Before long.
Seeing that Arlong, still kneeling on the ground, seemed to have come to his senses,
Will cast aside the jumbled thoughts in his mind and said in a detached tone:
"There's no Jinbe to save you this time. Are you ready to face death?"
Arlong didn't answer. His expression grew vicious again, and he muttered to himself:
"Why... can you humans... be so strong... I can't accept this..."
"Fish-men are clearly... the superior... race..."
Listening to the other man's broken words,
Will paid him no mind and continued speaking to himself:
"From a fish-man's point of view, you haven't really done anything wrong."
"Oppression and slaughter between different races are perfectly normal."
"After all, those things happen between members of the same race all the time—and even more often."
"It's just a shame that you, as a fish-man, are far too weak."
"And I, as a human, am far stronger than you."
At that,
Will slowly lowered his head to look down at Arlong and said coldly, his expressionless face giving nothing away:
"Your death has only one cause, Arlong. It's a very simple reason."
"You crossed me."
With that,
Will ignored Arlong's eyes, still filled with resentment, turned toward the wall, and called loudly:
"You two, stop hiding and come over here. It's time to put an end to this."
"Huh?"
Nami and Carina were startled. Then they hurriedly climbed over the wall and ran toward Will.
They weren't surprised that Will had noticed them. After all, he had an incredibly keen sense of awareness.
They had only hidden behind the wall to keep the fish-men from seeing them.
"Arlong!"
Nami stepped forward and glared at Arlong, who was still kneeling on the ground, growling through clenched teeth.
Arlong had already managed to turn his head toward her when he heard her voice.
Seeing the woman whose actions had led to his and so many other fish-men's deaths, Arlong's eyes immediately blazed with rage.
"Damn you... This is all your fault!"
"If I'd known... I should've had Hachi squeeze you to death... when you were little!"
"Then maybe... this wouldn't have... mmph..."
"All right, shut up. No more talking."
Will had no patience for Arlong's rambling. He walked behind him, clasped his hands around Arlong's head, and covered his mouth in the same motion.
Forcing Arlong's face up toward Nami, Will said seriously:
"Nami, watch him closely. Look at this fish-man, the one you once feared and hated more than anything. He's about to die."
"You won't have to worry about the fish-men tormenting your village anymore, and you won't have to keep finding ways to scrape together a hundred million berries."
Then, as his hands slowly tightened, he leaned toward Arlong and said:
"Take a deep breath. Feeling dizzy is normal. It'll all be over in an instant."
At the sound of his voice, like a messenger from hell, a flicker of fear finally appeared in Arlong's eyes, still filled with resentment and hatred.
The next second.
Crack—!!
Will twisted hard with both hands, and the sickening sound of breaking bones rang out.
Arlong's head spun a full 180 degrees, his face turning backward as his neck was twisted and snapped. The light vanished from his eyes.
In the final second of his life, Arlong felt only dizziness and excruciating pain.
An instinctive wave of fear surged through him, and then he sank into darkness.
Looking at the fish-man Arlong, dead before her eyes,
Carina couldn't help swallowing nervously.
But when Nami saw the horrifying scene, she didn't feel even a trace of fear.
Instead, it felt as if a huge patch of grime inside her had been scrubbed away, leaving her feeling lighter all over.
She stood there, dazed for a moment, then instinctively raised a hand to her cheek. Her fingers came away wet.
"Why am I crying...?"
Nami pressed her lips together and stood frozen in place, but tears kept streaming from her eyes.
Will released Arlong and slowly straightened up.
But just as he was about to say something, a soft figure suddenly crashed into him.
"Waaah...!!"
Nami didn't understand why she wanted to cry so badly. Acting on instinct, she threw herself into Will's arms, clutching his clothes tightly as she sobbed.
"Nami..."
Carina's expression softened with sympathy. She slowly stepped forward and placed a hand on Nami's shoulder, wanting to comfort her.
Will swallowed the words he'd been about to say and stood silently, letting Nami's tears soak his clothes.
After a while,
when Nami's sobs gradually quieted, Will gently placed a hand on her head and said in a low voice:
"No one will dare bully you again."
"Just like I said before, you're my navigator."
"So you don't need to cry anymore, Nami."
Hearing those words,
Nami's sobs gradually faded, and her trembling body slowly grew still.
She looked up at Will's unwavering gaze, and a brilliant smile spread across her tear-streaked face.
"Yes, Captain Will!"
"This guy..." Carina stood nearby with her arms crossed, watching silently with a smile.
She had to admit, Will's words really did make her feel safe.
Perhaps that was because he was so strong.
After all, she'd never met anyone stronger than Will.
She just wondered whether he would protect her like that, too...
He probably would.
Clatter, clatter, clatter, clatter—!!
Just as Carina's thoughts began to wander,
a large group of people suddenly came running toward the gate on the eastern side of Arlong Park, which had already been destroyed.
They were carrying all sorts of weapons: hoes, wooden clubs, metal pipes, and even chairs and iron pots.
At the front was a middle-aged man covered in scars, with a windmill stuck in the hat on his head.
When he saw the gruesome scene in the courtyard, he froze. Then he instinctively called out to the familiar figure:
"Nami! Are you all right?"
"Huh?" Nami let go of Will's clothes and turned around to look more closely. She immediately exclaimed, "Ken-san, Nojiko, and everyone else! Why are you all here?"
After hearing Nami's reply, A Jian, the police officer from Cocoyasi Village, quickly came to his senses.
He raised a hand to straighten his hat and said solemnly:
"Nojiko told us you'd gone to fight Arlong with a tall man, so we thought we'd come help you."
As he spoke, A Jian couldn't help glancing around again. Shock still lingered in his eyes.
"We just didn't expect you to take down Arlong's gang so quickly. You didn't need our help at all."
"Yeah, exactly." The villagers quickly nodded in agreement.
"Huh? You came to help us?!"
Nami was surprised and confused by what she heard.
After all, ever since she'd joined Arlong's gang,
the people in the village had always looked down on her, and everyone had kept their distance.
Only Nojiko and A Jian had continued to treat her much the same as before.
So why had everyone suddenly decided to come help her?
Before you continue