Sea Calendar 1512.
East Blue.
Cocoyasi Village, Goro Island.
The sun shone brightly, and a gentle sea breeze blew. Occasionally, a few seagulls soared across the sky. The village was filled with a peaceful and harmonious atmosphere.
A ship with a red hull, a sharp shark head figurehead, and a black sail with a red shark pattern suddenly crashed into the dock and came to a stop.
"Pirates are here! Everyone hide quickly..."
"Pirates have landed, everyone run!"
"That's... the Arlong Pirates!?
Could it be that the rumors about the Fishman Pirates splitting up are true?"
On the yellow dirt road in the village, a young man ran quickly while shouting frantically, shattering the peaceful and harmonious atmosphere and causing the villagers to panic. People rushed into their homes, preparing to gather their money and leave.
"Gyahahaha!"
With a burst of extremely arrogant laughter, a sawshark Fishman wearing a black hood and with purple skin led a group of Fishmen into the village.
"Hello!
You useless humans, from this moment on, this village...
No! This island will be under my control from now on!" Arlong spread his arms and laughed wildly towards the sky.
"Listen up! On this memorable day, you will pay me to buy your own lives! Adults pay one hundred thousand Berries, children pay fifty thousand Berries... Those who can't afford it will die! Furthermore, you will need to pay the same amount every month from now on, otherwise you will still die... Do you understand!"
After speaking, Arlong waved his hand, and his twenty subordinates began to collect protection money from each household.
Because of the Arlong Pirates' aggressive arrival, the villagers could only swallow their anger and obediently pay the money. They planned to find an opportunity later to report this matter to the Marines...
Before long, with the cooperation of the villagers, the Fishmen of the Arlong Pirates quickly collected a sack full of money.
"Hey! Octopus Hatchan, how much money did you collect?"
Arlong turned his head to look at the octopus Fishman with eight hands beside him.
"Roughly 25 million Berries..."
Octopus Hatchan replied first, then he looked slightly surprised at the distance and shouted loudly:
"Huh!? Brother Arlong, smoke is rising from the edge of the village!
There must still be people living there!"
"Okay, then let's go take a look over there..."
Hearing this, Arlong turned his head and glanced before standing up and leading his twenty subordinates toward the orange grove on the edge of the village.
"That's Belle-Mere's house...?"
"Given their family's financial situation, I wonder if they can afford the protection fee."
"They should be able to, right?
It seems someone orders oranges from their house every year now..."
Some worried villagers could only cautiously follow behind the Arlong Pirates and others.
...
Inside a wooden house in the orange grove on the edge of the village.
Belle-Mere stood in front of the gas stove in the open kitchen, humming a tune while frying steak in a frying pan.
"Wow! It smells so good! High-quality beef, as expected..."
Nami walked over to Belle-Mere's side and whispered softly.
"Yes! I spent a fortune this time, all because you kept saying you wanted to taste high-quality beef..." Belle-Mere sighed softly.
Nami pouted and whined. "What does it matter! It's just one taste... We've never eaten it before."
"Belle-Mere, I've packed all the oranges we picked this morning..."
Nojiko pushed open the door and walked in.
"Okay! Go wash your hands quickly and get ready to eat. Then have a good nap, and in the afternoon we'll continue picking oranges to try and finish picking them early..."
Belle-Mere looked at Nami and Nojiko's dirty hands and cheeks from picking oranges and couldn't help but remind them with a smile.
Two years ago, due to Sephiroth's sudden appearance and his annual purchase of oranges from Belle-Mere's orange grove, the living standards of this family improved.
Their family went from struggling to make ends meet to being able to maintain normal food, clothing, housing, and transportation.
Now, Belle-Mere could occasionally satisfy her two daughters' unreasonable small requests, buying new clothes, new books, or buying good ingredients for extra meals.
Hearing this, Nami and Nojiko smiled and nodded, obediently walked to the sink, washed their hands clean, and sat at the dining table waiting for the meal to begin.
Knock, knock, knock!
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door outside. Nami, who was sitting on a chair, quickly ran to the door and opened it.
"You are...?"
Seeing a group of ill-intentioned Fishmen standing outside the door, Nami immediately took two steps back in fright.
Seeing this scene, Belle-Mere, who was cooking in the kitchen, her face instantly sank when she saw the visitors.
Belle-Mere quickly rushed out of the kitchen and shielded the two girls behind her.
"Excuse me, what brings the Arlong Pirates from the Grand Line all the way to our Cocoyasi Village...?"
"Gyahahaha! Of course, it's to rule here! Adults pay one hundred thousand Berries, children pay fifty thousand Berries. If your family of three wants to live, you must pay two hundred thousand Berries! Starting from today, you will need to pay that amount every month from now on, not a single Berry less... Now, if you want to live, hurry up and hand over the money!"
"I understand! Please wait a moment..."
Hearing this, Belle-Mere felt a surge of anger in her heart, but because her two daughters were present, for their safety, she did not choose to resist. Instead, she took her two daughters, turned around and walked to the cabinet where she kept her money, and began to take it out.
Because Sephiroth had been buying oranges from her for the past two years, her oranges had a stable sales channel, and life at home had been much better. Two hundred thousand Berries, adding up all of her savings, was barely within reach.
"Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, one hundred ninety-two thousand Berries..."
Belle-Mere rummaged through the drawer for a long time, but she only found one hundred ninety-two thousand Berries in the end, still eight thousand Berries short of what Arlong demanded.
"Gyahahaha! You've already counted it twice, it looks like you don't have enough money, right? In that case, I'll give you a suggestion. Which one of these two brats do you want to keep?"
"How about I kill the one you don't want?" Arlong said in a mocking tone.
As soon as he said this, Nami and Nojiko immediately trembled with fright, while Belle-Mere glared directly at Arlong in anger...