Arlong

Nojiko was won over by Mark's incredible 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 within her heart, which had been as still as dead water.

"Arlong is..."

Nojiko told Mark where Arlong was.

After learning Arlong's location, 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 possible, please, you have to save her."

Nami? Mark nodded lightly. Of course he knew Nami was innocent.

"I understand."

Half the reason he had come here was for Nami.

Nojiko watched the group's retreating backs, a peculiar light in her eyes. She hoped they would truly succeed.

"Boss, I'll go scout ahead first!"

After saying that, Chiu Chiu leaped into the air and flew swiftly toward Arlong Park.

"Daisy..." Mark said unconsciously as they headed toward Arlong Park, but Daisy interrupted him as soon as he spoke.

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.

"Fine. In that case, remember to protect yourself."

Daisy's face lit up with delight, and she practically skipped as she walked.

Mark had always worried too much about Daisy, unwilling to let her suffer any harm. But wasn't that itself a kind of harm to her?

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 descended from the sky.

"Boss, there really are a lot of fish-men there! There's even a pirate flag planted on the roof! For some reason, the Fish-Man Tribe inside suddenly gathered together."

Chiu Chiu told Mark what he had seen.

"They suddenly gathered?" Mark was puzzled, vaguely feeling that it had something to do with him.

"Never mind. Let's pick up the pace."

"Brother Arlong, this is bad! Parado, Meloc, and the other three have all been 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, murderous intent radiating from him.

"Who killed my kin?"

As someone born into 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 turned incomparably grim.

"I don't know. Salock saw it." A fish-man resembling a lanternfish stepped out from behind Hachi. His eyes bulged out like two enormous light bulbs, and a glowing lure protruded from his forehead.

"Brother Arlong, I just saw several strangers by the shore: a man, a woman, and a large golden bird. They killed Parado and the others. They were far too strong, especially that man. He killed Meloc and another in just a few moves."

The lanternfish-man used his arms to imitate Mark's slashing motions a few times, then put on a terrified expression.

Arlong's expression grew solemn.

To kill his subordinates in only a few moves, the opponent was definitely no ordinary person.

"Where are they now?" Arlong asked after thinking for a moment.

No matter how strong they were, if they had killed members of the Fish-Man Tribe, he, Arlong, would never let them off.

"They... they seem to be heading this way."

The lanternfish-man answered uncertainly.

"Brother Arlong, those people are too arrogant. I'll take some men and wipe them out." A fat fish-man with blue skin and inverted teeth said angrily.

The Cartilaginous Fish-Man Kuroobi stepped forward. "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 the other fish-men also stepped forward, clamoring to avenge their companions.

To these former members of the Sun Pirates, their companions' lives were the most important thing.

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 have never lost a single companion. Yet this time, we lost three at once. I'll personally kill them, then hang them from our pirate flag."

Raising his head to glance at the Arlong Pirates' 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 offend."

Nami stood by the window, looking 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 to Arlong Park... or rather, two people and a bird.

Then she saw a shocking scene.

Upon arriving at the entrance to 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.

"It's a human! Damn lowlife, who let you come here?!"

"Get lost! This isn't a place for lowly humans like you!"

The two fish-men with bluish-white skin stepped forward and shouted at Mark, thrusting their whaling spears at him.

"Lowly... Heh."

Mark sneered. Without even looking at the whaling spears attacking him, he swung down his Mountain-Splitting Axe at incredible speed. The axe blade left two afterimages in the air.

"Ah!"

In an instant, the sharp blade of the Mountain-Splitting Axe cleaved the two fish-men in half. Two fish-men became four pieces, blood spraying from their severed waists.

"No way!" Nami covered her mouth as she stared at the unbelievable scene below.

Because the room where she drew sea charts was the highest point in Arlong Park, she could clearly see Mark kill the two fish-men.

Arlong and the others, who were holding a meeting, also noticed something was wrong at the entrance.

They had heard the screams of the two fish-men clearly just now.

Arlong immediately became alert. He was a shark among the Fish-Man Tribe, exceptionally sensitive to the scent of blood.

He smelled the faint bloody odor drifting from the entrance.

"Kuroobi, go see what's going on!" Arlong ordered.

"Yes, Brother Arlong!" Kuroobi cracked his knuckles and strode toward the entrance.

But before he could reach it, the massive wooden gate was struck by a bolt of golden lightning, then exploded into splinters.

"Is Arlong here?" Chiu Chiu withdrew the golden lightning and asked very politely.