Ep. 34

Summary

Source-backed · Version: v1 · Original

Nojiko gathers Sanji and Usopp and begins explaining why Nami joined Arlong. Eight years earlier, the fish-man pirates invaded the Conomi Islands and forced every resident to pay a survival tax. Nami and Nojiko were raised by Bellemere, a former Marine who found them as children after a battle. Though poor, the three lived as a loving family in a small tangerine grove. Young Nami showed remarkable skill at drawing maps and dreamed of charting the entire world. Arlong recognized her talent and decided that she would be useful to his ambitions. In the present, Usopp tells the crew that Nami only pretended to kill him, proving that she still considers them friends. Zoro escapes confinement by defeating his guards, while Arlong becomes increasingly suspicious of Nami's divided loyalties. Luffy refuses to listen to the story and wanders away, saying he does not need a reason to believe in her. Nojiko continues describing the day Arlong came to their home, when Bellemere faced an impossible choice between paying tribute for herself or acknowledging that the two girls were her daughters.