Nojiko was won over by Mark's miraculous ability. Arlong did not possess that kind of power. Perhaps the man before her really could deal with the Arlong Pirates.
At that thought, ripples stirred in her heart, which had been as still as dead water.
"Arlong is..."
Nojiko told Mark where Arlong was.
After learning where Arlong lived, Mark prepared to set out.
Nojiko suddenly said, "Um, there's a human in the Arlong Pirates. She's my younger sister. She... she's innocent. If you can, please, you have to save her."
Nami? Mark nodded lightly. Of course he knew Nami was innocent.
"I understand."
Half his reason for coming here had been Nami.
Nojiko watched their departing backs, a strange light appearing in her eyes. She hoped they would truly succeed.
"Boss, I'll go scout ahead!"
After saying that, Chiu Chiu leaped into the air and sped toward Arlong Park.
"Daisy..." Mark unconsciously said on the way to Arlong Park, but Daisy cut him off as soon as the words left his mouth.
She knew what Mark wanted to say and immediately replied, "Mark, I'm a member of the pirate crew too."
Tears glimmered faintly in Daisy's stubborn eyes.
Mark was suddenly at a loss for words. After a long while, he let out a soft breath.
"All right. If that's what you want, remember to protect yourself."
Daisy's face lit up with joy, and she practically skipped as she walked.
All this time, Mark had been overly protective of Daisy and had not wanted her to suffer any harm. But wasn't that a kind of harm to her as well?
As a member of the pirate crew, she had never fought for it. Even Chiu Chiu, who had joined later, fought alongside Mark every day. It was not fair to Daisy.
"Maybe... I was wrong from the start," Mark murmured.
Chiu Chiu flew down from the sky.
"Boss, there really are a lot of Fish-Men there! There's even a pirate flag stuck on the roof! For some reason, the Fish-Man Tribe inside suddenly gathered together."
Chiu Chiu reported what he had seen to Mark.
"They suddenly gathered?" Mark was puzzled, vaguely feeling that it had something to do with him.
"Never mind. Pick up the pace."
"Big Brother Arlong, this is bad! Parado, Meloc, and the other one were all killed!" Hachi blew a horn, gathering all the Fish-Men in Arlong Park into the courtyard.
"Who was it?"
Arlong leaned back in his chair, radiating killing intent.
"Who killed my kin?"
As someone born among the Fish-Man Tribe, Arlong had always regarded his fellow Fish-Men as extremely important. Upon hearing that someone had killed his people, his expression became incomparably grim.
"I don't know. Salock saw it." A lanternfish-like Fish-Man stepped out from behind Hachi. His eyes protruded dramatically, like two enormous lightbulbs, and a glowing lantern dangled from the center of his forehead.
"Big Brother Arlong, I saw several strangers by the shore just now. A man, a woman, and a large golden bird. They killed Parado and the others. Those people were far too strong, especially that man. He killed Meloc and the other one in just a few moves."
The lanternfish Fish-Man used his arms to imitate Mark's slashing motions a few times, then put on a frightened expression.
Arlong's expression turned somewhat solemn.
The enemy had killed his subordinates in just a few moves. They were definitely no ordinary people.
"Where are they now?" Arlong asked after thinking for a moment.
No matter how strong they were, as long as they had killed members of the Fish-Man Tribe, Arlong would never let them go.
"They... they seem to be coming this way."
The lanternfish Fish-Man answered uncertainly.
"Big Brother Arlong, those people are far too arrogant. I'll take some men and wipe them out." A fat Fish-Man with blue skin and inverted teeth spoke angrily.
The Cartilaginous Fish-Man Kuroobi stepped forward. "Big Brother Arlong, leave it to me!"
He was a master of forty-dan Fish-Man Karate. Although his bounty was only nine million Berries, his strength ranked among the best in the Arlong Pirates.
Shioyaki, Pisaro, Hyouzou, and other Fish-Men also stepped forward, clamoring to avenge their comrades.
To these former members of the Sun Pirates, the lives of their comrades mattered most.
Now that someone had killed their companions, every one of them was filled with righteous indignation.
Arlong swept his gaze over the core officers present. After a moment, he said, "I'll handle this personally. In all these years, we haven't lost a single companion. Yet this time, we lost three at once. I'll kill them myself, then hang them from our pirate flag."
Raising his head to look at the Arlong pirate flag, Arlong bared his sharp shark teeth.
"And let these lowly humans know that our Fish-Man Tribe... is not something they can afford to provoke."
Nami stood by the window, looking down at the somewhat noisy Arlong Park below, confusion flashing through her heart.
"What's wrong with these Fish-Men? Why have so many gathered today?"
At that moment, she caught sight of three figures appearing at the entrance of Arlong Park... more accurately, two people and one bird.
Then she saw a shocking sight.
Upon arriving at the entrance of Arlong Park and seeing the two Fish-Men guarding it, Mark wrapped his Mountain-Splitting Axe in pitch-black Dark-Dark Power and Armament Haki.
"Humans? Damn lowlife, who allowed you to come here?"
"Get lost! This isn't a place for lowly humans like you!"
The two bluish-white Fish-Men stepped forward and shouted at Mark, thrusting their whaling harpoons at him.
"Lowly... Heh."
Mark sneered. He did not even look at the whaling harpoons attacking him as he swung down his Mountain-Splitting Axe at blinding speed. Two afterimages trailed through the air behind its blade.
"Ah!"
In an instant, the sharp edge of the Mountain-Splitting Axe cleaved both Fish-Men in two. Two Fish-Men became four pieces, blood spraying from their bodies where they had been cut at the waist.
"No way!" Nami covered her mouth, staring at the unbelievable scene below.
Since the room where she drew sea charts was the highest place in Arlong Park, she could clearly see Mark kill the two Fish-Men.
Arlong and the others, who were in the middle of their meeting, also sensed that something was wrong at the entrance.
They had heard the two Fish-Men's screams clearly just now.
Arlong instantly became alert. As a shark-type Fish-Man, he was exceptionally sensitive to the smell of blood.
He caught the faint scent of blood drifting from the entrance.
"Kuroobi, go see what happened!" Arlong ordered.
"Yes, Big Brother Arlong!" Kuroobi clenched his fists and strode toward the entrance.
But before he could reach it, the massive wooden gate was struck by a golden bolt of lightning, exploding into fragments.
"Is Arlong here?" Chiu Chiu withdrew the golden lightning and asked very politely.