Cocos Village

"Yeah hahahaha! I knew it, there's no way just anyone could defeat a god!"

After learning that Hawk Eyes was the world's strongest swordsman, Enel's mood finally lifted, and he reverted to his chuunibyou persona.

Cifer didn't try to dampen his spirits. After all, Haki could be learned eventually, and in Paradise, Enel could basically walk all over everyone.

It was just that his luck was poor, and he kept running into top-tier powerhouses.

"Mr. Cifer, we've arrived at Cocos Village!"

Less than half an hour after parting ways with Hawk Eyes, the Little Ul docked near a coastline.

"Let's go, we'll walk around."

The three disembarked in succession.

With Enel now around, his Mantra was active at all times, so there was no longer any need for anyone to guard the ship.

"What… what is this situation?!"

Entering the village and seeing the scene before her, Tashigi's eyes widened, clearly shocked.

The road was in disarray, and the houses on both sides had been uprooted entirely and then plunged upside down into the ground. What kind of immense strength was this?!

"Just a few dried fish flopping around."

Enel and Hawk Eyes' exchange at sea had been brief. The former's techniques were easily neutralized, so Tashigi couldn't discern their true power.

Her vision was still too limited; she hadn't witnessed a true master at work and thought that what she saw before her was already terrifying enough.

"Honestly, this is the first time a god has landed in the Blue Sea, how can there be no one to welcome him?"

Enel transformed into a bolt of lightning and vanished from sight.

Not far away, on a perfectly intact road, a middle-aged man with crisscrossing scars on his face was surrounded by a group of villagers, including a beautiful blue-haired girl.

"It's okay, Gen, Nami will succeed soon!"

Nojiko patted the uncle's shoulder to comfort him. Gen had been thinking of driving out Arlong and his crew for years, but he had failed every single time.

He bore all sorts of scars, and seeing them pained her as well. In her heart, Gen was already like a father.

She could only keep comforting herself and them, saying that Nami would resolve it. But she knew all too well the suffering Nami had endured over the years.

She wished the entire village could fight Arlong to the death together rather than let Nami bear that pain alone, but she couldn't.

This was something Nami had decided, and she foolishly thought everyone was unaware, not wanting to make them feel guilty, so everyone tacitly pretended not to know.

"Yeah hahahaha! You guys, why aren't you welcoming the arrival of a god!"

Enel, who had been sitting on a rooftop listening to their conversation, suddenly spoke, startling everyone. Gen immediately recognized the person before him as an outsider.

"Young man, you should leave quickly, or it'll be over if those guys find you!"

Gen's expression was grave. Those Fish-Men appeared and disappeared without a trace, extorting all sorts of money from the village every few days.

And for those who resisted them, their houses would be smashed at best, and they would be severely injured at worst. If they were in a bad mood, outsiders might even be killed.

"Those guys?"

Enel was confused.

His powerful Mantra could naturally detect the hatred and fear in Gen's words for "those guys."

Listening a little more closely from afar, everything became clear. In the entire village, only one place was filled with laughter and joy.

As long as those guys were eliminated, it would be fine!

"Yeah hahahaha!"

I didn't expect that I, Enel, would be able to reveal my divine presence so soon and be revered like a god!

The villagers looked at Enel, who had suddenly burst into laughter, exchanging bewildered glances.

"The guys you're talking about, they're this thing, right!"

Cifer and Tashigi also appeared in everyone's sight, dragging a leg, with a Fish-Man bleeding from all seven orifices trailing behind them on the ground.

Gen's face changed drastically, and he quickly ran towards Cifer, with the others following closely behind.

Seeing this, Cifer knew what he intended to do and directly threw the Fish-Man's corpse in front of them.

"He's dead!"

The Fish-Man was tall, with a middle-parted hairstyle and a long mouth. Gen recognized him as one of Arlong's executives—"Kuroobi"!

Gen's hands were trembling. He couldn't imagine that a Fish-Man who usually acted arrogantly in the village was now dead so silently, and he was an executive!

His heart was filled with joy, but it was followed by deeper tension.

If an ordinary Fish-Man went missing, Arlong might not pay much attention, but this was one of his executives, a trusted comrade of Arlong's. If he disappeared, Arlong wouldn't stand by idly!

This was going to be a huge problem!

"You guys, hurry and escape! Or you'll die!"

Gen's voice was filled with tension. Outsiders, and they killed a Fish-Man, Arlong would definitely not let them go!

Although after they left, Arlong would likely vent his anger on the villagers, they had paid their protection fees, so their chances of survival were relatively high. At most, they would receive a beating.

Arlong also knew that killing too many people would make the villagers fight him desperately, so he had hardly killed any villagers over the years.

"Hey, hey, hey, are you ignoring me? I am a god!"

Seeing Cifer attract everyone's attention the moment he appeared, Enel was very displeased.

"Foolish mortals, let God solve this little trouble for you!"

"Yahaha~"

Everyone looked at the three of Cifer in shock, thinking that these people were speaking wildly because they had never witnessed Arlong's power.

"I am a Marine of justice, please believe us!"

She had seen the arrogant and overbearing behavior of that Fish-Man just now, and combined with the villagers' reactions and the houses at the village entrance, it was hard not to guess what these Fish-Men had done.

As a Marine with justice in her heart, she had to bring those bad guys to justice!

Unexpectedly, as soon as she spoke, the villagers who were still worried about them became indifferent.

"Oh, it's the Marines, we don't need your help!"

Everyone began to distance themselves from them. Tashigi couldn't understand. She clearly represented justice and was here to help them, so why was she being disliked instead?

Nojiko and Gen saw things more clearly. She immediately stepped forward.

"The Fish-Man Pirates have occupied this place. Their captain, Arlong, is a pirate with a bounty of 20 million Belly. Are you sure you can handle it?"

Looking at the tragically dead Kuroobi, a glimmer of hope arose in Nojiko's heart. They might be different from Captain Nezumi, true soldiers of justice!

But she also had to confirm if they could really solve the problem, otherwise sending them would be sending them to their deaths.

20 million Belly?

Tashigi wasn't very clear about the concept of such a bounty. Since she joined the Marines and was assigned to the Loguetown branch, all slightly stronger pirates had been dealt with by Captain Smoker.

Among those dealt with, there didn't seem to be anyone with such a high bounty.

However, she glanced at Cifer beside her and instantly calmed down. This person's bounty exceeded 1 billion, making him a super pirate!

And seeing how decisively he acted against the Fish-Man just now, she felt that Cifer was here to deal with those scum!

"Don't be afraid, please believe us!"

She didn't tell the villagers about Cifer's Shichibukai status. After all, this was the East Blue, and for the common people here, Shichibukai might be an even more terrifying pirate.

Seeing that they completely disregarded Arlong, who had a bounty of 20 million Belly, Nojiko and Gen decided to take a gamble!

For Nami!

And for everyone who had been bullied and hurt by the Fish-Men!

"Okay! I'll take you there!"

Gen spoke up, and at the same time, he told the other villagers, including Nojiko, to go home. If they failed, it wouldn't implicate everyone.

"We want to go too!"

However, the villagers' anger from years of oppression was unbearable. Now that they had a chance to witness the downfall of the Arlong Pirates, they were willing to die.

For so many years, they had let Nami bear the pain alone. They didn't want to pretend to be ignorant anymore. If they didn't even dare to lead the way, how could they face the tears Nami had shed for them over the years!

In fact, Enel and the others didn't need anyone to lead the way. In a village this small, they could find Arlong Park immediately.

However, the villagers' enthusiasm was hard to refuse, and besides, they should be allowed to witness the destruction of Arlong Park with their own eyes to extinguish the anger in their hearts.

Thus, the three of them followed the mighty villagers' procession, step by step, heading towards Arlong Park.

Enel was enjoying himself; it was only right for a large group of people to lead the way for a god!

On the coast, a pirate ship with a sheep's head was docked next to the Little Ul, which looked like a tiny boat in comparison.

"A new pirate ship... No way..."

The orange-haired girl who disembarked from the ship was already covered in sweat. She, who was usually accustomed to stealing, had no thoughts of anything upon seeing such a giant ship and quickly ran towards the village.

"Everyone... please don't be alright!"