Roar, Startled Dragon!

Hearing Zero's sudden rebuke, everyone was somewhat baffled.

Only Nami seemed to understand. Covering her mouth, she stared at Zero in shock.

"Nami, do you think you can stand against Arlong on your own? Don't be so naive. That pirate isn't someone who keeps his word. After all these years by Arlong's side, don't you understand that?"

Nami staggered back a few steps and dropped onto the ground. Her weapon fell from her hand as well. She could not understand how Zero knew such things.

"Zero, how did you know—"

"That's not the point. The point is that we know what kind of person you are. We know you would never do anything to hurt Usopp. After all, we're your companions. You can absolutely trust us!"

As if to confirm Zero's words, Usopp suddenly appeared behind the others. He had no obvious injuries, and everyone now believed Zero's words. They understood that Nami had actually been secretly protecting them.

At that moment, Nami suddenly recalled the happy days they had spent together aboard the ship. Images flashed through her mind before finally settling on the resolute faces before her.

Zero noticed Nami's expression and knew that her heart had begun to waver, so he added, "It'll be fine. Isn't it just Arlong? Our captain is the man who'll become the Pirate King. He can just send a mere fish-man flying!"

"That's right, Nami! Trust us!"

"Boss, we'll protect you!"

"..."

In the end, what truly moved Nami was Luffy's single sentence: "Nami, you can always trust us!"

She finally could not hold it together anymore. Tears streamed endlessly from the corners of her eyes as she cried like a child.

"Luffy, Zero, everyone, please help me!"

Luffy silently placed his straw hat over her head, while their companions answered with unwavering promises.

"Of course!"

No one knew how the villagers of Cocoyasi Village had learned that Luffy and the others were going to fight Arlong, but by the time the group arrived at Arlong Park, many villagers had already gathered there.

Of course, that was only a small interruption. Luffy led everyone around the villagers, smashed the park gates apart with two punches, and walked inside.

"Who are you people?"

The fish-men gathered inside had barely finished shouting when a casually dressed man stepped out from behind the boy in the red vest and inexplicably raised a hand toward them.

"Minions, get out of my way!"

The moment the man finished speaking, a terrifying force erupted from his body. Before the astonished eyes of the officers and villagers, fish-man after fish-man rolled their eyes back and collapsed unconscious!

In an instant, only Arlong and several officers remained in Arlong Park, along with the Straw Hat Pirates.

"What happened?"

"Our brethren!"

"..."

The remaining fish-man officers stared at the man in shock, unable to understand how he had defeated so many fish-men. This proved that people feared the unknown—and fish-men were no exception!

"Conqueror's Haki...?"

Arlong was also somewhat incredulous. As a former member of the Sun Pirates, he naturally knew of this tremendous power possessed only by the strong who sailed the seas!

Yet in a backwater like the East Blue, he had actually encountered someone with Conqueror's Haki. It truly was—

The next moment, before he could question Zero's purpose in doing all this, Luffy was already before him and sent him flying with a punch, embedding him in the wall!

"Amazing! He actually sent Arlong flying! No wonder he's the reinforcements Nami brought back."

"Yeah! Go for it, kid! Take down Arlong!"

The crowd's cheers did not last long. Arlong rose from the wall, seemingly not badly hurt at all, immediately drawing another round of disappointed sighs.

At that moment, Hachi, the octopus with six tentacles, leaped out and blew a horn-like sound toward the sea. Huge waves immediately rose in the distance, and then a sea beast all too familiar to Luffy and the others appeared before them.

"It's here! Sea Cow Moo Moo!"

"A monster that only exists on the Grand Line!"

Who would have thought that the enormous sea beast merely glanced at Luffy and the others, then quietly turned around and left.

Everyone: "..."

Arlong spoke at that moment.

"Moo Moo, you're not just going to leave like that, are you—"

As if it had recalled some terrifying memory, Sea Cow Moo Moo's eyes suddenly changed. It turned back, opened its mouth to reveal its sharp teeth, and viciously bit down at Luffy and the others.

Seeing this, Luffy planted his feet into the floorboards, stretched out both arms to grab Sea Cow Moo Moo's horns, and used Gum-Gum Pinwheel to hurl it high into the air. It crashed into the sea, its fate unknown.

"No way?"

Although Moo Moo had been defeated, Zero's expression turned somewhat helpless. Seeing that Luffy could not pull his feet free, he only regretted not stopping him sooner!

He had just taken a step forward to rescue Luffy when Usopp unexpectedly volunteered to lure away a fish-man officer. Then Arlong appeared before Luffy and threw both Luffy and the floorboards beneath his feet into the sea.

"!!!"

"Luffy!"

Sanji tried to dive in and save him, but a fish-man officer, Kuroobi, blocked his path and used Fish-Man Karate to send him flying beyond the wall.

Meanwhile, Roronoa Zoro faced Hachi with his swords in hand, his gaze constantly shifting between his opponent and the sea. "Damn it, we have to save Luffy quickly! A Devil Fruit user will die if he falls into the sea! There's no time!"

Unexpectedly, his consciousness suddenly began to blur. The injuries from his battle against Hawk-Eye Mihawk had flared up, placing an immense burden on him. His body was already swaying unsteadily!

"That's enough, Zoro. Get some rest. Leave the rest to me!"

Zero's sudden voice seemed to bring him an overwhelming sense of security.

Without hesitation, he closed his eyes and collapsed, caught by Zero.

"You!"

Seeing Zero support his opponent toward the villagers, Hachi had wanted to step forward and stop him. But for some reason, he suddenly recalled the sight of his fish-man brethren collapsing one after another. As if possessed, he stopped, only snapping out of it after Zero placed Zoro beside the wall and walked over to stand before him.

"Damn it! A human can't possibly defeat me! I have six arms!"

Zero did not answer. He merely took a deep breath, then drew a short blade less than half a meter long from behind his waist. The blade was slender, its surface engraved with a tiny dragon relief so lifelike that it seemed ready to soar from the blade at any moment.

"Roar, Startled Dragon!"