Not Paying a Single Percent of the Ninety-Percent Protection Fee

The Dawnbringer was caught by an underwater net, and the hull suddenly listed hard to the left.

Qi Hai gripped the helm.

"Reef the sails! Sailors, guard the hatches! No one leaves their position!"

Six fish-men leaped onto the deck along the ropes.

The leader had thin, long lips and carried an iron pipe on his shoulder.

His gaze swept over the hold full of grain sacks. His tongue flicked out between his sharp teeth with a piercing click.

"I'm Chew, an officer of the Arlong Pirates."

Su Hang leaned against the mainmast.

"You've said your name. You can get off the ship now."

Chew raised his iron pipe and pointed it toward the cargo hold.

"Twenty nearby villages and seven shipping routes all belong to Boss Arlong."

"Foreign merchant ships either hand over ninety percent of their cargo or sink to the bottom of the sea."

"Who made that rule?"

"Boss Arlong."

Su Hang looked at Alan.

"Does Fish-Man Island have such a tax decree?"

Alan stepped between them.

"Fish-Man Island has never recognized Arlong's rule over the East Blue."

"King Neptune never authorized anyone to collect taxes here."

Chew's gaze turned cold.

"You, a lowly half-blood fish-man, dare speak for Fish-Man Island?"

Veins bulged on the back of Alan's hand.

Su Hang got there first and pressed a hand onto his shoulder.

"Don't let him lead you around."

"He wants to turn extortion into an internal dispute among fish-men."

Chew sneered.

"Mixed in with humans long enough, and you've learned to wag your tail?"

Alan stared at him.

"I'm stopping you from dragging every fish-man into the crimes of pirates."

"Crimes?"

Chew lifted his long mouth.

"When the strong take from the weak, do they need to plead guilty?"

Su Hang took down a wooden board beside the mainmast and set it upright in the center of the deck.

"The Dawnbringer transports disaster relief supplies. We charge only for grain, medicine, and personnel costs."

"The cargo belongs to Cocoyasi Village. It belongs neither to you nor to me."

Chew kicked the board.

Su Hang pinned its lower edge with his toe. The board did not move an inch.

"If you can't understand, then listen."

"I said ninety percent."

"I said not a cent."

The deck fell abruptly silent.

Several fish-men gripped their weapons at the same time.

Scratching sounds came from beneath the water as well. Two dark shadows had already drawn close to the Dawnbringer's bottom.

Qi Hai drew his blade halfway.

"There's something under the hull."

Alan listened for two breaths.

"Two fish-men, carrying a rope saw."

"They haven't made a move yet."

Qi Hai turned and gave his orders.

"Don't move the cannons."

"Sailors, block the hatches. Ready the long hooks."

"Without an attack signal, do not touch the underwater targets."

Seeing that they did not dare fire the cannons, Chew laughed even more arrogantly.

"Word has already spread that Devil Fruit users fear seawater."

"As long as I nod, there'll be two more holes in your hull."

He raised the iron pipe and aimed it at the nearest grain sack.

"Now, answer again."

Water compressed inside the iron pipe.

Bang!

The water bullet punched through the burlap sack, spraying white rice across the deck.

The sack split open. Dozens of pounds of grain rolled into the drainage channels, and some spilled over the rail into the sea.

Nami's face turned pale at once.

That one sack was enough to feed several children in the village for half a month.

Chew blew away the mist at the mouth of his pipe.

"The next shot hits the freshwater tank."

Su Hang lowered his gaze to the grain at his feet.

"Do you know why the village lacks food?"

"Because they're weak."

"Because you stop ships, destroy nets, and take money from every household."

Su Hang slowly stepped onto the scattered rice. His rubber calf compressed backward.

Chew puffed out his cheeks again.

"So what if you know?"

The second water bullet blasted forth!

Su Hang's foot snapped upward.

Bang!

The sole of his shoe struck the side of the water bullet dead-on.

The compressed ball of water was forcibly redirected by the force of his rubber body. It skimmed past the ship's side and shot back into the sea behind Chew.

Boom!

A column of water surged several yards high. The wave shoved two fish-man speedboats into each other, and the ropes aboard them instantly became a tangled mess.

Chew whirled around.

"You dare fight back?"

Su Hang's foot settled back onto the deck.

"It was water you spat out."

"I just found it filthy and sent it back."

The fish-men raised their spears and pressed forward.

Qi Hai held his blade across the entrance to the cargo hold while four sailors dropped wooden shields side by side.

No one charged the enemy, and no one retreated half a step.

Qi Hai rested a hand on his sword hilt.

"You may board the ship to negotiate."

"Take another step toward the grain, and it'll be treated as robbery."

Chew looked coldly at Su Hang.

"You think blocking one water bullet means you can protect the whole ship?"

The underwater rope saw finally tightened.

A shrill scraping sound rang against the outer hull.

Two fish-men, one ahead and one behind, pulled the thick rope. Iron teeth embedded in it began sawing into the Dawnbringer's fresh timber.

Alan grabbed a long hook.

"They've made their move!"

"Wait."

Su Hang did not look toward the water.

Nami was no longer at the bow.

When the water bullet had torn through the grain sack, she had slipped down the side ladder of the cargo hold to the stern.

A shallow-water float blocked the view. Biting down on a short knife, she dove beneath the hull and found the towline connected to the rope saw.

The fish-men were focused on pulling and did not notice that the rope had already been cut halfway through.

Nami brought her blade down.

The rope snapped.

The two fish-men beneath the water lost their footing at the same time and flipped backward several yards.

The rope saw sank into the mud with the current, leaving only a shallow scratch along the Dawnbringer's bottom.

Nami lifted her head from behind a float on the other side and gave Alan a gesture for silence.

Alan froze for half a breath, then lowered the long hook.

Chew waited for a long while, but the ship's bottom never split open.

A companion shouted from the water.

"What's going on down there?"

"The towline was cut!"

Chew swept his gaze across the deck.

Nami had already climbed back into the cargo hold from the stern. Her wet hair was tucked beneath her hood, showing only half an innocent face.

Su Hang picked up a sack of grain and plugged the hole in the damaged sack.

"We won't pay ninety percent in protection money."

"If you have information about reefs, currents, or storms, the Dawnbringer will buy it at market price."

Chew's face darkened.

"You want to do business with us?"

"Information for money, goods for money."

"Putting a blade to someone else's throat isn't business."

"Does Boss Arlong need you to teach him that?"

"If all he knows is robbery, then he has no right to talk about shipping routes."

Chew's long mouth trembled.

The fish-men around him had already begun to retreat.

They had failed to break open the hull, and the water bullet had been kicked back. If they remained on the deck, Qi Hai would only cut off their retreat.

Chew suddenly laughed.

"Very good."

He leaped back onto the speedboat.

"I hope you'll still be this tough after the grain reaches shore."

The net quickly loosened, and the three speedboats darted into the reef channel.

The Dawnbringer did not pursue. Following the shallows Nami had marked out, it continued toward the village.

Half an hour later, the hull finally scraped against soft sand.

The residents of Cocoyasi Village hid behind the Orange Grove. No one came near.

The Dawnbringer lowered its gangplank. Just as the sailors carried the first sacks of grain ashore, a scream came from the distance.

Nami jerked her head up.

"Nojiko!"

Chew stood on a reef in the shallows. One hand clamped the back of the blue-haired woman's neck, while the other held a short gun.

Two fish-men pinned her arms and dragged her into knee-deep seawater.

Nojiko struggled once, and the gunstock immediately slammed into her shoulder.

"Don't worry about me! Sail away!"

Nami rushed down the gangplank.

"Let her go!"

Chew pressed the muzzle against the back of Nojiko's knee, his long mouth splitting into a grin.

"Don't you people enjoy transporting grain by the rules?"

"Then I'll make a rule too."

He fixed his eyes on Su Hang and spoke each word slowly.

"If you dare deliver one more sack of grain, I'll break this woman's leg first."