Van Augur had discovered that Wang Shi's Golden Sniper Rifle was nearly as powerful and had nearly as much range as his Senriku.
No wonder it was an expensive weapon used by the Celestial Dragons.
They were all absolute masterpieces, made with entire craftsman families held responsible for their work.
Through his long-range scope, Van Augur spotted the Fish-Men rescuing their comrades. He deliberately wounded them instead of going for headshots.
That would buy Wang Shi more time to get closer.
At the same time, Van Augur had a little ulterior motive.
He wanted to find out the maximum range of Wang Shi's Exile Ability.
"Your Majesty, it looks like Arlong is about to jump into the sea no matter what."
Van Augur spoke calmly as he kept cycling and firing his rifle.
"Hold him off a little longer."
Wang Shi raised the Golden Telescope and replied unhurriedly, a glint of inscrutable light flashing in his eyes.
Eric wanted to figure out the range of Wang Shi's ability, and so did Van Augur.
That was only natural. No one knew what Wang Shi's Exile Ability truly did.
And no one knew its range or what conditions were needed to activate it.
Van Augur was also a little afraid of being exiled by Wang Shi.
"I'll do my best!"
Van Augur stopped worrying about the Fish-Men in hiding and focused all his effort on sniping and stopping Arlong, who was intent on diving into the sea.
Even Chew and Kuroobi, wanted Fish-Man criminals, were forced by Van Augur's precise shots to take cover behind rocks and buildings.
As the fleet drew closer, Arlong grew furious.
He charged into the sea without a second thought.
He was going to destroy those human warships.
"Your Majesty, I can't hold him back!"
Van Augur fired as fast as he could, but he still couldn't stop Arlong from blocking the shots with his Great Saw Blade. Arlong was about to jump into the sea.
"Fine. I'll take it from here."
Wang Shi spoke calmly and personally lit the fuse on the Luxury Flagship's massive main cannon.
"Boom!"
The cannon roared, but the moment the cannonball shot out, it vanished.
Wang Shi leaped into the air as Eric, Van Augur, the Guard Army... everyone stared at him in stunned disbelief.
Riding the cannonball as it reappeared, Wang Shi shot off at tremendous speed.
"Damn it! He can even do that?!"
Eric cried out, completely losing his composure.
Biu!!!
A figure flew swiftly through the air toward Cocoyasi Village.
At that moment, in a hidden corner of the village,
"Nami! Nojiko! Look! Someone can fly!!!"
Genzo shouted in shock, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.
"Don't block our view!"
Nami and Nojiko shoved Genzo's head down.
"He's actually standing on a cannonball!!"
Nami stared in disbelief at the dashing figure flying toward them with her sharp eyes.
His fluttering gold-and-white cape made Wang Shi look like a hero making his grand entrance.
Even Nojiko's eyes were sparkling.
"So cool~ So graceful~"
"What! Is he a Devil Fruit user?!"
Under a barrage of sniper fire, Arlong leaped toward the sea. As he fell, he spotted the figure in the air.
But it didn't matter. He'd be in the water in no time.
He would sink every warship and drown all those humans.
"Hey~! Didn't I tell you not to enter my territorial waters, Arlong?!"
Wang Shi spread his right hand. A transparent field expanded rapidly, covering Arlong's entire body just as his saw-toothed nose touched the surface of the sea.
Arlong, grinning savagely, vanished from the sea in an instant.
Wang Shi disappeared for a moment, and the cannonball beneath his feet slammed into the Arlong Empire.
Reappearing, Wang Shi followed his momentum and crashed onto the shore, blasting a deep crater into the ground.
"I still need to work on my martial arts!"
"Besides Haki, I should start learning the Six Powers too."
Wang Shi dusted himself off and leaped out of the crater, his cape sweeping behind him.
His entrance hadn't been quite perfect.
"Where's Big Brother Arlong? Did he make it into the sea?"
"I didn't hear a splash, and I didn't see any waves. Big Brother Arlong vanished!!"
"Grab that human!"
"He might be a Devil Fruit user!"
The Fish-Men hiding behind the buildings heard the gunfire stop and rushed out, charging furiously at the human.
"Look out!"
From their hiding place, Nami and Nojiko couldn't help shouting.
Why had this guy charged into the Arlong Pirates' encirclement all by himself?
Why couldn't he have waited for the fleet to land?
"A hundred or so Fish-Men, and you call yourselves an empire?"
Wang Shi watched the Fish-Men charging at him and sneered.
He simply turned his back on them, slowly raised his right hand, and snapped his fingers.
"Run!"
Seeing Wang Shi do something so outrageous, Nami and Nojiko burst out of hiding and shouted at him to run.
But what happened next left them stunned.
The vicious Fish-Men charging down the road vanished one after another.
"Were you calling out to me?"
Wang Shi looked at the two girls, one with orange hair and one with blue, his eyes full of amusement.
He hadn't expected those two to be so fearless as to rush out and tell him to flee.
Weren't they afraid the Fish-Men would come after them later?
Their kindness and courage left Wang Shi deeply moved.
He knew he could never have done the same.
"Where did those Fish-Men go?!"
Nami shouted in shock, her eyes bright with excitement.
Thinking of the rumor she'd heard earlier, could this man be the legendary King of Exile?
King Wang Shi of the Goa Kingdom!
"Want to see them?"
Wang Shi smiled faintly, drew his Golden Flintlock, and fired.
"Bang!"
Wang Shi's sudden shot startled Nami and Nojiko.
But the next moment, a running Fish-Man suddenly reappeared and fell to the ground with a thud, blood spraying everywhere.
"How many more do you want to see?"
Another gunshot rang out, and another Fish-Man appeared, then fell to the ground.
Both shots were headshots.
Neither Fish-Man had even had time to react.
"Are you the King of Exile? Your Majesty Wang Shi?"
Nami tightly gripped Nojiko's hand and asked in a shaky whisper.
"I'm Wang Shi, and I'm your king now!"
"From now on, both Cocoyasi Village and the entire Konomi Kingdom are my territory."
Wang Shi blew on the Golden Flintlock and began to reload.
"Would you rather use a gun or a sword?"
Wang Shi sprang the question on the two girls without warning.
"What?" x2
Nami and Nojiko couldn't react for a moment.
"Are you going to help kill Fish-Men, or are you their accomplices?"
Wang Shi glanced at the Arlong Pirates' tattoo on Nami's arm and the unusual tattoo on Nojiko, then asked quietly.
"No! Your Majesty Wang Shi! We're not members of the Arlong Pirates!"
"Arlong forced Nami to join the Arlong Pirates."
"We both hate Arlong. He killed our mother!"
Nojiko hurriedly covered the tattoo on Nami's arm and shielded her sister, tears welling in her eyes.
She was terrified that Nami would be mistaken for a member of the Arlong Pirates and killed without cause.
Nami stared defiantly and fearfully at Wang Shi, tears welling in her eyes.
"Don't hurt my sister!"
"I'm not a member of the Arlong Pirates! I'm not!!"
Nami pushed Nojiko aside, pulled out a dagger, and suddenly stabbed at the shameful tattoo on her arm.
"I really am not..."
Nami quickly slashed at the tattoo on her arm, tearing the flesh bloody as she sobbed and shouted.
Just then, a large hand grabbed Nami's wrist...