Evil! Sword! And a Move

Ordinary humans stood no chance of resisting the fish-men.

Even those who attempted to flee by boat were of no consequence to the fish-men.

This was because fish-men were even more formidable in the water than they were on land.

Aside from those who had been killed for resisting, the rest of the villagers were driven to the center of the village, surrounded by fierce-looking fish-men who eyed them with malicious intent.

Arlong walked over, shouldering his serrated blade, as the surrounding fish-men cleared a path for him.

It seemed that because of the incident with Hatchan, Arlong was in a foul mood.

"I am Arlong of the Arlong Pirates. You lot of inferior species, listen well: from now on, your village belongs to me. Every year, you will pay one hundred thousand Belly for every adult and fifty thousand for every child. If you cannot produce the money, then there is no need for you to continue living."

Arlong spoke in a cold, icy voice.

As soon as these words were uttered, the expressions of many villagers shifted 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 Belly, or perhaps even more.

But for these people who relied on fruit farming and fishing to survive, simply not going hungry was already a struggle; even if they tried to save, it was impossible to scrape together such a sum.

Thinking of this, many faces turned pale with terror.

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

They had already witnessed the terrifying nature of these fish-men.

Arlong noticed the expressions on their faces and deliberately pointed a finger.

He was pointing at a young girl.

The girl looked to be about sixteen or seventeen, and she was clutching a little girl in her arms.

"We'll start with you."

As his words fell, fish-men immediately stepped forward, grabbed the girl and the little girl in her arms, and threw them before Arlong.

"One hundred thousand for the adult, fifty thousand for the child—one hundred and fifty thousand Belly in total."

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

The girl and the little girl in her arms were too terrified to even speak; they clung to each other tightly, not daring to even lift their heads.

"Bastards, did you not hear what I said?"

Seeing the two of them doing nothing but trembling in each other's arms, a fierce glint flashed in Arlong's eyes.

"My Lord, we don't have the money."

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

"Since there is no ransom, then go to hell!"

Upon hearing this, Arlong raised his serrated blade high.

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

With this strike, the others should become much more obedient, and contributing millions of Belly to him every year would be a truly excellent profit.

The serrated blade descended, slashing toward the girl and the child.

BOOM!

Flames descended in an instant like a meteor, the sky-filling fire spreading outward before quickly dissipating.

The serrated edge of the blade 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 fish-man pirates, all were equally shocked.

Arlong's expression stiffened, his eyes locked onto the person who had caught his blade.

Dunn looked at Arlong, who stood 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 the first time he had witnessed pirates attacking civilians with his own eyes.

"You bastard, who are you?"

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

Haki!

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

Dunn did not answer; he looked at Arlong with a calm expression before turning his gaze toward the surrounding pirates.

The girl and the little girl sitting on the ground, huddled together beside Dunn, looked at him in bewilderment.

Flames erupted from Dunn's hand, spreading along the serrated blade.

Arlong pulled desperately at his weapon, but it was to no avail. Seeing the fire about to reach his hand, Arlong let go and retreated.

"Kill him!"

As he backed away, Arlong roared, issuing the order to the group of fish-men.

[Fish-Man Pirate]

This was the label hovering above these people's heads.

Arlong's label was white, while the other Fish-Man pirates' were gray.

This indicated that to Dunn, these people posed not the slightest threat.

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

Dunn pressed his hand onto the hilt of Flame, the rustling sound of the blade rubbing against the scabbard ringing out.

Swish!

A horizontal slash.

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

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

Dunn's pace was not fast, but every time he swung Flame, the blade sliced through the surrounding pirates.

Nothing could stop him.

Flame's sharp edge cut through the Fish-Men's bodies without encountering the slightest resistance.

As a master swordsman who had already reached the realm of cutting steel, 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 Fish-Man pirate suddenly roared, aiming his flintlock at the young girl Dunn had just saved.

Boom!

Dunn, whose pace had not been particularly fast, arrived beside the armed Fish-Man in the next instant and kicked him away. The immense force sent the Fish-Man flying across the entire village, crashing directly into the ocean on the other side of the island.

Where he landed, ship debris and the corpses of villagers previously killed by the Fish-Men drifted upon the sea.

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

Dunn's previous strikes had slaughtered their companions before these guys could even 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 were 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 were tightly gripping their throats and slowly applying pressure; that suffocating sensation was bone-chilling.

Dunn turned back around, swinging Flame to flick off the Fish-Man blood staining it.

Behind him, Arlong stared fixedly at Dunn.

"Big Brother Arlong!"

The surrounding Fish-Men looked at Arlong with terrified expressions.

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

Arlong's gloomy voice rang out.

"Yes!"

Hearing Arlong say this, the Fish-Men looked at Dunn in unison, then gripped their weapons and lunged toward him.

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

Dunn, however, did not care about the Fish-Men's reaction; whether they charged or tried to flee, death was unavoidable.

Facing the charging Fish-Man pirates, Dunn sheathed his sword and gripped the hilt.

"Nadeshiko Slash!"

Dunn's calm voice rang out, and in the next moment, 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 terror or the Fish-Man pirates lunging at Dunn, all saw this somewhat dim streak of light.

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

Dunn's figure reappeared in front of Arlong, and behind him, the bodies of those Fish-Men split apart at the point of the strike due to their own momentum.