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Summary:
Nojiko tells the Straw Hats about Nami’s burden in saving Cocoyasi Village. She tells them that Nami has spent the last eight years trying to raise Beli 100,000,000 so she can buy the village and her own freedom from Arlong. Meanwhile, 16th Branch Marine Captain Nezumi arrives in Cocoyasi Village to steal all the money Nami has earned over the years. Realizing that the marines after her money were actually Arlong’s doing, Nami confronts him about breaking their deal. Arlong laughs and grabs Nami’s mouth, saying that technically he never broke their agreement.
Nojiko continues to tell the Straw Hats why Nami joined the Arlong Pirates. He tells them that Nami sacrificed herself at a young age so that no one else in the village would be killed by Arlong like their mother was. Sanji and Usopp are enraged by this. Meanwhile, Zoro sleeps through the story. Sanji shouts that he would kill the pirates, but Nojiko hits him in the head. She warns him not to talk that way. Nojiko tells the crew that by going around calling Nami their girlfriend, they are jeopardizing her eight years of hard work by making the Arlong pirates doubt her. He tells them not to let Nami suffer any more than she already has. Meanwhile, Nojiko continues to tell her stories about her and Namie’s past. Flashbacks show Nami joining Arlong’s crew so she can earn 100,000,000 Beli and buy the village’s freedom back along with her own. He remembers how recently Nami only had 7,000,000 more Beli to collect before her goal was realized. Back in the village, Genzo arrives at Nami’s house with 16th Branch Marine Captain Nezumi’s company. The Marine Captain asks her if this is the criminal he heard about. Nami replies that she suspects he does, noting that he works for Arlong. She tells him that she is part of his pirate crew and that he should leave her alone. Nezumi laughs and says he has no idea what he’s talking about. He denounces Nami as a petty thief and that the money she has stolen from many pirates is the property of the government. Nami threatens Nezumi again about being part of Arlong’s crew, but he remains undeterred. Nezumi orders the marines to ignore her and search the premises for the money. Nami angrily yells at them to run and attacks them with her staff. Genzo yells at Nezumi and tells him that the money was used to save the village because the marines wouldn’t do anything with their current conditions under Arlong. Nami is surprised that Genzo knew about the money. Genzo reveals that he and the villagers knew about the money and what Nami was trying to do all along. They found out about it from Nojiko and never told Nami that they knew because they were afraid to pressure her and ended up forcing her to run away from it all. At the same time, Nojiko also arrives on the scene and condemns the marines for their actions and for failing to save the village. Again, Nezumi ignores the accusation. Nami is suspicious of Nezumi as he knew exactly how much money Nami was hiding and laughed when Nojiko said that Arlong would attack his ship if he stayed too long. Nami finally understands that Nezumi is a corrupt marine and that he was sent by Arlong to take her money. Nami then goes to confront Arlong for breaking their agreement. Annoyed, Arlong grabs Nami’s mouth and laughs at her that he did no such thing. He says he technically never broke the deal. Nami curses him for tricking her with the loophole.