"The dragon… is dead?!!"
Nami and Nojiko stood frozen as they stared at the dismembered corpse of the fishman warlord. Then, overwhelmed with emotion, the two sisters fell into each other's arms, crying uncontrollably tears of both joy and pain.
The monster who murdered their mother…
The tyrant who enslaved Cocoyasi Village for six long years…
He was finally gone.
Just like that.
"Hehe… Your Majesty, that fishman's bounty is worth twenty million berries. I was wondering if, uh…"
Eric rubbed his hands together awkwardly, eyes gleaming at the mention of berries.
After all, that was the highest bounty for any pirate in the entire East Blue.
It would take Eric ages to make that kind of money the usual way.
Truth be told, he had always fantasized about taking down the so-called strongest pirate of the East Blue. But fear had always held him back fear of what a powerful fishman like that could do to his ship… or to him.
So instead, Eric had settled into a more comfortable routine: chasing rookie pirate crews, bullying the weak, and collecting small bounties. A soft persimmon was easier to squeeze, after all.
"You don't get what I don't give."
Victor's tone suddenly shifted, his voice laced with steel.
As the war for territory drew to a close and the mercenary operation neared its end, Victor's attitude toward Eric underwent a complete transformation.
"Y-Your Majesty…"
Eric stumbled back a step, startled by the king's cold stare. A chill ran down his spine. A wave of unease crashed over him.
"This dragon," Victor continued coolly, "was a close friend of Jinbei, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Killing him is not something that comes without consequences."
Victor let the words hang in the air for a moment.
"That's why I'm extending you an offer, Eric. Join the Goa Kingdom's Royal Guard."
Eric's eyes widened.
"If you accept, not only will you receive the dragon's full bounty… but you'll also be under the kingdom's protection."
At last, Victor had shown his hand.
The campaign to subdue the Four Nations of the East Blue was nearing its climax. Now was the time to consolidate power and Victor was starting to reveal the fox's tail behind the king's crown.
It was the classic strategy: offer both the stick and the carrot.
If Eric still refused to fall in line… well, Victor could always lower his moral bottom line and deal with him as he did with any disobedient mercenary.
After all, pirates like Django had once served as slaves too.
"What?!"
Eric's expression turned pale. Sweat beaded down his face.
"The dragon… was friends with a Warlord of the Sea?!"
He had long known the terrifying power the Seven Warlords held pirates with government backing, licensed to plunder freely.
If someone like Jinbei, the so-called Sea Knight, decided to come after him, the World Government wouldn't even lift a finger to stop it.
Even Nami and Nojiko were shaken.
Now that they knew the dragon had powerful connections, fear began creeping back in. Would Cocoyasi Village really be safe in the future?
"No wonder the dragon was able to work with someone like Captain Nezumi… So that's how it was!"
Eric's face twisted in panic. He suddenly felt like he'd been played.
He had only taken the job for some quick cash, and now he found himself entangled in something much, much deeper.
He wanted to finish the job, collect his fee, and disappear forever from Victor's path.
But it was already too late.
The king's shadow loomed large over him.
"Well?" Victor asked again, voice calm, eyes sharp.
"Your Majesty's methods are… impressive. I yield."
Eric's expression was heavy with resignation. After a long silence, he finally forced a bitter smile and dropped to one knee before Victor Shaw, accepting his fate with a hollow thud.
From this moment forward, his only hope of survival lay in the protection of the Goa Kingdom and its allies. Only their banner could shield him from the wrath of Jinbei the Sea Knight, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
"Welcome to the Goa Empire, Eric," Victor said with a calm smile, casually spinning the slave collar in his hand.
This guy really needed to be pushed all the way to the cliff's edge before he gave in.
Well, as long as he behaved from now on and worked hard, Victor wouldn't press further.
"It is my honor to serve Your Majesty."
Eric's mouth twitched ever so slightly. This king… was nothing short of tyrannical.
Still, "Goa Empire" had a nice ring to it.
Was the kingdom finally preparing to ascend into empire status?
Victor turned next to Fan Oka.
"Fan Oka, how about joining my royal security forces? I'd like to name you captain of the sniper unit."
Fan Oka bowed slightly.
"As you command, my lord."
There was no hesitation. He accepted immediately.
Because he knew resistance was pointless.
Victor extended a gleaming golden sniper rifle.
"I'll entrust this to you."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Fan Oka slung the weapon over his back with reverence. He could already feel its weight and balance on par with his beloved Thousand Road, but forged with finer craftsmanship and devastating precision.
Eric, seeing Fan Oka receive a royal reward, suddenly remembered his own unfinished business.
The bounty.
He quickly summoned a wind blade and cleanly severed the already-mutilated fishman's head from its corpse.
No way he was leaving without claiming those twenty million berries.
He had big plans maybe buy a villa in Gao Town, the jewel of the East Blue.
Perhaps… one day… he'd even rise to become a high-ranking general in the Goa Empire.
With both Eric and Fan Oka officially joining the royal forces, the other bounty hunters and mercenaries began to stir.
They'd come chasing coin. But now… they saw something greater.
The Goa Empire had real potential. Under Victor Shaw, it could become something extraordinary.
One by one, they chose to stay.
Victor, seeing the tide shift in his favor, appointed Eric as the captain of the empire's newly formed special forces division, placing him temporarily in charge of the assembled bounty hunters.
From scattered swords-for-hire… to an army.
···
"Next clean up the rest of the fishmen."
The king was ready.
Victor Shaw stood at the shoreline, prepared to release the remaining fishmen only to wipe them out all at once.
Don't talk to him about "kind-hearted fishmen."
These were the same ones who had enjoyed the spoils of oppressing more than twenty villages across the East Blue.
There were no innocents among them.
Once you reap the benefits of evil you are complicit.
"Your Majesty, each fishman is worth at least a million berries," Eric muttered, that greedy gleam returning to his eyes.
He was already thinking about the Arlong Pirates' bounty posters.
Kuroobi nine million.
Chuu five and a half million.
That was a goldmine waiting to be claimed.
But Victor's response was swift and sharp.
"Do you think I care about such petty cash?"
"I won't stoop to the level of a slave merchant!"
"We're still at war."
There was no time to hold trials or determine who among the fishmen might be good or evil.
Victor had no intention of dragging this out. The war to conquer the Four Nations of the East Blue was still underway, and he needed to end this front swiftly.
Otherwise, he'd have to deal with the World Government… the Marines… Fishman Island… and the so-called Knight of the Sea Jinbei.
That, he didn't have the patience for.
"…Yes, Your Majesty."
Eric finally shut his mouth, helpless to object.
The king kept reminding everyone that these fishmen were under Jinbei's protection… yet here he was, exterminating them without hesitation.
Was Victor Shaw really afraid of Jinbei?
Or was he sending a message?
Nami and Nojiko stood to the side, stunned.
The king's cold decision to sentence dozens of fishmen with just a few words left them speechless… and a little frightened.
"This is war!" Victor declared, raising his hand. "All units prepare to kill!"
The command rang out like thunder.
Immediately, Goa's royal guards raised their weapons.
Eric gathered wind blades with a scowl.
Fan Oka steadied his sniper rifle.
"Fire!!"
Victor swung his arm forward like a blade cutting through the air.
At that signal, all soldiers opened fire in the direction he had pointed.
Eric's wind blades howled through the air.
Fan Oka's bullets struck true with deadly precision.
Artillery fire exploded across the battlefield.
From the sea, more fishmen surged up through the smoke and chaos but they were met with a relentless rain of destruction.
"Aaaah!!"
Screams echoed from the shoreline.
Wave after wave of murlocs collapsed in the onslaught.
In addition to the dozen fishmen taken out by Fan Oka's sniper shots and the three personally killed by Nami and Nojiko the remaining eighty to ninety fishmen were completely consumed by the barrage of artillery fire.
Even Hatchan didn't survive.
Along with crew officers Kuroobi and Chuu, he was sent straight to the afterlife… to keep the evil dragon company.
If Silvers Rayleigh ever dared to come forward and seek revenge for Hatchan, Victor Shaw would be waiting for him right here, in the East Blue.
After all, Victor had already killed Sabo's biological parents without hesitation.
What difference would one more pirate enemy make?
Now, he was king of a World Government member nation.
If Rayleigh tried anything reckless, Victor would simply submit a formal request to the World Government to eliminate both Shaakuyaku and Rayleigh of the Sabaody Archipelago.
Let them try.
As the final echoes of gunfire faded, the battlefield fell silent.
All that remained was the thick scent of smoke… and a bloody heap of fishman corpses sprawled across the shoreline.
Nami and Nojiko clung to each other, covering each other's eyes, unwilling to witness any more of the slaughter.
They had long dreamed of revenge.
But they never imagined it would come like this fast, brutal, and so final.
···