46 Arlong Park

"What do we do?" asked the plump man as he stood up. Shun was a little surprised by the change in attitude.

"We still have time before Arlong sends more of his pirates here. First, quickly fix the broken window in Albert's house and the wall" Shun ordered, by the wall he meant where Toma crashed.

"Well, may I ask what for?" said the man somewhat nervously.

"When the pirates that Arlong sent arrive here and ask where Chew and the other two are, you guys should tell them that you don't know, act normally, as if you were waiting for their arrival, and leave with the money" Shun explained.

"This way they will think there was an inconvenience when they were walking here, and they won't blame you" Shun added.

Fixing the wall and the window, it was so that the gyojins would not see the battle traces.

"I understand... but if they don't believe in our acting?" he asked.

"Never mind, the moment they reach the village and talk to you, I will create a big sound that will be heard by the gyojins, this way they will quickly come to the forest" replied Shun.

"The...?"

"Yes once they enter the forest in search of their comrades, I will confront them" Shun finished the sentence.

"But it will take a day for the marines to come. If Arlong notices that again they don't return to the base he will know there is an enemy and they can send all their people" commented an old woman.

"In that case, we will act the same way, they will say they were waiting all day, but no one ever came. I will create another rumble and they will come after me, after that I will take care of keeping them busy until the marine ships arrive" said Shun.

The villagers looked at Shun gratefully and with more respect than before, "What are you waiting for? Fix the sale and the wall" said Shun.

All the villagers headed off to fix Albert's house, it didn't take long as everyone was helping in only 30 minutes they got it done and there were still no signs of gyojins.

Shun was told that the two tasks were done and together with Toma, who could walk better, they went to the vicinity of the village. They hid near the path that the gyojins would have to take when they were coming.

"Okay, now we'll just wait here" said Shun lying on his stomach, while eating a rice ball Ines gave him.

Toma nodded, he was beside her also eating a rice ball and staring at the road, expecting to see at any moment the silhouette of several gyojins.

...

Cocoyasi Village.

The sun was positioned high overhead, illuminating the entire Cocoyasi Village. In addition to the many ordinary-looking houses, there were tall palm trees. The streets of the village were made of dirt.

"Nami hasn't shown up for a long time?" asked a man of medium height, short hair and a black mustache. He was wearing a brown police suit with gold shoulder pads and many buttons, brown pants and a police cap. This man was the Sheriff of Villa Cocoyasi, his name was, Genzo.

Genzo was addressing a young girl, about 14 or 15 years old, who was sitting on a chair.

This girl had short light purple hair. She was dressed in a yellow top and jeans. One of her arms has a large number of tattoos on it. This girl's name is Nojiko.

"Yes... since she joined the Arlong Pirates and lives in Arlong Park, she hardly ever comes to town, but every now and then she visits mom's grave" said Nojiko in a sad tone.

"I don't know why she joined the Arlong Pirates after that event... but I'm sure she does it for a purpose. Compared to other nearby villages, the gyojins here are no trouble, as long as we pay the monthly fee" said Genzo.

"I know, but the villagers don't see it that way... most of them are angry at her because she joined Arlong" said Nojiko frowning and feeling a great hatred for the Arlong pirates.

"She must have her reasons, once she is ready to tell us we will listen to her" said Genzo who was still worried about Nami though.

"Is there any news from the marines?" asked Nojiko with some hope.

"You know they are corrupt, two years ago Arlong came to the Conomi Islands, there is no way they don't know" replied Genzo sighing. Nojiko put on a disappointed expression, she always hoped that the marines would show up at some point.

"Payday!" shouted a hoarse voice reaching homes all over the village.

Nojiko stood up and went to a bookshelf, from a drawer she took out the bellies to pay the monthly fee, on Genzo's side he went to his house to take out the money. The scene was the same as in the village where Shun was staying.

The only difference was that the gyojins said nothing to the villagers.

'Nami!' thought Nojiko as she walked out and noticed an orange-haired girl standing next to the gyojins.

This young girl named Nami is slim and looks a couple of years younger than Nojiko.

She has short orange hair and wears a blue and white striped t-shirt with an orange miniskirt and boots. On one of her arms, she has a tattoo representing the Pirates of Arlong.

Nami's look was serious and without much emotion on her face. Her gaze met Nojiko's, but she quickly averted it.

The villagers as they left their houses in an orderly fashion with bills in their hands looked at the gyojins with fear and anger. When they saw Nami they also felt great anger as they believed that this girl had betrayed them.

The gyojins without wasting any more time began to name the villagers one by one, to pay the monthly fee, unlike the village where Shun and Toma were, they did not increase the fee and kept the same price.

When Nojiko was called, she left the money in one of the bags after a gyojin made sure there was the right amount.

After collecting from all the villagers, the two gyojins and Nami left the village, heading for Arlong Park which was nearby.

Nojiko took one last look at Nami and noticed that Nami's arms had some cuts on them, 'Don't do anything dangerous Nami' thought Nojiko worriedly.

As Nami's older sister, she felt useless not being able to do anything to help her, besides, even though Nami didn't tell her why she joined the Arlong Pirates, she knew she was doing it to protect them.

The two gyojins walked calmly in the direction of Arlong Park, Nami followed silently and apart from them.

"Listen Nami, you should thank Arlong-sama that he didn't increase the monthly fee, since he had considered that it's your village" said a gyojin with a smile.

"Yes I will thank him when we get there" said Nami in a monotone.

"You're cuter when you smile" said the gyojin as he approached Nami.

"I'll hurry up and thank Arlong" said Nami as she started running to Arlong Park separating from these two gyojins.

"Damn human..." growled the gyojin at this.

"Leave her alone. If her maps lose quality because of you, Arlong-sama won't let you through easily" said his companion as he stopped him and shook his head.

'Phew... luckily he's not following me' thought Nami as she looked back.

After walking some more she arrived at Arlong Park, the base of operations of the Arlong Pirates. This was a building that rose several stories and at the top was their pirate flag. It was situated on the coast to show that they had no fear of the law.

Nami entered through a double door and noticed that outside the large building were a large number of gyojins having a feast.

"Oh look who's arrived! Our navigator, Nami!" said a gyojin sitting in a large chair in the middle of everyone. This was Arlong, the most fearsome pirate in the East Blue.

In addition to the large table and all the food, there were many bags full of money lying on the floor. Arlong's Pirates were celebrating that they got a large amount of money today.

Nami slowly approached Arlong, "Thank you for not raising the fee for my people" said Nami.

"It's nothing, just a small benefit for being our cartographer and navigator" said Arlong waving his hand as if it was no big deal.

"Come on Nami join us at the banquet!" said Hatchan one of Arlong's officers.

"Sorry, but I have to finish a map" said Nami as she excused herself and started walking towards the building.

The gyojins didn't mind Nami's rejection, even though most of them had disdain towards humans so they preferred not to share a feast with Nami.

"It's been 1 hour since Chew left" said Kuroobi another of the Arlong officers.

"Yeah, it's weird to miss the banquet" commented a gyojin while drinking sake.

"Most likely he's torturing the villagers or something. Since we increased the fee, there must be many who couldn't pay" said a gyojin with a smile.

"It's true hahaha!" exclaimed a gyojin while laughing, everyone else also started laughing and didn't give Chew's absence any more importance.

Nami before entering the building heard this and clenched her fist tightly, she quickly entered the building not wanting to listen to this unpleasant discussion anymore.

She began to climb the stairs, heading to the top of the building. She came to a room full of maps that she had been drawing for the past two years.

The room was very dimly lit, Nami sat down on a chair where there were many unfinished papers and maps. She leaned her forehead against the table and began to cry silently.