Chapter 64: Help Me... All Villains! Storming Arlong Park!
The smell of blood in the tangerine grove had not yet completely dissipated.
Colonel Nezumi's corpse, nailed to the ground, was like a loud slap in the face that thoroughly woke up everyone in Cocoyasi Village.
Genzo and the villagers, drawn by the commotion, stood before the chests of treasure. Their faces held no joy from recovering what was lost, only endless sorrow and rage.
Since Arlong could collude with a Marine Colonel to confiscate this money, it meant that from the very beginning, that Fishman never intended to keep his promise.
This was an eight-year-long scam.
"Unforgivable... absolutely unforgivable!!"
Someone shouted first, and immediately after, the flames of anger ignited the crowd like a prairie fire.
"Since we're dead either way! We might as well fight them!!"
"That's right! For Bell-mère! For all the grievances Nami has suffered all these years!!"
With bloodshot eyes, the villagers picked up hoes, shovels, and even kitchen knives.
Even though these were crude weapons, at this moment, they carried their will to fight to the death.
The crowd surged toward Arlong Park like a torrent of rage.
"No... don't go!!"
Watching this scene, Nami's mental defenses completely collapsed.
She stumbled forward, spreading her arms to try and stop the villagers who had watched her grow up:
"I'm begging you! Don't go! That's Arlong! You'll die!!"
However, no one stopped.
Genzo gently pushed Nami aside, a smile of one prepared for death appearing on his scarred face:
"Nami, that's enough. You've worked hard these past eight years."
"Leave the rest to us adults."
The villagers bypassed Nami, rushing toward that park that symbolized death without looking back.
"Everyone..."
Nami's outstretched hand froze in mid-air and finally dropped powerlessly.
In the empty tangerine grove, only the swirling dust and a girl in despair remained.
"Why... why did it turn out like this..."
Nami's knees buckled, and she knelt in the dust.
She lowered her head, looking at the black serrated tattoo on her left arm.
It was the mark of the Arlong Pirates, the root of her eight-year nightmare, the brand of a slave.
Despair, anger, regret, helplessness.
Countless emotions intertwined at this moment, turning into a destructive impulse.
"As long as this thing is gone... as long as it's gone!!"
Nami tremblingly picked up a dagger dropped by a villager.
She raised the blade, and with eyes full of tears and hatred, she stabbed fiercely at the tattoo on her left arm!
Clack.
Just as the tip of the blade was about to pierce her skin.
A powerful hand suddenly reached out from the side, gripping her wrist like an iron vise.
No matter how hard Nami struggled, that hand didn't budge an inch, forcefully stopping her self-harm.
"Ugh..."
Nami turned back, her face covered in tears.
What met her eyes was an expressionless face.
Tatsuya.
He wasn't wearing his usual smiling expression; his black eyes were as deep as a pool, quietly watching her as if seeing through the weakness in the depths of her soul.
Beside Tatsuya, Luffy didn't move or speak.
He just stood there, pressing down on his Straw Hat, looking at her with a calm and focused gaze.
In this instant.
Under the gaze of these two men.
The high wall Nami had built up over eight years came crashing down.
Clang.
The dagger slipped from her hand, and Nami could no longer maintain her false strength.
She gripped the dirt on the ground tightly, lowered her head, and with all her strength, cried out the words hidden in the deepest part of her heart:
"...Waaaaah..."
"...Help me... my crewmates!!!"
Hearing these words.
The previously silent Luffy suddenly split his mouth into a wide, signature grin.
He raised his hand and took off the Straw Hat that was more important to him than life itself.
Under Nami's trembling gaze, Luffy placed it firmly on her head.
Then, he turned around, faced the sky, and let out a deafening roar:
"YOU BET I WILL!!!!!"
This roar, like a horn of war, echoed through the sky over the entire Cocoyasi Village.
The crew of villains, assemble!
Luffy strode forward.
As the view widened, at the end of the street, the partners of the Straw Hat Pirates were already waiting.
On a stone railing.
Zoro tightened his dark green bandana, a fierce light like that of a demon flashing in his single eye, his hand already resting on the hilt of his sword:
"Ah, is it finally starting? I've been waiting for this."
To the side.
Sanji took a deep drag of his cigarette and slowly exhaled a smoke ring:
"Since you made a lady bleed so much... even if the opponent is a Fishman, I'll kick him to death."
Although Usopp's legs were shaking uncontrollably, he still gripped his slingshot tightly and didn't retreat a single step:
"This Great Me is a brave warrior of the sea! I... I won't be afraid of a mere salted fish!"
And Tatsuya.
He slowly released Nami's hand and picked up the long sword from the ground that had just tasted Marine blood.
At this moment, the cold killing intent radiating from him was heavier than anyone else present.
He glanced at Luffy walking at the front and let out a light chuckle:
"Since the Captain has given the order..."
"Then let's turn that park completely into hell."
...
The scene shifted.
In front of the towering gates of Arlong Park.
"Go back! Everyone, go back quickly!!"
Johnny and Yosaku were sweating profusely, spreading their arms to desperately block the villagers who wanted to rush in and die.
"Don't go in! You're just throwing your lives away!"
"Don't worry! Those Fishmen provoked people they shouldn't have! Monsters are coming to deal with them!"
While the villagers were emotional.
A red figure bypassed the crowd and took the lead, walking toward the closed giant iron gates.
Luffy had no intention of using the door.
That was a passage for guests.
Since he was here to storm the place, he had to do it the right way!
Luffy suddenly stopped, his right leg raised high and stretched back to the limit, the elastic potential energy of the rubber accumulating to its peak.
"Gomu Gomu—"
Rage burned in his eyes.
"Cannon!!!"
BOOM—!!!
A world-shaking explosion rang out.
Under the horrified gazes of the villagers, the giant iron gate of Arlong Park, which symbolized absolute rule and oppression, along with the surrounding several-meter-thick walls, collapsed instantly!
Debris flew and dust billowed.
The massive impact made the entire earth tremble.
When the dust settled.
Upon the ruins, the five members of the Straw Hat Pirates stood in a line.
Luffy was in the center, with Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, and Tatsuya on either side.
Each of them emitted a terrifying aura that seemed to freeze the air.
Luffy looked up at the park filled with pools and pavilions and let out a deafening roar:
"Hey! Which one is Arlong!!!"
Deep within the park.
Arlong, the saw-nosed shark Fishman sitting on a beach chair throne, slowly put down his wine glass.
His malicious eyes looked at this group of reckless humans and the destroyed gate, veins bulging on his forehead:
"Shahahahaha..."
"Inferior species... you dare to destroy my park..."
Arlong slowly stood up, his massive body casting a huge shadow:
"It seems if I don't kill you all, you won't know the terror of the sea."
At the moment their killing intents collided.
A mechanical system notification suddenly sounded in Tatsuya's mind as he stood on the right side of the group.
[Ding!]
[Key plot node detected!]
[Main Campaign Quest Triggered: The End of East Blue.]
[Quest Objective: Annihilate the Arlong Pirates and end Arlong's rule in the East Sea.]
[Quest Reward: A-rank Ninjutsu — Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame.]
Hearing the name of this reward, Tatsuya's originally calm pupils contracted sharply.
Majestic Destroyer Flame.
That was Uchiha Madara's signature Fire Release, a top-tier Ninjutsu that required dozens of Water Release users working together to block a single strike.
"Heh... this reward is truly impossible to refuse."
Tatsuya placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, his crimson Sharingan slowly spinning as he locked onto the prey ahead.
He tilted his head and said to his companions with a smile:
"The shark with the saw-nose belongs to Luffy."
"As for the rest of the small fry..."
Tatsuya's long sword left its sheath, the tip pointing to the ground as the corner of his mouth curled up: "Don't let a single one escape."
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