Oliver was leaving Arlong Park, barely moving the door to exit while bleeding from his nose.
"Epic-ranked combat styles require more training. Just having the knowledge isn't enough."
He grabbed his right arm, adjusting it back into its original position.
"I'll have to train more to fight properly with it."
As Oliver walked away from Arlong Park, all the Fish-Men could be seen defeated.
"A nap would do me good."
While Oliver headed into the forest to rest for a while, Zoro had woken up in Nojiko's house. Not seeing anyone around, he tried to go into town, only to get lost along the way.
Arlong was returning to Arlong Park after being attacked by Usopp. Before he could destroy Cocoyashi, the Fish-Men had taken him back.
"WHAT IS THIS?! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE?!" Arlong shouted. "MY BROTHERS!"
Arlong grabbed one of the defeated Fish-Men, checking his condition.
"A-Arlong..." the injured Fish-Man muttered.
"WHAT HAPPENED?! WHO DID THIS?!" Arlong demanded.
"M-Monster..." The Fish-Man recalled all the blows he had received and a name he had heard. "Nami..."
"Monster?!" Arlong asked, but the Fish-Man passed out.
"Chu! I caught him already! I imagine you'll be happy to finish off this vermin yourself instead of us doing it," said Chew, holding Usopp by the neck.
"At this moment, I don't think that's enough," Arlong said, deeply enraged.
"You think so too?! Very well, then, let me go! Did you know this is how people from my village greet each other? Yes, it's true!" Usopp blurted out, trying to lie his way out.
"Chu? Wait, what happened?!" Chew said, seeing everyone on the ground.
"He said 'monster' and 'Nami,'" Arlong said as he stood up.
"Nami might have brought someone to take care of us," Kuroobi suggested.
The Fish-Men started saying they had noticed she was acting strange that day.
"Betrayal is Nami's specialty," Kuroobi said.
"ENOUGH!! Don't start making assumptions based on speculation! What are you trying to say?!"
Nami had just arrived, seeing all the defeated Fish-Men.
"Nami! You really..." Usopp said, not believing she was actually part of Arlong's crew.
"I swore to be part of this crew eight years ago when I got this tattoo!" Nami said, touching her arm. "Soon, I'll complete the money for our deal. Why would I betray you now?!"
'A monster. These don't look like cuts... Was it Oliver? Why did he have to complicate things right now?' Nami thought, slightly worried.
"That's true. Sorry for doubting you. You have every right to be angry. I've known you for eight years. We're just a bit confused right now, of course we believe in you. Besides, if you had this kind of strength, you would have come straight at us," Arlong said.
"For now, we'll deal with this leech and then go after that damn monster," Arlong said, pointing a blade at Usopp.
"W-wait, save me!" Usopp shouted, terrified.
Nami was sweating, unsure how to save him.
"The bounty on my head is the highest in East Blue, 20 million Belly. If that monster came after me, it means he knows that and just showed up to save you from one of my brothers."
"So tell me, where is the monster?! Everything I see here makes me think he came for me."
"I don't know anything about Oliver! I don't know him!" Usopp shouted in fear.
"So his name is Oliver," Arlong said.
'Damn it! It slipped!' Usopp screamed internally. "Y-yes! And if you even think about hurting me, you'll end up just like everyone else here!"
"So you're saying that if I kill you, he'll come here himself?" Arlong threatened.
"Huh?! N-no! Of course not! You can't kill me! If you let me live, I bet they'll come to rescue me! In fact, if I'm not alive, he probably won't come! Come on, Nami! Give me a hand here!" Usopp shouted, desperately saying anything to survive.
"What's wrong, Nami? You look pale," Kuroobi asked.
"You really don't trust me, do you?" Nami said.
"No, I trust you. I distrust your nature. You're too clever," Kuroobi replied suspiciously.
'I'm not going to let them kill me over this stupid problem! Why did all this have to happen right now?! Everything was going perfectly!' Nami thought as she took in the situation.
"You know what, Nami?! I'm really disappointed in you! Damn witch! LUFFY NEVER DOUBTED YOU FOR A SECOND! NOT EVEN AFTER YOU RAN OFF WITH OUR SHIP!" Usopp yelled at her.
"HE BELIEVED IN YOU COMPLETELY! AND HE STILL DOES! HOW DARE YOU BETRAY HIS TRUST AND LOOK HIM IN THE EYE LIKE THAT?!"
"Thanks, but the only thing I believe in is money. It's his fault for being stupid and falling into my trap," Nami said.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Usopp asked, furious at what she said about Luffy.
Hatchan emerged from the water.
"Hey! What's everyone doing here?!" he asked as he surfaced. "Nyu?! You're back, Arlong-san! Welcome back!"
That's when he noticed that all the Fish-Men had been defeated.
"What the hell happened here?!"
"This was the work of a monster named Oliver. Where the hell were you, Hachi? This wouldn't have happened if you had been here," Arlong told him.
"Of course! I never would have let the bastard who did this to my nakamas escape! I'll kill him!" he said angrily.
"So, you didn't see him?" Kuroobi asked.
"No! I didn't even know there was a fight. I just heard some noises, like blows and some loud voices." He thought for a moment. "AHHH! SO THAT'S WHAT THOSE NOISES WERE!"
"OF COURSE, THEY WERE!" they shouted at him angrily.
"We can try to look for him or wait for him to come to us," Arlong said.
"Alright, and who's this guy?" Hatchan asked, pointing at Usopp.
"A friend of the monster who actually believes a mere human can defeat a Fish-Man," Arlong replied.
Nami tried to hold back, but she pulled a baton from her cleavage and struck Usopp in the face.
Usopp fell to the ground from the hit, getting back up with blood dripping from his nose.
"Damn it! You wanna fight?!" Usopp asked.
"You're a nuisance. This is all your fault for getting involved with Arlong," Nami told him.
"It was my mistake to let you follow me here, but this place has its own rules. Everything was going just fine until now, but you're ruining a business that took me eight years... which means I'll have to take care of you myself," she said, ready to kill him.
"Take care of me?! Hahaha, don't make me laugh! I'd love to see how you try to take care of me!" Usopp said, not believing her.
"Oh, she's finally talking like a pirate," Arlong said, watching Nami's actions.
The Fish-Men were cheering in the background, urging Nami to kill Usopp.
"Don't underestimate me! For your own good!" Nami told him.
Nami charged at Usopp, but knowing he had no chance of survival if he stayed there, he used his slingshot to launch a smoke bomb.
"Damn it! A smoke bomb!"
"Surround him! Don't let him escape!"
The Fish-Men shouted as they saw what he did.
"I figured you'd try that," Nami said.
'Now for my underwater escape!'
Usopp tried to flee through the water, but Nami stopped him.
"Obviously, this was the next thing you'd do," Nami said, appearing through the smoke and striking Usopp on the head, preventing his escape.
Usopp watched as Nami approached with a knife.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Stop!" Usopp yelled before Nami stabbed him in the stomach.
"N-Nami, you're crazy," Usopp said, bleeding.
"This is for the sake of my business. There's no other way," Nami told him.
She pulled the knife out of Usopp's stomach, causing him to fall into the sea.
"Shahahaha! Well done! You have completed my revenge!" Arlong laughed joyfully.
"That's how an officer of Arlong's crew handles things!" Hatchan said.
While all this was happening, Johnny had been listening, so he left to inform the others.
--
--
Oliver woke up feeling much better after being beaten by several Fish-Men.
"Much better. There should be a Talent that lets me recover faster."
[There is.]
"Seriously? Should I spend more money to get a Talent like that?"
At that moment, he looked ahead and saw Zoro running.
"Oi, Zoro!" Oliver shouted.
"Oliver! Where have you been?" Zoro stopped to ask him.
"I fell asleep after getting my ass kicked," he replied.
"How can you sleep in this situation? They captured Usopp," Zoro told him.
"You're not one to talk. I'm pretty sure I left you at the tangerine house," Oliver said.
Then, they heard a scream.
"What was that sound?" Zoro asked.
Oliver thought about it for a moment until he remembered.
"We have to get out of the way...!"
And from between the trees, the boat carrying Luffy, Sanji, and Yosaku appeared, running them over before crashing into a rock and destroying the ship.
--
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