"The Navy confiscating pirate bodies—isn't that only natural?"
Mouse thumbed back the safety and said ominously, "You've refused to cooperate this whole time, sneaking around with a terrible attitude. Now I suspect you're not clean either. Who knows what unspeakable crimes you're hiding? Men, seal these people and the entire ship! Take them all back and search and interrogate them thoroughly!"
"Colonel!"
The adjutant beside him couldn't help speaking up. "Th-this... isn't this going a little too far?"
"Shut up! Are you the commanding officer, or am I?"
Furious, Mouse backhanded him across the face. The adjutant took the slap squarely, lowered his head, and dared not say another word.
When Mouse turned back, he saw Xia Nuo looking at him as though he were an idiot. "Is there something wrong with your brain?"
"Hm?" Mouse froze, then flew into a rage. "You dare insult a Navy officer? You really must be tired of living!"
"Look at you. You still haven't figured it out. You were so afraid of the Arlong Pirates that you never dared provoke them. Only after they died did you come out to pick up the scraps."
Xia Nuo sighed softly and flexed his right hand. "So here's the question: where did you get the guts to provoke me, when I'm even stronger?"
"Could it be because I'm a civilian, so you think I won't resist and will just obediently surrender?"
There was a huge boulder four or five meters tall by the shore. Carved into it were the words: "Cocoyasi Village This Way."
Xia Nuo casually grabbed the boulder, and it tore free from the ground with a thunderous roar. After weighing it in his hand, he hurled it toward the warship under Mouse's incredulous gaze!
Whoosh—BOOM!!
Just as the boulder was about to strike the top of the mast, Xia Nuo casually raised a fingertip and added a Finger Pistol. The boulder exploded above the warship in an instant, scattering into countless fine stone fragments that rained down.
"This..."
The Marines still on deck all stared upward, frozen in place and utterly dumbfounded.
Mouse's mouth hung so wide open that half of Chopper could have fit inside.
"I forgot to tell you. The entire Arlong Pirates didn't last twenty minutes against me."
Xia Nuo smiled. "I wonder how many minutes you, the Navy branch colonel, and all the Marines aboard this warship can last?"
Mouse shuddered and finally came to his senses.
Only now did he realize—
The man standing before him wasn't some honest, sturdy villager. He was a ruthless killer several times more terrifying than Arlong!
"It's a misunderstanding!"
Mouse's face trembled as he forced out a smile uglier than crying. "A misunderstanding! Go wherever you like, sir. How would we dare stop you? We're leaving, we're leaving!"
With that, he hurriedly turned and ran toward the warship. He twisted an ankle and nearly kicked off a shoe, but he had no time to care. Stumbling all the way, he vanished into the cabin in an instant.
Like an ostrich, he only relaxed after he could no longer see Xia Nuo. Then his shrill roar came from behind the door:
"What are you standing around for? Get moving! We're returning to base!"
"Hahahaha!" The villagers watching from a distance burst into uproarious laughter.
The Marines all lowered their heads and boarded the deck in formation, unable to hide their shame. The lieutenant adjutant let out a long sigh and quietly raised his collar to cover half his face.
"With a commanding officer like that, they probably feel inferior whenever they meet colleagues from other bases." Manba lay against the railing, clicking his tongue in amazement.
Then he looked toward Xia Nuo, who had boarded the deck. "Boss, shall we get moving too?"
"No. You go on ahead." Xia Nuo shook his head slightly and glanced toward the departing warship. "I still have something to take care of."
What was he planning?
Manba's eyes widened. Then Xia Nuo waved and called them all over. "Once you reach the Branch 77 base, do this and this... Then wait for me to return. Understood?"
"Yes, Boss!"
Manba shuddered. As expected of their boss—he was ruthless. Still, there was nothing wrong with what he was doing, and Manba supported him from the bottom of his heart.
The night grew deeper.
Under the moonlight, the sea glittered. The white-sailed warship rode the wind and waves, speeding toward the Branch 16 base.
It did not notice that, beyond its field of vision, a small boat had quietly followed behind at some unknown point.
On the small boat,
Xia Nuo took a sip of wine and gazed indifferently at the blurry black speck in the distance.
He was an easily softhearted man, but once he hardened his heart and truly decided that someone deserved to die, getting him to spare that person would not be so easy.
Mouse was one such person.
Despite how the man had nearly wet his pants from a single threat today,
once he returned to base, sat behind his desk, and grew accustomed again to the feeling of holding a high position and issuing orders, his resentment toward Xia Nuo would quickly surge forth all at once.
Worse, he was the Navy branch base commander closest to Cocoyasi Village. Calling him the village's local official would not be an exaggeration.
From that position, he had countless ways to make trouble in secret. And once Xia Nuo eventually left his hometown and went out to sea, who knew how the man might retaliate against Cocoyasi Village?
It was better to strike first.
There was only so much time one could spend catching thieves. No one could defend against them forever.
After checking the wind direction and ocean currents, Xia Nuo stopped paying attention to the warship ahead. He sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, and quietly meditated.
The warship was far faster than his shabby little boat. If things continued like this, the distance would only grow, and he would never catch up. He could not act yet.
Still, the monk might flee, but his temple would remain. After sunset tomorrow, the two ships would arrive at the Branch 16 Navy base one after another.
By then, with the night dark and the wind high, he would have plenty of time.
More than twenty hours passed in the blink of an eye.
In front of the East Blue Branch 77 gate,
the large ship that had once belonged to the Arlong Pirates, and which Xia Nuo had renamed the "Orange Garden," was moored inside the naval harbor.
Manba led Nami, Nojiko, and the others off the ship as they looked around curiously. Before they had even reached shore, they were greeted by warm applause and a welcoming formation.
"You arrived early, everyone! Several hours ahead of the time mentioned over the Den Den Mushi!"
A female colonel with a mohawk approached with a cigarette between her lips and a hearty laugh. "I'm Sophia, base commander of Branch 77. Welcome, everyone!"
"You're too kind." Manba hurriedly took the initiative to shake her hand. "Doesn't that mean you also arrived several hours early and waited here?"
"No, I only came over after receiving the message."
Sophia answered honestly, then laughed. "But you really should have arrived early. When welcoming heroes who killed the Arlong Pirates, one can never be too courteous!"
"To tell you the truth, ever since I received word that the Arlong Pirates had come to this area, I've been so worried I couldn't sleep. I originally planned to join forces with Branch 16 and our colleagues from Branch 24 to catch them off guard and wipe them out."
Sophia rubbed her temples with some frustration.
"But who knows what that newly appointed commander at Branch 16 was thinking? He kept hemming and hawing and making excuses to refuse. Before long, we missed the best opportunity to strike."
Before you continue