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A problem? Not really.
For someone as brutal as Arlong, the only thing that really surprised him was that Nami had actually managed to collect the 100 million Berries. That was it.
As for all that talk about buying back her village?
What a joke.
What kind of king would ever give up his territory or his people?
Now, freeing Nami? That might be something he'd consider.
But only after she finished mapping out the entire sea for him.
And it's not that hard...
Might just take, oh, a few dozen years or so.
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Arlong laughed like a maniac.
Then he glanced down at Captain Nezumi, and said in a low, sinister voice:
"You Marines confiscate stolen goods, don't you~?"
Hearing Arlong's words, even Captain Nezumi couldn't hide his surprise.
But it didn't take long before a sly smile crept across his face.
"As a Marine, I can't just sit back and let crime happen. Leave it to me."
"Bwahahaha!"
"Hahahaha!"
The room once again filled with laughter and good vibes.
"Ajang, Salt-Grill, go show this Marine the way. And make sure Nami doesn't see anything, got it?"
Arlong gave instructions to the two fishmen.
"Got it, boss!" x2
The two fishmen nodded and left with Nezumi.
Back in the room, Arlong imagined Nami's face when she found out her 100 million Berries had been stolen, and burst out laughing.
He didn't even notice the strange behavior of Ajang and Salt-Grill.
"Hey Bai Ye, that talisman of yours… are you sure it's gonna work?"
In Cocoyasi Village, inside Nojiko's house, Usopp asked Bai Ye, a little nervous.
"Relax. It's not perfect, but no one's gonna notice anything," Bai Ye replied, full of confidence.
He could already sense that his two puppets were heading back his way.
"I've been wondering since earlier… what do you guys mean by 'talisman'?"
Just then, a beautiful woman with short blue hair and tattoos on her right arm and collarbone walked over. After placing some oranges down in front of them, she asked curiously.
"Talisman, huh?" Bai Ye looked at the woman, tossed a peeled orange slice into his mouth, and casually replied:
"It's just a little trick from our Taoist sect."
Let's rewind a bit—back to when they caught those two fishmen.
Bai Ye squatted down and looked at them. "You guys are in luck. I've got something new I wanna try."
Then, with a flick of his wrist, he slapped two talismans onto their foreheads.
[Taoist Talisman — Puppet Charm]
Bai Ye quickly formed a hand seal and chanted an incantation. The talismans instantly activated.
Just like the one he'd carved into the Going Merry before, once the paper burned up, the markings from the talismans appeared on the fishmen's foreheads.
Then the markings vanished, and their expressions started to change. Their eyes turned dull and lifeless.
"Whoa! That's awesome!" Luffy was the first to react, super curious. He even asked Bai Ye if he could try one too.
Bai Ye refused him flat-out.
"They look like they've been hypnotized or something," Usopp muttered thoughtfully, rubbing his chin.
"No rush," Bai Ye said with a smirk. "The real show's just getting started."
He untied the two fishmen and said, "Stand up."
Immediately, they stood at attention in front of him, stiff as boards.
Bai Ye rubbed his chin, satisfied that it was working, then asked:
"Tell me about your pirate crew. And what's Arlong doing right now?"
"We've got about a dozen members, all fishmen…"
"As for Boss Arlong, today's the day he's doing a deal with that Marine rat, so he should be at Arlong Park right now."
The two fishmen, now fully under control, spilled everything without hesitation.
The whole process took less than three minutes.
Everyone stared at Bai Ye like he was some kind of wizard.
Was there anything this guy couldn't do?
But Bai Ye knew the puppet charm had its limits.
It only worked on people with weak wills. For the strong folks sailing the Grand Line, even if Bai Ye beat them half to death, the charm probably wouldn't work.
Of course, there were more advanced charms in the Taoist Talisman Compendium, but he hadn't learned them yet.
For now, though, this was more than enough.
Next, after swearing to Sanji repeatedly that he'd never use the charm on Nami, Bai Ye finally gave the two fishmen their orders.
That's how they ended up putting on that little show at Arlong Park.
Of course, there were bound to be holes in the plan, but Bai Ye was still confident. There's no way Arlong and his gang would ever guess that something like a puppet talisman even existed.
Even if it did exist, they'd never think it would show up here in the East Blue.
"I see…"
After listening to Nami and the others all talking at once, Nojiko finally got a rough idea of what kind of person Bai Ye was.
"A guy who can pull out all sorts of magical stuff, huh?"
She glanced around at Sanji doting on Nami, Luffy and Usopp goofing off together, and Zoro clinking drinks with Bai Ye.
Her eyes started to well up with tears.
"Nami… looks like she's finally found a good crew."
After the two fishmen left, Nami brought everyone back to her home and introduced them to Nojiko.
When Nojiko learned they'd come all this way just to take down the Arlong Pirates, she was first shocked—and then incredibly happy.
Later, the two sisters had a good heart-to-heart. During that chat, Nami finally found out that the villagers had always known she was saving up money.
The reason they treated her coldly was because they wanted her to feel like she could walk away—without guilt—if she ever hit her breaking point.
That whole story hit Luffy and Usopp right in the feels, and the two of them ended up bawling their eyes out.
Time flew by, and just as everyone was starting to get a little bored from waiting, a voice finally came from outside Nami's house.
"Is this where that thief named Nami lives?"
Hearing that, the people in the room exchanged glances, each with a knowing smile on their face.
"Well, looks like the side characters have shown up."
Bai Ye looked at Nami with a grin and said:
"Now let's see how this scene plays out. You're the star, so you better give a good performance."
"Oh please,"
Nami tucked her hair behind her ear, a wide smile on her face.
"Don't underestimate the little Cat Burglar who's been stealing from pirates since she was a kid~"
With that, she walked out the door.
At the same time, Bai Ye pulled out a Den Den Mushi and dialed a number:
"Major Brian, that favor I mentioned earlier—now's the time."
Unlike the original storyline, Nami was feeling pretty relaxed at this point.
She stepped outside and saw Captain Nezumi directing a group of marines, clearly getting ready to search her house.
"I'm a high-ranking officer in the Arlong Pirates,"
Nami put on a furious expression and glared at Captain Nezumi.
"If you lay a hand on me, Arlong won't let you off the hook."
"You know that, don't you?"
But instead of backing off, Captain Nezumi smirked, looking all smug and shady.
"Chichichi… I don't know what you're talking about."
"I just got word that you're a thief. I'm here to confiscate stolen goods, that's all."
Then, just like in the original, things played out in a familiar way.
With Nami, Nojiko, and Gen's emotional outbursts and cries, Captain Nezumi's villainy was put on full display.
Luffy, who was hiding upstairs watching the whole thing, nearly jumped in to stop it.
Luckily, Usopp grabbed him and held him back, keeping the plan from falling apart.
"I think that's enough already,"
Zoro looked over at Bai Ye by the window. "A guy like this, wouldn't it be faster to just cut him down?"
"Not yet," Bai Ye kept his eyes fixed on Nezumi downstairs. "We need him to say it out loud."
"....."