Nezumi collapsed weakly to the ground, breathing faintly, unable to even sense the existence of his own body.
His life was as good as over.
In the blink of an eye, the Navy had already been completely wiped out.
The Navy soldier who had earlier fired at Jotaro saw this and his soul trembled in fright; the instant he saw Jotaro look over at him, he immediately crashed into the orange tree beside him, knocking himself unconscious.
"Yare yare…"
Toward this group of trash, he had nothing to say.
"How could this be… how could this be…"
Nami murmured in a daze, clearly unable to accept the fact that Arlong had broken his promise.
Hearing the sound of gunfire, Genzo also hurried over following the sound; he had heard everything Nezumi had said.
Looking at Nami in such a state, his expression twisted fiercely, "We can no longer endure, we must take up weapons and fight."
"Nami, all these years, we have known everything you have been doing, but in order not to hinder you, we have always pretended to be completely unaware."
"Now you should understand too, Arlong never intended to let us go, he has been lying to you all along!"
"Genzo…" A mist of tears welled in Nami's eyes as she stared blankly at him.
It was precisely because of these gentle villagers that she could not allow them to be put in danger.
Even if hope had long since been shattered, she still refused to accept it.
'Arlong! Arlong!! Arlong!!!'
She must find him and ask clearly.
"Nami!"
Seeing Nami suddenly stand up and run out, Genzo shouted anxiously.
"Don't mind her!" Jotaro's face was dark as he walked over at an unhurried pace.
He bent down, squatting to lift up Nojiko and asked, "Are you alright? I'll help you take out the bullet."
Nojiko's eyes were half-closed, still glistening with tears.
She murmured to herself, crying with self-blame, "Nami has already done enough. Joining those people is even more painful than killing her… And I can't do anything, can't help her at all."
Seeing Nami's suffering, for her, was this not also a kind of torment?
Jotaro, face cold, used Star Platinum to swiftly take out the bullet, and used Ripple to stop her bleeding.
Compared to the fish-men, Nami's reaction upon learning the truth made him even angrier.
He understood exactly what Nami was thinking, and so he was very displeased.
In his view, compromising with the abuser was completely fanning the abuser's arrogance.
Placing one's hopes on these abusers was the height of foolishness.
Facing such a situation, there was only one way out, that was to fight.
Indeed, the terrifying strength of the fish-men was hard for humans to match, but defeating them did not necessarily require winning through brute force.
If he were Nami, a weak human, in these ten years he would also have found every possible way to defeat the fish-men.
He would never, like Nami, pin his hopes on these people.
"Nami! In such a hurry, where are you planning to go?"
Arlong bared his teeth in a grin.
Having found nothing in the cave, they turned around and headed toward Cocoyasi Village, hearing gunshots along the way.
On this island, weapons were a very sensitive thing.
How could they possibly not come and see?
Nami's steps halted; staring directly at Arlong's smiling face, rage swelled in her chest.
She pointed at the Navy lying motionless on the ground behind her and shouted, "These Navy soldiers were sent by you to steal my money, weren't they!"
Arlong did not reply; his face darkened as his gaze swept over the unconscious Navy, his heart quite surprised.
To deal with some unarmed people, how could they end up in such a state? The Navy shouldn't be this weak.
He suddenly looked toward the chrysanthemum garden.
Jotaro stood tall there.
"So you're here…" he murmured like a demon.
Seeing Arlong ignore her, Nami's anger grew even greater; she had long forgotten the chasm-like gap between humans and fish-men.
She grabbed Arlong's clothes tightly, glaring at him.
"What is going on! Speak up! Why did you have the Navy steal my money! Weren't you supposed to keep all promises related to money!"
A look of impatience appeared on Arlong's face; he stretched out his huge palm, gripping Nami's face, and spoke viciously, "When have I ever not kept a promise? Speak, speak!"
Being handled so roughly, how could Nami possibly speak?
Tears of fear, helplessness, and grievance flowed from her eyes.
"Kyahahahaha!" Arlong laughed wildly.
Nojiko, seeing Nami humiliated like this, struggled to go over, but was stopped by Jotaro.
"Let go of Nami!"
Genzo, determined to fight Arlong to the death, took out the katana he had hidden for a long time and shouted loudly.
Cold light flickered in Arlong's eyes, "You want to rebel? Do you know what it means to possess weapons on this island?"
Genzo was completely unafraid, charging straight toward Arlong.
"Arlong, we have decided to fight you to the bitter end! Even if we die, we will make you see our backbone!"
Arlong gave a cold snort, his brows full of disdain.
He did not even release Nami; with one hand he easily broke Genzo's right arm and took the sword from his grasp.
Shh~
Aimed at Arlong's blade, yet instead he stabbed the sword into Genzo's body.
"Genzo!"
Seeing the scene before her, Nami instantly sobered.
She forced out a smile and said, "Genzo, don't do this, I'm fine, at worst I'll just start saving money from the beginning again. Please, all of you, be patient and wait a little longer."
Blood gushed from Genzo's mouth; his blood-red eyes looked at Nami full of pity.
"Kyahahahaha…" Arlong laughed cruelly, "Once you finish measuring a complete map of the whole world, I will let you go. But by then, it will already be decades later."
"As for you…" He stared coldly at Genzo, "Today you must die here!"
Saying that, Arlong drew the sword, slicing toward Genzo's neck.
"No! Arlong, I beg you! I will listen to whatever you say!" Nami shouted in despair.
Arlong turned a deaf ear.
The sword gradually swung down.
"Ora!"
At some unknown moment, Jotaro had already walked up close; Star Platinum's fierce punch struck Arlong's face.
Arlong's body was instantly blown ten meters away.
"Boss!"
The fish-men cried out in shock; the whole crowd was astonished.
Jotaro helped Genzo up; looking at Nami, still collapsed on the ground and not yet recovered, a trace of disappointment showed in his calm eyes.
"Nami, your naivety almost got the person you care about killed."
He healed Genzo's wounds, stepped past Nami's side, and his tone grew slightly heavy.
"You are afraid that resisting Arlong will cause the village to be implicated, afraid of losing these people who are willing to risk their lives for you."
"But have you thought, the more afraid you are, the more you shrink back, the more you will truly lose them."
Nami's breath suddenly caught, her pupils trembling slightly.
"Hope never comes from begging, it comes from resolve."
"Your weakness will only let down these people you care about."
Jotaro valued his companions more than anyone; precisely because of this, even in the situation where his strength was worlds apart from DIO's, he still risked his life to defeat him.
If he didn't do this, he would have let down those companions who had died for him!
Genzo panted heavily, "That's right, Nami. More than death, what I fear more is seeing you sacrifice yourself for us, because we also care about you."
Nami's fingers unconsciously clenched, nails digging into her palm; her tears poured out like a broken dam, and she looked utterly helpless.
"Yare yare…" Jotaro withdrew his gaze, his fingers brushing the brim of his hat, and said in a deep voice, "It seems that I, Kujo Jotaro, must give you another lesson, to teach you how you should fight."
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