"What kind of skill is it to mutilate yourself instead of calling for help when you're in trouble?"
That lazy voice, carrying a hint of teasing, sounded especially clear amid the rumbling thunder.
Nami's entire body stiffened as she mechanically raised her head.
Rubble poured down like a torrential downpour from the collapsing tower.
And amid the swirling dust and lingering blue electrical flashes,
a slender young man in a black trench coat descended slowly into the muddy puddle before her, as though a demon god had stepped out of myth, walking through the air.
Lei En paid no attention to the villagers whose jaws had dropped.
He lowered his head and looked at Nami, who was kneeling on the ground with vacant eyes, blood still flowing from her left arm.
She was one of the soul figures of the Straw Hat Pirates in the original story, a genius navigator.
But now, she was the Heavenly Court's designated chief steward.
"Y-You... who are you?"
Nami stared blankly at the mysterious man who had fallen from the sky. Her mind was completely blank, and she had even forgotten the searing pain in her arm.
Lei En did not answer.
He simply reached out and grabbed the wrist of her trembling hand, which still clutched the bloodstained dagger, with an overwhelmingly domineering grip.
"Ah—!"
Nami winced in pain and tried to struggle, only to find that his hand was like an iron vise. She could not break free at all.
Lei En pulled a clean white handkerchief from his pocket and roughly pressed it against the glaring Arlong tattoo on Nami's arm.
"It's only a hundred million Beli. I'll pay it for you."
Lei En's voice was not loud, but his tone carried an unquestionable arrogance, as if he were speaking of something utterly trivial.
"In exchange..."
He bent down slightly, his deep black eyes fixed upon Nami's pretty face streaked with tears.
"Your life, and the hand you use to draw sea charts, belong to me from now on."
Those words struck Nami's heart like a bolt of lightning.
She looked at the unreasonable, overbearing young man before her and did not know how to react for a moment.
Did he know what he was doing?
He was declaring war on the most terrifying Arlong Pirates in the entire East Blue!
Just then,
"Who did this?! Which worthless lower human dared to do this?!"
An incomparably furious roar, like the howl of a wild beast, came from the tower that had been reduced to ruins!
Immediately afterward,
"Boom!"
Massive chunks of rubble were forcibly blasted away by a tremendous force.
A blue-skinned fish-man nearly three meters tall, with a long saw-toothed nose, charged out of the ruins covered in dust and murderous intent.
It was the pirate with the highest bounty in the East Blue, the captain of the Arlong Pirates—"Saw-Tooth" Arlong!
Behind him came the octopus fish-man Hachi, the kissing gourami fish-man Kuroobi, and several hundred vicious-looking fish-man pirates armed to the teeth!
Looking at their headquarters, which had been flattened to the ground, every one of them had bloodshot eyes with fury. They wanted nothing more than to tear every human before them to pieces!
"Did you lowly pieces of trash do this?!"
Arlong furiously pointed at the distant villagers, then shifted his gaze to Lei En and Nami standing at the front.
When he saw the wound on Nami's arm, as well as the black-haired youth standing in the mud without even sparing him a glance,
Arlong laughed in extreme rage.
"Nami! You ungrateful bitch, did you find outside help to rebel against the great fish-man race?!"
Arlong drew his massive saw-toothed blade, Kiribachi, and pointed its tip directly at Lei En.
"You're just a human brat with a bit of ability! Today, I'll chew your bones apart inch by inch!"
"Boys! Kill every last one of these lower humans! Leave none alive!"
"Roar!"
Several hundred fish-man pirates let out excited, bloodthirsty roars. Waving swords and spears, they surged toward the villagers and Lei En like a black tide!
At the sight of that terrifying force, the villagers turned pale with fear and desperately gripped their farm tools.
"Run! Everyone, run!" Nami shouted in terror, trying to push Lei En away.
However, Lei En stood as immovable as a mountain.
He did not even take his hands out of his pockets.
"Lowly humans? The great fish-man race?"
Lei En slowly turned around and looked at the wolfish fish-men rushing toward him. A cruel curve of extreme frostiness and contempt tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"A bunch of sewer trash playing king in the East Blue beginner village."
He sighed, as if already tired of such boring antics.
"You aren't even qualified to make me draw my sword."
The moment his words fell!
Lei En's gaze instantly turned razor-sharp, and tangible killing intent crazily gathered in his pupils!
"Bzzzz—!!!"
An invisible, dark-red and terrifying aura erupted from his body without warning!
Conqueror's Haki!
Rather than blotting out the sky like it had during the Summit War, Lei En controlled this aura with extreme precision, transforming it into an invisible hurricane aimed directly at the soul!
"Rumble!"
Conqueror's Haki swept through the area!
The air seemed to be sucked dry in an instant, and even time itself appeared to come to a standstill.
The several dozen fish-men charging at the front felt as though their brains had been smashed by a massive hammer!
"Urgh..."
The bloodlust and madness on their faces froze instantly.
Then,
"Thud!"
"Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!"
Like wheat being cut down.
The hundreds of fish-man grunts who had been charging forward arrogantly and menacingly just a moment ago
rolled their eyes back and foamed at the mouth the instant they touched that dark-red hurricane, unable to even let out a single scream.
Like puppets whose strings had been cut, they collapsed in neat rows across the muddy street!
A deathly silence fell.
The charge of several hundred men had crumbled in less than a second, leaving them all unconscious!
The previously noisy and bustling Arlong Park square now contained only the sound of rain striking the ground.
The villagers gaped, hoes falling from their hands as they stared at the black-haired youth like he was a monster.
Nami's eyes widened so much that she even forgot to breathe.
This... was this magic?!
"How... is this possible?!"
Although Hachi, Kuroobi, and the other officers had not fainted, their legs trembled as they fell to their knees, drenched in cold sweat and gasping for breath.
They looked at Lei En in horror, feeling as though their very souls were trembling.
"Y-You... what did you do to my brethren?!"
Arlong was the only fish-man in the entire area who could barely remain standing, but his arrogant face was now covered in cold sweat.
His prideful fish-man physique was actually overcome by an urge to bow down in worship under that terrifying pressure!
He had only felt this sensation before when he had followed Boss Tiger to the New World and encountered those genuine monsters!
Lei En looked at Arlong, who was still forcing himself to endure, and casually shook the muddy water from his handkerchief.
He slowly walked toward Arlong, his leather shoes making crisp splashing sounds as they stepped through the puddles.
With every step, the pressure on Arlong's body increased another degree.
"What did I do? I merely helped you recognize reality."
Lei En stopped five meters in front of Arlong. There was no anger in those profound eyes, only lofty indifference.
"Arlong, since you enjoy playing racial superiority so much..."
Lei En narrowed his eyes slightly, his voice carrying a chill that made one's scalp tingle.
"Then how about we play a game? Let's see whether your fish-man teeth are harder, or..."
Before you continue