The Navy is Alarmed, Garp on Vacation?

At the Arlong Park construction site, Kuroobi, Hatchan, and the others informed Arlong that Natsuya and Nami had appeared together.

Upon hearing this, Arlong's expression darkened instantly.

"Natsuya!?"

Just like Kuroobi and Hatchan, Arlong could not help but turn grave at the mention of Natsuya's name.

Especially when he learned that Natsuya was with Nami.

If it had been Natsuya alone, he wouldn't have reacted so strongly.

But the problem was that Natsuya was with Nami now!

In that case, the situation became quite intriguing.

It was then that Kuroobi frowned and asked, "Arlong, do you think that Natsuya was brought here by Nami to deal with us!?"

In truth, Kuroobi had harbored this thought the moment he saw Natsuya, but he had only just voiced it.

Hearing this, Arlong's face grew even gloomier, while Hatchan and the others changed expressions.

In fact, this was the very situation they feared most!

They didn't care about Nami associating with pirates, but this particular pirate was Natsuya, the man who had shaken the East Blue, and Nami had brought him back to Cocoyasi Village.

This made the problem serious!

It was highly likely that Nami had found some way to connect with Natsuya and invited him to take down the Arlong Pirates!

One had to remember that although Nami was nominally an officer of the Arlong Pirates, both sides knew that this relationship was extremely fragile and could be broken at any moment!

At this point, another officer of the Arlong Pirates, the archerfish fish-man Chew, suddenly said in a deep voice, "Arlong, should we strike first!?"

He also believed there was a high probability that Natsuya had been invited by Nami to deal with them, so he immediately considered taking the initiative.

After all, according to Kuroobi and the others, neither Natsuya nor Nami had spotted them yet.

Since that was the case, Natsuya and Nami were in the open while they were in the shadows; in such a situation, they would have a significant advantage if they struck first.

Arlong's expression shifted upon hearing this.

He certainly didn't believe that Nami appearing with that Natsuya would benefit the Arlong Pirates in any way.

Given that, striking first seemed like a decent idea.

Hatchan and the others, however, looked uneasy.

"Hey, hey, that guy is a bounty criminal worth a hundred million berries!"

"Uh, I think we shouldn't be impulsive; it's better to plan this out carefully!!"

"A hundred million berries! Natsuya's power must be terrifying, right!?"

"Exactly, let's not act yet. What if the guy is just passing through!?"

Hatchan and some of the other fish-men advocated for waiting and seeing how things developed.

After all, that was a hundred-million-berry bounty criminal!

As people who hailed from the Grand Line, they knew very well that such a bounty made one a significant figure even in the Grand Line, let alone in the East Blue!

In fact, they were hardly in a position to call themselves the overlords of the East Blue anymore, as Natsuya's bounty was five times that of Arlong's!

Of course, a bounty could not be taken as an absolute measure of strength, as the Navy often inflated the amounts.

For example, Robin, the sole survivor of Ohara, had been given a bounty of eighty million berries at the age of eight.

Clearly, her strength at that time did not match her bounty.

However, whether the current Natsuya possessed strength matching a hundred-million-berry bounty was truly hard to say!

Hearing this, the usually composed Kuroobi expressed a different opinion from Hatchan and the others: "I think Chew's proposal is good. Perhaps we should strike first..."

Kuroobi then laid out his reasoning.

In short, he believed that the Arlong Pirates could actually put up a fight against Natsuya.

Although the opponent's bounty was intimidating, whether he had the strength to match it was debatable.

Most importantly, the opponent was a Devil Fruit user, and as fish-men, they held a massive advantage against such beings.

Another reason was that they had more than just Arlong who could fight.

The physical constitution of an ordinary fish-man was more than ten times that of a normal human.

In other words, everyone there was a warrior who could join Arlong in ganging up on Natsuya!

With that in mind, even the mature and steady Kuroobi felt their side had a decent chance of winning.

Arlong nodded upon hearing this.

In fact, he felt the same way.

It was undeniable that there were many powerful beings among humans, but he did not believe such a person would appear in this, the weakest of seas.

The fact that Natsuya had a bounty of a hundred million berries likely meant he had some dark secret he was hiding.

If that was the case, the Arlong Pirates could certainly put up a fight!

Of course, to be on the safe side, it would be better to notify his "old friend," Colonel Mouse.

He believed that greedy fellow would be extremely interested in a criminal with a one-hundred-million-berry bounty!

Although the naval forces under Colonel Mouse's command were not worth mentioning, they should be sufficient to test Natsuya's strength first.

In this way, they would naturally be foolproof.

If that Natsuya wasn't all that strong, they would strike without a second thought, but if he truly was that powerful, they could remain in hiding and retreat unscathed.

And so it was decided.

Arlong immediately contacted Colonel Mouse.

As expected.

Upon receiving the news, Colonel Mouse was taken aback.

"What, Natsuya is in Cocoyasi Village!?"

After the initial shock, a look of pleasant surprise appeared on that rat-like face, and his narrowed eyes flashed with intense greed.

If he could get his hands on that one-hundred-million-berry bounty, he would be set for the rest of his life!

Colonel Mouse thought greedily, almost instinctively.

However, this greedy fellow was not entirely stupid.

He knew that Arlong informing him of this news likely meant he had ill intentions as well.

If that Natsuya were so easy to deal with, Arlong would have already taken care of him instead of notifying him before the problem was solved.

Thinking of this, Colonel Mouse began to hesitate.

While a one-hundred-million-berry bounty was tempting, whether he could actually swallow it was another matter entirely.

Therefore, after some consideration, he decided to report this intelligence to his superiors.

Without a doubt, the whereabouts of Natsuya were of major importance.

Thus, the intelligence was passed up through the ranks, eventually reaching the Fleet Admiral's office at Marine Headquarters.

After learning the news, Fleet Admiral Sengoku pondered for a moment before instructing his subordinate: "Garp is still vacationing in the East Blue, isn't he? Relay this message to him."

Upon hearing this, the subordinate's eyes filled with awe.

The Hero of the Marines, Vice Admiral Garp!

Did Sengoku's order mean he intended to have the Hero of the Marines, Garp, take action!?

That Natsuya was in for some bad luck!