Destiny Gold Coin, Killing Intent Soaring

"Hee hee hee, I can't stop laughing~~"

In the sea areas near Cocoyasi Village, within a warship representing 'Justice,' filthy laughter echoed through the ship's cabin.

"One hundred and twenty million Belly, being a thief is this profitable."

The Marine branch Captain, named Rat, looked at the piles of gold, silver, treasures, Belly, and pearls stacked like small hills before him. His yellowed pupils reflected a greedy gleam.

"It almost makes me want to become a 'thief' myself. Hee hee hee~~"

"Hahahaha~~"

"Captain, you jest again..."

The other officers in the cabin also burst into laughter. Their boss was laughing, so why shouldn't they? Did they dare not to?

"So what if that thief keeps stealing money? Haven't we, the 'just' Marines, easily confiscated the stolen goods?"

"That's right, Captain, you really know how to work things. If there were a few more 'thieves' like this in the East Blue, we could get rich just sitting around~~~"

"But Captain..." one officer picked up some Belly from the pile of treasure.

"Most of this money is covered in dirt and bloodstains, and it's all tattered..."

"Hee hee hee, it doesn't matter, money is money."

"This is all the money that poor young girl painstakingly saved over eight years, believing freedom would come... like a fool. You mustn't be picky!"

"Hahahahaha~~~"

"Hahaha~~"

"Ah—!"

?!

"What's going on outside?"

The commotion from the Marine soldiers outside made the self-satisfied Captain Rat twitch his mustache in annoyance.

"Those good-for-nothings! I gave each of them a hundred thousand Belly, what more could they want?"

He gestured to one of the officers with a tilt of his head.

"You, go and see."

The officer nodded and walked towards the exit, but as soon as he pulled open the cabin door:

"Hey, what are you standing there for?"

The officer who opened the door stood frozen in the doorway, making Captain Rat in the cabin even more displeased. However, no matter how displeased he was, he couldn't punish the man, because:

A corpse would not respond to punishment.

Bang!

The officer who opened the door fell straight backward, his wide eyes filled with shock. A pristine flying knife was embedded in the center of his forehead! With half the blade sunk in, it was clear he wouldn't survive.

"Who?!"

"What—"

"What's going on..."

"I just heard you laughing quite happily?"

In a calm voice, a handsome young man walked in, stepping over the corpse of the officer on the floor.

"I hope you can still laugh after this."

What...

"How dare you!"

"We are the Marines!"

"Do you want to be an enemy of the entire Marine—"

Puff!

With a flash of sword light, the head of the officer who had been shouting moments ago flew into the air.

"Coincidentally, I'm a pirate."

Roman's icy gaze swept over them, making these bullies who preyed on the weak feel as if they had fallen into an ice cellar!

"Pirates killing Marines, it's only natural."

Swoosh!

"Ah—"

"Spare—"

"No—"

Puff puff puff puff,

Roman's figure moved swiftly through the cabin. Before the officers could even utter their pleas for mercy, their heads had already been severed. Amidst the crisscrossing sword lights, they turned into meaningless chunks of meat!

"Don't... don't kill me!!"

"I'm a Marine Captain... I..."

The Captain, who had fallen to the ground, trembled like a mouse encountering a cat. He kept backing away until he hit the ship's cabin behind him! Facing Roman's icy gaze, he didn't hesitate:

He knelt and begged for mercy!

Bang, bang, bang.

Amidst a series of kowtows, Captain Rat, tears streaming down his face, pleaded.

"Please spare me, sir!"

"If you let me go, I'll do anything."

"I can gather information for you within the Marines, help you cover your tracks, and point out the routes of those merchant ships..."

A complete scumbag, a degenerate, trash!

Roman, walking past the small mountain of treasure in the center of the room, casually picked up a gold coin.

"Alright, I can spare you."

"???"

"Th-Thank you, thank you so much..."

Facing Captain Rat, who looked like he had narrowly escaped death, Roman raised the gold coin in his hand.

"Don't rush, let's play a game."

Although Belly, the paper currency, was the universal currency in this world, the kings of various countries were all fond of issuing gold coins with their own portraits on them. So:

"This gold coin has a head on one side and a tail on the other."

"If it lands on heads, you live! If it lands on tails, you die!"

"Let fate decide whether you live or die."

"This..."

"A fifty-fifty chance?"

But in the current situation, Captain Rat had no room to negotiate, so he could only grit his teeth:

"Okay—"

Crack.

However, Roman simply squeezed the gold coin between his index finger and thumb, and it bent in the middle!

Ding.

A gold coin that could only ever land on 'tails' was thrown in front of Captain Rat, along with Roman's cold voice.

"Here, flip it."

"After all, the fate of the weak is always manipulated by the strong."

"This!!!"

"You... you're despicable..."

Captain Rat, trembling all over, looked up. His face, still bearing the mark of his near-death experience, had a pair of yellowish-brown pupils filled with despair!

"Oh, isn't that what you just did to our Navigator?"

Pfft!

With a flash of his saber, the Marine Captain named Rat became 'two'—neatly split down the middle. His last thought:

"...He's a comrade of that thief..."

"Hey, you outsiders, get out of the way!"

A group of villagers, armed with pitchforks, cleavers, and iron pots, roared at Zoro and Usopp, who were blocking the road.

"This is our Cocoyasi Village's business, outsiders..."

Swish.

A figure descended from the sky. Although the person appeared to be just a handsome young man, the white wings on his back and the smell of blood all over him immediately made the agitated villagers look at him with surprise and uncertainty.

"People of Cocoyasi Village,"

Roman retracted his wings and looked at those wielding cutlery, kitchenware, and farming tools as weapons.

"If you rush to Arlong Park like this, you'll only be throwing your lives away."

"You don't need to worry about us!!"

"Are we just going to stand by and watch Nami risk her life for us out there?"

"We're all dragging Nami down... we might as well just..."

"Outsiders, are you Nami's... nakama?"

A police officer covered in scars stepped forward.

"We, the entire village, apologize to you for Nami stealing your belongings."

As he spoke, the officer bowed low, and the villagers behind him also bowed towards Roman and the others.

"Please... please take Nami with you!"

"She's a kind girl, and she did it for our village..."

"So you intend to use these things to fight?" Roman pointed at the small knives tied to wooden sticks in their hands, and the iron pots modified into shields...

"If I may be so bold, you originally—"

"Were planning to go die, weren't you?"

"Please don't stop—"

"No," Roman waved his hand, directly interrupting their 'plea.'

"I won't stop you, but you'll need new weapons..."

"Brother Roman," from not far away, Joseph and Johnny carried several large wooden crates over. These crates were cargo from Roman's merchant ship. Though the two of them were quite weak, they certainly had the strength.

"Very good," Roman waved his hand, and white paper flew out, rolling into a 'crowbar' shape to open the wooden crates, revealing the contents:

Brand new long-barreled flintlock guns lying quietly among straw, and sharp swords coated in oil!

"Take these weapons."

Roman grinned, a very bloody smile.

"Even if you're going to die, bite off a piece of the enemy, won't you?"

"Hey, Roman."

On the way from Cocoyasi Village to Arlong Park, Zoro said casually.

"In my opinion, even with weapons, five of those villagers couldn't handle one ordinary Fish-Man."

"So, why let them add to the casualties—" Roman interrupted Zoro's words, "You want to say that, right?"

"...Yes."

"You have a point, but hey, Zoro."

Roman looked back at Cocoyasi Village, which was gradually receding.

"This is a chaotic era. Being weak isn't scary; what's scary is not having the will to become stronger."

"We can help them wipe out the Arlong Pirates, but if some 'Cat Pirate Crew' or 'Dog Pirate Crew' comes here later, are we supposed to come back from the Grand Line to save them?"

"Relying on oneself is the most correct path."

After delivering his great reasoning, Roman turned back and smiled slightly at Zoro and Usopp behind him.

"Even so, the disparity in strength between those Fish-Men and the villagers is indeed too great. How about this—"

"Before the villagers arrive, let's have a competition to see who can take down more Fish-Men, how about it?"

This was also why he had gone ahead.

"Interesting, I accept!"

Behind Roman and Zoro, who were exuding killing intent amidst their banter, stood Usopp, whose legs felt like they were 'beating cotton.' However, even so, he kept pace with the two in front of him.