Arlong Pirates

Just as expected.

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

"Captain Nezumi of the 16th Marine Branch."

Keeping his composure, the burly captain said with a broad smile, "You Fish-Man sirs should have heard that name before. I have business dealings 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 previously indifferent Fish-Men all froze.

Even the gray-skinned Fish-Man standing at the very back with his arms folded, who had not said a word until now, had a flicker in his eyes.

"You actually 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 somewhat hesitant.

They had only come under orders to sink ships entering the vicinity of Arlong Park. They had not expected to become entangled with Captain Nezumi. If they did not care about other humans, then in the East Blue, Captain Nezumi at least still held some value to them.

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

After discussing it, one of the Fish-Men retreated to an empty spot by the railing and dialed a Den Den Mushi. The rest continued watching the crew, wary of any unusual movement.

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

Even Li Mingyuan nodded slightly at the sight. Just as expected, this captain had some backing after all.

Those unfamiliar with One Piece might have already forgotten the name Captain Nezumi. Yet in truth, he had played an important role in the East Blue Arc. Though he had not appeared often, his brief appearance had left a deep impression on viewers.

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

Captain Nezumi was a Marine, yet he colluded with pirates. During the Arlong Arc, he led soldiers straight to Nami's tangerine grove and seized the hundred million Beli ransom she had painstakingly gathered after betraying the Straw Hat crew. In a roundabout way, this allowed Arlong to avoid breaking his agreement with Nami—after all, the Marines took your money. What did that have to do with me?

Nami's countless efforts over eight years were reduced to nothing. At last, the villagers who had watched Nami sacrifice herself for them could endure no longer. They erupted completely, and the entire village raised weapons and charged toward Arlong Park.

Knowing that the villagers were only walking to their deaths, Nami desperately tried to stop them. Yet she still could not halt their steps. Thus, on an empty street with nowhere left to turn, Nami was utterly helpless. In extreme pain and despair, she pulled out 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 group conceal some of their crimes in the East Blue. His importance to the Fish-Men went without saying.

If they brought up that name, it really should have been enough to make the Fish-Men let them go... right?

Li Mingyuan continued watching the situation unfold.

After whispering a few words into the Den Den Mushi, 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.

Whatever had been said, the Fish-Men soon spread out again. Then the red Fish-Man from earlier walked up to the captain, revealing a grin full of sharp teeth.

"Sorry. No."

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

Before the captain could even react, he was slammed to the deck.

His face flushed red from being choked, and he struggled to speak. "Wh... why..."

"Brother Arlong really hates humans, especially people like you who make your own decisions and rush straight 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."

With that, the other Fish-Men who had merely been watching also moved in perfect coordination. Some pulled out 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 fang-filled 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 undergo such a world-shaking change in the span of a second, Li Mingyuan's eyes flickered slightly.

He knew it. There was no way Arlong would let this cargo ship go.

After all, in the original story, there had been a Marine even less well-known than Captain Nezumi, a man named Brin Brin. He was the commodore and commander of the 77th Marine Branch. During the Arlong Park Arc, he had led his forces to attack the Arlong Pirates without authorization 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 group cover up their actions.

Judging by that commodore's conduct, he had known nothing of 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 the havoc the Arlong Pirates had caused in the East Blue. If they had known, then 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 force to clean them out. 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. The only reason he worked with Captain Nezumi was for profit.

In other words, without Captain Nezumi's Marine uniform, he held no value to Arlong. Whether Arlong wanted to destroy a cargo ship connected to him at this level 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 that Fish-Man as Chew, one of the Arlong Pirates officers from the original story, capable of firing high-pressure streams of water from his lips.