Chapter 209: Slippery-Slippery Fruit

"Alright, my story is finished... there's nothing particularly special about it."

Nami sat on the sofa and said this with feigned indifference. Uchiha Feiyu nodded:

"It is quite ordinary... in terms of tragedy, your story wouldn't even make the top ten that I know of. Furthermore, you've never tried to find a way to deal with the Arlong Pirates; instead, you pinned your hopes on saving up hundreds of millions of Belly, fantasizing that with that money, you could buy back Cocoyasi Village... Heh..."

Nami, who had been barely maintaining a look of composure, completely broke down after hearing Uchiha Feiyu's words, her face full of annoyance:

"You make it sound so easy! I told you my story just to explain my origins, not for you to compare tragedies with others!"

"Besides, the strength of the pirate crew formed by Arlong and his Fish-Man subordinates is not as simple as you think. In the past, some reckless Bounty Hunters and Marines have tried to cause him trouble..."

"I'll just ask you one thing: do you really think Arlong will keep his promise and return your hometown to you after you hand over 100 million Belly?"

Uchiha Feiyu asked in a flat tone. Nami froze instantly. A moment later, she lowered her head and said:

"He should... he should return it to me! No matter what, I am a member of the Arlong Pirates, and a captain's promise to his own crew..."

"Heh, Arlong is a Pirate! How many Pirates have you seen keep their promises?"

"Perhaps there are a few pirate captains who might keep their promises to their crew, but do you really think Arlong considers you one of his crew?"

"In the Arlong Pirates, besides those Fish-Men, you're the only human, right? Do you really think Arlong considers you one of his own?"

Nami's face gradually turned pale, but she just gritted her teeth and said:

"I... I had no other choice! Otherwise, what do you suggest I do? If I were to fight the Arlong Pirates, it would be fine if I succeeded, but if I failed, then Cocoyasi Village would truly be beyond saving!"

Uchiha Feiyu curled his lip and calmly shattered the fantasy Nami had been holding onto:

"However, if you don't fight, Cocoyasi Village is doomed regardless... Given the greed of the Arlong Pirates, there is no way they would ever give up such a cash cow as Cocoyasi Village. They will only suck the marrow from the bones, greedily scraping away every bit of blood and sweat from your fellow villagers."

"As for your daydream that 100 million Belly could redeem Cocoyasi Village, do you even believe it yourself?"

"Looking at the population of Cocoyasi Village, they can provide tens of millions of Belly a month. That so-called 100 million Belly is merely the harvest of the entire village over three months—do you think they would give up this long-term cash cow for just 100 million Belly?"

Uchiha Feiyu's cold words were like flying knives, piercing the wishful thinking in Nami's heart, causing her already pale face to turn a leaden grey. She kept her head down, filled with a gloomy aura:

"Stop it... didn't you say you knew someone who could help me deal with the Arlong Pirates?!!"

After saying this, Nami cautiously raised her head, a glimmer of hope in her eyes as she looked at Uchiha Feiyu.

"You... you aren't lying to me, are you..."

"Whether I'm lying or not, I believe you'll find out when the time comes. The key is, what price are you willing to pay? Don't even mention spending a night with me... at the price of a Slippery-Slippery Fruit, buying a dozen slaves prettier than you would be effortless."

Nami glanced at Uchiha Feiyu and said dejectedly:

"Just tell me what you want! I don't have any other bargaining chips anyway!"

"Hmm... I'm going to the Grand Line, and I'm missing an obedient Navigator. Are you willing to fill that role?"

"The Grand Line!"

A flash of brilliance crossed Nami's eyes, even carrying a hint of anticipation. As a Navigator with outstanding talent and grand ambitions, Nami naturally wanted to go to the Grand Line.

That place with its erratic climate and bizarre sea conditions was a graveyard of death for ordinary pirates, but for any Navigator with aspirations for a career at sea, it was undoubtedly a holy land.

"You want me to be your Navigator and head to the Grand Line? That's not impossible, but it must be after the Arlong Pirates are dealt with!"

The demand Nami put forward did not surprise Uchiha Feiyu. Before the problem of Cocoyasi Village was resolved, Nami would certainly never leave the East Blue under any circumstances.

The villagers of Cocoyasi Village and her sister were the greatest bonds for this little cat burglar. Only when Cocoyasi Village was safe would she pursue her own dreams.

"Very well, then we have an agreement. I will help you resolve the threat of the Arlong Pirates, but from this moment on, you are my Navigator!"

"Let's get this straight: I am not the kind of soft-hearted captain who hesitates. My methods will certainly be quite intense. I won't force you to adopt my style, but at the very least, you cannot hold me back when I'm working!"

"Fine, as long as you can take care of the Arlong Pirates, I can agree to everything else!"

Nami didn't think there was any problem with Uchiha Feiyu's proposal. She was already a cat burglar; what kind of moral purity did she have left to worry about?

Nami might truly be unable to do things that aid and abet evil, but the difficulty of just standing by and watching was greatly reduced.

And although Nami could tell that Uchiha Feiyu was no saint, he was at least a little better than the average pirate... right?

"Very well... then the first thing is, you should eat this Slippery-Slippery Fruit first!"

Taking out the Slippery-Slippery Fruit, Uchiha Feiyu placed it on the table without further ado and pushed it toward Nami.

"Uh... what?"

Nami looked at the pink, smooth Devil Fruit and swallowed hard. A look of disbelief appeared on her face as she pointed at the fruit and stammered:

"You... you mean... you mean you want me to eat... this Devil Fruit?!"

"If not you, then who?"

Uchiha Feiyu rolled his eyes and said calmly:

"You really wanted to sell this Devil Fruit? Let me teach you a lesson: in this world, power is always much more useful than money!"

"Others hoard grain, I hoard guns; others are my granary! Cocoyasi Village and the Arlong Pirates are the most typical example."

"Although the most valued aspect of the Slippery-Slippery Fruit is its beauty-enhancing ability, in reality, it is absolutely a powerful fruit when used in combat. Especially in terms of potential—as long as it is developed well, it can compete with even the top-tier Devil Fruits."

"And as far as I know, your skin should be very sensitive, Nami! You can even sense the external climate just by the touch of your skin. In this respect, you and this Devil Fruit have excellent compatibility."

"As long as you can develop the potential of the Slippery-Slippery Fruit to thirty or fifty percent, even relying solely on your own strength would be enough to wipe out the Arlong Pirates!"

This is no lie. If developed well, this thing is almost equivalent to immunity to physical attacks, and it even has a weakening effect on many energy-based attacks. Once one reaches the realm of mastering friction, speed will also increase significantly, and its auxiliary effect on agility-based martial arts experts is immediate.

With the power of this Devil Fruit, once it reaches Awakening, it would be enough to give any martial arts expert a headache—the so-called power comes from the roots; if you can't even stand steadily, anyone could turn you into a rolling gourd.

Flight-capable users wouldn't fare much better. If the friction with the air were to drop to zero, unless they were the type of gravity-based flight user, even if you grew wings, you wouldn't be able to fly into the sky.

That is only a relatively shallow application. If one were to delve into the microscopic realm, the things this Devil Fruit could do would be even more monstrous—of course, developing this Devil Fruit to the microscopic realm is by no means an easy task.

Arlong is a figure in the East Blue, but looking at the whole world, he is just a third-rate character. As long as Nami can utilize the Slippery-Slippery Fruit's abilities well, beating them down is really not a difficult task.

To put it bluntly, Arlong's level, even if thrown into Impel Down, would only be the type that could stay on the first or second level. Two years later, Nami could single-handedly wipe out the entire Arlong Pirates.

"But... my talent isn't very good..."

Nami said hesitantly. In terms of Navigator talent, Nami felt that even if she wasn't the most talented on the entire sea, she was one of the best. But when it came to personal strength, Nami's talent could only be considered mediocre.

Being excellent among ordinary people and being able to take on ten after training—that is Nami's physical talent. It sounds good, but think about how the monsters on this sea are as numerous as the hairs on an ox. Not to mention things like the Iron Balloon or the Undying Body, even that fat woman Alvida could be considered a minor superhuman compared to an ordinary person.

Therefore, Nami's excellence among ordinary people is almost meaningless on this sea. It is precisely because she understands this that Nami is afraid of wasting this Devil Fruit.

"Why are you rambling on so much? Hurry up and eat it for me!!"

Uchiha Feiyu, who had already grown a bit impatient, stood up directly, picked up the Devil Fruit from the table, and then shoved it forcefully into Nami's mouth.

"Wait a second... Mmph, ugh, blegh!"

Just as Nami opened her mouth to say something, the smooth Devil Fruit was already shoved directly inside, and then a bitter, fishy, slimy, and strange taste rippled through her mouth.

"Ugh... so gross... what the hell kind of taste is this!"

After retching several times, Nami finally regained her senses, spat a few times, and took a gulp of rum before she felt the strange taste in her mouth had been cleared away a little.

"To think you'd just eat such a precious Devil Fruit like that... let me say this first, I don't have the money to pay you back!"

"... You really care about money that much. It doesn't matter if you don't have money, but such a large stake has already been placed; even if you want to regret it, it's too late."

"You should just deal with the Arlong Pirates first! Otherwise, I won't go with you..."

Nami muttered, though she also knew that since Uchiha Feiyu had even given her a Devil Fruit to eat, he clearly had a lot of confidence in dealing with Arlong.

"Please rest assured about that; Arlong won't be able to be smug for many more days!"

A few days later.

Shells Town.

This small town, where the Marine 153rd Branch was stationed, looked as if it had just recovered from turmoil; in the town, one could still see many traces left behind by battle.

However, the civilians here did not seem to have been affected; instead, they were all acting jubilant, as lively as if they were holding a banquet.

"How strange... what on earth happened here? Could it be that they repelled a Pirate attack?"

Walking through the town and sensing the environment here and the mood of the ordinary civilians that felt so out of place, Nami couldn't help but voice her question.

"Quite the opposite. According to the intelligence I know and the news I heard from the town, a few days ago, a kid with a Straw Hat who called himself a Pirate came here and beat up the Marine 153rd Branch Captain stationed in the town, Marine Colonel Morgan."

"Huh? A Marine Colonel was defeated?"

Nami glanced around; although the buildings were somewhat damaged, it was only the aftermath of a fight, and it didn't look like it had been ransacked by Pirates, which left her feeling puzzled:

"How could this be? Then what are these civilians so happy about? And this town doesn't look like it was ransacked."

"Because to the residents of this town, this Colonel Morgan was a disaster even more terrifying than Pirates!"

Uchiha Feiyu shrugged his shoulders and spoke indifferently:

"This kind of thing is normal, right! Marine branches entrenched in various sea areas have, through long-term development, gradually changed from guardians of the sea into rulers similar to kings, squeezing the lifeblood out of the sea areas under their command; to a certain extent, their harmfulness even exceeds that of Pirates."

"After all, Pirates only do one-off deals, and what they snatch are just some liquid assets; they aren't interested in things like land or houses."

"On the contrary, these Marine Branch Captains have been ruling this sea area all along, just like the Arlong Pirates in your Cocoyasi Village; they will long-term exploit the residents here, and not only do they collect money, but they also force these residents to perform unpaid labor."

When he said this, Nami's face had turned completely dark; she thought not only of the 100,000 Berries that Cocoyasi Village had to pay Arlong every month, but also of the Arlong Park that they had built—that clearly wasn't a building built by the Fish-Men themselves, but the blood and sweat of the residents near that sea area.

"So that's how it is... no wonder the residents here are like it's New Year's now that this Marine Colonel has been defeated... but what about the person you're looking for? Didn't you say you were going to find someone to help me deal with Arlong?"

Nami had originally thought that the person Uchiha Feiyu was looking for was this Marine base commander! But looking at it now, this Marine Colonel who had already been defeated by a Pirate was clearly not the person Uchiha Feiyu was looking for.

"Hehe, do you know what the identity of that Pirate who defeated this Colonel Morgan actually is?"

Nami was slightly stunned, then rolled her eyes:

"How would I know what his identity is? By the way, you aren't planning on having this Pirate help, are you!"

(End of this chapter)