Let the Village Survive Before Fighting Arlong

"Charge!"

The grain sacks had barely been moved into the village when more than a dozen fishermen surrounded Su Hang.

Some raised fish spears, some carried ship-repair hammers, and even villagers with injured arms stepped forward.

"Even if Arlong doesn't come tonight, he'll come in three days! Instead of waiting for his revenge, we should burn down Arlong Park now!"

Su Hang looked up at the crowd.

"Who knows how many fish-men are in Arlong Park?"

No one answered.

"Who knows the underwater entrances, patrol routes, or where they keep hostages?"

The shouts from the crowd gradually died down.

An old fisherman gritted his teeth.

"We have to fight even if we don't know! We've endured this for too many years!"

"If you've had enough, you can risk your lives."

Su Hang pointed at the Dawnbringer moored in the shallows.

"But after you risk them, who will protect the children? Who can guarantee that Arlong won't send people to attack other villages? Who can stop dozens of fish-men from drilling through the ship at sea?"

The fisherman clenched his fish spear.

"Didn't you defeat Chew?"

"On land."

Su Hang did not try to make excuses for himself.

"Once Chew enters deep water, I can only drive him back. Arlong has dozens of fish-men under him, and he controls the nearby villages and sea routes. If we rush in now, I might kill a few, but the rest will scatter underwater."

Qi Hai took over.

"They don't need to sink the Dawnbringer. They only need to drill through the lower hull. Once Su Hang comes into contact with a large amount of seawater, his combat strength will immediately drop. Then the food, medicine, and sailors aboard will all become hostages."

The anger did not vanish, but reality suppressed it.

Outside the orange grove, a short-haired woman pushed through the crowd.

An old Marine jacket hung over her shoulders. A cigarette rested between her lips, and the edge of her holster had been worn pale.

Nami hurried over.

"Bellemere, why did you get out of bed?"

"The village is about to go to war. How could I stay in bed?"

Bellemere glanced at the damaged grain sacks, then fixed her eyes on Su Hang.

"You're right about everything. Arlong has numbers, and fish-men have the advantage at sea. So how long are you planning to wait?"

"Until the village can't be brought down by a single fire."

"Arlong won't give you time."

"Then we'll have to seize it."

Su Hang spread a tide chart over a wooden crate, his finger tapping the village, the bay, and Arlong Park in turn.

"Starting today, we won't keep all the food in one place. Lorne, divide the supplies into four portions. Leave one out in the open, and hide the other three in separate cellars. Split up the medicine too. If any one location is destroyed, the village must still be able to hold out for seven days."

Lorne studied the terrain.

"The orange storehouse in the north is too conspicuous. The old wine cellar on the eastern side is dry, the abandoned well in the south can be converted, and the last one can go near Bellemere's house. That's the farthest from the coast."

Bellemere frowned.

"Will hiding the food force Arlong back?"

"No, but it will ensure that he comes away empty-handed the first time."

Su Hang propped up a wooden board.

"Arlong controls the village with more than just his fists. He blocks merchant ships, destroys fishing boats, raises food prices, and then collects protection money. The villagers can't survive without his routes, so they can only keep paying him."

"I'll cut that rope first."

Nami crouched beside the map.

"The shallows are only deep enough for an old shallow-draft ship like the Dawnbringer. Large ships can't get in, but fish-men's fast boats can reach shore through three waterways."

"Mark them all."

"Even the reefs?"

"Don't leave out a single reef that can capsize a fast boat."

Nami grabbed a charcoal pencil and moved quickly.

"After low tide, the western entrance only has two feet of water left. There's an undercurrent at the northern entrance; if the bow shifts even half a foot, it'll get stuck. The southeast looks like the widest route, but there's a stone ridge underneath."

Qi Hai had villagers bring over three old bronze bells.

"Where should we put the bells?"

Nami pointed to three locations.

"The dock, the high slope in the orange grove, and the northern entrance to the village. If fish-men are spotted anywhere, ring two short and one long. If you see fire, ring continuously. If something is wrong underwater, ring three times first, then raise the blue flag."

Qi Hai picked out six of the quickest young men.

"Work in pairs and rotate shifts. Once the alarm is raised, no one is allowed to fight the enemy alone. Evacuate the women and children first, then seal the cellar entrances. Anyone who chases them into the sea on their own loses night-watch duty immediately."

A young fisherman protested.

"If the fish-men enter the village, we still can't chase them?"

"If you chase them into the water, do you think your fish spear is faster than they are?"

Qi Hai tossed him a scabbard.

"Stab me."

The young man froze for a moment, then raised his spear and thrust.

Qi Hai sidestepped, pressed the middle of the spear with the scabbard, and twisted. The man's entire arm immediately lost balance.

"See that? If your position is wrong, courage will only make you die first."

He handed the fish spear back.

"Three people hold the road, two rescue people, and one delivers the message. Your job is to stall them, not throw your lives away."

Bellemere had not said a word.

It was not until Lorne opened the last two medicine crates that she noticed the seals bore the name of the Greenleaf Island clinic.

"This medicine wasn't part of the ship's cargo?"

Lorne pointed at the crates.

"Some of it was. The rest—the hemostatic medicine, fever reducers, and disinfecting alcohol—was all bought just now."

"With what money?"

"The Dawnbringer's first escort commission. Every last bit of it was spent."

Bellemere turned to Su Hang.

"You spent your commission on a village that hasn't even joined your route yet?"

"If the villagers die of illness, then even if the route opens, only empty docks will remain."

"Aren't you afraid of losing everything?"

"I am."

Su Hang handed her a bottle of medicine.

"But we charge for escorts so that both ships and people can return. Money left in a pocket won't make a wound close on its own."

Bellemere caught the bottle. After a moment of silence, she suddenly drew the short gun from her waist.

The surrounding villagers startled.

But the barrel turned toward the path outside the village.

Bang!

An old metal plate hanging from a tree branch was pierced by the bullet.

"The view at the northern entrance is poor. If the bell is placed there, it'll be too easy for them to sneak in and take it out. Move it to my roof. I'll take the first watch."

Joy appeared on Nami's face.

"You agree?"

"I only agree to stay alive using his method first."

Bellemere holstered her gun and stared at Su Hang.

"Arlong has killed people and destroyed villages. If you use caution as an excuse and eventually flee with your ship, I'll shoot you myself."

Su Hang lightly rubbed the knuckle of his index finger.

"You won't need to remind me a second time."

"Then when will you fight?"

"After the food stores are dispersed, the warning lines are established, and we learn the situation in the other villages. Once Arlong can no longer freely move hostages even when he leaves the sea, we'll go to Arlong Park."

A villager could not help asking.

"Isn't this retreating?"

Su Hang pushed the last sack of grain into the cellar.

"Surviving isn't surrender. It's taking the timing of the decisive battle back into our own hands."

[The host has abandoned an immediate assault on Arlong Park.]

[Immediate combat rewards reduced.]

[Cocoyasi Village's organized survival rate has increased.]

[Personal interception route deviation detected: stable organization weighting increased.]

Su Hang closed the interface and looked up at the guards already rotating shifts by the bell tower.

Strength could be seized.

But a sea route that would not immediately collapse when its captain fell required everyone to know what they were supposed to do.

Night fell, and the transfer of the four food stores was complete.

Lorne stacked damp sandbags in the visible storehouse, covering them with only a dozen or so sacks of old grain husks.

Nami walked the shallows once more, marking every escape route on the map.

Qi Hai stood beneath the bell tower and suddenly raised his hand.

"Firelight."

Several black shadows, swimming close to the water's surface, were approaching the village from the distant sea.

Bellemere chambered a round.

"Didn't you say three days?"

Nami grabbed the bell rope, her face turning pale.

Su Hang looked at the oil barrels behind the shadows, his voice sinking.

"Arlong didn't wait three days. He sent people to burn the grain stores tonight."