Nami and Oliver were walking toward where everyone else was supposed to be.
"Oliver, why did you take all the treasure?" Nami asked doubtfully.
"Arlong believes your money was supposed to be stolen, and if you show up with the money there's a chance he'll actually leave the Conomi Islands," Oliver said.
"And if it doesn't work?"
"That's what we're here for. If he tries to attack you or refuses to keep his promise, we'll attack him with everything we've got."
Oliver and Nami had already moved far away from Nami and Nojiko's house, continuing to talk as Oliver tried to help her relax.
"Do you think the others will help me?" Nami asked uncertainly.
"Of course they will. The perverted cook will help you just because he's a pervert. Usopp will too because you helped save his village. Zoro will do it under Luffy's orders and because he's his nakama. And as for Luffy, you were his nakama from the very beginning, so he'll do everything to help you," Oliver said.
"How are you so sure?" Nami asked.
"Because Luffy would do the impossible to protect a nakama. I'm sure he'd even fight the whole world if that's what it took to save his nakama," Oliver said, remembering everything Luffy had done for his nakamas.
"You trust him a lot."
"Of course I do. I'm his first mate. If I don't trust my captain, what's left for the rest?"
"I guess you're right… But what about you? Why are you helping me?"
"I already told you, if I see something I don't think is right, I'll interfere. And if I have to beat someone up, I'll do it. So I'll help you because it's the right thing to do. Never forget that."
Nami stopped for a moment, staring at Oliver, who kept walking with a small smile. She hurried to catch up, though he was thinking about something else.
'Nami doesn't seem to trust much, but in the original story it wasn't like this. She trusted pretty quickly when she told Luffy. Could it be because she didn't break down mentally?'
The words of that "administrator" echoed in his head.
'He made a change. Could that change have directly affected Nami's personality? If so, it could lead to bad things. Or maybe it affected someone else in the crew, and it's not about behavior but about a fight against some enemy.'
Oliver was deep in thought until he heard a shout.
"Nami-san!" Sanji yelled.
They both looked ahead and saw everyone resting while defeated Fishmen lay on the ground.
"I guess they're the ones Arlong sent to find me," Oliver said, looking at the defeated Fishmen.
They approached while Nami stayed a bit behind, watching the rest.
"What a mess. Did they attack you guys?" Oliver said.
"Yeah, but they were pretty easy to beat," Usopp said, stepping on one of them.
"It moved."
Usopp jumped and hid behind Zoro, thinking the Fishman was still awake.
Oliver started laughing at Usopp while Nami wondered whether to speak or not, feeling a pressure in her chest.
"I-I knew it was a lie," Usopp said, stepping out from behind Zoro.
"Then what was that jump about?" Sanji said, smoking a cigarette.
"I-It was a reflex," Usopp said, making excuses.
While they talked normally, Nami felt the pressure fading—until she saw Luffy leaning back, staring at her.
"So, she…"
Nami flinched when everyone looked at her. At that moment, Oliver gave her a pat on the back.
"Go ahead," Oliver said, supporting her.
"I know you can't trust me after I stole the Going Merry, all the treasure, and left, but…"
Nami lowered her head.
"I need your help."
Luffy looked at her and, for a moment, saw a tear fall from her face. He adjusted his hat and stood up.
"Alright, let's go," Luffy said, starting to walk.
"What? Go where?" Usopp said nervously.
"Does it matter?" Zoro said, grabbing his katanas.
"If a lady asks for help, there's no reason not to help her," Sanji said, putting out his cigarette.
"Then it's time to go after those bastards," Oliver told Nami, placing a hand on her head.
"Captain!"
Luffy turned around to look at Oliver.
"Before we go, I want to ask you for something."
--
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At Arlong Park, all the Fishmen were relaxing except for Arlong, who was still a bit angry about what had been done to many of his nakamas.
"They're not here yet," Arlong said, noticing the Fishmen he sent to capture whoever did that hadn't returned.
"Relax, they're just taking their time bringing him," Kuroobi said.
"Maybe we'll get some amusing news now that they went to take care of Nami's treasure," Chew said. "Despite those marines."
They had recently fought against some marines who came to arrest them, but as negotiations tend to go, they were all killed.
While they waited for news from the rest of the Fishmen, the doors opened, revealing Nami pulling a cart carrying a large chest.
"Arlong!" Nami shouted.
"What is it, my brilliant navigator? Did something happen?" Arlong said, relaxing in his seat.
The Fishmen held back their laughter, knowing something must have happened.
"I've come to buy Cocoyashi Village," Nami said.
As soon as she said that, everyone froze.
"What?" Arlong said, thinking he misheard.
"I said I've come to buy Cocoyashi Village," Nami said, opening the chest. "100 million belly in full."
Arlong stood up from his chair while the others didn't understand what had happened.
"Weren't the marines supposed to take Nami's money?" one of the Fishmen whispered.
"They were… Something must've happened," another whispered.
Arlong grabbed the money, looking at the full amount.
"This is…"
"I have everything. Now I want my village back and for you to leave. That was the deal," Nami said.
"Yes, that was the deal…"
When Arlong said that, Nami felt relieved, thinking he would actually keep his promise.
"But there might be some money missing here," Arlong said, grabbing bills and throwing them onto the ground.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Nami said when she saw what he was doing.
"I'm not doing anything. I'm just saying there might be some money missing when it's all counted, don't you think?" Arlong said, making the others laugh a little.
"I knew you wouldn't keep your promise."
In an instant, all the money in the chest disappeared, revealing Oliver, who then threw a powerful punch at Arlong's face, sending him flying.
"Arlong!" the rest of the Fishmen shouted.
"This bastard really doesn't care about the money at all," Oliver said angrily.
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I feel like Nami's request for help turned out horrible. I even thought about rewriting the last chapters of Arlong Park just to avoid this part, but it's already done.
I feel like it lacked impact, more motivation for the others to fight, I don't know, but I feel like it's missing a lot.
It might also be that after deleting that part more than 20 times, it affected me and I couldn't make it better, but at least I'm done with it now.
And that's it.
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