The Tragic Arlong.

"Hahahaha, let me pick my own death?"

Arlong surveyed the battlefield before him.

It was true, his subordinates were clearly at a disadvantage.

But so what?

The opposing captain and the other two men who looked stronger seemed to be just average.

They were being firmly held in check by his three top cadres.

This meant that in terms of high-level combat power, there wasn't a huge gap between the two sides.

What's more, this pretty boy who came to cause trouble wasn't even the captain.

Once he dealt with this pretty boy, he would go support his subordinates, and victory would be in his grasp.

Why didn't Arlong recognize Can Yue and the others?

It was because Captain Nezumi had only informed Arlong about the Straw Hat Crew today.

Not long after, news of Nami's return was relayed to Arlong.

The entire Arlong Pirates then mobilized.

These fish-men didn't like reading human news.

So, up to this point, no one had bothered to specifically learn about the Straw Hat Crew.

If he had known that Can Yue, standing before him, had the same Bounty as Buggy, he certainly wouldn't be so arrogant.

Thinking this, Arlong revealed a cruel smile.

"Pretty boy, you pick your death first."

Upon hearing this, Can Yue's expression turned cold.

"You've got some nerve."

Can Yue was enraged by Arlong's words.

His entire aura erupted instantly, not just killing intent, but also a suffocating Demonic Aura that pressed down on Arlong.

Arlong felt his head spin and he lost his balance.

What is this? Why does he suddenly look so much taller?

Can Yue, who was originally 1.88 meters tall, could barely be described as a "pretty boy" in front of the 2.3-meter-tall Arlong.

But at this moment, in Arlong's eyes, Can Yue was like a colossal mountain.

Cold sweat broke out on Arlong's brow as he used all his strength to leap backward.

If he didn't put more distance between himself and Can Yue, that terrifying feeling of a mountain crushing down on him would cause Arlong to collapse on the spot.

"What did you do, you bastard?" Arlong asked Can Yue, confused.

Can Yue didn't reply. Instead, he instantly appeared before Arlong.

Almost simultaneously, he landed a punch on Arlong's stomach.

The speed was so great that Arlong had no time to react.

After being hit, Arlong was sent flying straight into the distance, crashing through several large rocks before finally stopping.

Seeing this, all the villagers' mouths fell open. Some of them had orange juice in their mouths that flowed down their chins.

"God, if that punch landed on my head, I'd be turned into mush."

Gen began to regret looking at Can Yue with a critical eye earlier.

Nojiko's legs went weak upon seeing this, and her eyes started to swim.

"I'll have to ask Nami later what her teacher usually likes."

The other villagers had an even greater reaction.

Arlong, whom they feared immensely, was now in an unknown state after being hit by that white-haired masked man's punch.

The visual impact was simply too overwhelming.

Other battlefields.

Hachi the octopus fish-man, Kuroobi the whale fish-man, and Shushu the kissing fish-man all created distance from their opponents after witnessing this.

Their pupils dilated in shock.

"Is Arlong-bro so easily defeated by that person?"

"If the white-haired man is that strong, why isn't he the captain?"

Hearing this, Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji all smiled.

Luffy explained, "Because I'm the captain, Can Yue isn't, right?"

Zoro and Sanji had intended to help explain.

"Can Yue said he wasn't suited to be captain."

But upon hearing Luffy's words, they suddenly felt he had a point.

They stopped trying to explain.

However, the kissing fish-man facing Luffy, Shushu, absolutely could not accept this.

"With your strength, only being able to fight me to a standstill, what are you in Arlong's eyes?"

Luffy grinned, his lips parting as he spoke.

"It seems we got carried away and were underestimated.

Zoro, Sanji, finish them."

The corners of their mouths lifted. "Understood, Captain!"

In an instant, Luffy and the other two's auras changed in the eyes of their enemies.

"Tch, what's with the act? Just mere humans."

Kuroobi clenched his fist and charged at Sanji.

Sanji's eyes narrowed, and he unleashed a speed completely different from their previous duel.

His leg swung, accompanied by a cry of "Neck Meat!"

A heavy kick landed on the back of the whale-fish-man's head.

Kuroobi's attack immediately stopped.

He felt as though his brain had been kicked loose. Clutching the back of his head, his eyes bloodshot and filled with pain.

Exposing such a weakness during a fight meant utter defeat.

Sanji exhaled a smoke ring and said to Kuroobi, "Feel this well: my leg techniques, trained by accumulating 60,000 meters of high jumps.

Mutton, SHOT."

A straight kick directly hit Kuroobi's face.

The massive fish-man's features contorted from the blow, sending him flying nearly a hundred meters away, completely unconscious.

Almost simultaneously.

Luffy finished off the spitting kissing fish-man, Shushu, with a single punch.

Zoro also stopped playing around, easily spotting the opening in Hachi's Six Sword Style.

He swung his blade, severing all of Hachi's weapons.

Then, he spun around and delivered another blow, causing Hachi to bleed profusely.

Hachi the octopus fell to the ground, unconscious.

The three fish-man executives only realized what had happened before they lost consciousness.

'These three, none of them are weaker than Brother Arlong. We're finished.'

The performance of the three main fighters drew cheers from the villagers present.

"I was worried about them just now, but it turns out they were just playing cat and mouse."

"Awesome, so awesome. These fish-men are finally getting what they deserve."

But at this moment, a little girl stepped forward and said something to her mother beside her.

"Mom, will Hachi die? He saved me from falling just a few days ago. Can we ask these brothers to spare him?"

The little girl's mother responded with a solemn expression.

"Whether he lives or not, I think we should ask Nami and Nojiko's opinion."

The little girl knew that these fish-men had done terrible things to Nami's family.

But she was conflicted, so she walked towards Nojiko.

At this moment, Nami, Usopp, Shushu, and the two unofficial members had successfully cleared out all the fodder fish-men.

They regrouped with Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji, and together they watched Can Yue's battlefield ahead.

In the distance, Arlong climbed out of the rubble.

Having not suffered such humiliation in years, his beastly bloodlust instantly erupted.

He charged towards Can Yue at his fastest speed.

This speed might have instilled fear in the villagers.

But in Can Yue's eyes, it was far too slow.

Before Arlong could get close to Can Yue to attack, a golden-green whip of light lashed out, knocking Arlong to the ground.

Arlong glared at Can Yue with blood-red eyes, struggling to get up, only to be knocked down again by the whip of light.

Fueled by his hatred for humans, Arlong forced himself up, trying various methods to stand.

But without exception, he could only be whipped by Can Yue until his skin split and flesh tore.

Finally, Arlong stopped struggling, completely losing his ability to move.

Under everyone's gaze, Can Yue dragged the severely wounded and near-unconscious Arlong with the whip of light.

He walked step by step towards Nami.

The villagers' minds were now frozen.

All they could see were images of Can Yue dominating Arlong with the whip of light.

If they hadn't known how evil Arlong was, they would have thought Arlong was the victim and Can Yue the cruel tormentor.

"Is this Nami's companion?"

"So terrifying, the Arlong Pirates were defeated just like that."

"Not just defeated, but completely unable to fight back."

"I almost felt sorry for Arlong; thankfully, I slapped myself to snap out of it."

"It feels so good watching these fish-men get beaten now."

"I want to go up and hit them a few times too."

At this moment, Can Yue walked up to Nami.

He smiled and looked at her.

"Are you still angry?"

Nami sighed and shook her head, denying it.

The hatred for her mother's killer was irreconcilable.

Moreover, Nami had been tormented by these people for 8 years; how could she possibly calm down just like that?

Even if Can Yue killed Arlong, Nami wouldn't be able to let go of her resentment.

Seeing this, Can Yue knew he had guessed correctly.

This was the final step for Nami to resolve her inner turmoil.

'Face Arlong directly and defeat him.'

With that thought, Can Yue looked at Nami and offered his suggestion.

"Have a fight with Arlong, Nami."

Upon hearing this, everyone reacted strongly.

Sanji, in particular, exclaimed, "Can Yue, what are you saying? To make Miss Nami face such a ferocious beast."

"Miss Nami, I'll vent your anger for you. Just tell me how you want this fish to die."

With that, Sanji was about to kick Arlong's head in.

Just then, Luffy reached out and stopped Sanji, issuing a rare warning.

"Today is Nami's fight. Don't interfere."

Zoro, standing nearby, suddenly understood. "So that's how it is. You useless cook, don't cause any more trouble."

Naturally, the fighting duo started their usual bickering.

Nami was silent for a long time. Finally, she looked up at Can Yue and Luffy and said, "Thank you."

Then, she returned the Straw Hat to Luffy.

"Just now, it was our shared battle.

Now, it is my battle alone."

With that, Nami picked up her orange-gold telescopic staff and pointed it at Arlong's head.

"I will defeat you myself and avenge Bellemere."