Cocoyasi Village

"Yehahahaha! I knew no one could just defeat a god!"

After learning that Hawk Eyes was the world's greatest swordsman, Enel finally calmed down and returned to his usual chuuni self.

Cifer did not bother discouraging him. He would learn Haki sooner or later, and in Paradise, Enel could already pretty much do as he pleased.

He had simply been unlucky enough to run into nothing but top-tier powerhouses.

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

Barely half an hour after parting ways with Hawk Eyes, the Little Ul docked near a stretch of coast.

"Come on. Let's go take a look."

The three of them disembarked one after another.

Now that they had Enel, whose Mantra remained active around the clock, there was no longer any need to leave someone behind to guard the ship.

"Wh-What happened here?!"

As soon as she entered the village and saw the scene before her, Tashigi's eyes widened in shock.

The roads were in ruins, and the houses on both sides had actually been uprooted whole and driven upside down into the ground. What kind of monstrous strength was that?!

"Just a few little fish flopping around."

Hawk Eyes and Enel's exchange at sea had only been a brief spar. Enel's moves had all been effortlessly neutralized, so Tashigi could not tell how powerful they truly were.

Her horizons were still too narrow. She had never seen true powerhouses fight in earnest and thought what she saw before her was already terrifying enough.

"Honestly, this is a god's first landing on the Blue Sea. How could no one come welcome him?"

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

Not far away, on an intact road, a scar-faced middle-aged man stood surrounded by a group of villagers. Among them was a pretty girl with blue hair.

"It'll be fine, Gen. Nami will succeed soon!"

Nojiko patted the man's shoulder in comfort. Over the years, Gen had constantly wanted to drive Arlong and his men out, but every attempt had ended in failure.

His body was covered in scars, and seeing him like this pained her deeply. In her heart, Gen had long been like a father to her.

All she could do was keep comforting herself and everyone else, telling them that Nami would solve everything. But how could she not know about the pain Nami had endured all these years?

She would rather the entire village fight Arlong to the death than let Nami bear that pain alone, but she could not do anything about it.

This was what Nami had decided on. Nami foolishly believed no one knew and did not want everyone to feel guilty, so everyone tacitly pretended not to know.

"Yehahahaha! You people, why aren't you welcoming the arrival of a god?!"

Enel, who had been sitting atop a roof listening to them talk, suddenly spoke, making everyone jump. Gen immediately saw that this man was an outsider.

"Young man, leave quickly. If those people find you, you're done for!"

Gen's expression was grave. Those fish-men came and went like ghosts, coming to the village every few days to collect all kinds of money.

And anyone who resisted them would have their house smashed up at best and be beaten half to death at worst. If the fish-men were in a bad mood, outsiders could even be killed.

"Those people?"

Enel did not understand.

With his powerful Mantra, he could naturally hear the hatred and fear Gen felt toward "those people."

When he listened a little farther out, everything became clear. In the entire village, only one place was filled with laughter and cheer.

So all he had to do was kill those people!

"Yehahahaha!"

I never thought Enel would get to display his divinity before the masses so soon and be worshipped like a god!

Everyone stared at Enel, who had suddenly burst out laughing, exchanging bewildered looks.

"Are these the people you're talking about?"

Cifer and Tashigi appeared in everyone's view as well. Cifer was dragging someone by the leg, a fish-man bleeding from all seven orifices being dragged along the ground behind him.

Gen's expression changed drastically as he hurried toward Cifer, with the other villagers following close behind.

Cifer understood what he wanted and directly flung the fish-man's corpse before them.

"He's dead!"

The fish-man was huge, with center-parted hair and a long mouth. Gen recognized him at once—he was one of Arlong's officers, "Kuroobi"!

Gen's hands trembled. He could not imagine that a fish-man who normally strutted around the village like he owned the place had died so silently—and an officer at that!

He felt immense joy, but it was immediately followed by even deeper anxiety.

If an ordinary fish-man disappeared, Arlong might not pay much attention. But this was one of his officers, a companion Arlong trusted deeply. Arlong would never ignore his disappearance!

This was going to cause a huge disaster!

"You need to run, now! Otherwise, you'll die!"

Gen's voice was full of panic. They were outsiders, and they had killed a fish-man. Arlong would never let them go!

Although Arlong would most likely take his anger out on the villagers after they left, the villagers had paid their survival fees, so they still had a good chance of living. At worst, they would receive a savage beating.

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

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

Seeing Cifer steal everyone's attention the moment he appeared, Enel was highly displeased.

"Foolish people, let this god deal with this trivial nuisance for you!"

"Yehahahaha!"

The crowd stared at Cifer's group in astonishment. They assumed these people were speaking so arrogantly only because they had never witnessed Arlong's strength.

"I'm a Marine who stands for justice. Please believe in us!"

She had seen how arrogant and overbearing that fish-man had been. Combined with the villagers' reaction and the destroyed houses at the village entrance, it was hard not to guess what the fish-men had done.

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

Yet the moment she spoke, the villagers who had been worried for them became distant instead.

"So you're Marines. We don't need your help!"

The crowd began to keep their distance. Tashigi did not understand. She represented justice, and she had come to help them, so why were they rejecting her instead?

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

"The ones occupying this place are the Arlong Pirates. Their captain, Arlong, is a pirate with a Bounty of 20 million Belly. Are you sure you can handle this?"

Seeing Kuroobi's miserable corpse, a flicker of hope rose in Nojiko's heart. Perhaps they were true soldiers of justice, unlike Captain Nezumi!

But she still had to make sure they could really deal with this. Otherwise, sending them there would be no different from sending them to their deaths.

20 million Belly?

Tashigi did not have a clear grasp of what that Bounty meant. Ever since she had joined the Marines and been assigned to the Loguetown branch, Smoker had handled every pirate who was even slightly strong.

And among the people he had dealt with, there did not seem to be anyone with a Bounty that high.

But she looked at Cifer beside her and instantly calmed down. This man's Bounty exceeded one billion—he was a Great Pirate!

And judging by how decisively he had attacked that fish-man earlier, she felt Cifer had come specifically to deal with those scum!

"Don't be afraid. Please trust us!"

She did not tell the villagers that Cifer was one of the Shichibukai. This was the East Blue, after all. To the common people here, a Shichibukai might simply sound like an even more terrifying pirate.

Seeing that they did not take Arlong's 20 million Belly Bounty seriously at all, Nojiko and Gen decided to take the gamble!

For Nami!

And for everyone who had been bullied and harmed by the fish-men!

"Fine! I'll take you there!"

Gen spoke up. At the same time, he told the other villagers, including Nojiko, to go home. If they failed, at least not everyone would be implicated.

"We're going too!"

But the villagers had endured years of oppression, and their pent-up fury could no longer be contained. Now that they had a chance to witness the end of the Arlong Pirates, they were willing to accept death itself.

They had let Nami suffer alone all these years. They did not want to keep pretending they knew nothing. If they did not even dare lead the way, how could they face the tears Nami had shed for them all these years?

In truth, Enel and the others did not need anyone to guide them. It was only one village; they could find Arlong Park in no time.

But the villagers were too earnest to refuse, and besides, they deserved to witness Arlong Park's destruction with their own eyes and put out the rage burning in their hearts.

Thus, the three followed behind the imposing procession of villagers, advancing step by step toward Arlong Park.

Enel, meanwhile, was enjoying himself immensely. Of course a huge crowd should lead the way for a god!

By the shore, a goat-headed pirate ship had docked beside the Little Ul. Compared to it, the other ship was utterly insignificant.

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

The orange-haired girl who stepped off the ship was already drenched in sweat. Though she was accustomed to stealing, even she had no thoughts of doing so upon seeing such a massive vessel, and she hurried toward the village.

"Everyone... please don't let anything happen to you!"