OPTC Chapter 339: Admiral Sakazuki Will Speak for Me
Zhang Da Ye figured that with Rayleigh's temperament, he wouldn't actually kill him. Whether he could even win was another story, but a fight with him could yield plenty of gains—just like when he used Garp as a sparring partner. As long as he didn't die, it was a profit. A sure way to improve his strength.
"Ten people, huh?" Rayleigh looked around for members of the Amber Travel Group.
At that moment, Artoria had just stolen the last bite of meat from the big bone Tom was holding in his left hand, pretending like nothing had happened. Tom had just finished the meat in his right hand, tossed the bone away, and brought up the left one—chewing invisible meat without realizing it.
Perona, Wendy, and Carla stood quietly to the side after having been a little too playful earlier.
Brook, as usual, seemed to have flirted with some beautiful woman and was promptly kicked to the ground.
Shark Chili was surrounded by a group of curious children begging to see the giant robot again.
Ye Yan was still posing dramatically, while Jin Erpeng hovered in the air, taking photos with a camera.
Rui Meng Meng, who had been quietly eating, was now being hugged by the delinquent older girl Bellemere, who was trying to get her to drink.
The whole Amber Travel Group looked completely harmless—but Rayleigh had the sinking feeling he still couldn't win.
"Ten people against an old man like me—isn't that a bit unfair?" he said.
"What's unfair about that? We always fight as a group. Whether it's one person or a thousand, we all go together. It's not personal," Zhang Da Ye said honestly. It was the truth, though it did sound oddly familiar.
Rayleigh actually believed that. He suspected that was exactly how Shiki ended up dead, and he didn't envy the man's fate.
After thinking for a moment, Rayleigh smiled. "Hey kid, what was that last thing you said again?"
Zhang Da Ye blinked. "I said if you can take all ten of us down—"
"Not that one, the one before."
"You said you want to save your benefactor, and you're still talking about positions?"
"Before that."
"You promised me three things—"
"Alright!" Rayleigh immediately agreed with a grin and went over to untie Hachi.
Zhang Da Ye was dumbfounded. "Wait, that's it? You just agree like that? What about your dignity as a great pirate? Weren't you just making a fuss about face?"
"Otherwise what? I didn't come here looking for trouble," Rayleigh said with an amused shake of his head. His only goal was to have a drink and see how these people had changed after setting out to sea. He had only decided to help after learning Hachi was in trouble.
Still, fighting wasn't a great option—someone might get hurt, and then things would get messy.
As Hachi was untied, the conscious fish-men began to whisper among themselves. Kuroobi couldn't hold back.
"Hachi, why do you know that human, and why does it seem like you're close to him? Have you betrayed Arlong?"
"Nyuu… because I once saved Rayleigh when I was a kid…" Hachi stammered, explaining how he knew the man.
Some fish-men exchanged glances. "Then… can we also—"
"Shut up!" Kuroobi barked. "You want to beg humans for mercy?"
"I—I just want to ask Hachi! I don't want to die! I don't want to go to prison!"
"You coward!"
The fish-men argued loudly, several of them casting pleading glances at Hachi, hoping he'd speak up for them.
"Rayleigh?" Hachi asked nervously, unable to ignore their desperation.
"There's nothing I can do for them," Rayleigh said with a sigh. "From the look on Da Ye's face, letting you go is already pushing it."
Hachi was his friend, so he would help him. The others, he didn't even know.
And honestly, Hachi wasn't really cut out to be a pirate anyway. He had simply followed Arlong since childhood, never thinking for himself about right or wrong. People like him weren't made for that life.
As for the rest of them, Rayleigh wasn't about to play savior to every pirate in sight. They had chosen their path—they'd bear the consequences. He was "Dark King" Rayleigh, not "Pirate Babysitter" Rayleigh.
One fish-man shouted angrily, "Hey, old man! That octopus is your benefactor, right? If you're repaying a debt, you should at least take us too!"
Rayleigh ignored him. He'd seen plenty of idiots in his life. Turning to Zhang Da Ye, he said, "Seems like I won't be getting that drink after all. Mind lending me a small boat?"
"There's one on Arlong's ship. Ask him where it is, take whichever you like," Zhang Da Ye replied, a little disappointed he didn't get his free sparring session. Still, it wasn't worth being stingy over a boat.
In hindsight, it was probably better this way—if a real fight had broken out, Cocoyasi Village might have been destroyed.
Hachi left reluctantly, urged along by Rayleigh. With his limited brainpower, he couldn't think of any way to save his comrades, or even whether he should take revenge for Arlong.
The remaining fish-men began shouting insults—calling Rayleigh ungrateful, calling Hachi a traitor to his kind, and hurling a few nasty words at Zhang Da Ye as well.
Zhang Da Ye waved a hand. "Perona, make them quiet."
"Okay."
Several small ghosts flew out, and suddenly all yelling stopped—replaced by a chorus of self-pitying cries like, "I'm such a loser…"
Watching Rayleigh and Hachi row away, Artoria and Tom returned to their seats.
Artoria thought the meat Tom had was delicious and wanted more.
Tom, on the other hand, was puzzled. He should have been full after two big pieces of meat, but he still felt hungry—like he'd only eaten one. The cat thought about it for a while, then shrugged. A bigger appetite wasn't bad—it meant more good food. He licked his lips and considered grabbing another piece.
"Da Ye," Aken asked, "who was that old man, really?"
"A retired pirate," Zhang Da Ye said. "Getting involved with him would be a hassle. Best pretend we never met."
"Yes, sir." Aken nodded quickly. If even Zhang Da Ye found him troublesome, he definitely didn't want to know more. "And that octopus fish-man… he won't come back for revenge, right?"
"No," Zhang Da Ye said. "That guy's one of the harmless types."
If it were another fish-man, Zhang Da Ye might not have dared to let them go. But Hachi was harmless. Once he got back to Fishman Island, Jinbe and Queen Otohime would straighten him out.
He might even come back just to apologize someday.
Aken relaxed a little, then asked, pointing at the fish-men, "Are all fish-men like them?"
"Of course not," Zhang Da Ye said. "Fish-men are just like humans—good and bad, beautiful and ugly. Arlong was an extremist, but there are plenty of fish-men who want peace and friendship with humans."
He noticed Nojiko, Nami, and a few villagers listening curiously and decided to give them a short lesson about Fishman Island. After what they'd gone through, he didn't expect them to suddenly like fish-men—but at least he could keep them from hating them all.
Even if most of them would never see a fish-man again in their lives, he still wanted to do it. It didn't need a reason.
After a moment, Aken asked, "You said beautiful and ugly?"
"Yeah."
Some villagers exchanged mischievous smiles. Aken, encouraged, asked, "How beautiful? Like… mermaids?"
Zhang Da Ye looked around at the eager faces and sighed. So all that lecturing about equality and understanding was wasted—these people only cared about mermaids, huh?
Their expressions told him the answer. He thought briefly about showing them the photo he had taken with Tom's Workshop to crush their expectations, but decided against it. Ruining interspecies relations wasn't a good look, and Granny Kokoro wasn't much of a showpiece these days anyway.
He pulled out his album and flipped to the Fishman Island section. There were photos with King Neptune's family, Jinbe, and of course, some beautiful mermaids from Mermaid Cove.
Back then, he'd thought they wanted photos because of his charm. Later, he realized it probably had more to do with the fact that they were traveling with Queen Otohime—the mermaids' goodwill was automatic.
It wasn't a big deal, really, but as the villagers eagerly admired the photos, Zhang Da Ye casually retold those "glorious adventures" a few more times, earning several looks of envy and disbelief before letting it go.
Aken returned the album reluctantly. "I really envy you, Da Ye…"
A slender arm suddenly draped around his neck. "What are you envying, Aken?"
He turned bright red when he saw it was Bellemere. "Don't sneak up on me like that! Everyone's watching!"
Bellemere hiccuped, a blush on her face, holding a drink in one hand. "So… it's fine if no one's watching, then?"
"Watch your words, you delinquent woman!" Aken shouted. "You're a mother of two, for heaven's sake!"
Watching the two bicker, Zhang Da Ye said what everyone else was thinking. "They're totally into each other."
Wendy and Carla exchanged glances over their juice. That line sounded familiar.
The onlookers burst out laughing. They'd long noticed Aken's special care toward Bellemere's family.
He claimed he was just fond of Nami and Nojiko, but it was pretty obvious the real reason was their mother.
"Don't talk nonsense! You all know what she's like!" Aken shouted, face bright red.
"Sure, sure," the villagers said dismissively before dispersing with knowing smiles.
Bellemere, laughing drunkenly, tried to pour more drinks for Aken while teasing him mercilessly.
Nami and Nojiko just sighed—they were clearly used to her antics.
"Oh, right, Da Ye," Nojiko said. "Bellemere said she wanted to invite you all to our house tomorrow—to thank you for saving us."
Zhang Da Ye chuckled. "I appreciate the thought, but no need. You'd go bankrupt."
"Bankrupt? Why?" Nami asked quickly.
Though the deal with Arlong had never happened in this version of events, she'd grown up poor and was still very sensitive about money.
Zhang Da Ye simply pointed toward Artoria.
Nami and Nojiko followed his gaze. Nothing unusual—just a pretty woman eating… wait.
After watching for a while as he suggested, their faces went pale.
How… how could someone so graceful and delicate eat like that?
Given their family's modest means, even a simple dinner guest required careful planning. If they hosted this group, they'd be eating dirt for days.
The two girls fidgeted awkwardly, not sure what to say.
"You've already thanked us plenty," Zhang Da Ye said kindly. "The village's feast was enough. We earn bounties for a living—no need for more thanks." He gently nudged the two girls toward Wendy and Perona. "Go play."
…
Not long after the banquet ended, the Navy finally arrived. This time it was Colonel Hicks of the 16th Branch—someone Zhang Da Ye had met before. He was the one who removed Major Fullbody from his post and paid the travel group's overdue bounty last time.
Though Hicks had never seen the Amber Group eat in person, rumors about their appetite had already spread across East Blue. He decided to be cautious and came fully prepared.
The reason a colonel came in person was that Arlong's case was special—he had ties to the current Warlord Jinbe. Hicks needed to confirm the situation himself before reporting it, and since Arlong's bounty was 20 million—a top-tier amount for East Blue—he had to make sure.
Holding Arlong's bounty poster, Hicks compared it to the corpse before him. "No doubt about it—it's Arlong. I didn't expect you to defeat such a notorious pirate, Da Ye."
Zhang Da Ye glanced at the "DEAD OR ALIVE" printed on the bounty and asked, "Since it says that, the reward isn't affected, right?"
"Of course not," Hicks said. "Against a pirate like this, killing in combat is understandable. You'll get the full reward."
Kuroobi shouted angrily, "He killed Arlong on purpose! He's a murderer!"
"Nonsense," Zhang Da Ye said coldly. "It was self-defense in battle. If you're not convinced, go appeal to Navy Headquarters. I'm sure the fair and righteous Admiral Sakazuki will speak on our behalf!"
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