Arlong Pirates

Sure enough.

Not long after Li Mingyuan had that thought, the burly captain revealed his hand.

"16th Marine Branch, Captain Nezumi."

Keeping calm, the burly captain said with a broad smile, "You Fish-Man gentlemen should have heard of that name. I do business with the captain as well. To be honest, quite a bit of this cargo is meant to be delivered to him."

At the mention of Captain Nezumi, the Fish-Men who had been acting indifferent just moments ago all froze.

Even the gray-skinned Fish-Man standing at the very back with his arms folded and saying nothing had a flicker in his eyes upon hearing this.

"You know Captain Nezumi?"

the Fish-Man muttered.

"Should we... make a call?"

The red-skinned Fish-Man at the front turned back toward the others again, looking hesitant.

They had only come under orders to sink any ships entering the vicinity of Arlong Park. They had not expected to get Captain Nezumi involved. They did not care about other humans, but in the East Blue, Captain Nezumi was at least someone of some value to them.

For a moment, none of the Fish-Men dared make the decision on their own.

After discussing it, one Fish-Man retreated to an empty spot by the rail and dialed a Den Den Mushi. The rest continued to watch the crew, wary of any sudden moves.

Seeing this, the burly captain immediately let out a sigh of relief.

Even Li Mingyuan nodded slightly. As expected, the captain had some backing after all.

Those unfamiliar with One Piece might no longer remember Captain Nezumi's name, but he had actually played an important role in the East Blue Arc. Though he had not appeared much, his brief appearance had left a profound impression on viewers.

Because it was his existence that had nearly driven Nami into despair during the Arlong Arc.

As a Marine, Captain Nezumi had colluded with pirates. During the Arlong Arc, he led troops straight to Nami's Tangerine Grove and seized the entire hundred million Beli ransom she had painstakingly gathered after betraying the Straw Hat crew. In a roundabout way, this allowed Arlong to keep his promise to Nami—after all, look, the Marines took your money. What did that have to do with him?

Nami's countless efforts over eight years had vanished into nothing. At last, the villagers who had watched her sacrifice herself for them could no longer endure it and erupted completely, the entire village raising weapons and charging toward Arlong Park.

Knowing the villagers were only marching to their deaths, Nami desperately tried to stop them, but she still could not halt them. Left alone in an empty street, utterly helpless amid overwhelming pain and despair, she drew a knife and stabbed wildly at the Arlong Pirates tattoo on her arm.

Captain Nezumi could be said to have been the fuse that ignited the final battle of the Arlong Arc. Some even claimed that he had helped Arlong's crew cover up some of their crimes in the East Blue. His importance to the Fish-Men was self-evident.

If they invoked that name, it should have been enough to make the Fish-Men show mercy... right?

Li Mingyuan continued watching the situation unfold.

After whispering into the Den Den Mushi for a few moments, the Fish-Man in the distance returned to the group and said something to the others. His voice was too low for Li Mingyuan to make out the details.

But regardless of what had been said, the Fish-Men soon spread out again. Then the red Fish-Man who had spoken earlier stepped before the captain, baring a grin full of sharp teeth.

"Sorry, no."

Without warning, the Fish-Man suddenly raised a hand and seized the burly captain by the head.

The captain did not even have time to react before he was slammed to the deck.

His face turned bright red from suffocation as he forced out, "Wh... why...?"

"Brother Arlong really hates humans, especially people like you who act on your own and rush right up to Arlong Park without even giving us a heads-up. Normally, we might have let you pass, but unfortunately, Brother Arlong is in a very bad mood today."

"So you and this ship can only sink here together."

As soon as he finished speaking, the other Fish-Men, who had merely been watching the show, moved in perfect coordination. Some pulled flintlocks from who knew where and began firing at the crew. Others charged in barehanded, using strength roughly ten times that of humans to send people flying with a punch. Still others used neither fists nor guns, simply opening their fanged mouths and biting at the crew.

In an instant, the entire cargo ship descended into chaos.

"H-how can you do this?! Captain!!"

"Ah... Aah!!"

Watching the deck transform beyond recognition in a single second, Li Mingyuan's eyes flickered.

He knew Arlong would never let this cargo ship go.

After all, the original story featured an even less memorable Marine than Captain Nezumi: Brin Brin, the commodore and commander of the 77th Marine Branch. During the Arlong Park Arc, he had led his forces against the Arlong Pirates without approval from his superiors in order to rescue the residents of Kesha Town. In the end, three Arlong Pirates officers created a whirlpool that sank his fleet, wiping them out on the spot without even giving them a chance to fight.

That was also indirect evidence that Captain Nezumi had been helping Arlong's crew cover things up.

Judging by that commodore's actions, he had not known the Arlong Pirates' true situation beforehand. Even his attack had been a personal decision after discovering Arlong Park's castle. The Marines and the World Government had been completely unaware of what the Arlong Pirates had been doing in the East Blue. If they had known, even if one of the Shichibukai had truly been backing the Arlong Pirates, they could never have covered it up. A Marine vice admiral would have led a cleanup operation. At the very least, Garp, the "Marine Hero" from the East Blue, would never have stood by and ignored it.

From that Marine commodore's fate, Arlong's true thoughts were actually obvious. He never cared about offending the Marines. He hated all humans equally. He only cooperated with Captain Nezumi because it served his interests.

In other words, without Captain Nezumi's Marine uniform, he would have been meaningless to Arlong. Whether Arlong felt like destroying a cargo ship with such a flimsy connection depended entirely on his mood that day.

"Tch. Just as expected, it turned into this again."

"What a pain."

Li Mingyuan could not help frowning.

That was why, after discovering that Fish-Man in the lower hold earlier, he had attacked without hesitation. He had recognized him as one of the Arlong Pirates officers from the original story—the Fish-Man Chew, who could fire high-pressure streams of water from his lips.