Chapter 209 Slippery Fruit
"Well, that's the end of my story...it's nothing special."

Nami sat on the sofa and said something calmly. Uchiha Feiyu nodded:
"It's quite common... Your story is so tragic that it's not even in the top ten that I know of. And you have never tried to deal with the Arlong Pirates. Instead, you have pinned your hopes on accumulating hundreds of millions of Baileys, fantasizing that with this money you can buy back the Cocoanisai Village... Hehe..."

Nami, who was trying to keep a calm demeanor, lost all her guard after hearing what Uchiha Feiyu said, and her face was filled with anger:
"You make it sound so easy! I told you my story, just talking about my birth, not asking you to compare your misery with others!"

"Also, the strength of the pirate group composed of Arlong and his fishmen is not as simple as you think. In the past, some reckless bounty hunters and the navy have troubled him..."

"I just want to ask you one question. Do you think Aaron will keep his promise and return your hometown to you after you pay 1 million Baileys?"

Uchiha Feiyu asked calmly, and Nami froze for a moment. After a moment, she lowered her head and said:
"They should... they should return it to me! After all, I am also a member of the Arlong Pirates, and the captain's promise to his crew..."

"Haha, Arlong is a pirate! How many pirates have you seen keep their promises?"

"Perhaps there are a few pirate captains who will keep their promises to their crew members. However, do you really think that Aaron regards you as one of his crew members?"

"In the Arlong Pirates, besides those fishmen, you are the only human, right? Do you really think Arlong considers you one of his own?"

Nami's face gradually turned pale, and she just gritted her teeth and spoke:
"I... I have no other choice! Otherwise, what can I do? If I fight against the Arlong Pirates, it would be fine if I succeed, but if I fail, then the Kokoani Village will really be doomed!"

Uchiha Feiyu curled his lips and lightly pierced the fantasy that had always remained in Nami's heart:

"However, if you don't fight back, the Cocoa Village will definitely be doomed... With the greed of the Arlong Pirates, there is no way they will give up a cash cow like the Cocoa Village. They will only suck the marrow out of your fellow villagers and greedily plunder all their hard-earned money."

"As for your daydream that 100 million berries can redeem Kokoa West Village, do you believe it yourself?"

"Based on the population of Keko Yaxi Village, they can provide tens of millions of Beli every month. The so-called 1 million Beli is just the harvest of Aaron and his team after plundering the entire village for three months. Do you think they will give up this long-term cash cow for 1 million Beli?"

Uchiha Feiyu's cold words were like a flying knife, piercing Nami's luck, making her already pale face turn a cyan color. She lowered her head, full of gloomy aura:

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

After saying that, Nami raised her head carefully, and looked at Uchiha Feiyu with a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

"You...you are not lying to me..."

"Whether I'm lying to you or not, I believe you'll know when the time comes. The key is what price are you willing to pay? Don't say anything about spending a night with me... With the price of the Slippery Fruit, it would be easy to buy a dozen slaves who are prettier than you."

Nami glanced at Uchiha Feiyu and said frustratedly:

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

"Well... I'm going to the Grand Line, and I'm still in need of an obedient navigator. Are you willing to take on the role?"

"The Grand Line!"

There was a gleam of light in Nami's eyes, even with a hint of anticipation. As a navigator with outstanding talent and great ambitions, Nami certainly wanted to go to the Grand Line.

That place with unpredictable climate and treacherous sea conditions is a graveyard for ordinary pirates, but for all navigators who are interested in the maritime career, it is undoubtedly a holy place.

"Will you let me be your navigator and head for the Grand Line? Not impossible, but I have to do it after I've dealt with the Arlong Pirates!"

The request made by Nami was not beyond Uchiha Feiyu's expectations. Before the problem in Kokoani Village was resolved, Nami would definitely not leave the East China Sea no matter what.

The villagers of Kekoyasi Village and her sister are the biggest ties for this little thief cat. Only when Kekoyasi Village is safe will she pursue her dream.

"Very good, then we have reached an agreement. I will help you deal with the threat from the Arlong Pirates, but from now on, you will be my navigator!"

"Let me make it clear in advance. I am not the kind of captain who is soft-hearted. My methods of doing things will definitely be very drastic. I won't force you to follow the same style as me, but at least you can't hold me back when I'm doing things!"

"Okay, as long as you can deal with the Arlong Pirates, I can promise you the rest!"

Nami didn't think there was anything wrong with Uchiha Feiyu's suggestion. She was already a thief, so why should she be so morally obsessed?

Nami might not be able to do some things that would help the evil, but the difficulty of standing idly by would be greatly reduced.

And although Nami could see that Uchiha Feiyu was not a good person, he was at least a little stronger than the average pirate... right?

"Very good... Then first of all, you should eat this slippery fruit!"

After taking out the slippery fruit, Uchiha Feiyu placed it on the table without saying a word and pushed it in front of Nami.

"Uh...what?"

Nami looked at the pink and smooth devil fruit, swallowed her saliva, and showed an expression of disbelief on her face. She pointed at the devil fruit and stammered:

"You...you said...you said you wanted to give me this devil fruit...to eat?!"

"Who will give it to you if I don't give it to you?"

Uchiha Feiyu rolled his eyes and said lightly:
"You really want to sell this devil fruit! I'll teach you a lesson. In this world, power is always more useful than money!"

"Others hoard food while I hoard guns. Others are my granaries! Kokoa West Village and the Arlong Pirates are the most typical example."

"Although the most valued thing about the Slippery Fruit is its beauty ability, it is actually a relatively powerful fruit when used in combat, especially in terms of potential. As long as it is well developed, it can also compete with top devil fruits."

"And as far as I know, Nami, your skin should be very sensitive! Even just by relying on the touch of your skin, you can sense the outside climate. From this aspect, you and this devil fruit also have a very good compatibility." "As long as you can develop the potential of the slippery fruit by 30% to 50%, even if you only rely on your own strength, it will be enough to kill the Arlong Pirates!"

This is not nonsense. Once the slippery fruit is developed, it is almost equivalent to immunity to physical attacks, and even weakens many energy attacks. Once the realm of mastering friction is reached, the speed will be greatly improved, and its auxiliary effect on agile physical masters can be said to be immediate.

Even with the power of this devil fruit, once awakened, it would be enough to give any physical martial arts master a headache - the so-called strength comes from the roots, if you can't even stand steadily, anyone can turn you into a rolling gourd.

Those with the ability to fly are not much better off. If the friction with the air is zero, then unless you have the ability to fly using gravity, you cannot fly into the sky even if you have wings.

This is just a relatively superficial application. If it goes deeper into the microscopic field, what this devil fruit can do will be even more perverted - of course, it is not an easy task to develop this devil fruit to the microscopic field.

Arlong is a big shot in the East China Sea, but looking at the whole world, he is just a third-rate character. As long as Nami can make good use of the ability of the slippery fruit, it will not be difficult for her to defeat them.

To put it bluntly, with Arlong's level, even if he was thrown into Impel Down, he could only stay on the first or second floor. Two years later, Nami could single-handedly defeat the entire Arlong Pirate Group.

"But... my talent is not that good..."

Nami spoke hesitantly. In terms of talent as a navigator, Nami felt that even if she was not the most talented in the entire ocean, she was one of the best. But when it came to personal strength, Nami's talent could only be considered mediocre.

She is quite good among ordinary people and can fight ten people at once after training - this is Nami's physical talent. It sounds good, but think about the countless monsters in this sea. Not to mention the immortal body of the Iron Balloon, even the fat woman Aritar can be regarded as a little superman compared with ordinary people.

Therefore, Nami's excellence among ordinary people is almost meaningless in this ocean. It is precisely because she knows this that Nami is afraid that she will waste this devil fruit.

"Why are you talking so much? Just give me the food!"

Uchiha Feiyu, who had been a little impatient for a long time, stood up, picked up the devil fruit on the table, and stuffed it into Nami's mouth.

"Wait a minute... wuwuwu, uh-uh-uh-uh!"

Just as Nami opened her mouth to say something, the smooth devil fruit was stuffed directly into her mouth, and then a strange bitter, smelly, and sticky taste spread in her mouth.

"Ugh... it tastes so bad... what the hell is this smell!"

After retching several times, Nami finally came to her senses. She spat a few times and took a sip of rum. Only then did she feel that the bad smell in her mouth was somewhat cleared away.

"You actually ate such a precious devil fruit like this... Let me make it clear first, I don't have the money to compensate you!"

"...You really care about money. It doesn't matter if you don't have money, but such a large sum of chips has already been invested. It's too late to regret it."

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

Nami muttered, but she also knew that since Uchiha Feiyu even gave her the devil fruit, he was obviously very confident in dealing with Arlong.

"Please rest assured about this. Aaron won't be so proud for many days!"

A few days later.

Shieldstown.

This small town, where the 153rd Navy Branch is stationed, seems to have just recovered from the turmoil. Many traces of battle can still be seen in the town.

However, the common people here did not seem to be affected. Instead, they all looked joyful and lively as if they were having a banquet.

"How strange... What happened here? Did they repel the pirates' attack?"

Walking in the town, Nami couldn't help but ask questions as she felt the environment here was incompatible with the mood of ordinary civilians.

"On the contrary. According to the intelligence I know and the news I got from the town, a few days ago, a Straw Hat boy who claimed to be a pirate came here and beat down the head of the 153rd base stationed in the town, Captain Monka of the Marine Branch."

"Ah? The Marine Captain was defeated?"

Nami looked around. Although some buildings were damaged, it was just the aftermath of a fight. It didn't look like they were looted by pirates. This made her a little confused:

"How could this be? What are these civilians so happy about? And this town doesn't look like it's been looted."

"Because this Colonel Monka is a more terrible disaster for the residents of these towns than the pirates!"

Uchiha Feiyu shrugged and said calmly:
"This is normal, right? The naval branches entrenched in various sea areas have gradually changed from the guardians of the sea areas to rulers like kings in the long-term development. They exploit the sea areas under their command. To some extent, their harm has even exceeded that of pirates."

"After all, pirates are all doing one-size-fits-all business, and what they rob are just floating assets. They are not interested in things like land and houses."

"On the contrary, the heads of these naval branches have been ruling this sea area, just like the Arlong Pirates in your Cocoa Village. They will exploit the residents here for a long time, and not only collect money, but also force these residents to work for free."

When she said this, Nami's face had turned completely dark. She not only thought about the 10 berries that the Cocoa West Village had to pay to Aaron every month, but also thought about the Fishman Paradise built by Aaron and his men - that was obviously not a building built by the fishmen themselves, but the blood and sweat of the residents near that sea area.

"I see... No wonder the residents here are celebrating like New Year after this naval captain was defeated... But where's the person you're looking for? Didn't you say you wanted someone to help me deal with Aaron?"

Nami originally thought that Uchiha Feiyu was looking for the commander of this naval base! But now it seems that this naval captain who has been defeated by the pirates is obviously not the person Uchiha Feiyu is looking for.

"Hehe, do you know the identity of the pirate who defeated Colonel Monka?"

Nami was slightly stunned, then rolled her eyes:
"How should I know who he is? By the way, you are not going to ask this pirate for help, are you?"

(End of this chapter)