Evil! Sword! And Striking Out

Ordinary humans have no chance of resisting Fishmen.

Even those who tried to escape by boat were of no use against the Fishmen.

This is because Fishmen are even more formidable in the water than they are on land.

Except for those who resisted and were killed, the rest of the people were driven to the center of the village by the Fishmen, surrounded by fierce-looking Fishmen who glared at them with malicious intent.

Arlong walked over carrying his Kiribachi, and the surrounding Fishmen cleared a path for him.

It seemed that because of what happened to Hatchan, Arlong was in a terrible mood.

"I am Arlong of the Arlong Pirates. You bunch of inferior beings, listen up: from now on, your village belongs to me. Every year, you will pay one hundred thousand Beli for every adult and fifty thousand Beli for every child. If you can't come up with the money, then there is no need for you to keep living."

Arlong said in a cold voice.

As soon as these words were spoken, many people's faces changed drastically.

One hundred thousand for an adult, fifty thousand for a child.

A single family might have to cough up two or three hundred thousand Beli or even more.

But for these people who lived by farming fruit and fishing, just not going hungry was already a struggle; even if they saved money, it was impossible to accumulate such a large sum.

Thinking of this, many people's faces turned pale with terror.

These were the people who did not have enough ransom money.

They had already witnessed the terror of these Fishmen.

Arlong saw the expressions on these people's faces, and he deliberately raised a hand to point.

He was pointing at a young girl.

The girl looked to be sixteen or seventeen years old, and she was holding a little girl in her arms.

"We'll start with you."

As soon as he finished speaking, Fishmen immediately stepped forward, grabbed the girl and the little girl in her arms, and threw them in front of Arlong.

"One hundred thousand for the adult, fifty thousand for the child, that's one hundred and fifty thousand Beli in total."

Arlong bared his teeth and said, looking down at them.

The girl and the little girl in her arms were so terrified they couldn't even speak; they hugged each other tightly, not even daring to lift their heads.

"Bastards, didn't you hear what I said?"

Seeing the two of them just trembling while clinging to each other, a fierce light flashed in Arlong's eyes.

"Sir, we don't have any money."

The girl shuddered, looked up in terror, and spoke.

"Since there's no ransom, then go to hell!"

Hearing this, Arlong raised the Kiribachi in his hand high into the air.

His gaze swept across the faces of the other villagers, then he revealed a cruel smile and brought the blade down heavily.

With this strike, the others should become much more obedient, and contributing millions of Beli to him every year was truly a nice profit.

The Kiribachi descended, slashing toward the girl and the child.

Boom!

Flames descended in an instant like a meteor, and the sky-filling fire spread around, only to dissipate just as quickly.

The serrated blade of the Kiribachi was caught by a hand wrapped in Armament Haki.

The sudden turn of events left everyone stunned.

Whether it was the terrified villagers or the surrounding Fishman pirates, all were the same.

Arlong's expression stiffened, his eyes fixed firmly on the person who had caught his blade.

Dunn looked at Arlong, who was a head taller than him, his Observation Haki having already made the situation in the village perfectly clear.

Although he had seen news of such things many times in this world, this was truly his first time seeing pirates attacking civilians with his own eyes.

"Who the hell are you?"

Arlong's expression was grave, his eyes falling on the hand Dunn used to catch the blade.

Haki!

Having come from the Grand Line, he naturally knew about Haki.

Dunn did not answer, looking at Arlong with a calm expression before turning to look at the surrounding pirates.

The girl and the little girl who were sitting on the ground huddled together beside Dunn looked at him in astonishment.

Flames appeared from Dunn's hand, spreading along the Kiribachi.

Arlong tried desperately to pull his blade back, but it was to no avail. Seeing the flames about to spread to his hand, Arlong let go and retreated.

"Kill him!"

As he retreated, Arlong roared, giving the order to the group of Fishmen.

[Fishman Pirate]

This was the label hovering above their heads.

The text above Arlong was white, while the labels for the other Fishman Pirates were gray.

This indicated that these people posed absolutely no threat to Dunn.

Hearing Arlong's command, the surrounding Fishmen gripped their weapons and charged toward Dunn.

Dunn pressed his hand against the hilt of Flame, the soft rasp of the blade rubbing against the scabbard echoing out.

Swish!

A horizontal slash.

Flame's exceptionally long blade swept across the bodies of the two Fishmen charging in front of him.

Along with the weapons in their hands and their very bodies, they were sliced clean through as Dunn walked past.

Dunn's pace was unhurried, yet every time he swung Flame, the blade carved through the pirates surrounding him.

Nothing could stand in his way.

Flame's razor-sharp edge cut through the Fishmen's bodies without encountering the slightest resistance.

As a Swordsman who had already reached the realm of Iron-Cutting, how could these mere flesh-and-blood bodies hope to stop him?

Blade light flashed, and blue and red blood pooled across the ground.

"Bastard, stop right there!"

A Fishman pirate suddenly roared, aiming his flintlock at the young girl Dunn had just rescued.

Boom!

Dunn, who had not been moving particularly fast, was suddenly beside the armed Fishman in the next instant, kicking him away with such immense force that the Fishman flew across the entire village, crashing directly into the ocean on the other side of the island.

Where he landed, the wreckage of ships and the corpses of villagers previously killed by the Fishmen drifted upon the sea.

The Fishmen who had been charging at Dunn just moments ago were now filled with terror.

Dunn's previous strikes had slaughtered their companions so quickly that these guys hadn't even had time to process what was happening.

But now, looking at the corpses of their comrades sliced in two, they finally understood what fear was.

If the pace had been fast enough or if it had been a chaotic, large-scale battle, perhaps they wouldn't have had the time to contemplate the word fear.

But now, Dunn was silent, carrying out a soundless slaughter.

It was as if an invisible hand was gripping their throats tightly, then slowly applying pressure; that suffocating sensation was bone-chilling.

Dunn turned back around, swinging Flame to flick the Fishman blood from its blade.

Behind him, Arlong stared fixedly at Dunn.

"Big Brother Arlong!"

The surrounding Fishmen looked on in terror, all turning their eyes toward Arlong.

"Attack together, he's only one man."

Arlong's gloomy voice rang out.

"Yes!"

Hearing Arlong say this, the Fishmen all looked toward Dunn, then gripped their weapons and lunged at him.

It seemed that after Arlong's words, these Fishmen were suddenly no longer afraid of death.

Dunn, however, did not care about the Fishmen's reaction; whether they charged or tried to flee, they were all destined to die.

Facing the charging Fishman Pirates, Dunn sheathed his sword and gripped the hilt.

"Nadeshigiri!"

Dunn's calm voice rang out, and in the next instant, his figure vanished.

A dull flash of sword light flickered before everyone's eyes.

Whether it was the villagers who had yet to recover from their shock or the Fishman Pirates lunging toward Dunn, all of them saw that dim streak of light.

The only difference was that the villagers were not the targets.

Dunn's figure reappeared, now standing before Arlong, while behind him, the bodies of the Fishmen split apart at the point of the strike due to their own momentum.