Disclaimer: If you recognise it, surprise, I don't own it.

Chapter 32– Arrival.

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As I work in the heat, the sun sweltering down on me, I can't help but sigh as I pick another tangerine from the tree and deposit it into the basket beside me that is already nearly full. And it is not the heat that has me down. The heat is pitiful, and I could deal with that with ease. No, it is something that has happened in the last week that has been on my mind for a while, and it has been making me feel off. I pick up my basket and start to make my way back to the house. Another sigh leaves my lips as I do so.

I am sighing because of what happened to Gosa village last week. Some of the villagers had apparently contrived the same thought as that I did all those years ago when I started to smuggle parts from the factory and make my own guns. They did the same and began to keep parts from when they worked in the factory. Slowly over time, they did so. They also apparently got a few of the few men from their village that were allowed to leave the island to buy guns and smuggle them in to add to the guns they made themselves. They ruined the fragile equilibrium that had been made over the years.

Arlong had been pretty tame over the years, and that is due to my influence. Whenever somebody would be short on money for the tax, I would be there to make up the difference and help them pay it. I didn't have a tax myself, and neither did Nami. Arlong actually gave me money, wanting to keep me sweet since I was very much crucial to his operations at this point. I only ever used the money for basic necessities and hardly ever touched it. Of course, sometimes the Fishmen would push the humans around and hand out a few beatings, but nothing they couldn't heal from, just to stay dominant and keep the humans afraid.

Except for this time, the villagers of Gosa had colluded to start stockpiling guns, trying to ready themselves to try and kill the Fishmen. Not willing to put up with the abuse anymore. They were tired of getting pushed around and having to starve themselves just to pay Arlong every month. Not everybody witnessed for themselves how Arlong and his crew tore the Marines apart, and word of mouth wasn't enough to stop them.

They still had hope in that regard, purely because they hadn't seen it with their own eyes. They endured one too many beatings and starving themselves and wanted to kill. Gosa was a port town on the other end of the island, on the opposite end from Arlong Park, so they didn't see their strength or power much. Going from left to right, on the island, it was Shokuyasi Village right on the very left of the island, and then it was Arlong Park on the beach. After that, it was Cocoyasi Village, with our home being after that a bit removed from the village, and then after all of that, right on the end was Gosa Village.

[AN: There is a small map you can see on my Pat reon if you want some visual representation. :) ]

At least, it used to be there. I don't know how it happened, but somehow their weapons were discovered before they even had the chance to use them, and even then, they only had a couple of them. They didn't even have enough to really do anything with them, and their effort was all for nought. It was over for them at that point.

On that day, I was busy at my secluded spot in the forest doing my training and target practice, and so I didn't know about it until later. By the time I had finally been told, it was already too late. Gosa Village had all of its buildings flipped over, upside down, just like my own home was so many years ago. Gosa Village no longer exists. Since the villagers had guns Arlong naturally questioned me about them since I was the foremost authority on the island, but I refused to answer him. I just told him that if he was going to kill me, then he better get it over with, but not to think I would make it easy. He just smiled at that and then left.

I felt bad. Because I had no clue what was going on, and I was in charge of the factories pretty much. They must have been sneaking them out very slowly and methodically because I was very thorough. It could also have been because I was stealing parts myself, and so anything they stole, I ended up covering up myself, just including it with what I stole.

Still, the whole situation made me feel bad because we hadn't had such a big loss for the village before. Nami was out there working hard to save the entire island, and it would be a blow to her morale to find this out. There were other incidents over the years, but everybody made sure to cover it up and never let Nami find out about it. We all agreed to not let her find out ever since we didn't want to give her any more stress or make her hurry up and risk herself to free the island. She could easily die trying to get the money if she knew how bad it was for some of the villagers here. Except, a whole village disappearing can't be covered up, and there is nothing I can do about it now.

My mood is also messed up today because I saw that rat Nezumi's ship earlier off in the middle of the sea, and I know he has come for one of his regular meet-ups with Arlong so he can get his palms greased. He always comes by in the middle of his patrol, probably so nothing appears off in the records they keep. Hachi goes out there and swims them to Arlong in a big pot before swimming them back. The marine doesn't even really care about discretion anymore and regularly comes crawling here like a dog just to get paid off. I hate just looking at him. It makes me sick. Just the sight of him mars what it means to be a marine. The impression that I had was good because of Garp, even if it was a bit off because of his antics, but Nezumi just fucking destroyed it.

Finally reaching the house after a few minutes walk, I move the basket so I can just hold it with one hand and with the other, I open the front door. I walk inside to find Nojiko sitting at the dining table with some little kid across from her, and they both have drinks in front of them. The little kid is just in a shirt and shorts, along with a hat on his head. Like the Harry kind of hat from home alone, I don't actually know what they are called. Also, for some weird reason, he is sitting on the chair on his knees, and he looks very frustrated.

Nojiko is sitting there as well, cooly leaning on the back of her chair and keeping an eye on the boy as well as something else. She is not the sweet and lovely version she usually is, as that is reserved just for me and Nami. Right now, she is the tough lady that runs this tangerine farm pretty much by herself and has lived under the tyranny of pirates for years and has survived. There is a reason why I try not to make her mad, and that is because she can be a force to be reckoned with, and with some of the training I gave her, she can even do some damage. I trace my eyes over to see if I can spot what she is keeping an eye on.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

And then I spotted something long and hard sticking up to the left. And when I look, I can see it is a nose. On the floor, covered in a blanket, is a guy with a bandanna wrapped around his head with, bushy hair coming out from underneath it and the longest nose I have ever seen. Like, it comes straight out like Pinnochio. and with him sleeping on the ground like that, it is sticking straight up into the air, and it is a good few inches in length.

"Who the hell are the brat and the long nose? Like seriously, he could be in a freak show. I have never seen a nose that long on a human. Is he half Fishman or something?" I question who they are, but when it comes to the guy on the ground, I can't help but let my mouth run because of his appearance. The only person with such a long nose I know is Arlong, and all the humans I have seen have been relatively normal. This guy has thick lips and a long ass nose, both of which are reminiscent of a Fishman. Maybe he has a fin hidden beneath that bandanna?

"Hm, oh, your back," Nojiko says, a dry response. I don't mind, she usually holds the sweetness back for when we are alone, and she isn't about to act all close in front of strangers. We were very careful to not let our relationship get out in case Arlong used her as leverage against me. "I don't actually know who either of these boys are. Though that kid is an inhabitant of the island, and the long-nosed guy is an outsider."

I don't say anything else and just place my tangerine basket down on the ground beside the table. I am not really in a conversational mood right now. When I rise, I notice that there are two extra cups of liquid on the table, one in front of the empty chair next to the kid across from Nojiko and another in front of the chair next to Nojiko. I take the seat next to Nojiko and start to sip on my drink with one hand while my other slips under the table to hold her hand for a couple of seconds where no one can see it before I let it go.

"Anyway, I came across these two in the remains of Gosa Village. The guy was on the floor, and the little kid had a sword raised, ready to cut him down. The kid thought he was a Fishman and wanted to kill him. I also thought he was one and so I hit the kid and stopped him. An attack on a Fishman, even a futile one, would have severe ramifications." Nojiko starts explaining, and I can see the boy shaking on his chair, though his head is down, so I don't know what he is thinking.

"After that, I told the kid to look clearly, and that the guy was a human. Just barely. And then, an actual Fishman showed up. I think he was chasing the outsider. The long nose suddenly jumped up and pulled out a slingshot, saying he was going to protect us and was about to attack the Fishman. With a slingshot of all things. I hit him on the back of the head with a hammer, and then I brought them both back here, and then you got here." Placing my cup down on the table, I turn to her and open my mouth.

"AHHH!" The guy on the floor suddenly sits up and screams like that, his mouth open to a ridiculous length, and his nose seems to get even longer for a second. However, that could just be my imagination. He immediately starts to swing his head left and right. "T-This place is...!?"

"So you woke up?" Nojiko says, and the guy's head darts to her. When he woke up, he threw the blanket off, and so I could see that he wore some brown overalls that strapped over his shoulders along with a blue and white sweatband on his arm. He also has a tool bag with him he carries on his shoulder. "You're in my home," Nojiko adds, calm in comparison to his panicked nature.

"You're that woman from earlier... Who're you!?" I guess he is ignoring me, maybe because I am hidden behind Nojiko from his perspective. Only, I am way taller than her, so I am guessing this guy isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. I decide to keep my mouth shut and let Nojiko handle this. "And what about that Fishman!?" He asks, not taking his eyes off her. I guess I can understand that. This woman knocked him out and brought him here, and he is cautious. That is probably why he hasn't paid attention to me or the kid.

"Don't worry, we lost him." I take a minute to ponder how that went. Nojiko somehow took the kid and managed to grab the long-nosed fellow and escape from a Fishman and bring them both back to her, and she looked no worse for wear. I guess all the training I had her do paid off. "My name's Nojiko. I grow tangerines here." Nojiko finally introduced herself, and the dude seemed to calm down for a second.

"Wait a sec, you're the one Who knocked me out!" His mouth grows big as he suddenly shouts that, angry at her. I guess he hadn't figured out that she was the one who knocked him out and only clicked on now. I think I gave him too much credit, and he wasn't cautious of her because of that. I get the feeling this guy is scared of most things. "Are you the Fishmen's Lackey!? Hmph, and after I was going to save you too…!" I think he is a bit of an idiot too. But he was not a bad guy since he was going to protect these two from a Fishman, even if it was suicide.

"The one who did the saving was me!" Nojiko says pointedly, and I can already tell she will not be as nice to this guy now. He just blatantly insulted her by calling her the Fishmen's lackey, something that everyone on this island would hate to be called. But double so for the people living here in this house since two of us have been forced to work for them. "This is why Outsiders are so much trouble." Nojiko waved at the big nose, now directing her words to the little kid sitting across from us, who was still looking down.

"But you're from Gosa Village, right?" Oh, I can already tell where this is going. Nojiko's voice has taken a hard edge, and her eyes have narrowed. She is being strict, and it is because this kid did something stupid. "If so, then you should understand that attacking the Fishermen will only get you killed. You, of all people, should be more than well aware…" Because even the fact that they were thinking about attacking the Fishermen, and preparing for it, got the entire village flipped on its head.

"I know, but…! But they killed my dad! I won't forgive them even if I die!" The kind is biting his bottom lip now, his hands clenched on his knees, and his face is full of anger and rage. I can relate. I have been there as well. I only think about George every couple of days now, whereas before, it used to be every day. I visit and take care of his resting place as much as I can when I have the time. To be honest, it was only Nami's order keeping me from acting like this boy back then, but I am glad I didn't do it. I have Nojiko now and Nami as well. This kid shouldn't lose sight of everything for vengeance when he doesn't even have a chance of getting it. I haven't lost my chance yet.

"They brought along that huge monster I've never seen before and… pillaged and destroyed my entire town…! They killed so many people!" Oh shit, that would be MohMoo he is talking about. You would never think the beast could be so savage if you ever witnessed Hachi playing around with it, but the thing is strong and will listen to orders. It's an animal and a dumb one at that. Tell it to attack, and it will. Everybody knew Gosh was destroyed, but not really how. This is the first-hand account we have. "That's why I've sworn revenge!" Dumabss kid, think about that when you are actually strong enough to do something about it.

"A huge monster..? So then those strange dents on the ground were…" Pinocchio suddenly chimes in, making himself part of the conversation again. Given his words, I am guessing MohMoo left some big rivets on the ground when he attacked the village with his big body. He is basically a big sea cow, and he doesn't have legs, so he literally drags himself along with his flippers whenever he is on the land.

"Those're the tracks left behind by that thing! It's unimaginably huge! They said they brought it over from Grand Line." The boy is literally shaking now, and his eyes are full of dread and horror. His teeth are chattering, just remembering everything. His entire village was ripped apart, and I am guessing he witnessed it, which is unfortunate.

"There are monsters there too!?" The fear seems to transfer over to the guy, and it is amplified by a thousand as sweat begins to pour off of him in waves, and his mouth remains open, and his eyes are blank in a perpetual state of horror. You would think he was heading to the grand line with the way he was acting. But I don't think so. This guy is way too weak to go there, let alone be here on the island full of Fishmen pirates.

"I... I even went to Arlong Park...!" At this point, snot starts to bubble from his nose, and tears pour down from his eyes. He tries his hardest to keep his sobs in, but we can hear them even through his tightly clenched jaw. "But some female member of the Arlong Pirates stopped me at the door! She was a real witch!" Well, there is only one female that could be described like that on this island. I guess Nami is back, which is strange since she would have visited us by now.

"How dare she get in my way…! I wanna kill her too…!" My mood, which had been slowly rising, suddenly dies at his words, and I have to pick up my drink and take a sip to stop myself from getting angry at the kid. He doesn't know what he is talking about, and he is just lashing out. Unfortunately for him, Nojiko isn't about to stifle her words.