7:22 pm
The night had fallen on Cocoyashi, and Genzo was telling guys what had happened on the island ever since Arlong was there. Everything the village endured, how Arlong built his park and made the island his kingdom. How he killed Nami's father, and so many other people, and how Nami worked for them ever since to spare the rest of the village, in secret, sacrificing her entire life, both socially and intellectually since she couldn't go to school anymore. How she started to scheme people, especially men, to bring money and pay the village's debt. How Tama started to be sick, the fact they needed always more money, and that Nami had to work even more for it. How Bellemere reacted when she learned about it, how shocked and powerless she felt and then decided to bring Nami away, with all her family, because she was scared for her. How Arlong discovered Bellemere's plan and kidnapped Tama to ruin it, and how he kept her ever since to prevent their scheming. How they were forced to leave the island, but still kept paying everyone's debt no matter what. How the fishmen reacted to the article stating that Nami had killed one of them, and how Marjorie, her grandmother, mysteriously died the following day. How Genzo risked his life to take Tama from them, when, after studying the guards and the plans, taking advantage of a few minutes' inattention, he and a few villagers broke into the room where she was being held and escaped with her and enough medicine to last barely a week.
7:34 pm
It was too much for Zoro, he couldn't hear more so he stood up and left. No one really paid attention since they were all listening to Genzo's narrative. By some miracle, Zoro ended up out of this sort of bunker. He looked around him, and only saw trees, then he remembered the description Genzo gave about Arlong Park, a luminous amusement park-like, supposedly not too far away from where he was. He looked up and barely saw a light through the trees' branches, he decided he would follow it. He walked for a few minutes, lost himself, and finally arrived in a small village. He realised he had been following a random street lamp all along. He sighed, and not losing hope, he looked up again, looking for another glimmer in the sky. He indeed saw a bigger source of light that seemed to come from a place not so far away, and he was gone.
7:51 pm
« san- my poor Nami-swan, she's been through so much
us- yeah, I feel so bad for her, I hope she's okay
lu- she's so strong.. she's gonna be okay ».
Usopp suddenly realised he didn't feel that negative aura behind him when Sanji spoke about Nami. He turned back and saw: nothing. Zoro wasn't there anymore.
«us- UH !!? where is Zoro?
san- this Marimo, got lost while being sat... ?
g- where is your friend?
us- I don't know! He was there.. a minute ago ».
Luffy laughed and Sanji asked :
« san- why you laughing ?
lu- *smiling* I'm sure he's about to kick those fish's asses *chuckles*
g- what ?!! but he's gonna get killed !
lu- Shiihihihihi, don't worry for Zoro
g- boy, you have no idea how strong they are
lu- you have no idea who Zoro is, he's gonna be ok ».
They looked for him in the whole kind of house that was this bunker, but he was nowhere to be found.
« lu- look, it's okay, as soon as the sun is up, we'll be ready, waiting for this Arlington, Zoro can wait
san-.. It pains me to agree but he's right, Zoro doesn't need us tonight
us- he'll probably get lost on the way, anyway
san- actually ».
Luffy laughed.
9:58 pm
Zoro finally arrived at Arlong Park, he saw this huge gate. It was night, but there were so many lights around that he could see as clearly as if it were day. And from where he was, he saw two people keeping the gate and after studying them for a couple of minutes, he finally decided to attack. He discreetly walked in their direction, with the aim of surprising one of them from behind, which he exactly did. He sliced him off with a single blow, he didn't even have time to realise what was happening to him, and the second man didn't even have time to react when he was already being sliced open. He waited a few seconds, listening to be sure no one had heard what happened, and once he was sure no one did, he opened the gate. He observed every element in its perimeter, to make sure he wasn't caught off guard. He saw no one and moved towards what appeared to be the main door to the inside of the HQ. Suddenly the door opened, Zoro pressed himself against the wall, not knowing what to expect. Three men got out of the place and walked towards the gate, one of them noticed it was open, and warned his colleagues, while another one spotted Zoro and shouted something, letting his friends know. Zoro had no other choice than to attack them first, which he did. Unfortunately, they already had warned the reinforcements by walkie-talkie, so a bunch of men arrived. Zoro drew his third sword, ready to fight them all.
10:16 pm
Zoro was done. He was standing, surrounded by all those fishmen corpses he defeated. He put his swords back in their rack and walked inside the place. He followed a long corridor and obviously got lost on his way and found himself in a huge rounded room, with a desk, papers, and maps on the walls, he guessed it might be Arlong's desk, and he indeed wasn't there. He kept exploring, got lost, and eventually arrived in a strange patio. Well, It wasn't strange but the atmosphere around it was. He hadn't a good feeling while walking passed it, so he opened the door and entered the kind of room ahead of him. It was a sort of prison, with a few cells on each side of the central corridor. All the cells were empty, but he noticed something on the floor of one of them. He saw a piece of clothing, he grabbed it to take a closer look, he thought he recognised Nami's jacket, but he wasn't sure until the sweet smell of tangerine wafted across the room. She has been there, but she wasn't anymore, his blood ran cold 'Where was she ?', she could be anywhere, 'was she gone by herself or not ?'.. He was overwhelmed by a flood of thoughts and anxiety, but unfortunately, he was distracted by his emotions and hadn't seen Octy coming. That 6-armed fishman who'd just happened to be passing by, and who'd just stabbed Zoro twice at once. The green-haired swordsman found himself unprepared, seeing a blade protruding from his right shoulder and another from his left flank. When he realised what was happening, the pain came, and at the same time, Hochi withdrew his swords. Zoro took a few seconds to get past the pain and all the blood he lost in those few seconds. Then he turned round, resting his hand on his swords. The fishman could see that he was watching the cell where Nami was, and he knew very well that she had fled.
Indeed, Kuroobi has gone and Take was watching her, analysing every single move of hers. And while Zoro was attacking the 2 fishmen standing guard outside the gate, those still inside had in fact seen everything on the surveillance cameras, and as they went out to see what was going on, Nami had taken the opportunity to make a run for it. After a long thought, she couldn't abandon Tama, no matter how much she wanted to die and finally be free of this life that was far too difficult for such a young girl, she couldn't do that to her sister. Octy had obviously recognised Zoro, a green-haired swordsman with 3 swords in his belt, who could only be the son of Taka Me no Mihawk. He couldn't afford to fight him, he'd lose for sure, even injured, Octy was afraid to face the swordsman. He didn't know what to do, killing him wasn't even an option, he wasn't capable of it and the consequences would be disastrous. The only thing that seemed feasible was to lock him up, but how could he do that? And that's when he had the idea, it might work and it might not, but it was his only option.
« oc- I wouldn't do that if I were you...
z- fortunately, you're not
oc- if you've come for Nami, you mustn't make any waves, as this could end badly for her ».
Zoro stood still, Hochi hit the right nerve, because Zoro knew very well that it could be a bluff, but could he take that risk?
« z- so what now?
oc- enter the cell without any fuss
z- or what ?
oc- or else.. ».
Zoro sighed, he didn't know if what he was saying was true or not so he was trapped, so he silently walked into the cell.
« oc- throw down your swords ».
Zoro undid his rack and put it on the floor, then he gently pushed it towards Hochi, who took his swords and closed the cell, before leaving the jail. Zoro sighed, he lifted his shirt to see the extent of the damage: he was bleeding badly and the two wounds were quite deep... He sat, leaning against the wall, and in a sigh, he said :
« z- of course P is never there when I need her ».