Walking into Nami and Nojiko's room was like entering a bare shell.
There were only a few sea charts, scattered across the floor.
"Do you like navigating?"
Nami nodded vigorously. "I do! My dream is to record every sea in charts that I draw myself!"
Looking at the bright-eyed Nami before him, Roya thought, So Nami already had her own dream at this time.
"Then you have to work hard for it! But you also need to train hard and build up your strength. In this world where the strong prey on the weak, strength is extremely important too!"
"Mm, I will, Roya~"
Just as they were chatting, footsteps suddenly sounded from outside.
Arlong and Nezumi looked at the little house before them, sinister, gloomy smiles spreading across their faces.
"Nami, Nojiko, you two are pretty bold! You actually dared expose me in front of White Dove!"
Before he even entered the room, Nezumi shouted from outside.
Clearly, he was truly furious.
Hearing Nezumi's voice, Nami and Nojiko instinctively moved closer to Roya.
"Don't worry."
Roya spoke softly to the two girls. Then he casually picked up a drawing pen from the table and walked to the door.
Outside, Arlong snarled, "Why waste so many words? Why not just kick the door down?"
As Arlong's voice fell, the door was kicked away in an instant.
It flew straight toward Roya.
"Is this how you knock?"
Roya held the drawing pen in his hand, the corners of his mouth curving slightly upward.
The aura of a Great Swordsman at his peak erupted completely at that moment!
Roya lightly swept the drawing pen through the air.
In an instant!
A terrifying Sword Energy slash formed a semicircular arc before Roya and swept fiercely toward the front.
It was as if even the air had been torn apart!
The sharp, dazzling Sword Energy slash cleaved the door in two and sent it crashing to the ground, but its momentum did not weaken in the slightest.
In the blink of an eye, it passed between Nezumi and Arlong, flying past their cheeks.
Two bloody lines appeared across their cheeks.
The sudden turn of events left Nezumi and Arlong completely unable to react.
They had never imagined that Roya would be standing behind the door!
But how was that possible?
Nezumi had clearly seen Roya leave with his own eyes!
Nezumi and Arlong stood rooted to the spot, utterly dumbfounded. They felt as though they had fallen into an abyss thousands of feet deep.
A chill like that of a thousand-year-old ice cellar enveloped them.
"Gulp."
Arlong swallowed.
His fists were clenched tightly, every vein bulging.
"Nezumi, you set me up? Didn't you say White Dove had already left?!"
Arlong gritted his teeth as he spoke to Nezumi.
But then he noticed that Nezumi was staring at Roya in disbelief.
Nezumi felt his body begin to tremble uncontrollably.
He asked Roya shakily, "M-M-Milord, d-didn't you leave from Cocoyasi's harbor? H-How did you suddenly appear here?"
"If I hadn't pretended to leave for a while, how could I have lured out a shark like you?"
Arlong now understood that both he and Nezumi had been tricked by Roya!
"Thud."
The moment Roya finished speaking, Nezumi dropped to his knees before him. Pointing at Arlong, he said, "It was him! He forced me to do this! I really wanted to be a good person at first. I really am a good person, Milord!"
"A good person? You kept exploiting us and then slaughtered innocent people?!"
Hearing Nezumi's words, Nami finally could not hold back and stepped out from behind Roya.
A flash of sharpness crossed Nezumi's eyes. As long as he could capture Nami, he would be safe!
With that thought, Nezumi suddenly stomped off the ground and charged rapidly toward Nami behind Roya.
Just as he was about to grab Nami, Nezumi saw that his own body was still standing in place.
Then darkness swallowed his vision, and he fell into eternal darkness.
Roya had seen through Nezumi's intentions long ago. The moment Nezumi took his first step, Roya used the drawing pen in his hand, infused with the will of a peak Great Swordsman, to sever his head!
Roya softly asked the two girls behind him, "Are you scared?"
"Not at all!"
Nami gripped Nojiko's hand tightly. Though she was only putting on a brave front, she was still terrified inside.
But she knew that if she wanted to pursue her dream in this world, she had to face all of this.
Seeing how Nami and Nojiko had reacted, Roya nodded.
Then he looked toward Arlong, who stood not far away.
"I'm curious. From what I know, you should be a slave who recently escaped from Holy Land Mariejo. Why didn't you follow Fisher Tiger instead of coming to the East Blue?"
Arlong had originally been looking for a chance to escape, but when he heard the name Fisher Tiger—
His eyes filled with blood, and he glared viciously at Roya.
"Fisher Tiger!!! I will never acknowledge him! He actually wants to coexist peacefully with humans! Our fish-man bloodline is noble, and we are naturally stronger than humans. We should enslave humans, not engage in some damn peaceful coexistence!"
"Stronger? Can you beat me?"
Roya smiled faintly at Arlong.
"White Dove! Don't think that being an admiral means you can do whatever you want! Today, I will kill you, then eat the two people behind you!"
"Shark ON DARTS!"
Arlong's lower leg suddenly swelled slightly. His muscles bulged and his veins stood out as they drove his entire body toward Roya.
He was like a torpedo.
He intended to pierce through Roya's heart with his saw-like nose.
Even an admiral couldn't survive without a heart, right?
While Arlong was lost in his wild fantasies, Armament Haki suddenly wrapped around Roya's arm.
Like lightning, it seized Arlong's saw-like nose.
In an instant, the teeth along it were crushed effortlessly by Roya, and he hurled Arlong straight into the sky.
Though it was a fight, every movement flowed smoothly, like a work of art.
Searing pain shot straight into his brain, making him cry out involuntarily!
Feeling the wind howling past both his ears, Arlong felt utterly miserable!
How could a human possess such tremendous strength?
Impossible!
This was absolutely impossible!
Didn't humans like eating fruits?
Didn't they rely on external power to strengthen themselves?
How could they possibly possess such a massive innate advantage over fish-men in terms of bloodline?
This terrifying strength—could even Fisher Tiger not match it?
"Damn it!!!"