vncnus 22. A king-killer!
22. A king-killer!
The fire was still spreading, and the smell of burning wood and fabric wafted over.
Nami stared at the firelight until Norton said, "Let's go," at which point she snapped out of her daze.
"No," she turned to look at the burning building, "Ah Long's treasure! It's still inside!"
She remembered Ah Long's hidden money and jewelry in the secret room, and the things he had plundered from various villages.
Without thinking twice, she covered her mouth and nose with a wet cloth and rushed into the fire.
Beside them, the seven surviving pirates looked at each other, tore off their clothes, soaked them, covered their faces, and rushed in after them.
Norton didn't stop them; he just watched their backs.
Zoro leaned against the broken wall and snorted.
The fire was filled with smoke, and it was so hot that I couldn't open my eyes.
Nami followed her memory to the depths of the corridor and found the heavy metal door. The door was locked, but it was already somewhat deformed.
For Nami, a thief, opening this kind of lock was not difficult at all; she removed it in just a few moments.
Behind the door was a stone chamber, the fire not yet having spread inside. It was filled with chests, bags, and scattered treasures—pegoons, goldware, and jewels—dazzling in the firelight.
"Hurry up and move them!" Nami grabbed a few jewelry boxes.
Seven people used clothes and curtains to make bundles and frantically stuffed things into them. The smoke grew thicker and thicker, and the stone chamber began to creak.
"Let's go! It's going to collapse!" Nami shouted, hoisting a large bag onto her shoulder.
They had just rushed out when a loud crash came from behind them, and the stone chamber collapsed, flames completely engulfing the remaining things.
Eight people lay collapsed in the courtyard, coughing violently, their faces and bodies covered in black ash. Bundles of varying sizes were piled around them.
Norton walked over, looked at the bundles, and then at them.
"Is this all of Aaron's treasure?" Norton was a little surprised. All these things together were worth at most a few hundred million Berries, not more than a billion.
He had seen the wealth of Funing's father, the Duke, which far exceeded that of Aaron.
But this is the wealth that Ah Long has accumulated by exploiting the surrounding villages for nearly ten years!
The gap between the poor and the rich has reached such an astonishing level?
"We took everything we could..." Nami gasped for breath, but was incredibly excited. "We're rich!"
Norton nodded, made a calculation, set aside a portion of the spoils, and pushed it in front of the seven pirates.
"These are yours," Norton said. "About ten million Berries each."
All seven of them were stunned for a moment, then their faces lit up with joy.
The reason they risked following Nami into the fire was for money.
But they didn't expect Norton to allocate so much to them.
If it were the Redbeards, they'd be lucky to get a million.
Redbeard's head was only worth eight million, so when a treasure worth ten million Berries was placed in front of the seven, they all felt it was unreal.
"Really for us?" the seven pirates asked hesitantly.
Norton grinned. "Are you saying you don't dare accept it?"
"Of course we dare!!" The seven pirates instantly hid their treasure, afraid Norton would snatch it back. "Thank you, Captain!"
Nami didn't care about dividing the money; she kept looking in the direction of the village, at the light from the orange grove.
The wound on my arm still hurts, but I feel completely relaxed.
"Let's go," Nami said softly, standing next to Norton, "to my house."
The group left the still-burning ruins and walked back along the path to the orange grove.
As the firelight receded into the distance, the familiar scent of oranges grew stronger.
The cabin was lit up, and Nojiko stood anxiously at the door looking around. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Nami, but was somewhat surprised when she saw the formation behind her and the firelight in the distance.
"Nami? Over there... what happened at Arlong Park? Who are these people...?"
Nami walked over and hugged her sister tightly.
"It's over, Nojiko." Nami buried her face in Nojiko's shoulder, her voice muffled, tears streaming uncontrollably from the corners of her eyes.
"Ah Long is dead! It's all over!"
Nojiko froze, the oil lamp in her hand flickering. She pushed Nami away slightly and grabbed her sister's shoulders: "What...what did you say?"
"Arlong is dead!" Nami repeated. "The village is free!"
Nojiko stood there blankly for a few seconds, then her legs went weak and she was supported by Nami.
She opened her mouth, but no sound came out; instead, tears welled up in her eyes.
"Really...really? Bellemere...Bellemere, she..." Nojiko suddenly couldn't finish her sentence.
The two sisters hugged each other and cried.
Norton and the others stood to the side, and no one spoke.
After crying for a while, Nojiko wiped away her tears, looked at the people behind Nami, especially the silver-haired man surrounded in the middle, and quickly composed herself.
"Excuse me... Please, everyone, come in and have a seat!"
Nojiko ushered everyone inside, saying, "There's nothing good at home, I... I'll go get something to eat!"
The little house became lively.
Nami helped with the arrangements, Zoro found a corner to sit down and close his eyes to rest, Sanosuke hid in the shadows, and the seven pirates stood nervously by the door.
Noki brought out hot tea and food, and then took out a jar of orange jam from the cabinet and carefully opened it.
"This is... Bellemere's specialty, orange marmalade." Nojiko spread the marmalade on bread and distributed it to everyone. "She said that if guests come to the house, they must try it."
Nami's eyes welled up with tears as she looked at the jar of marmalade. She glanced at the treasure salvaged from the fire in the corner of the room and said to Norton:
"I want to distribute this money to the villages around here that were bullied by Ah Long. They've all suffered so much these past few years."
Norton, munching on his bread, raised an eyebrow: "You're willing to share your money?"
Nami blushed: "Of course I'll keep my share! But... this money wasn't clean to begin with, so it's only right to share it with everyone."
Suddenly, the door to the cabin was flung open.
Policeman Ken from Cocoyasi Village rushed in, panting, "Nami! Something terrible has happened!"
The room fell silent instantly.
Nami's heart tightened: "Uncle Jian, what's wrong?"
"The Navy... Captain Rat has landed with a large number of naval personnel!"
Ah Jian, panting, leaned against the doorframe. "They're coming straight this way! They looked dangerous, so I took a shortcut and ran over to tell you!"
The joyful atmosphere froze instantly; Nami's face darkened, and her hands unconsciously clenched.
Nojiko stopped what she was doing and looked at her sister and the group of strangers with concern.
Norton picked up his teacup, took a sip, and his expression remained unchanged.
"What are they doing here?" Nami asked, though she already knew the answer in her heart.
"What else could they be doing!" Ah Jian exclaimed, both anxious and furious. "They're definitely after you and your money! Those hyenas in navy uniforms!"
...
A dozen minutes ago.
Colonel Rat was patrolling the nearby waters with his men when he received a message from Croobi via Den Den Mushi, saying that Nami might be returning to Cocoyasi Village with a huge amount of treasure and asking him to come and "receive the stolen goods".
When he rushed over, he saw black smoke rising from the direction of Alon Amusement Park.
"Colonel, that looks like the direction of Alon Amusement Park? Is it on fire? Should we...?" an adjutant asked doubtfully.
Colonel Mouse squinted at it, a little puzzled in his mind.
But Colonel Rat quickly put his doubts aside, rubbed his hands together, and revealed a greedy smile.
"Don't concern yourself with Arlong's affairs! Our goal this time is to catch that thief named Nami and confiscate all the property she stole that belongs to the kind sea people! Understand?"
"But Colonel..."
One soldier hesitated for a moment and whispered, "Didn't headquarters recently issue a secret notice instructing all branches to closely monitor the whereabouts of wanted criminals who have committed 'monarchy'?"
"Should we ask the locals if there are any suspicious people on this island...?"
"Shut up!"
Colonel Rat jumped up as if his tail had been stepped on, his face pale as he growled, "If you want to die, don't drag me down with you! 'The Kingslayer'... that's a demon who dares to kill even kings, whose hands are stained with hundreds of lives! Do you think we can handle him?"
"Even if you do discover it, your only chance of survival is to turn around and run away immediately, then report it! Pretend you didn't see anything! Understand?!"
He was annoyed by his subordinates' foolish questions, but also felt a pang of unease at the mention of that taboo title.
That's a notorious criminal with a bounty of 100 million Berries! The events in the Kingdom of Zag are said to have been incredibly horrific, enraging the World Government. It's best to stay as far away from this kind of trouble as possible.
...
Almost as soon as Ah Jian finished speaking, the sound of noisy footsteps and shouts of villagers being driven away could be heard outside.
Through the window, one can see a large number of figures holding torches and wearing white uniforms, surrounding the open space in front of the small house.
Nami took a deep breath, opened the door, and went outside. Norton put down his teacup and followed her out, with the others close behind.
Outside the gate, torches illuminated the open space, where dozens of naval soldiers stood with guns raised. Leading them was a rat-like colonel with two long, rat-like mustaches and a greedy look on his face.
When Colonel Mouse saw Nami come out, he cleared his throat in a pretentious manner: "You must be Nami? We've received reliable intelligence that you've been stealing a huge amount of pirate property over a long period!"
"Now, in my capacity as a captain of the 16th Naval Division, I hereby formally arrest you!"
"All your illegally acquired property must be immediately surrendered and confiscated!"
The soldiers behind him were watching him intently.
The surrounding villagers dared not speak out against their anger and could only watch from afar.
Nami looked at that disgusting face, her anger burning, but even more so, her coldness.
Just as she was about to speak, a calm voice came from behind her.
"She has given all her assets to me."
Norton stepped forward and stood beside Nami, his gaze indifferent as he looked at Colonel Mouse.
Colonel Rat, interrupted, was extremely displeased and glared impatiently at the speaker: "Who do you think you are? How dare you interfere with naval duties..."
His words caught in his throat.
His gaze fell on Norton's face, his expression shifting rapidly: first casual, then puzzled, then scrutinizing, and finally... indescribable, extreme fear!
That face... there's no mistake!
In that instant, the face on the wanted poster suddenly appeared in Colonel Rat's mind.
The face of the murderer who killed the King of Sagar, along with hundreds of the kingdom's guards and agents, was on the highest priority arrest warrant issued by the World Government to the commanders of all branches after the Sagar Kingdom incident!
The so-called "king-killer"!
Colonel Mouse's face turned deathly pale instantly, his lips trembled, and his mustache shook violently.
The next second, this colonel, who had been so arrogant just moments before, abandoned all his men and fled in a panic!
This sudden turn of events stunned everyone. Most of the naval soldiers looked at each other, completely bewildered as to why their commander had suddenly fled as if he had seen a ghost.
But they quickly caught up and the area in front of the cabin soon became deserted again.
A-Jian, Nami, Noki, and the others looked completely bewildered.
Norton was also puzzled. Was he really that scary-looking?
However, he had no intention of letting the other party escape, and turned to Sanosuke, calmly instructing him: "Go and deal with it."
"Yes, sir." Sanosuke nodded, his figure flickered, and he silently disappeared into the night like a ghost, chasing after them.
Sharp-eyed Ah Jian noticed that a rolled-up paper tube had fallen from where Colonel Mouse had just been standing, so he went over to pick it up and unfold it.
By the light of the torch, A-Jian saw the contents of the document.
A brand new bounty poster.
【DEAD OR ALIVE】
Norton
Crime: King Killing
Bounty: 100,000,000 Berries
At the center of the wanted poster was a color photograph of a man with silver hair and a wild, arrogant smile.
! !
Ah Jian's hand trembled violently, and the bounty poster fluttered to the ground. He slowly raised his head, looking incredulously at the silver-haired youth standing at the door of the hut.
The flickering torchlight illuminated Norton's face, as well as the face in the wanted poster photo on the ground.
It's exactly the same!
Norton picked up the bounty poster, his face revealing the same arrogant smile as on the poster.
"Oh? Is it a bounty from the World Government? They actually have a bounty on my head!"
After being at sea for so long, he finally has his own bounty poster!
"However, the bounty is a bit low."
Norton was not entirely satisfied with the reward amount, however.
"Is this your bounty poster? Let me see..." Nami leaned closer.
"One hundred million Berries?!"
Even Arlong only had a bounty of 20 million Berries. A bounty of 100 million Berries has never appeared in the East Blue before.
unprecedented!
Moreover, this is the first time a bounty has been offered! It will only get higher in the future!
"One hundred million Berries! My blade is itching for a kill!" Zoro couldn't help but exclaim. He had never encountered such a fat head in his bounty hunting career.
Norton glanced at Sauron.
Zoro coughed, took a sip of wine, and waved his hand, saying, "Don't worry, I won't lay a hand on my benefactor."
Norton had done him a favor by taking him away from that deserted island, and besides, he was now one of Norton's combatants.
"What exactly did this gentleman do wrong?" Nojiko couldn't help but ask.
"He... is a king killer! Not only that, he has hundreds of lives on his hands!" A-Jian shouted, pointing at Norton and pulling Nami and Nojiko behind him.
Nami quickly explained, "Don't be afraid! Uncle Ken! Norton isn't a bad guy! Thanks to him, Arlong was finally defeated!"
Upon hearing this, Ah Jian's expression became complicated. He said, "I am very grateful to you, Mr. Norton! But for the safety of the villagers of Cocoyasi Village, please leave Cocoyasi Village as soon as possible!"
"You ungrateful bastard! If it weren't for our captain..." Seven pirates stepped forward, surrounded Ah Jian, and were about to teach this ungrateful fellow a lesson.
Norton gave each of them ten million Berries; this was a good opportunity to show their loyalty!