Defeating the Enemy Without a Fight

Two days later.

Cocoyasi Village, Arlong Park.

Arlong's appearance was quite befitting of his status as a shark Fish-man:

Nearly three meters tall, with blue skin, eyes as fierce as an eagle's, a mouth full of sharp teeth, and a serrated long nose as sharp and hard as a steel saw.

Coupled with his steel ingot-like muscles and the large red tattoos branded on his chest and arms, he looked like a daunting gang leader.

Arlong was indeed just a gang leader.

Although Arlong always proclaimed himself to be a superior race and clamored to establish an "Arlong Empire" to rule all of humanity, what this future Fish-man Emperor had been doing for so many years was basically just—

collecting protection money.

The great land of the Arlong Empire consisted of only twenty villages around Cocoyasi Village.

The only thing related to the grand ambition of building an empire was probably the East Blue charts that Arlong forced Nami to draw.

On this day, Arlong was once again racking his brains for the national affairs of the "Fish-man Empire":

"Is that Nezumi coming today?"

"That's right."

His loyal subordinate, the Fish-Man Karate expert Kuroobi, immediately replied:

"The date agreed upon with Captain Nezumi is today."

"Hmph!"

Arlong snorted coldly, his face instantly turning ugly.

While he collected protection money from innocent villagers, he also had to regularly pay protection money to Captain Nezumi of the local Marines.

After all, Arlong and his crew were Fish-men from the Grand Line. Without corrupt officers to cover for them, they would definitely be an eyesore in the eyes of the Marines.

In order to secure his position as a local tyrant, Arlong had to swallow his anger and send money to Captain Nezumi on time.

Of course, the proud Arlong would not admit that he was paying protection money.

"This weak and filthy inferior creature!"

Arlong used an Ah Q-style mental victory method without being taught:

"When we Fish-men rule the sea in the future, I will definitely make that greedy rat spit out all the money he swallowed!"

"Yes, yes!"

The lackeys nodded in agreement, as if the great Fish-man Empire could be built tomorrow.

But Arlong's face was still not very good, because he was actually more greedy than Captain Nezumi. Every time he had to spend money to bribe Captain Nezumi, Arlong felt his heart bleeding.

And once Arlong was in a bad mood, he would seek comfort from the abuse of the weak.

So Arlong pondered for a moment, then opened his mouth and asked angrily:

"Why hasn't Cocoyasi Village handed over this month's ransom yet?!"

His voice was full of tyranny and cruelty.

"We're already urging them, but they haven't been able to gather enough money."

A subordinate replied tremblingly.

"Can't gather enough?!"

Arlong's voice was full of displeasure, and the corners of his mouth curled into a cruel arc again:

"That's good,"

"I'll personally go and help them!"

Cocoyasi Village.

A group of villagers were gathering in the village with worried faces.

"Sigh"

Officer Genzo looked at the faces of the crowd with a gloomy expression, and asked very helplessly:

"Can't everyone really come up with more money?"

"If this month's ransom isn't handed over, that Arlong bastard will probably use it as an excuse to cause trouble in the village again."

"There's really no way!"

A pale-faced villager said in a deep voice:

"The harvest from fishing has been average recently, and the crops in the fields haven't reached the harvest season yet."

"We really can't come up with more money!"

Every month, each villager in Cocoyasi Village needs to pay Arlong a ransom of 100,000 Beli to protect themselves from being killed by the Fish-men of the Arlong Pirates.

This burden is too heavy for a remote village that produces nothing but agriculture and fishing.

"Or..."

One of the villagers timidly suggested, "Should we go ask Nojiko for some more money?"

Silence fell over the scene.

Genzo's face was as dark as water, the ugly expression making the long scar on his face even more ferocious.

Not only Genzo, but all the villagers actually knew what this meant...

Nojiko is Nami's sister, and she usually barely makes a living by growing orange trees.

Asking Nojiko for money is, in essence, once again placing the burden of protecting Cocoyasi Village on the shoulders of Nami, this lonely young girl.

The villagers didn't want to do this, but they were always driven to desperation by the cruelness of life.

Genzo trembled all over, his heart full of pain.

As the officer, he couldn't protect the village, and instead, he was forced to push the responsibility onto Nami, whom he regarded as a daughter, again and again.

"Genzo, Genzo!"

Suddenly, an excited female voice came from the side.

Everyone followed the sound and saw a blue-haired girl running towards them with an excited look on her face, waving a newspaper in her hand.

This beautiful girl was none other than Nojiko, Nami's sister, whom they had just been talking about.

"Nojiko, what happened?"

Genzo forced a difficult smile, trying to appear as normal as possible in front of the child.

"Look at this!"

Nojiko ran to Genzo breathlessly, handing the newspaper to Genzo before she could even rest.

"Huh?"

Genzo took the newspaper, not knowing what was happening, and casually glanced at the headline:

"A lengthy feature report on Garen, the Knight of the East Blue?"

"Who is this?"

Nojiko said excitedly, "Never mind that, look down!"

Genzo glanced below the title, and his emotions became three times more excited than Nojiko's:

"Nami?!"

"How did she get in the newspaper?!"

"What?"

The villagers exclaimed in surprise.

Without saying a word, they all gathered around, looking at the newspaper with concern.

On the newspaper was a clear photo:

Nami, wearing a gorgeous princess dress, stood side by side with Garen in a white suit, smiling slightly at the camera.

One was elegant and moving, and the other was handsome and extraordinary, just like the "knight and princess" written in the newspaper.

The villagers were immediately dumbfounded.

Before they could guess, their attention was completely drawn to the rich and wonderful content of the feature report.

After a long while...

Genzo asked in disbelief, "N-Nami has a boyfriend?!"

"It seems so."

Nojiko nodded solemnly.

It was natural to come to this conclusion.

Because the main content of the love story about "Garen the Knight" was all personally embellished by Nami under the temptation of Wallace's sky-high interview fee.

The simple plot of a knight and a thief meeting by chance had been enriched into a touching love story under the joint efforts of Nami and Wallace.

"Has Nami grown up to this age already?"

Genzo just continued to repeat this sentence to himself.

He had always regarded Nami as a daughter, but now he suddenly had a sense of loss that his family's cabbage had been taken by a pig.

But the attention of the other villagers was all focused on that "pig."

"Nami's boyfriend..."

One of the villagers said with an incredulous look on his face, "Is actually such a powerful man?!"

Another villager echoed with excitement:

"It's not just about being strong."

"That guy seems to be a high-ranking noble from some great kingdom!"

"Sigh..."

Genzo's mind was still stuck on one thing:

"With Nami's background, is it a good idea for her to have such a powerful boyfriend?!"

"Don't worry about that right now!"

A villager said excitedly:

"If Nami's boyfriend is willing to help, our village might be saved!"

Everyone had obviously thought of this.

Their faces, withered and gaunt from a hard life, were flushed with excitement.

"Oh?"

A sinister voice echoed from behind them: "Your village might be saved?!"

The villagers shuddered, and a layer of cold sweat quickly appeared on their foreheads.

Then, a tall shadow blocked out a large patch of sunlight.

The villagers turned their heads with difficulty and saw the Fish-man Arlong standing behind them with a few of his underlings, all wearing cruel and violent smiles.

The lively village immediately returned to a state of oppressive silence.

"Hahaha..."

Arlong laughed loudly and wildly, then said in a rough voice:

"I think I heard something very interesting?"

His sharp eyes, filled with murderous intent, swept over the villagers:

"Is Nami getting a little restless?!"

The villagers lowered their heads, afraid to meet Arlong's gaze.

"Bring me that newspaper!"

Arlong casually ordered one of his subordinates, then sneered:

"So, you're thinking of rebelling against my rule?"

"I want to see who it is that's making you so bold!"

The newspaper clutched in the villagers' hands was quickly delivered to Arlong, and a few Fish-man underlings curiously crowded around.

"The East Blue's knight of justice?!"

Arlong scoffed dismissively after just glancing at the title:

"Typical of the inferior race! Still hoping for a knight of justice?"

Arlong continued reading.

His face immediately darkened, looking as if he'd eaten two pounds of shit.

The newspaper meticulously recorded the glorious achievements of Garen, the East Blue's knight of justice, in just three days.

Punishing the Steel Cutlass Pirates and defeating the corrupt Marines in Loguetown was shocking enough in the weakest sea, the East Blue.

But what followed was the main event:

Defeating a member of the Pirate King's crew, a close friend of the Four Emperors, Buggy the Clown.

Defeating Captain Smoker of Marine Headquarters in three rounds.

Sparring with the Marine Hero Garp, with a 50/50 chance of winning.

Even the Ippon Ken Dou Swordsman, a master swordsman from Marine Headquarters, was impressed by him.

"L-Leader?"

A Fish-man underling trembled and couldn't help but say, "Should we run?!"

"..."

Arlong, who had been so arrogant just moments before, was trembling all over, not saying a word.

Complex emotions fermented in his chest, finally erupting in a long silence:

"Run!"

Boom!

Cannons roared.

Arlong looked in the direction of the sound and saw his beloved Arlong Park already engulfed in dazzling flames.