Captain Nezumi

After Nojiko explained everything, Nami finally understood the full story.

"Thank you all so much!"

Nami walked up to the three of them and bowed deeply. While everyone was cheering, Tashigi, having learned from the villagers of Arlong's gang's evil deeds over the years, lowered her head in shame.

She felt that the Marines bore great responsibility for Cocoyasi Village having endured such miserable years!

As the Marines responsible for maintaining peace in the world, they had failed to keep watch over even a small place in East Blue. After all, the Four Blues and Paradise were Marine territory!

"Is there anything you need? I'll do my best to provide it!"

Nami was in a wonderful mood. She wondered whether she should give Cifer and the others all the money she had saved over the years. After all, they had saved the village.

"Provide for me! There are plenty of things I need!" A sleazy voice came from behind them.

A shifty-looking man draped in a Justice Cape walked in through the shattered gate, followed by a group of rifle-bearing Marines.

"What a surprise. The famous Arlong actually died at the hands of a group of nobodies."

Captain Nezumi wore a broad smile. Since Arlong was dead, both his treasure and the credit for killing him would be his. There was also the money that little girl had supposedly hidden away!

He could already imagine how wonderful it would be—sitting on a fortune of over a hundred million Belly, perhaps even being transferred from a branch to headquarters!

"You Marines, what are you doing showing up now of all times?!"

Gen shielded Nami and Nojiko behind him and shouted angrily. Arlong's years of atrocities had a great deal to do with the Marine standing before them.

Everyone reacted fiercely. Now that Arlong was dead and the mountain weighing down on them was gone, they naturally had to rise up and resist.

Seeing their reaction, the Marines raised their guns, as though they would turn everyone present into sieves the moment Captain Nezumi gave the order.

"I, Captain Nezumi, am not an unreasonable man. I went through so much trouble to take care of Arlong's gang, so shouldn't you show me some gratitude?"

With a few words, he tried to claim all the credit for himself, then shamelessly demanded benefits from the villagers.

Everyone was furious, yet they had no idea how to deal with someone so utterly shameless.

After all, the other side was the Marines. Since ancient times, commoners did not fight officials!

"Which branch are you from? How can you claim someone else's achievement for yourself?!"

Tashigi had already been deeply dissatisfied after seeing Captain Nezumi's conduct. Hearing him say that, coupled with the villagers' attitude toward him, it was clear that these Marines had been colluding with those pirates.

It was because of scum like them that justice could not reach every corner of the sea!

"I am Marineford Petty Officer Tashigi. I will report every one of your actions to headquarters!"

Seeing the hatred on Tashigi's face, Captain Nezumi felt that he might have kicked an iron plate.

She was a headquarters petty officer!

Though her rank sounded lower than his, the value of a headquarters rank was completely beyond comparison to that of a branch. Among the people she knew, there might be someone who could crush him as easily as stepping on an ant.

Since things had come to this, it looked like he could only resort to violence!

"A headquarters petty officer? Then I may have to ask you to stay behind!"

Tashigi never could have imagined that, in order to conceal their crimes, her fellow Marines would actually try to kill her.

Under her disbelieving gaze, Captain Nezumi waved his hand. The Marines pulled their triggers without hesitation, not even caring about the villagers beside her.

Everyone shut their eyes in terror. Yet they only heard the crackling sound of gunfire and did not feel any bullets strike them.

They opened their eyes and witnessed an unbelievable sight: Captain Nezumi and his subordinates had collapsed to the ground in fright, while the bullets they had fired floated in midair before Cifer!

"A... Devil Fruit user?!"

Captain Nezumi could only think in terms of Devil Fruits as he sat limp on the ground and scrambled backward.

Then another thought occurred to him. They should all be Marines, right? At worst, once this was reported, he would be punished and dismissed. As for trying to kill his comrades, he could simply deny it to the death.

In any case, he had earned enough money over the years to live comfortably for the rest of his life. Still, it would naturally be best if he could smooth things over.

"Um, you three, I was just temporarily blinded by greed. Please be magnanimous and let it go. How about pretending I was never here? I'll definitely send you a generous gift afterward!"

Rubbing his hands together, he walked over to Tashigi with a fawning expression.

Bullying the weak and fearing the strong—the ugliness of human nature was displayed to the fullest in him at that moment. But Tashigi had no intention of letting it end there.

If Cifer had not acted in time, not only she, but every civilian around her would have died! That was something she could never tolerate.

Just as she was about to speak, Cifer spoke first.

"Enel, kill them all."

"Understood!"

His words showed no regard whatsoever for the lives of those dozens of men. To Cifer, such scum wearing the skin of justice deserved death no less than pirates who murdered and set fires.

They did not even count as human.

"Wait, I'm a Marine! Even if I did something wrong, it should be handled by people from headquarters!"

Captain Nezumi was truly terrified now. Those two men clearly looked like the sort who killed without batting an eye. All he could hope for was that Marineford's regulations would restrain them.

Gen and the others also watched Cifer anxiously. They certainly hated these Marines, but they feared that Cifer and the others would make a mistake because of them.

"Who told you I was a Marine?"

Cifer's gaze was cold as he signaled Enel to act.

"Divine Judgment!"

Captain Nezumi still wanted to say something, but Enel's lightning had already arrived. Even Arlong had failed to withstand that attack, so these Marines who spent all day loafing around were naturally wiped out to the last man.

"Um... benefactor, will killing Captain Nezumi cause any trouble for you?" Gen asked with a worried expression.

"Uncle, don't worry. We'll be fine!"

Tashigi answered for Cifer. Normally, as merely a headquarters petty officer, she could not make the call in such a matter. But with this man here, things were different.

A Marine branch colonel who had plagued an entire region had been killed by a Shichibukai. As long as the report was written properly, headquarters would not have the slightest objection.

"That's good! That's good!"

After hearing their answer, the worried villagers finally put their minds at ease. Then they asked Cifer and Enel for their names, saying they wanted to hold a banquet to thank the three of them for their help.

"Yeah~ hahahahaha~ A celebration for the gods!" Enel's chuunibyou outburst could no longer be contained.

Cifer finally answered the question Nami had first asked him. "I heard the oranges here are good. Can I have some?"

"Mm!"

Hearing that he wanted oranges, Nami, already delighted, became even happier. She eagerly offered to take them to see her family's orange grove.

At the shore, a small boat quietly docked.

"There's no mistake... Why is that guy here too..." Looking at the flag hanging from the Little Ul, Zoro's expression darkened.