Chapter 71: The Money to Buy the Village

  "Huh?" Kensuke was taken aback.

  Monet and Hobodi's expressions were also puzzled.

  "Was it Woods who turned them down?"

  "I think it shouldn't be."

  "Look at the expressions of these villagers, seven years of rule and they should have lost confidence in the Navy long ago. Not only can't see joy on their faces, but instead are filled with worry, this is strange, apparently they are suspecting something......" Hobodi said in a low voice.

  Monet wondered: "Could it be that tangerine garden that the villagers were worried about before?"

  The two were not far from the villagers, and Monet's words immediately made the blue-haired girl in the village crowd tense. Noki quickly walked up to the two: "You're from other villages on the island, right? You should also know that during the seven years we've been ruled by Arlong, countless naval warships have come, and even before they landed, they were defeated, but this time they actually landed."

  It seems she had misunderstood something. Monet smiled in his heart, and on the surface, he pretended to be surprised: "You mean they have colluded with the navy?"

  On the other side, Village Guardian Jian Huan gazed at the approaching naval troops with a worried whisper: "In the seven years of Ah Long's rule, he has never made such a big mistake. The intentions are not good, but what is the purpose of the navy..."

  Before long, Hobbit and Monet hid in the crowd of villagers, soon saw a group of naval troops, an officer who looked like a mouse led the way, with a sly smile on his face.

  "Naval!"

  "We've received reports from other people on the island that a thief has stolen a large amount of wealth from the residents and is hiding it in this village, heh-heh, I remember it's that house!" Colonel Mouse pointed to the small house halfway up the mountain where Hopody and his group had arrived.

  Nuo Qi Gao and Jian Zhuo, among other villagers, simultaneously felt a tightening in their chests. Seeing the reaction of these villagers, Old Mouse Colonel was very satisfied: "Let's go!"

  "Wait, Navy... where did you receive this report from? Could it be a mistake? The owner of the house on that mountain is just an ordinary good citizen." Kenzo hastily blocked Old Mouse Colonel's way.

  The old mouse's face suddenly turned unpleasant, pinching the small mustache under his nose, looking down at Jianzhu: "Do you want to interfere with the Navy's business?" After finishing speaking, he pushed Jianzhu away with one hand and walked towards the mountain waist in big strides.

  "Isn't this arrogant? Commander-sama, shall we ~"

  Hobbiti waved his hand: "Let's follow these villagers and take a look, what exactly is in that orange garden..."

  Before long, Hobbit followed the villagers to the house on the mountain waist. From their tense faces, it was clear that there was a trick here. Colonel Mouse led his soldiers to sweep through the orange garden in front of them, and finally stopped at an orange tree with recent signs of mud being turned over nearby.

  "Just these few, dig them up for me!"

  "Yes!"

  Sometimes it's hard to say that fate has brought them together, a few soldiers picked up their shovels and started digging up several orange trees. From the other end of the orange grove, a girl with bright orange hair suddenly jumped out, her three-section staff instantly connecting to form a long pole, striking several unsuspecting naval soldiers.

  "You naval troops, don't casually move Belmayer's orange garden!" The girl knocked down several naval soldiers with her staff one by one, shouting angrily.

  "You are..." Colonel Mouse gazed at that orange-yellow hair, suddenly understanding and burst into a sly laugh: "Fire at me!"

  Bang!

  The bullet fired from the rifle was heading straight for the orange-haired girl, and the villagers' faces turned pale in shock. Just then, a strong gust of wind blew through the air, changing the trajectory of the bullet. The girl let out a scream as she fell to the ground, the bullet grazing her shoulder and leaving a trail of blood.

  "Commander-sama is really kind-hearted, huh? Did he really take a liking to that girl?" Mona smiled wryly.

  "It would be better if you had more things in your mind related to this aspect." Hoboldi said helplessly.

  The sudden gust of wind went unnoticed by everyone, and Colonel Mouse was slightly disappointed that no one had been hit. However, this did not affect his purpose for coming, as according to the agreement with Ah Long, he himself had never intended to kill the girl anyway.

  "Hehehe, continue digging..."

  The helpless girl sat on the ground, her eyes filled with a desperate expression. At this moment, the blue-haired girl from the crowd of villagers suddenly ran out and rushed towards a sailor: "You bastards, don't trample on Nami's will!"

  However, she was just an ordinary villager, powerless against the navy. A soldier directly used his rifle to strike her abdomen, and she immediately flew out.

  "Why... this island was ruled by pirates for seven years, and Bellmer was also killed by them. You didn't come to rescue us, that's fine, but why do you still..." The girl glared at the naval soldiers with hatred in her eyes.

  "Huh? I have no idea what you're talking about."

  A few minutes later, the orange trees were uprooted one by one. Suddenly, from under a certain orange tree, an iron shovel made a hard clanging sound. The soldiers quickly dug away the dirt and before long, a large box appeared.

  "Found it." Colonel Mouse stepped forward and opened the box. Suddenly, a shocking scene appeared.

  Not just the villagers, but also Hobodi and Monet, who were watching from the sidelines, had looks of surprise on their faces.

  In the box, a large number of gold necklaces, jewels and paper bills were scattered around, but what moved them was not these things themselves, but the dry bloodstains on the gold, jewels and paper bills.

  This is truly 'blood and sweat money'!

  Many villagers, especially women, were deeply moved and knew where the money came from, their eyes had already turned red.

  "I always thought we were supporting Namie by default when she raised 100 million yen, but in fact her experience is something we can't relate to at all."

  "Officer Wang, what's going on with this money!?" Mo Nai asked in confusion.

  "Nami, that child made a promise with Arlong who ruled this island seven years ago. If she could raise 100 million Berries, she would be able to buy Cocoyasi Village from Arlong and give us our freedom... This money was all Nami's earnings from stealing back from those pirates after going through countless dangers..."

  Monet suddenly stopped asking and his face became extremely calm.

  "Seven years ago, this girl was only about ten years old?" Hobodi wondered, his eyes filled with admiration as he looked at the future little thief cat who had lent a helping hand to the child in Ponghaksa.

  A ten-year-old child could actually steal such a large sum of money in seven years.

  It's fine if it were an ordinary adult, but her target for theft happens to be from the most ruthless pirate in this world.