Collision, Arlong Pirates

"Ugh, how boring. A bunch of cowards."

In the end, Gato held back. He could tell these people had never intended to kill him. Once they rushed in front of him, they lost the momentum they had before, as if they were afraid of actually killing him. That made Gato look down on them even more.

They picked up weapons only to vent the anger in their hearts, without even knowing what they truly wanted. No wonder Gato saw them that way.

Even an ordinary man driven to rage could make blood flow five steps away!

Still, those people had preserved their lives because of it. If they had truly harbored killing intent, they would all be dead beneath his blade by now.

Though no one had died, the scene remained horrifying. A group of people lay on the ground, wailing in agony. The unlucky ones had even lost an arm or something else, making it look like hell itself.

"Monster! Aaaaaah!"

Many people were mentally shattered and fled in all directions in terror.

The villagers who still had some sense left brought out the flag of the Arlong Pirates, clutching it like drowning men clinging desperately to a straw.

"D-Don't do anything reckless! This is Arlong Pirates territory! Arlong is a great pirate with a bounty of 000 million Beli! Y-You're dead!"

Gato shook his head regretfully. It seemed this man's sanity only extended that far. Threatening him at a time like this was simply asking to die.

Fortunately, he was not bloodthirsty and could not be bothered by the bluster of the weak. Otherwise, Bright Light would be stained with more needless weakling blood.

"Ah, perfect. I came here looking for the Arlong Pirates."

The group retreated even faster than they had arrived.

Gato scratched his head and said in astonishment, "Why did they all run? I wanted to ask where Arlong Park was."

Arlong Park was the Arlong Pirates' hideout. In this "colony" of the Arlong Pirates, everyone surely knew where it was.

"Well, there's still one here."

One fellow's legs had gone so weak that he had collapsed onto the ground. Gato only noticed him after the crowd had completely dispersed.

"Hey, tell me where Arlong Park is."

The man was trembling all over, making his words come out unevenly.

"W-What do you want to do? If you go there, you'll... you'll die. I won't tell you."

Gato could not be bothered to waste words on him. Even after being given such a warning, the man still would not comply. It seemed he had been too gentle after all. He grabbed the man and returned directly to his ship.

After working for half a day to get the ship moving again, Gato found a rope and tied the man up tightly before carrying him to the bow.

"Think it over. If you take me there, I'll let you go. Otherwise, die now. I'll throw you into the sea."

"You can take a gamble. If you don't tell me where it is, you'll definitely die in your current state. But if you tell me, you'll have a chance to live."

"I'm going to take down the Arlong Pirates. If I win, you won't have to die."

The man was terrified at first, but after hearing Gato's words and thinking for a moment, he nodded repeatedly.

Cocoyasi had not left Gato with a good impression at all, but this man at least knew when to yield. Satisfied, Gato pulled him down from the bow.

Under the guidance of his new guide, Gato arrived at Arlong Park.

"Watch the ship for me. I'll be back soon."

Gato was not worried in the slightest that the man would steal the ship and flee. He had already reached his destination, and his large ship was not something an ordinary person could operate. If the man wanted to swim away, that was up to him.

"Yo, what an impressive setup."

Gato slowly arrived before the tightly shut gates of Arlong Park and sighed sincerely.

The park's gates alone looked grand and luxurious. It was also the most magnificent building Gato had seen in the East Blue, showing just how much money the Arlong Pirates had made.

"Gahahaha, this'll make robbing the place much more fun."

A flash of blade light passed through the air, and the enormous wooden gates silently split in two. But when they crashed to the ground with a thunderous bang, the pirates inside the park were alerted.

Arlong, captain of the Arlong Pirates, sat carelessly in his own seat. He waved casually at someone beside him and said, "Kuroobi, go see what happened."

The fish-man called Kuroobi walked toward the gates without much concern. Though he was usually serious, he did not think anyone would dare invade their headquarters.

It was only when he saw Gato that he realized how terribly mistaken he had been. There really was such an idiot who dared come looking for trouble with them—and he had come alone.

This idiot had split their gates apart with a sword. No matter how he looked at it, the man clearly had not come with good intentions.

"Are you tired of living, brat?! Die!"

The rage in Kuroobi's eyes seemed ready to burst forth. Like their pirate flag, those gates represented the pride of the Arlong Pirates.

Even Marine captains coming to discuss business had to respectfully knock on those gates. Now they had been destroyed. How could he not be furious?

Gato showed no reaction to his anger. An enemy of this level could no longer stir his interest.

He did not bother saying much to the fish-man, nor was he interested in learning Kuroobi's name. Spouting endless nonsense had never been Gato's habit.

In his eyes, Kuroobi would soon be nothing more than a dead fish. Nothing else mattered.

Kuroobi was decisive as well. Against someone who dared offend the Arlong Pirates, he had no qualms about striking with thunderous force.

"Fish-Man Karate—One Thousand Brick Fist!"

"Too slow." Gato curled his lip. Sure enough, an opponent at this level was just unbearably boring.

Fish-Man Karate was far less effective on land than it was in water. Though the shockwaves were invisible, to someone with Gato's extreme speed, they were painfully slow—easy to dodge.

Crackle!

Gato moved, so fast that ordinary people could not even see his figure. All they could vaguely make out was a streak of lightning left where he had stood, dreamlike and dazzling.

The long blade pierced Kuroobi's body, entering through his chest and emerging from his back without a sound.

Kuroobi had thought Gato had been sent flying by his attack and was smugly preparing to withdraw his fist. Then, to his horror, he discovered that Gato was standing right in front of him, having dealt him a fatal blow.

"Urgh... ngh..."

He felt his entire body turning cold. He wanted to roar, but sadly realized he no longer had the strength to say a complete sentence. All he could do was make meaningless rasping sounds from his throat.

His heart had been completely pierced through, but the damage Gato inflicted was far more than the physical wound caused by Bright Light.

If Kuroobi's chest were cut open, one would find that every organ in his upper body had been electrocuted into mush. Under such circumstances, no matter who it was, they would have no way to leave any last words.

Pulling out his blade, Gato sidestepped the falling corpse of the cartilaginous fish-man and entered Arlong Park.

Arlong had already grown impatient. Kuroobi seemed to have been gone for rather a long time. He was quite strong—if there had been any trouble, he should have dealt with it by now.