"Hm?" Arlong frowned slightly, turning his gaze to the child standing not far ahead, Luffy.
Despite his senses being far superior to those of any human, he hadn't noticed when this child appeared. That stone which shattered his gun clearly came from the boy's direction.
Discarding the broken grip of his pistol, Arlong focused his full attention on Luffy.
His idol and former leader, Fisher Tiger, had once risked everything to return a human girl slave to her home. In return, the girl's family betrayed him to the Marine, who surrounded him. Though Tiger managed to escape, he later died from blood loss.
Since that day, Arlong had harbored a deep hatred for humans, especially human children.
"Who are you, kid?" Arlong asked in a low, dangerous voice.
Luffy only smiled, saying nothing.
At that moment, he was busy counting how many fish-men were present. He needed to make sure none of them escaped, a lesson learned from past experiences.
As for the remnants of the Ransack Pirates, Luffy had let them go. Upon seeing a much larger pirate ship docked in the harbor, he had allowed the survivors to take their ship and leave.
Whether they chose to remain pirates or return to peaceful lives wasn't Luffy's concern.
Having just escaped death, Bell-mère slowly opened her eyes. Still disoriented, she couldn't tell if she was alive or dead. Her body suddenly gave out, and she collapsed to the ground. The cigarette between her lips fell and rolled a few times, its smoke still curling faintly.
"Aunt Bell-mère!"
"Bell-mère!"
Nami and Nojiko ran to her side, hugging her tightly and crying.
"You girls…"
Held close in their arms, Bell-mère felt their warmth and love bring her strength back.
"This is bad!"
Seeing Arlong and his crew closing in on Luffy, Bell-mère suddenly panicked.
She had no idea what had just happened, only that it was this boy who stopped Arlong from killing her.
She couldn't let an innocent child die!
Bell-mère quickly released Nami and Nojiko, picked up the cigarette still burning on the ground, and stood up. "Hey! You damn pirates!"
She stepped forward, intending to stop Arlong and his crew.
A hand suddenly grabbed her arm.
It was Genzo, still bleeding from his wounds. He shook his head and said weakly, "Don't act rashly, Bell-mère. That kid… doesn't seem ordinary."
By now, Arlong's group had surrounded Luffy, forming a circle as if to prevent him from escaping.
Each fish-man stood over two meters tall. In comparison, the still-growing Luffy wasn't even as thick as their legs.
"Hey, brat! Didn't you hear our boss talking to you?" barked one of the fish-men, a blue-skinned, long-lipped creature resembling a kissing fish.
This was Chew, one of the three top officers of the Arlong Pirates.
As Chew drew closer, towering over him, Luffy remained smiling. He didn't speak, his greedy gaze swept across Chew with unabashed curiosity.
"Damn kid!"
That look… Chew was reminded of those hateful nobles who had once enslaved his people. The same exact eyes.
"I'll kill you!"
Chew raised his fist high and slammed it down toward Luffy with full force, not caring if the boy would be crushed into pulp.
Bell-mère broke free from Genzo and tried to rush forward to save Luffy. Even knowing it was futile, her sense of justice wouldn't let her stand by.
"Bastard! Stop it!!"
She grabbed a stone with her good arm and hurled it at Arlong's group.
But it was all too late.
Chew's punch landed squarely,
Boom!
A muffled thud echoed, raising a thick cloud of dust that blocked everyone's vision.
The fish-men grinned, already preparing to mock the corpse they expected to find.
Bell-mère shut her eyes tightly, tears streaming down her face. Her jaw clenched in anguish.
This is all my fault!
I'm too weak… I can't even protect a child!
"Bell-mère! Look!" Nami shouted suddenly.
Her sixth sense had told her something was off from the beginning. Unlike the others, she didn't look away, she kept her eyes fixed on the dust cloud.
The dust slowly settled.
And the figure gradually came into view.
Luffy stood with one arm raised, blocking Chew's punch.
Though his fist was only a fifth the size of Chew's, the fish-man couldn't push forward another inch.
Luffy smiled, calm and unfazed.
Chew, however, was red-faced, hunched over, eyes filled with fear and rage.
Luffy's smile faded slightly. With a swift twist of his waist, he pulled his other arm back, and launched a devastating punch.
Chew, sensing the danger, instinctively stepped back.
BOOM!
Luffy's punch landed where Chew had just stood.
The ground split. Stones erupted like a geyser.
The force blasted Chew into the air. The shards tore into his skin.
Blood dotted the ground, and Chew's breathing weakened.
He wasn't dead, but standing again would be a challenge.
Under the clear blue sky, Arlong stared wide-eyed.
His cold gaze cut like a blade.
"You little bastard… How dare you hurt my comrade! Unforgivable!!"
Watching one of his top officers get crushed, Arlong's face twisted with fury.
Luffy glanced at him indifferently, then calmly walked out of the circle of fish-men. They parted in fear, trembling as he passed.
He stopped in front of Bell-mère and the others.
Looking up at the taller, orange-haired girl, Luffy grinned wide.
"Hi, I'm Luffy!"
That cheerful smile radiated warmth and safety, and for a moment, Nami forgot the Arlong Pirates even existed, forgot the pain and the near-death of Bell-mère.
As if compelled, Nami reached out and shook his hand.
"I'm Nami…"
"Ah!"
Nami suddenly pulled her hand back, remembering the situation.
This wasn't the time or place to be making friends.
Bell-mère was still bleeding. Genzo looked barely conscious.
Luffy turned to Bell-mère. "Hey, miss. You're Nami's mom, right? How about we make a deal?"
"What kind of deal?" Bell-mère was wary. Despite what just happened, she couldn't trust him yet, not someone with that kind of power who called himself a child.
Luffy smiled. "Name's Luffy. I'm a pirate."
"As for the deal…" His tone dropped coldly. The chilling edge in his voice made everyone instinctively tense. "Let Nami come to sea with me as my navigator. In exchange, I'll kill every last one of these fish-men."
"No!" "Yes!"
Two voices, one large, one small, spoke at the same time.
Bell-mère quickly pulled Nami behind her. "What do you want with Nami? I won't let you take her!"
But Nami peeked out from behind her mother, eyes glistening with tears. "I'll go with you. Just… kill them all."
Bell-mère tried to protest, but Nami grabbed her arm. "Please, Bell-mère… if we don't, we're all going to die today."
Bell-mère looked from the terrifying fish-men to the even more terrifying boy who had crushed them.
She said nothing.
Luffy grinned. "Then it's a deal."
"Watch out!!"
Nojiko, who had been silent until now, suddenly shouted.
"Bastard!"
Kriegfish-man Kuroobi had finally snapped. Enraged that Luffy had disrespected Arlong and injured a fellow officer, he attacked without permission.
"Fish-Man Karate!"
Taking a stance, Kuroobi struck at Luffy's head with a palm strike before he could turn around.
Smack!
Without even looking, Luffy raised one hand and caught the attack midair.
He seized Kuroobi's wrist. "You dare touch my soon-to-be navigator? Bold."
Luffy's eyes turned cold, and a menacing aura seeped out of him.
The air grew heavy. A faint scent of blood hung around him.
He pulled Kuroobi forward and clenched his other hand into a fist.
"Number one."
Splat.
A headless fish-man collapsed to the ground.
[Ding! The host has slain one Fish-Man Officer. Gained 890 EXP.]
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