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East Blue, Cocoyasi Village.
This island was the heart of the Arlong Empire, the domain ruled by the pirate Arlong, who carried a 20 million Beri bounty.
Here, humans were treated as inferior beings, subjected to the violent rule of Arlong and his Fish-Man crew.
Within the Arlong Empire, every village was forced to pay tribute based on population: 100,000 Beri per adult, 50,000 Beri per child.
Failure to pay resulted in death.
Nami's adoptive mother, Bell-mère, possessed only 100,000 Beri. Choosing to save Nami and her other adopted daughter, Nojiko, Bell-mère paid for their lives with her own, murdered right before Nami's eyes.
Afterwards, Arlong recognized Nami's exceptional talent for navigation and cartography.
To force Nami to draw sea charts for them, Arlong made her a promise: if she could gather 100 million Beri, he would sell her hometown back to her.
And so, at the tender age of ten, Nami began her life as a pirate-robbing thief, continuing until this very day.
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Aboard the Going Merry, the expressions of Rowen and the crew were grim.
Although Rowen already knew the story, hearing it directly from Nami, seeing this beautiful, incredibly strong young woman finally break down sobbing before him...
Even the flickering Conqueror's Haki in Rowen's eyes began to burn with uncontrollable fury.
"I-I didn't want to involve you guys, Arlong and his crew are Fish-Men! Their physical strength is naturally ten times greater than humans! They're real monsters! I originally planned to handle this myself—" Nami choked out between sobs, looking up at Rowen, biting her lip.
Even though she had witnessed Rowen's strength these past few days...
Even after seeing him defeat Krieg with a single punch...
Even after witnessing the incredible clash of Conqueror's Haki between Rowen and the legendary World's Greatest Swordsman, Hawk-Eyes Mihawk...
The psychological scars from her childhood ran too deep. After the initial emotional outburst, Nami still couldn't be absolutely certain that Rowen and the others could defeat Arlong and his crew.
After all, the trauma was immense. In Nami's mind, Fish-Men were the true monsters of this sea; humans were simply no match for such creatures.
The reason she hadn't left earlier was because of Rowen's words—telling her to rely on him, that he would risk his life for her.
But Nami hadn't intended for Rowen to actually fight for her.
She had planned to make some other excuse, just to say a proper goodbye.
Nami didn't want to disappoint Rowen—the man who spoke such kind words to her, treated her so gently, protected her throughout their journey.
At the very least, they deserved a proper farewell.
During the days Rowen spent training Luffy and the others in Haki, Nami had been racking her brain, trying to come up with a plausible excuse to leave gracefully.
But Nami knew she was only deceiving herself. She didn't want to leave. She didn't want to leave Rowen.
However, during Rowen's Haki training sessions, he had also explained some realities of the Grand Line.
Only then did Nami learn that Fish-Men—creatures she viewed as unbeatable monsters—were actually treated as slaves by humans on the Grand Line.
She learned that legendary races far stronger than Fish-Men, like Giants, truly existed on the Grand Line.
Yet, even with beings as powerful as Giants existing, humans still ultimately dominated the seas.
She also learned that before the power of Haki, sheer physical strength meant little.
Someone without Haki facing a Haki master, the outcome would be just like Krieg facing Rowen: utterly powerless.
This applied even to races like Fish-Men.
And Haki, was a power that only became common in the New World, the second half of the Grand Line. It was extremely rare in the Four Blues, even in the first half of the Grand Line.
Arlong and his crew did not possess Haki.
Finally, when Rowen and the others decided they would head for the Grand Line tomorrow, Nami resolved to tell Rowen the truth.
Initially, however, Nami had only intended to share her story, still hoping to resolve the situation with money.
But Rowen's gentle understanding, his simple acknowledgment of her suffering ("You've been through a lot")... caused years of suppressed grief and pain to finally burst forth.
"Maybe... maybe I should just try to buy the village back with the 100 million Beri first... Arlong usually keeps his promises," Nami murmured, trying to regain control, biting her lip as she looked at Rowen.
It wasn't Nami's fault her thoughts kept wavering. The psychological trauma had affected her too deeply.
Even after her emotional outburst, a part of her still desperately wanted to prevent Rowen from fighting Arlong's Fish-Man crew.
"You know that's impossible, right, Nami?" Rowen asked softly, forcibly suppressing his own boiling rage as he looked down at her.
"You said yourself, those Fish-Men rule that area with impunity. For them to operate like that for so many years without attracting serious Marine attention... It wouldn't be possible without collaborators within the Marines. The moment you gather the 100 million Beri, what's stopping Arlong from having those corrupt Marines confiscate all your money as 'stolen goods'? What could you possibly do then?" Rowen looked at Nami, his eyes filled with sympathy and pain for her plight.
This was the Great Pirate Era. Even for a colossal organization like the Marines, resources were stretched thin.
Therefore, pirate pursuits were prioritized. Those who committed heinous acts—murder, pillaging—became top targets.
This was why many pirates, while engaging in robbery, avoided wanton killing; it attracted too much attention from powerful Marine forces.
It was the Marines' way of maintaining some semblance of order; the sea was too vast, the pirates too numerous to capture them all. Deterrence was key to minimizing harm to civilians.
Someone like Arlong, imposing bloody rule over more than twenty villages like Cocoyasi... if Marine Headquarters learned the full details, his operation would undoubtedly be crushed.
Therefore, bribing the local Marine branch responsible for that territory was essential to prevent HQ from discovering the truth.
That's exactly what happened in the original story. The local Marine branch was bought off by Arlong.
Captain Nezumi, the commander of that branch, confiscated all the money Nami had painstakingly saved, allowing Arlong to force Nami to start earning the 100 million Beri all over again.
It was a cycle designed to be endless.
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Nami's pupils constricted.
That possibility... she hadn't dared to consider it.
Or perhaps, she hadn't allowed herself to.
Before meeting Rowen, she had no one to rely on.
When you have no one, when you stand utterly alone, you cling to any hope, even if it means deceiving yourself.
Buying back her hometown from Arlong with 100 million Beri... was Nami's only hope.
If that hope shattered—Nami didn't know what she would do.
Nami looked up at Rowen, biting her lip hard.
But now... she did have someone to rely on. Nami allowed herself to confront the horrifying possibility Rowen presented. It was entirely plausible.
If Arlong really had bought off the Marines, having them seize her money as 'stolen goods'... she would be utterly powerless.
Forced to continue drawing charts for Arlong forever, never gaining her freedom.
"Nami. Stand behind me. Pirates—have pirate ways of solving problems," Rowen declared, turning his gaze towards the distant sea, his eyes filled with icy resolve.
"That's right! Let's go beat up all those Fish-Men!" Luffy yelled furiously.
"Just cut them all down, right?" Zoro stated grimly, his hand resting on Wado Ichimonji.
"Hah..." Sanji exhaled a plume of smoke, his expression dark. Though he respected and blessed Nami's connection with Rowen—they were still comrades. The bastards who caused Miss Nami so much pain... Sanji would uphold his code of chivalry.
"First step to becoming a brave warrior of the sea!" Usopp declared, pulling down his goggles and loading his slingshot with special ammunition.
"Rowen... Everyone..." Nami covered her mouth, trying hard not to cry again.
Controlling her trembling body, she stepped behind Rowen, gently resting her forehead against his broad back.
She wasn't alone anymore.
"Set course immediately! Let's show these Fish-Men what real pirates are!" Rowen snarled, his expression utterly ruthless.
"OOOHHHH!"
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