Chapter 35: Cocoyasi Village
Nami, who had lost all the treasures she had gathered over the past eight years to the Navy, was also informed by Arlong that he had been deceiving her all along. The villagers were enraged and rushed toward Arlong's territory, ready to face death. Nami collapsed on the ground, overwhelmed with grief and anger. The hatred she had carried for Arlong all these years surged over her.
Screaming Arlong's name, Nami picked up a dagger and was about to stab it into her shoulder, where the symbol of Arlong's group, a shark tattoo, was located.
In an instant, Kado appeared beside her, grabbing her arm with one hand to stop her from hurting herself.
"Enough, don't cry. You're free now, everything will be okay," Kado whispered softly in Nami's ear, feeling immense regret for not having been there for all these years.
Nami looked up, tears in her eyes, gazing at Kado with confusion. The person before her seemed familiar, but she had never seen him before.
When Kado left, Nami was only five years old. Thirteen years had passed, and she only knew that she once had an older brother but had never met him, only seeing photos of Kado when he was ten.
"You've grown so beautiful," Kado said, rubbing Nami's head with a sigh.
It was as though something clicked for Nami, and she suddenly pushed Kado's hand away, crying out, "I don't know anyone named Kado! I only have Bellemere and Nojiko!"
"I'm sorry," Kado said, squatting down, heartbroken, and sincerely apologizing.
Suddenly, Nami hugged Kado tightly, crying out, "Why did you come back? Why now? Bellemere is dead. She's dead!"
"It's okay, everything will be okay," Kado gently patted Nami's back to comfort her. As Sanchi had said, Nami was carrying more pain than they could ever understand, a pain beyond compare.
Luffy arrived by Nami's side and watched her cry silently, unable to say anything.
"What's the hold-up? Kill that fish, or Nami will never be your nakama," Kado shouted at Luffy.
Luffy took off his straw hat and placed it on Nami's head. It was clear what he meant: the straw hat was his treasure, and his nakama were even more valuable than his treasure.
"Hey, captain, this beautiful girl is your friend. How about inviting her to join our crew? We don't have any women on our ship," Sanchi arrived, grinning behind Luffy, joking.
"Did you hear that?" Kado glared at Luffy. "If you can't defeat Arlong, I'll take Nami with me."
Luffy turned around and left. On the streets, the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates were already gathered: Sanji, Zoro, and Usopp were following Luffy toward Arlong's domain.
"Stop crying, let's go watch the show. They can handle it," Kado said as he helped Nami to her feet.
"Beautiful lady, if you're really too tired to walk, I can carry you," Sanchi's head appeared, looking mischievously at Nami.
"Get lost!" Kado kicked Sanchi in the face, sending him flying, "Shave that stupid mustache off. It disgusts me."
When Kado, Sanchi, and Nami arrived at Arlong's domain, the battle had already begun. Zoro was fighting Hatchan, Sanji was battling Kuroobi, and Usopp had led the fishmen away. Arlong was sitting aside, watching the scene. Kado didn't see Luffy, but there was a large pit on the ground, suggesting he had been thrown into the sea.
The villagers, seeing Nami's arrival, immediately began shouting about the situation. Indeed, that fool Luffy had already been thrown in.
Nami, desperate, tried to jump into the water to rescue him, but Kado stopped her, shaking his head. "Let that fool stay in the water for a while. Maybe it'll knock some sense into him."
"Yo, a fishman!" Sanchi exclaimed. "Aren't fishmen supposed to be on Fish-Man Island? Why are they here too?"
Before Kado could explain, Sanchi had already rushed out, pulling Kado aside and looking at Arlong over with stars in his eyes. "A real fishman, a pure shark fishman. I wonder if I can cook him; not many places you can eat him, though."
"Idiot, get back here," Kado scolded. "Only a lunatic would eat a fishman."
"Oh, so you eat them?" Sanchi replied nonchalantly.
Kado's head was filled with black lines. The villagers of Cocoyasi Village, too, were looking at Sanchi with confusion. What was up with this guy carrying a large iron pot who looked like a mutated turtle? How could Arlong be so easily captured by him? Could they be working together? The villagers studied Sanchi's appearance, and the more they looked, the more he resembled a turtle-type fishman.
Embarrassed, Kado stepped forward, grabbed Sanchi, and threw him into the water. "Idiot, there's another idiot in the water. Go save him."
Suddenly, as Kado saved Arlong from Sanchi's grasp, Arlong opened his large mouth and lunged at Kado's waist without thinking.
The nearby villagers screamed and shouted warnings.
Kado touched Arlong's massive mouth with his hand, pressing his head to the ground. In his hand, a set of white teeth appeared, which he tossed around carelessly.
"This battle—if the fishman wins, I'll let you go. If the fishman loses, I'll kill you," Kado said, crushing Arlong's prized teeth as he lowered his head and threatened him.
Standing up, Kado dusted himself off and walked toward Nami, while Arlong, now fully aware of the difference in strength, dared not launch another sneak attack.
Before Kado could reach Nami, she picked up the dagger and stabbed it toward him, crying as she shouted, "You bastard! With such strength, why didn't you come back sooner? If you had come back, Bellemere wouldn't have died. It's all because of you..."
Kado easily could have avoided her strikes, but he didn't. Nami was right. If he had returned sooner, Cocoyasi Village wouldn't have turned out like this, Arlong wouldn't have been able to run rampant for eight years, and Nami wouldn't have suffered so much. Bellemere wouldn't have had to part from her daughter for eight years.
These few stabs, Kado accepted willingly.
"Why didn't you dodge?" Nami asked, her eyes full of confusion.
"Eight years of pain—if you could endure that, what are these injuries to me?"
Kado smiled apologetically, a trickle of blood running from his mouth, which he licked with his tongue.
After stopping, Nami, now panicked and unsure what to do, froze.
"Boss, you're hurt!" Sanchi, who had just fished Luffy out of the water, ran up to Kado. He took out a skewer from his pot and said, "How about I stitch you up?"
Seeing Sanchi really intended to perform surgery with a long skewer, Nami screamed, "No!"
"It's fine," Kado laughed, tapping the wound a few times. The bleeding stopped instantly.
"Really, you don't want me to stitch it?"
"Stitch your ass!"
The earth-shaking battle soon came to an end, with the Straw Hat Pirates narrowly winning.
The villagers were celebrating, running around, preparing feasts, and spreading the news to other villages.
Kado lay on a bed in the medical room, feeling light-hearted, though his stomach still hurt a bit.
"It's almost time," he muttered.
On the hill where Bellemere's grave was buried, Nami knelt before the tombstone, asking the Windmill Man, "Do you think if Bellemere were still alive, she would stop me from becoming a pirate?"
"Of course, she would."
A beautiful voice, like the sound of heaven, echoed from behind Nami.
Nami and Nojiko paused for a moment, then rushed to embrace Bellemere's grave, crying tears of joy.
Nami smiled playfully as she lay in Bellemere's embrace, looking up. "Even if you stopped me, I wouldn't listen."
Three days later, at the port of Cocoyasi Village, the villagers shouted angrily as Nami, standing on the Merry, stepped on a pile of wallets, bidding farewell to the villagers.
"Just like Kado all those years ago, you're really family. You stole my wallet again."
"Haha, we're not losing out either. The yacht Kado used is worth billions of berries, and Nami left it all to us."
On the Merry, Kado cried out in misery, "My treasure!"
"Kado, I heard you were already a famous bounty hunter over a decade ago. You should have saved up some money, right?" Nami, who had once sworn not to call him brother, suddenly grinned at Kado, her eyes already transformed into coins.
"Of course, our captain is a total miser. He only gives me 100,000 berries for pocket money every month," Sanchi added, trying to flatter Nami.
"Idiot, I'll duel with you," Kado lunged at Sanchi, and they began to tussle.
The Straw Hat Pirates sent Kado and Sanchi to Honeymoon Island, where they enjoyed a brief time of relaxation. Afterward, they set off to begin their own journey.
Meanwhile, the Night Owl Pirates also officially set sail for the Grand Line.
I want to take a moment to express my gratitude to those who support me on this journey. Your contributions make a real difference!
End of chapter
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