Chương 46: Chapter 46

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East Blue – Conomi Islands

Arlong Park

Landing on the ruins of Arlong Park after the dust settled, Luffy watches all his crewmates gathered, staring at the destruction he caused. At that moment, he also sees a crowd of villagers led by Nojiko and an old man covered in scars wearing a pinwheel hat.

He then shouts loudly, drawing everyone's attention to him. "Nami, you are my friend", Luffy declares, marking the end of Nami's suffering.

"I want to be more than your friend, you idiot", Nami whispers softly, her eyes starting to well up with tears of joy.

At that moment, the crowd of villagers approaches the group, with Genzo speaking as they arrive, "Nami, we came to help as soon as we heard."

"Guys? What are you doing here? Nojiko, didn't I ask you to stop them from coming here?", Nami asks, confused.

"Well, sorry sis, but I couldn't. They forced me to tell them what was happening, and once I did, no matter what I tried to stop them, they armed themselves and came to help you", Nojiko says, scratching her neck, slightly embarrassed that she couldn't hold them back.

"Wait, didn't you all hate me? Why risk yourselves to come help?", Nami asks, still puzzled.

"Sis, they always knew about your deal with Arlong", Nojiko says, giving Nami a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"Wait, then why did you—", Nami starts to ask before being interrupted by Genzo.

"We pretended not to know and acted like we hated you so you wouldn't feel attached to the village and could escape whenever you wanted, without worrying about leaving us behind. But you never fled, and honestly, if it wasn't for you believing so much in that deal and not losing hope, we would've attacked Arlong Park and gotten ourselves killed. But how could we dare do that when you were still fighting and suffering for us?", Genzo says, scratching his neck with a slight smile on his face.

"No one needs to suffer anymore. Arlong is going to be arrested, and we need to celebrate. There's gotta be music, and luckily we have a bunch of instruments on the Merry. Oh, and there's gotta be lots of food too. Luckily, my crew has the best cook in the East Blue", Luffy says, coming up and putting his arm around Nami's neck, causing her to blush.

"Don't forget the drinks, there's gotta be alcohol", a bandaged-up Zoro says, stiffly standing up just to remind everyone that a party isn't complete without booze.

"Who's this, Nami?", Genzo asks, noticing something happening between the two.

"Oh, this is Luffy, my captain. And Luffy, this is the sheriff and mayor of Cocoyasi Village, Genzo. I've known him since I was a kid, back when he used to hit on my mom", Nami says, introducing Luffy to Genzo while handing Luffy his straw hat back.

"Nami, stop lying. That's not how things were", Genzo says, blushing in embarrassment.

"Shishishishi, nice to meet you, mustache old man! My name's Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm gonna become the Pirate King with Nami's help! By the way, I like your hat", Luffy says with a grin, adjusting his hat on his head.

"Ah, thanks! And you said you're a pirate?", Genzo asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Yep! And Nami is the navigator of my crew", Luffy says, hugging Nami tighter.

"Who would've thought a pirate would end up saving us", Genzo reflects.

"Well, I wouldn't say that. After all, the ones who saved you from the vile Arlong Pirates and these Straw Hat Pirates were me, Lieutenant Nezumi, of the 16th Marine Division! Lower your weapons and surrender immediately. Also, all of Arlong's treasure and yours will be confiscated—", Nezumi starts saying pompously, only to be cut off by Nami electrocuting him with her Clima Tact.

Nami then begins to beat up all the Marines that came with Nezumi. After taking care of them, she begins to beat Nezumi while yelling, "You rat son of a bitch! You spent eight years taking bribes from Arlong and letting us suffer, and now you dare to step foot on this island like you own the place, thinking you have some authority? Go fuck yourself, you piece of shit!", Nami spits in his face after finishing beating him.

"Wow, remind me never to make Nami angry", Usopp says to Kaya by his side, shocked by the scene.

"Will do", Kaya replies, equally stunned.

"Chouchou, do me a favor and castrate this idiot", Nami orders Chouchou, pointing at Nezumi.

"Consider it done, Nami", Chouchou barks before going to carry out the task.

"Buaaaaaaaa, you're all screwed! You'll regret what you did to me! I'll get my revenge, and you'll pay for this, especially you, Straw Hat! I know you're the captain, and I know your name, Monkey D. Luffy! You're going to have a lot of trouble, and I'll make sure you get everything you're asking for!", Nezumi screams, crying and cursing as he swims away with the other marines after being thrown into the sea.

"Weird guy. He seemed mad, but he was kinda wishing me luck on becoming Pirate King", Luffy says, raising an eyebrow.

=Scene Break=

After everyone, including the Fish-Men, had their wounds treated by Kaya and the village doctor, and while Zoro and Sanji rested and Kaya and Usopp helped Nojiko and the villagers prepare the party, Luffy and Nami gathered and tied up all the Fish-Men in a clearing in the forest, waiting for Jinbe to arrive.

While waiting, Luffy picked up his guitar and began playing and singing, with Nami joining in. When Hatchan woke up, he also joined in, after apologizing to Nami and promising to improve as a person and redeem himself.

After a few hours of waiting for Jinbe to arrive, Arlong and the rest of the Fish-Men began waking up one by one.

"Ugh, damn it, what the hell are you doing, Hachi?", Arlong asks angrily and painfully as he wakes up to find Hatchan singing happily with Nami and the human who defeated him.

"I'm singing, Arlong bro! Straw Hat here knows some amazing songs; you have to hear them!" Hatchan says with a smile, captivated by the songs Luffy sang.

"Songs, my ass, Hachi! Why the hell are you happily hanging out with these humans?", Kuroobi asks, furious.

"You guys need to relax. Besides, they're good people, and we've already lost anyway. Plus, we were the ones in the wrong, and we deserved that beating", Hatchan says, shrugging.

Luffy then interrupts the argument, saying, "He's finally on his way here."

"Oh, big bro Jinbe's here?", Hatchan asks, a bit nervous and embarrassed.

"Jinbe? What the hell is that government dog doing here?", Arlong asks, scowling.

A few minutes later, Jinbe steps into the clearing, giving a brief look of disappointment at the tied-up Fish-Men.

He then turns his gaze to Luffy and Nami, approaching to greet them. "Nice to meet you. You must be Monkey D. Luffy. Vice Admiral Garp mentioned that you requested my presence here to take these fools into custody. And you must be a resident of this island. I'm truly sorry for what these idiots put you through. It's all my fault. If I hadn't requested this fool's release when I became a Shichibukai, none of this would've happened", Jinbe says, apologizing to Nami while pointing at Arlong.

"It's okay. It's not your fault. He's responsible for his own decisions and actions, not you", Nami says, not holding Jinbe accountable for Arlong's actions.

"Screw you, Jinbe! You government dog, don't give me that disappointed look. I told you that day, didn't I? You'd have to kill me to stop me! What I did here is simply justice for what humans do to our people all the time!", Arlong shouts, seething with rage at seeing Jinbe's disappointed gaze.

"Nah, man. What you did isn't justice, it's just vengeance and personal hatred", Luffy says, jumping into the conversation.

"Oh great, now I'm getting a lecture from a human brat who has no idea how much my people suffer at the hands of humans. What are you going to tell me now? That the right path is the one this government dog follows, taking orders from the scum who enslave my people, hoping that one day the two species can coexist?", Arlong says, spitting on the ground.

"I may not be fully aware or understand how much your people suffer every day, but you are forgetting that it is not just your species that is enslaved. It happens to all species, and the reason I don't think Jinbe's way will work is the same reason why all species keep becoming slaves. The caste that rules the world is, for the most part, rotten. They don't even consider themselves human. You know exactly what kind of monsters I'm talking about. Coexistence will not be possible until those in power are filtered out and replaced," Luffy says, bluntly confronting Arlong, who falls silent and seems to calm down a bit.

"Those vermin might be the main problem, but that doesn't change the fact that all you humans are worthless scum, rotten to the core", Arlong says, lowering his head, refusing to change his perspective.

"How can hatred consume someone so much that they become just like the filth sitting at the top of the Red Line?", Jinbe asks rhetorically, incredulous at what his once-considered brother has become.

"I'm not like that filth", Arlong says, lifting his head to look Jinbe in the eyes.

"Oh, really? So what you did on this island isn't exactly like what they do to our people on the Red Line? You're not at that level yet, but if you had kept going unchecked, you'd have gotten there", Jinbe says, mocking Arlong for not seeing the similarities.

"So, did you come here to arrest me or give me a lecture?", Arlong asks, already fed up with the constant preaching.

"You're right. I came to arrest you", Jinbe says before turning to Luffy and Nami.

"You know, you're a cool guy, Jinbe. How about joining my crew?", Luffy invites him with a smile.

"Sorry, Luffy, but for now, I'll have to decline. I'll stick with the Shichibukai path for a little longer", Jinbe says with a grin.

"Ah, come on, why can't it be now? Do I really have to wait that long? It's bad enough I have to wait for Bubblegum to join, and now I'll have to wait for you too? Oh, man", Luffy starts to pout, puffing out his cheeks.

"Wahahahaha, you're just like Ace described you", Jinbe says, laughing at Luffy's behavior.

"That's right, you're an ally of old Whitebeard, right? Ace mentioned me?" Luffy asks cheerfully, his mood completely changing.

"Wahahahahaha, yeah, that kid talks about you all the time, so I've heard a few stories during our encounters", Jinbe says, laughing at Luffy's sudden change in attitude.

"Alright, I'll wait, but you're already the helmsman of my crew, and I don't want to hear otherwise", Luffy says, crossing his arms to show he won't change his mind.

"Well, we'll talk more about that when the time comes. For now, do you have a ship I can borrow to transport them?", Jinbe asks, changing the subject.

"Oh, sure, I'll get you a ship", Nami says, heading off to prepare a boat for Jinbe.

"By the way, Hatchan over there is the only one who regrets his actions and wants to make amends, so I suggest not handing him over to the Marines. Instead, maybe he could do some community service or something", Luffy says, pointing to Hatchan.

"Yeah, I know. I've been observing everything for a few days. I even put out a forest fire that your friend accidentally caused. It took a lot of effort not to arrest them as soon as I arrived", Jinbe says, glancing at Hatchan.

"Yeah, I noticed. But why did it take you so long to get here?", Luffy asks curiously.

"Oh, I was helping arrest that corrupt marine, Nezumi, I think his name was. Your grandpa issued an arrest warrant for him, so I helped the Marines carry it out. By the way, before he was arrested, he managed to issue a bounty on your head", Jinbe explains the reason for his delay.

"Yay, finally, I'll get my first bounty! I hope it's high", Luffy says, excited.

After that, Luffy and Nami help Jinbe load all the prisoners onto the boat Nami had prepared.

They then say their goodbyes as Nami and Luffy watch Jinbe's ship disappear on the horizon.

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(AN: 2,107 Words)

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