate with a bounty of around ten million.
To take down Arlong, he needed to continue training.
'Arlong has collected protection money for so many years; he must have saved up a lot of wealth.'
'If I take him out, I can make another deposit.'
Luo Chen trained earnestly, clearly feeling his body growing stronger with every passing moment.
...
Arlong Park.
When Nami arrived, she saw the giant fish-man sitting on a high chair in the distance.
He was a sawshark fish-man, with a long, sharp, serrated nose. He had a vicious appearance and a tall stature, approaching three meters in height.
Seeing Nami approach, Arlong laughed loudly. "Nami, what brings you here today? Don't tell me you have some treasure to offer me?"
Nami considered how to begin, and after a moment, she said:
"About the one hundred million Berries we agreed on... I saved up over ninety million, but it was stolen by a Marine."
Arlong was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, then his eyes narrowed as he said coldly, "What do you mean? The one hundred million Berries is gone?"
"It's not gone. The Marine is Luo Chen from the 16th Branch. If you go kill him, the money will still be yours," Nami quickly explained.
"To be precise, it's ninety-one million Berries. After you get it, I'll only need to give you another nine million Berries to buy back the village..."
"Wait," Arlong said, sitting up straight.
He stared at Nami and said indifferently, "Let's not talk about whether we can find this Luo Chen. Even if we do, that ninety-one million Berries belongs to him, not you."
Nami's expression was one of stunned disbelief. She forced a smile. "You have so many fish-men under your command; you'll definitely be able to find Luo Chen."
"As for the money, it really is mine. Luo Chen just dug it up from the tangerine grove. How could a Marine possibly have over ninety million Berries?"
Arlong waved his hand dismissively. "You can go now. I'll send people to look for Luo Chen. But my agreement with you was that you would give me one hundred million Berries, not that I would get one hundred million Berries from Luo Chen."
He glanced at Nami's gradually angrier expression and said calmly:
"Remember, whenever you hand me one hundred million Berries personally, that's when I'll give the village back to you."
"Arlong, you're going back on your word!" Nami could no longer contain her anger and shouted.
One hundred million Berries. She had risked her life on the pirate-infested seas for eight years to save it.
Just when she was about to reach her goal, it all turned to dust.
And now Arlong was telling her to save another one hundred million Berries.
Eight years, and then another eight years... A sense of hopeless despair enveloped Nami's body and soul.
Arlong sneered. "Aren't you the one who went back on her word? Trying to deceive me into selling back the village with someone else's ninety million Berries. Now get lost."
Nami trembled violently, her face flushed red. No longer able to control the grievance and rage in her heart, she roared:
"I went back on my word? You never intended to honor the agreement in the first place, did you?"
"The ninety million Berries is clearly mine! Why doesn't it count towards the agreement?"
Listening to her shrill roar, Arlong picked at his ear. "I say it doesn't count, so it doesn't count."
"Nami, go earn another one hundred million Berries. Will eight years be enough?"
"If not, ten or twenty years is fine too. I'm not in a hurry."
"During that time, you can save money while drawing nautical charts for the Arlong Pirates. Just be a good little tool."
Hearing Arlong's words, Nami's eyes instantly turned red, the whites of her eyes filling with blood vessels.
She looked at Arlong's sharp teeth and felt that this fish-man was as hateful as a demon from hell.
"Arlong!" Nami pulled a dagger from her clothes and charged at him in a fit of uncontrollable rage.
"Idiot." Arlong sneered, slapping the dagger out of Nami's hand with one swipe and grabbing her slender neck to lift her into the air.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Nami struggled painfully in mid-air, her face turning red from lack of oxygen.
"Calm now?" Arlong slowly increased the pressure in his hand, still smiling as he watched Nami's face gradually turn blue.
"Remember, you're just a tool for me to make money and draw charts. Now go back and save up the next one hundred million Berries."
He swung his arm.
Nami was thrown more than ten meters, crashing heavily onto the ground and rolling several times, gasping painfully.
She lay on the cold ground, her eyes devoid of any light.
So all this time, Arlong had been deceiving her.
Even if she had saved up one hundred million Berries, Arlong would never have let the village go.
Nami didn't want to get up. She didn't want to go back. She didn't know how to face the villagers.
Genzo and Nojiko seemed to have known about her deal with Arlong all along. Perhaps they were all hoping she could buy the village back from him.
But she had failed. Arlong never intended to honor the agreement.
How could she go back and tell everyone?
How could she tell them that there was no longer any hope of being freed from Arlong's grasp?
Despair filled her heart.
Nami looked at her dagger gleaming coldly in the distance and slowly crawled towards it.
She didn't want to go back anymore.
At that moment, a commotion broke out from outside Arlong Park.
A fish-man ran in to report, "Boss Arlong, the villagers from Cocoyasi Village are here to cause trouble."
Arlong, on his high chair, didn't even lift an eyelid. "Drive them away. Kill any who refuse to leave."
Nami's head snapped up to look at Arlong.
Arlong met her eyes, which were filled with endless hatred, and smiled. "Don't blame me. If you want to blame someone, blame that Marine named Luo Chen. Who told him to steal your one hundred million Berries?"
"The hatred of eight years of effort turning to nothing in a single day, the hatred for the villagers' deaths... it can all be blamed on Luo Chen. Nami, you need to be clear about who the main culprit is."
His eyes revealed contempt and mockery. "Humans truly are an inferior species, willing to harm their own kind for the sake of greed. Humans deserve to be ruled by fish-men."
Nami gritted her teeth, picked up her dagger, and rushed out of the park.
...
Elsewhere, Luo Chen, in the abandoned house, opened his eyes.
[Host: Luo Chen]
[Taijutsu: Lv3 (Equivalent to a Headquarters Commander ≈ Pirate with a 50 million Berry bounty)]
[Skills: None]
[Ninjutsu: Wood Style Ninja Technique Collection]
[Cultivation Points: 100]
[Next Cumulative Deposit Reward Tier: One Billion Berries]
Looking at the system's assessment of his strength, Luo Chen winced at the cost.
The ten thousand Cultivation Points from the one-hundred-million-Berry deposit had been completely used up.
His strength had only been raised to about the level of a Headquarters Commander.
'It should be enough to crush Arlong.'
Luo Chen stood up, picked up Nami's chest of one hundred million Berries and Captain Nezumi's chest of ten million, and headed straight for Arlong Park.
He couldn't leave this money behind; he had to carry it with him and return the items to their original owner later.
As for Arlong, he had to be dealt with as quickly as possible.
Taking Nami's one hundred million Berries, even if not for real, had still caused her considerable psychological damage.
Helping her deal with Arlong was something Luo Chen had planned to do all along.