Arlong

The fish-man slowly raised his head, staring in terror at the tall Rody in a black coat before him. His whole body trembled so violently that he could not utter a word.

"Tch, did you break down?"

Rody walked up to the fish-man Kuroobi's head and kicked it into the arms of the Dharma Shark Fish-Man.

"Hold on to it. If you dare let it fall, I'll kill you."

At those words, the fish-man trembled as he tightly clutched Kuroobi's head against his chest.

"Nami, go command Little Black (Divine Dog: Black) and steer around the stretch of coast ahead."

Nami, who had still been staring blankly at the fish-man corpses on the deck, snapped out of it and said excitedly, "Okay, I'm on it." With that, she hurried to the control room to direct Little Black at the helm.

After saying that, Rody lay back down on Little White's (Divine Dog: White) back and silently opened the system prompt in his mind: The host has killed Kuroobi.

[Kill Value +1]

Kill Value: 2

"As expected, the others were simply too weak. No matter how many of them I kill, it won't increase my Kill Value by even a single point."

Looking at the Kill Value in his mind, Rody thought to himself.

Dusk was approaching, and the sun slowly sank toward the horizon.

Under the evening light, Cocoyasi Village appeared somewhat peaceful and tranquil.

However, Rody's arrival shattered that false peace and tranquility.

Rody walked up to the fish-man holding Kuroobi's head. "Let's go. Take me to your boss, Arlong."

Hearing that, he stood up blankly, climbed off the ship with Kuroobi's head in his arms, and headed toward Arlong's lair, Evil Dragon Domain. Rody first ordered the Divine Dogs to clean the deck, then followed him off the ship with Nami.

"Hey, hey, that fish-man is holding a fish-man's head in his arms!"

"I know him! That fish-man is Kuroobi, an officer of the Evil Dragon Pirates. His bounty was 9 million Berries—the second-highest bounty among the Evil Dragon Pirates' fish-men."

"I can't believe he's dead!"

"Yeah, yeah!"

Villagers who had come out to investigate after hearing the commotion lined both sides of the road, discussing it joyfully.

Hearing the villagers' discussions, Nami unconsciously broke into a happy smile as well.

Seeing Nami smiling beside him, Rody also smiled without realizing it.

"Hey, Nami, what's going on?"

"Nami, who's this young man beside you?"

"Did he kill the fish-men?"

The villagers all questioned Nami. "His name is Rody. He's my companion, and he killed the fish-men. He's very strong."

"Everyone, don't worry. The nightmare hanging over us will soon be over!"

Before long, they arrived at the entrance to Arlong's lair, Evil Dragon Domain, where two fish-men stood guard.

"Hey, what are all these humans gathering for? Are they planning to rebel against us noble fish-men?"

"Y-you look! Isn't that Brother Kuroobi's head in Akun's arms?!"

"Quick... go tell Boss Arlong!"

The two fish-men at the entrance rushed into Evil Dragon Domain and shouted at Arlong, who was lying on a stone chair with his eyes half-closed, "Boss Arlong! The humans have gathered to rebel! Brother Kuroobi was killed by them, and they even cut off his head!"

"What? Kuroobi was killed by humans?" Arlong crushed the armrest of his stone chair and stood up furiously. "Damn humans! Bring me my saw-toothed blade! I'll kill them!"

Arlong took the saw-toothed blade handed over by his fish-man underling and, with an enraged expression, led the fish-men in the domain outside.

Arlong stepped outside with the saw-toothed blade in hand and immediately saw that the Dharma Shark Fish-Man Akun was holding Kuroobi's head. Tears filled his eyes as he roared in fury, "Ah, my brethren! Humans, I'll kill you all!"

"T-that's Brother Kuroobi's head! Kill these humans!"

"These people killed Brother Kuroobi! Wipe out all these humans!"

"Boss Arlong, kill all these humans and avenge Brother Kuroobi!"

The fish-men who had followed Arlong out of Evil Dragon Domain saw this and angrily shouted.

The villagers following Rody were all frightened by the enraged appearance of Arlong's group. The villagers who had been full of joy moments ago immediately fell silent, looking hopefully at Rody and Nami ahead of them.

When the Dharma Shark Fish-Man Akun, who was holding fish-man Kuroobi's head, saw Arlong emerge from Evil Dragon Domain with the saw-toothed blade in hand, his previously dull and vacant eyes, like those of a walking corpse, suddenly came back to life.

Akun looked at Arlong, pointed at Rody and Nami, and cried out while trembling, "Boss Arlong, it was this Nami who brought in a human to brutally kill Brother Kuroobi, along with the fish-man brethren who went on patrol with us! Boss Arlong, you have to avenge us!"

"Damn you, you lowly, inferior humans."

Arlong turned his furious gaze toward Nami. "You found a human to help you. It seems you no longer intend to buy Cocoyasi Village back, Nami. I was originally planning to wait until you had gathered enough money, then inform that greedy Captain Nezumi of Marine 16th Branch that you had stolen 100 million Berries."

"At that time, all the money you worked so hard to steal over the past few years would be confiscated by the Marines."

"What kind of despairing expression would you make then?"

"Just thinking about it is amusing. Hahaha..." Arlong laughed smugly.

"You damn fish-man, how dare you deceive Nami like this? We'll never forgive you!"

"Nami, we all knew long ago that you joined Arlong's crew to save the village."

"Nami, stop worrying about us. We've long been prepared to risk our lives against Arlong's crew!" The villagers shouted furiously at Arlong.

Nami turned to look at everyone in the village, tears streaming down her face as she rasped, "E... everyone..."

Just then, Nojiko and Genzo, who had rushed over after hearing the commotion, stepped out of the crowd. Seeing Nami in tears, Genzo took a step forward and pulled her into his arms.

Feeling the warmth and acceptance of an embrace like a father's, Nami rasped, "Mr. Genzo, wh... when did you all find out...?"

"Ever since you first joined the Arlong Pirates, everyone in the village knew. You joined Arlong's crew to save the village."

Genzo said painfully, "We pretended not to know because we were afraid that, when you tried to escape Arlong, we would become shackles holding you back."

He placed both hands on Nami's shoulders and looked at the tear-streaked girl before him, silently making up his mind. This time, no matter what happened, even if it meant dying, he would never become Nami's shackles again!

"Nami, no matter what happens this time, let all of us face it with you!" Genzo said gently.

"That's right, Nami. You've seen it too—Arlong has been deceiving you all along. Face this with all of us this time!" Nojiko looked at Nami with resolute eyes.

The villagers also tightened their grips on their farming tools and kitchen utensils, their gazes fixed firmly on Nami.

"E... everyone."

Looking at their determined faces, the tears in Nami's eyes finally stopped falling. She turned to Rody. "Rody, help me!"

Rody's expression remained calm. "Of course!"