East Sea.
On the dock of a small island.
A young girl sneaked out from behind a big tree, scratched her head, and curiously looked at the quiet dock: "Hmm? Wasn't it said there were pirates around here? Did I come too late?"
Her name is Nami, and she's only fifteen years old today.
Her profession is a thief specializing in stealing pirate treasure.
After Nami finished talking to herself, she looked up at the sky: "It shouldn't be like this. Today's weather in this sea area is perfect for pirate plundering!"
Just then, the sound of waves suddenly came from the dock.
The sound of the waves quickly fell into Nami's ears, and a smile appeared on her face as she carefully retreated behind the big tree.
However, when Nami tried to secretly observe which pirate flag it was, she saw a navy ship coming over, causing her expression to change drastically. The orange-haired girl suddenly looked complex.
"So it's the Navy..."
Nami's face finally fell slowly, looking somewhat disappointed: "If that's the case, the pirate gang that's active nearby won't be coming, right?"
Just as Nami was planning to leave, a figure suddenly appeared in her sight. It was a youth with a very sunny smile.
That youth looks...
Like a genuinely good person!
"I feel like I've seen you somewhere before..."
Nami slowly furrowed her brows, suddenly remembering something. She instinctively reached for her backpack.
Soon she pulled out a bounty order.
Thirty million bounty, Great Pirate, Uehara Naraku!
There's no pirate this powerful in the East Sea. Perhaps he's the most terrifying pirate to appear in the East Sea over the years. It's said he also came from the Grand Line!
"Is this a pirate taking over a navy ship?"
After a flash of surprise on Nami's face, a gleam suddenly appeared in her eyes: "If it's a pirate of this caliber, he must have a lot of treasure with him, even if it's collected casually, right?"
It's worth the risk!
If she could steal the treasure from this navy ship, she could quickly accumulate one hundred million Belly... If she really stole something incredible...
Pull off this heist and call it quits!
The problem now is...
How to mix onto that pirate-occupied navy vessel!
This is no problem at all, because the sunny-smiling Uehara Naraku seems to have noticed her presence and landed beside Nami.
Uehara Naraku squinted his eyes, looked at the fifteen-year-old girl, and said with a smile: "Little sister, pardon me, we're the Navy. Could you tell us which direction Arlong Park is in? We need to eliminate the pirate gang entrenched there."
"..."
Nami fell into a strange silence for a second.
Hey hey hey, this lie is too obvious, isn't it? Your bounty order is spread everywhere, and you still dare to impersonate the Navy!
Just as Nami was about to say something, Uehara Naraku suddenly pointed at the mark on her shoulder, which was that of the Arlong Pirates!
Uehara Naraku's face suddenly turned cold: "You're a member of the Arlong Pirates, so you're one of them too..."
"Hey hey hey!"
Upon hearing his words, Nami's face suddenly flashed with fury. She took out Uehara Naraku's bounty order in displeasure: "You're clearly a pirate yourself! Pretending to be Navy just now!"
"Tsk, you exposed me!"
Uehara Naraku held his forehead, a smile on his face: "Forget it, since you know where our destination is, obediently take us there!"
After he finished speaking, Uehara Naraku's gaze suddenly became grim: "If you play any tricks on the way, Baroque Works' methods can be quite ruthless!"
"..."
Nami showed a hint of hesitation on her face.
In the next moment, her face squeezed into a worried smile: "Well, can I ask why you're looking for Chief Ahlong? I... I'm worried you're our enemy..."
"Oh, you're right to worry. We are indeed your enemies."
Uehara Naraku raised an eyebrow, reached out and patted the little girl's hair, squinting his eyes with a smile: "You're not very lucky... We are here to eliminate your Arlong Pirates, and we can't let a little guy like you off either!"
"..."
Nami fell into silence again.
If it were others claiming they were here to eliminate Ahlong, she indeed wouldn't believe it easily.
But the bounty at sea is the most direct indicator. Ahlong's bounty is only twenty million Belly, while the young man in front has a bounty of thirty million Belly!
It's said he also has a powerful organization behind him.
In the next moment, Nami suddenly looked up at Uehara Naraku, with a cold expression: "Then let's go! If you really have the strength, kill both me and all the Arlong Pirates!"
At this moment, she didn't know if her heart was cold or burning!
If this pirate really goes against the Arlong Pirates, or even manages to kill Ahlong, what will he do next?
At least it won't be worse than it is now, right?
No, no, wait, maybe it could get worse. A pirate with a higher bounty should be more dangerous than Ahlong, right?
Just as Nami was lost in her thoughts, Uehara Naraku nudged her towards the battleship, asking as they walked, "Hey, do your Arlong Pirates still have any contact with Jinbe from the Seven Warlords of the Sea?"
"Wh… what?"
Nami looked a bit puzzled, slowly shook her head, and casually said, "I'm just a small-time pirate, I have no idea about those things…"
"Oh, you don't know?"
Uehara Naraku placed his hand on her head, with a cold voice he said, "Ahlong and Jinbe from the Grand Line's Seven Warlords of the Sea are closer than blood brothers. From the intelligence we got at Baroque Works, Ahlong has been providing a lot of funding to Jinbe to expand the pirate gang!"
"..."
Nami still looked confused.
She had occasionally heard of the name Jinbe, seemed like Ahlong would mention it when cursing. Didn't they have a falling out?
"Never mind, a small-time pirate like you probably wouldn't know anything…"
Uehara Naraku knocked on the back of Nami's head, squinting his eyes with a smile, "As long as you obediently lead us to kill Ahlong and wipe out this group that's been funding Jinbe from the Seven Warlords of the Sea, I'll spare your life, how about that?"
"..."
Nami's eyes widened involuntarily.
Even though she didn't understand why Uehara Naraku suddenly decided to spare her life, it was evident that this pirate seemed only interested in getting rid of Ahlong!
Getting rid of the pirates providing funds to Jinbe from the Seven Warlords of the Sea!
That Jinbe… he's the one who's been having Ahlong extort money from Cocoyasi Village all along!
That bastard!
Nami gritted her teeth tightly!
Uehara Naraku noticed Nami's expression and smiled contentedly, continuing at his leisure, "Our Baroque Works is soon going to wage war against Jinbe of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, so we must eliminate all his supporters!
Jinbe of the Seven Warlords of the Sea is one of the most powerful individuals on the entire Grand Line, and he's also under the command of the world's strongest man, Whitebeard!
For our Baroque Works to defeat the Whitebeard Pirates, we must first eliminate Jinbe from the Seven Warlords of the Sea, who provides Whitebeard with the Fishman Army. And to eliminate Jinbe, we must take out Ahlong, who funds him!"
"...Ahlong... Jinbe... Whitebeard..."
Nami's expression turned grim as she silently repeated those names in her mind, noting the grudges. But right now, all she wanted was to see the downfall of the Arlong Pirates and peace return to her village!
Perhaps because their goals aligned.
The atmosphere between Uehara Naraku and Nami became more amiable, and they leisurely chatted about Baroque Works, Jinbe of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and Whitebeard.
"Hey, does your Baroque Works need people?"
"We do…"
Uehara Naraku nodded slowly, then added, "But we don't need weaklings. People like you aren't even qualified to be cannon fodder in Baroque Works; even the weakest member is about my level..."
Uehara Naraku knocked on Nami's head again, chuckling as he continued, "If you have any special talents, maybe I could recommend you..."
"I can steal!"
"We just force people to hand it over."
Uehara Naraku raised an eyebrow, shaking his head nonchalantly and used an example, "Like if I directly threatened to kill all your fellow Arlong Pirates unless you handed over your treasure, would you give it up?"
"Of course not!"
Nami clenched her fist, speaking indifferently, "I've spent five years saving that money, just go ahead and kill them!"
Uehara Naraku immediately criticized her, "See, people like you who don't even care about your own comrades have no qualification to join our Baroque Works!"
"..."
Nami once again fell silent for a second, then cursed discontentedly, "They're not my comrades at all! I wish I could kill them all!"
Uehara Naraku patted her head and continued to ask, "Then if I said I wouldn't kill them if you didn't hand over your treasure, would you give it up?"
"..."
Nami's expression turned subtly.
What kind of logic is this? Why does it feel like this guy just wants to rob her treasure?
"Let's get back to the topic!"
Nami clenched her fist and said solemnly, "After joining you, I can be the navigator on the ship, I'm very knowledgeable about the weather!"
"Hm…"
Uehara Naraku raised an eyebrow and asked, "First tell me, what does a navigator do? Just loafing around on the ship?"
"Don't you know what a navigator is?"
Nami's face showed a hint of astonishment, suddenly feeling the pirate in front of her was not very reliable. Can this guy really kill Ahlong?