After the bombardment, what was once a decently grand and imposing Arlong Park had been reduced to a pile of rubble.
The tall building that Arlong had modeled after the amusement park in the Sabaody Archipelago had also been blasted to pieces by the Navy's artillery. Yet, thanks to its sturdy steel frame, it still barely stood in place.
Garen, Nami, and Wallace were now walking through this crumbling "hazard zone."
Arlong placed great importance on wealth. His greed made him far more cautious in hiding his treasure than his intelligence would suggest.
Even though Nami had served as an officer in the Arlong Pirates for six years, she had no idea where Arlong had stashed his fortune.
Still, faced with Nami's skills as a "Cat Burglar," Arlong's hidden treasure wasn't too difficult to uncover.
Arlong had ruled over twenty villages in the surrounding seas, amassing a staggering amount of wealth over the years.
After following Nami around the Dragon's domain for a couple of laps, Garen felt like he had stumbled into a Western dragon's lair. The sheer abundance of treasure nearly blinded him.
But Garen didn't take any of the money. Even Nami, who loved money dearly, didn't pocket any for herself.
Instead, Nami called the villagers of Cocoyashi Village over.
Suddenly, Arlong Park came alive with noise and energy.
The villagers, their faces flushed with an abnormal excitement, charged into the place they had once feared as a dragon's lair. Gasping and panting, they began hauling out Arlong's treasure in large armfuls.
They might not have shown up to fight Arlong, but when it came time to divide up the loot, the power of numbers became abundantly clear.
Under Garen's slightly stunned gaze, Arlong's treasure trove—which practically required a bulldozer to empty—was cleared out by the villagers in less than two minutes.
Still full of energy, the villagers then turned their attention to the rest of Arlong Park—weaponry, furniture, decorations… even the carpets didn't escape their scrutiny.
People carrying loot darted back and forth through the ruins, their excited shouts echoing nonstop, making the desolate wreckage buzz with life.
Garen looked at the villagers, his expression turning slightly odd.
Nami, ever sensitive, noticed the shift in Garen's face. His subtle disdain was all too apparent, especially on someone like Garen who wasn't good at hiding his emotions.
"Garen?"
Nami moved closer, a little concerned, and asked bluntly,
"Do you have something against the villagers from my hometown?"
"Something against them?"
Garen hesitated for a moment, then couldn't help but voice his thoughts.
"I just think… when they were being oppressed by Arlong, they didn't dare resist. They placed all the burden of saving the village on your shoulders—just one girl."
"And now that Arlong's dead, they come rushing in to share the spoils without any hesitation."
"Isn't that just a little…"
He thought of a few rather harsh words.
But he didn't say them, out of respect for Nami's feelings—he knew she saw the villagers as family.
Even so, Nami understood what he meant. She immediately defended them:
"That money was taken from them by Arlong through extortion and force."
"I'm just giving them back what was theirs to begin with."
"And besides…"
Her voice lowered. "They did try to fight back."
"They called me a 'traitor' to my face, sure—but they still clashed with the fish-men several times in attempts to get me back from Arlong."
"Belmer… wasn't the only one who died in those years."
Garen listened quietly, beginning to see the villagers in a slightly different light.
"And another thing!"
Nami quickly dispelled the bad memories from her mind and smiled brightly again.
"I'm not some weak little girl!"
"In this village, no one can beat me in hand-to-hand combat."
"I am the village's greatest hope!"
Garen nodded slightly in agreement.
And so, the dramatic Robin Hood-style raid on Arlong Park came to an end. Arlong's "legacy" had been completely ransacked.
But what surprised Garen was that the villagers didn't take the treasure back home. Instead, they all gathered in the square of the Dragon's domain, carrying their loot with them.
There, they began laying the valuables down in organized piles.
Sheriff Genzo stood in front of the glittering mounds, holding a small notebook and carefully taking inventory.
"They're not bringing the money home?"
Garen asked, puzzled.
"Arlong didn't just rob our village," Nami replied matter-of-factly. "After sorting it all out, we have to distribute it to the other villages too."
"How could we just take it all home without doing that?"
Once she realized what Garen had actually meant, Nami puffed out her cheeks in mild annoyance.
"Garen!"
"You really do assume the worst of people, don't you?"
"Heh…"
Garen gave a slightly awkward laugh, his heart filled with new insight.
"Hmph!"
Nami gave a soft huff of indignation before turning back toward the tall building.
"I'm going to look for the Arlong Pirates' accounting books so we can properly split up the money among the victims!"
Garen didn't want to be left alone, so he quickly followed her. Wallace, the journalist accompanying them, stuck faithfully to Garen's heels.
Among the brutish Arlong Pirates, accounting and paperwork were always handled by Nami.
She climbed several flights of stairs, moved fluidly down the corridor, and finally stopped in front of a room.
But her body suddenly froze.
"Why did you stop?"
Garen asked as he stepped up.
Nami didn't respond, but Garen noticed her slim shoulders trembling slightly.
He understood.
Without saying a word, he reached out and opened the door.
A strange smell greeted them—a mix of ink, paper, and stale air, blended into a foul odor.
The room was sparsely furnished: just a writing desk, a chair, a desk lamp… and piles and piles of paper stacked as tall as a person.
Seeing the mountains of paper, Nami's expression darkened even more.
Garen was struck by the sight, and a long-buried memory resurfaced—
He knew these weren't just any papers. They were charts of the East Blue, drawn by Nami under Arlong's coercion.
Mapmaking wasn't something Nami hated—on the contrary, her dream was to chart the entire world.
But these maps were not born of dreams. They were the embodiment of a long, living nightmare.
Garen gently placed a hand on her shoulder and said in a low voice,
"It's over now."
Nami's trembling form slowly steadied.
After a brief silence, she nodded heavily.
"Mm!"
That cheerful smile once again lit up her face.
"I'm going to burn them!"
Garen looked at the charts with a serious expression.
"Why?"
Nami asked, surprised.
"You don't even know what those are."
"I don't need to know," Garen said with conviction.
"If this place makes you unhappy, then I'll burn it."
Nami blushed slightly and turned her head away.
Garen strode confidently up to the maps—then paused.
He turned to Wallace.
"You got a lighter?"
"Nope, I don't smoke," Wallace replied matter-of-factly.
"Uh…"
Garen, having just delivered a cool one-liner, suddenly found himself a bit embarrassed.
"I'll go borrow one."
With that, he quickly left the room.
Nami silently watched his retreating back, a gentle happiness creeping into her smile.
Wallace, wisely staying quiet, strolled into the room and casually picked up one of the charts to look at.
His previously indifferent expression quickly became serious, his gaze locking onto the map.
He pulled out a few more and studied them, his interest deepening.
"These are priceless treasures," Wallace couldn't help but mutter in awe.
"Huh?"
Still lost in her thoughts, Nami snapped back to attention.
"Treasure? Where?!"
Wallace waved the charts in his hand.
"These maps, of course."
"Ugh…"
Nami's excited expression froze.
A moment later, she chuckled wryly.
"You don't have to flatter me like that. I know I'm a genius."
"You really are," Wallace said seriously.
"Most maps on the market only detail sea routes, islands, and borders at best."
"But your maps contain so much more: beaches, coastlines, underwater topography, seabed strata and sediments, marine flora and fauna, ocean currents and their directions and speeds, monsoon patterns…"
"You even marked fresh-water islands suitable for resupplying, and hidden reefs for temporary anchoring."
"I know all that."
Nami waved her hand nonchalantly.
She was a genius cartographer and navigator, after all. Plus, she'd benefited from the natural talents of fish-men when it came to collecting marine data—after all, what better way to measure the ocean than through its own inhabitants?
But then she added with little enthusiasm:
"Still, how do you turn maps into money?"
"They're a regulated commodity under the World Government. Not easy to sell."
She was well aware of their value—these maps were incredibly useful for a group like the Arlong Pirates, and she herself could use them too. But as an individual, trying to sell them for money was nearly impossible.
"True, it'd be hard for you to sell them directly…"
Wallace smiled.
"But my family has connections with some major players in the industry."
"These East Blue charts alone could support the foundation of a large-scale shipping company."
"Hmm?"
Nami's eyes instantly lit up.
She had never hated the maps themselves—only the Arlong who forced her to draw them.
After hearing Wallace's words, her attitude shifted completely.
At that moment, Garen came back, holding a torch blazing with fire, ready to burn the charts on sight.
"Cough, cough…"
Nami calmly stepped in front of the paper stacks.
"I thought about it—maybe we should keep these after all."
"I already drew them anyway."
(End of Chapter)