A Second Meeting with Arlong

The ship had barely docked when fish-men surrounded it.

This was originally Arlong's territory. Fish-men were everywhere here, and after Ling Donglai's earlier actions, Arlong had tightened his defenses and patrols.

Once they docked, it was only natural that the fish-men discovered two sentries had lost contact and fallen unconscious, then sent people over.

"What do we do? Arlong's people have surrounded us!" Nami stood behind Ling Donglai, somewhat nervous.

"Hold on to my things. Don't lose them." Ling Donglai untied the strap around his body, tossed the bag full of Beli to Nami, and removed his cap.

Then he looked toward the vicious-looking fish-men.

The seawater surged into waves as a massive sea cow stared at Ling Donglai with hatred in its eyes.

"Knock him into the sea!"

The moment a fish-man gave the order, the man wanted by Arlong's crew had his hair rise upward into a Saiyan hairstyle, electricity coursing across his entire body.

"Everyone, be careful! He's about to Discharge!" The fish-men tensed up.

Naturally, they knew of this legendary man. Whenever his hair stood up, it meant he was about to Discharge.

Behind him, Nami felt strange all over as her skin sensed the crackling current.

"Listen to the Thunderous Roar!"

Ling Donglai snapped his fingers. A flash of azure lightning streaked past, followed by the deafening roar of 300,000 Volts tearing through the air.

"You may know I'm about to call down lightning, but what do you have to stop it?"

The strike released half the thunderous energy nearly overflowing within his body. The massive sea cow had barely made its entrance before it was electrocuted unconscious, its huge body floating on the water as though dead.

Most of the fish-men had merely been electrocuted unconscious. There were too many of them, and once the Azure Thunder's power was dispersed, this was all it could accomplish.

This also showed just how powerful these fish-men's physiques truly were. Even when countered and struck by Azure Thunder, they had only been knocked unconscious.

"Alright, take me to Arlong Park."

Ling Donglai turned around and picked up his cap, as though he had done something utterly trivial. There was not the slightest joy over instantly defeating so many fish-men and a gigantic sea beast.

"So amazing! You killed so many fish-men in one go." Nami hugged the two large bags of money and looked at Ling Donglai with admiration.

"They aren't dead. They've only passed out. If they're left alone, they might become dehydrated and die from the sun."

Ling Donglai corrected her.

"Then I'll go get people to tie them all up!" Little Nami hurriedly said. Struggling to carry both Ling Donglai's money bag and her own, she staggered toward the village.

"There's no need. As long as Arlong loses to me, these fish-men will lose the will to fight... Forget it, tying them up would be safer."

With a lift of his hand, Ling Donglai took the two money bags from Nami.

"Wait, one of those is mine!"

Nami watched her money bag get taken away and instinctively cried out. At the same time, she bounced in place, trying to get her things back.

Bullying little Nami felt far too good!

Ling Donglai became rather pleased.

"But according to our agreement, isn't what's yours also mine? What's the big deal if I carry it for you?" Ling Donglai casually carried both money bags into the village.

Inside the village, some villagers secretly peered at this uninvited visitor through cracks in their doors.

Cocoyasi Village was a relatively prosperous village in the area. When Arlong and his crew arrived, they demanded 100,000 Beli from every adult and 50,000 Beli from every child.

That price was right at the limit of what the villagers could endure. If everyone scraped together what they had, they could barely manage it.

But there were always exceptions. Nami's mother, Bellemere, was single. Although she managed an orange grove, she had to raise two children without an able-bodied adult man to help her, leaving Bellemere's income at poverty level.

She could only pay Arlong 100,000 Beli—the price for two children.

That led to the tragedy.

Nami's home was in the most remote part of Cocoyasi Village. Beside a small wooden house stood a gravestone.

"Alright, give me my money." Nami led the way. Once they reached the house, she grabbed her money bag and ran inside to hide it.

Like a hamster hiding supplies for hibernation.

"Nami, this is..." A police officer with a windmill on his hat hesitated before emerging from the orange grove, watching Ling Donglai beside little Nami warily.

His presence was far too imposing. His face was fairly handsome, but with the heart of a father, he was deeply wary of Ling Donglai—especially since this man had a grudge against Arlong and was wanted by the Marines.

"This is a bounty hunter I met on my way back. He'll help me defeat Arlong. You came at the perfect time. A lot of fish-men along the coast were knocked unconscious by him. Hurry and tie them up before they wake up and escape!"

The moment Nami saw Genzo, she hurriedly spoke.

"I'm taking him to settle things with Arlong now. I'll leave the village to you!"

With that, Nami eagerly grabbed Ling Donglai's hand and led the way.

"Nami, where are you going..." Deep in the orange grove, another young woman carrying a pile of oranges saw little Nami rushing past, then noticed the tall man behind her.

"I'll explain later!"

Nami answered as she ran.

"That man is a pirate, isn't he?" Genzo, who had not even had the chance to speak much with Nami, stared absentmindedly at her retreating figure.

"I haven't seen Nami this happy in a long time." Nami's sister Nojiko, a strikingly mature woman, smiled gently.

"Maybe she has hope now? The legendary warrior who hunts fish-men..." Genzo said uncertainly.

Beside Cocoyasi Village stood Arlong Park, built by Arlong. He had constructed a palace for himself here, and fish-men came and went constantly.

By the time Nami brought Ling Donglai to Arlong Park, the fish-men had already been waiting for quite a while.

"Despicable inferior race. I didn't expect you to truly dare barge into my territory alone. This time, I won't fall for that underhanded ability of yours again!"

Arlong sat in a sun chair, with a vicious serrated blade beside him.

Their last encounter had always been his shame.

"Nami, my cartographer, you brought this man here. Do you think he can defeat us noble fish-men?" Arlong turned toward Nami.

Nami clenched Ling Donglai's sleeve. Even though she had witnessed that terrifying lightning strike before, when truly facing Arlong, fear and hatred still inevitably filled her heart.

"He'll definitely defeat you!" As though encouraging herself, Nami took a deep breath and shouted.

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