Oliver was exhausted and bleeding as he held a Fishman by the neck, knocked out, before letting him go and then collapsing onto the ground.
"And to think Zoro beat all these guys alone without even sweating… Or did more Fishmen show up here because of that bastard?" he said while sitting down.
Arlong Park looked somewhat wrecked, with several holes in the walls and broken windows, one of which Oliver had jumped through to escape the Fishmen who had surrounded him.
"Cutting whirlwinds… That's really dangerous. They were pretty lucky they didn't end up like Fishman sashimi," Oliver said as he stood back up.
"Epic-rank combat styles need more training. Unlike the others, I can't just use them whenever I want, so I can't just try to use them instantly on a strong enemy."
He grabbed his right arm and set it back into place.
"I'll have to train more if I want to fight properly with it."
Oliver left Arlong Park in pain.
"I think I could rest a bit," Oliver said before collapsing beside the road in puddles of water, falling asleep.
While Oliver was sleeping, Zoro had woken up in Nojiko's house, and upon not seeing anyone, tried to head to the village but got lost along the way, and Usopp…
"Get him!" a Fishman shouted.
Usopp was running, trying to escape the Fishmen chasing him.
"I'll never do it again!!" Usopp screamed.
While running, he tripped over his own feet and fell face-first.
"You finally stopped running," said a Fishman.
"W-Wait! I-It wasn't me who did that!" Usopp said, trying to fool them.
"Shut up, we saw you attack Arlong," said a Fishman who was about to grab Usopp—only for Usopp to suddenly vanish in front of him.
"What happened?" Chew said.
"I don't know, he just disappeared in an instant," said the Fishman, confused.
In the middle of the forest, Usopp was trembling, screaming for a second before going silent.
"Stay quiet unless you want them to hear us," Oliver said, covering his mouth.
Oliver had woken up after hearing Usopp's screams, and moving as fast as he could, grabbed him and hid with him in the forest.
They waited until the Fishmen left, and then Oliver let Usopp go.
"Oliver! Thank you so much!" Usopp said, hugging him.
"Yeah, no problem, just don't cling so much," Oliver said as he pushed Usopp off. "Why were the Fishmen chasing you?"
"That's because I attacked them to save a villager, so they chased me," Usopp said.
"Wow, you're pretty brave, Usopp, despite being weak," Oliver said, giving him a pat on the back. "Good job."
Oliver thought for a moment.
'Weren't they supposed to capture Usopp here? If that doesn't happen, what'll happen now?'
--
--
Arlong was returning to Arlong Park after being attacked by Usopp. Before he destroyed Cocoyashi, the Fishmen had taken Usopp away, but upon entering, Arlong saw the massacre inside.
"WHAT IS THIS?! What the hell happened here?!" Arlong shouted. "My brothers!"
Arlong grabbed one of the defeated Fishmen to check his condition.
"A-Arlong…" the injured Fishman said.
"What happened?! Who did this?!" Arlong demanded.
"T-Thief… W-Wind…" He remembered all the blows he took along with the massive whirlwind before fainting.
"Thief?!" Arlong repeated, but the Fishman was already unconscious.
"Chu! I'm sorry, that human managed to escape," Chew said.
"He escaped?! Just what I needed," Arlong growled.
"Wait, what happened here?!" Chew said as he looked around at all the defeated Fishmen.
"He said a thief… but wind? What did he mean by that?" Arlong said, standing up.
"Nami might've brought someone to take care of us," Kuroobi said.
The Fishmen began saying they had noticed she was acting strange that day, which made Arlong furious.
"Being a traitor is Nami's specialty," Kuroobi said.
"ENOUGH!! Don't jump to conclusions just because of assumptions! What are you trying to say?!"
Nami had just arrived and saw all the Fishmen defeated.
"I swore to be part of this crew eight years ago when I got this tattoo!" Nami said, touching her arm. "Soon I'll complete the money for our deal. Why would I betray you right now?!"
'A thief… those don't look like cuts. Was it Zoro or Oliver?' Nami wondered, worried. 'Why did things have to get complicated right now?'
"You're right. Sorry for doubting you. You have every reason to be angry, I've known you for eight years. We're just confused right now, of course we believe in you. Besides, if you had this kind of strength, you would've come straight at us and not attacked from behind," Arlong said.
He looked over all his defeated companions.
"Where's that idiot Hachi?" Arlong asked.
Kuroobi moved to pressure Nami again.
"What's wrong, Nami? You look pale," Kuroobi asked.
"You really don't trust me, do you?" Nami said.
"No, I trust you. I don't trust your nature. You're very clever," Kuroobi said suspiciously.
'I'm not going to let myself get killed over this stupid problem! Why did all this have to happen now?! Everything was going perfectly!' Nami thought, overwhelmed by the situation.
From the water, Hatchan emerged casually.
"Hey! What are you all doing here?!" he asked as he surfaced. "Nyu?! You're back, Arlong-san! Welcome!"
Then he finally noticed all the defeated Fishmen.
"What the hell happened here?!"
"This was the work of a thief. Where were you, Hachi? This wouldn't have happened if you'd been here," Arlong said.
"Of course! I would never have let the bastard who did this to my nakamas escape! I'll kill him!" Hatchan shouted angrily.
"So you didn't see him?" Kuroobi asked.
"No! I didn't even know there was a fight. I just heard some thudding noises and some loud voices… then felt a weird gust of wind." He thought for a moment. "AHHH! SO THOSE WERE THE NOISES!"
"OF COURSE THEY WERE!!" they all yelled angrily.
"Then we have to find him. If that bastard thief came here…" Arlong said, suddenly realizing something. "Thief! He could've taken the treasure! Check Arlong Park and see what he stole!"
The Fishmen immediately went inside the building, finding traces of the fight even inside Nami's room.
"And you all! Go search for that bastard!"
Enraged, Arlong began a furious rampage, and the rest of the Fishmen had to intervene to calm him down.
--
--
Elsewhere on the island, Usopp and Oliver were walking calmly.
"Heh, heh, say again that I was brave for doing that," Usopp said.
"Quit it already, will you? You've been saying that for a while," Oliver said, annoyed.
"But it's true, I'm pretty brave," Usopp said.
Oliver resisted the urge to punch him when he looked ahead and saw Zoro running.
"Oi, Zoro!" Oliver shouted at him.
"Oliver! Where were you?" Zoro stopped to ask.
"I fell asleep after getting beaten up when I went into Arlong Park," Oliver answered.
"How can you sleep in a situation like this? They captured Usopp," Zoro said.
"What are you talking about? He's right here," Oliver said, pointing at Usopp. "I rescued him while he was crying in front of a Fishman."
"That's a lie! You even said I was brave for facing them!" Usopp shouted.
"I don't remember saying that," Oliver said, ignoring Usopp.
"It's good he's fine. I thought I'd have to fight those Fishmen to get him out of there… Hm? What was that noise?" Zoro asked.
Oliver listened, thinking about that sound until he remembered.
"We have to move out of the wa—!"
And from between the trees, the boat carrying Luffy, Sanji, and Yosaku appeared, running them over until crashing into a rock and destroying the boat.
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