Pirate: Invincible from the Start

They prayed for the girl to slay Arlong, and they prayed she would not be hurt.

Even if she failed to kill him in the end,

they refused to endure the Arlong Pirates' oppression any longer.

The Fish-Men's bodies strewn across the ground told them one thing: Fish-Men were not invincible.

The fury in their hearts had broken free of its shackles.

On the road to Arlong Park, Kuina kept her head down, lost in thought.

Kuta glanced at her with concern. "What's wrong, Kuina?"

"Nothing. There are just some things I can't understand."

"Like what? Tell me."

"When we first entered the village, I could feel the villagers' fear and resignation."

"That kind of resignation doesn't happen overnight. They must have been oppressed for a long time."

Kuina looked up at Kuta, puzzled.

"But I don't understand."

"The East Blue is vast, yet in some ways it's small. How could a pirate crew keep humans penned up like livestock on human land for six whole years?"

Her brow furrowed, and emotion flashed in her eyes as she raised her voice.

"Where were the Marines? Where were the Marines who stood for justice?"

Kuta ruffled her hair and looked toward Arlong Park in the distance. A cold glint crossed his eyes.

"Don't assume the Marine brass are all that righteous. Their justice mostly serves the nobility. They don't care nearly as much about ordinary people."

"The ones who care most about ordinary people are often the lowest-ranking Marines—the soldiers who make up most of the force."

"But they have neither the authority nor the strength to deal with pirates this powerful."

"So that's how it is!"

Kuina nodded as understanding dawned.

"What about Garp the Hero? We grew up hearing stories about him. Why didn't he come when pirates this terrible appeared in his homeland?"

Anger crept into her voice as she spoke.

Few people in the East Blue didn't admire Garp. He was one of their own, and he was called a hero.

He truly was a source of pride for most ordinary people and Marines.

But even a hero couldn't be everywhere at once.

A hero also had to follow the rules—the rules of the Celestial Dragons and the World Government.

For all his fame, Garp wasn't as free as he seemed.

The New World needed him. Marine Headquarters needed him. Whenever a powerful pirate appeared, they needed him again.

He was so busy he had left his grandson in the care of mountain bandits, and in the end, both his grandsons became pirates.

Of course, knowing Ace and Luffy, they might have become pirates even if Garp had raised them himself.

Being a hero wasn't easy.

If Garp hadn't refused promotion to Admiral, he might not even have had time for his annual vacation home to see his grandsons.

Kuta didn't explain any of that to Kuina. He merely said,

"Maybe he simply doesn't know. It's not as if he gets to return to the East Blue often, right?"

"And there's something else..."

"What?"

"I've heard the Arlong Pirates are in league with Captain Nezumi of the nearby 16th Branch."

"That keeps the Marines who truly believe in justice at other East Blue Marine Bases from learning what's happening here, so they can't come after the Arlong Pirates."

A cold light flared in Kuina's eyes. She gritted her teeth and spat,

"That Captain Nezumi deserves to die."

An enemy in plain sight wasn't always the most frightening. Worse were those who helped the enemy while pretending to be on your side: traitors.

Such people were often crueler than the enemy and far more hateful.

They were spineless bullies who fawned over the powerful and trampled the weak.

"Yeah."

"Don't worry. Not one of them will get away."

Red light flashed in Kuta's eyes. He could already sense two groups of people inside Arlong Park.

Judging by their presences, they didn't seem to be enemies.

That meant they could only be allies.

So Nezumi should be inside Arlong Park right now.

Like a God of Death

A filthy deal was underway in Arlong Park.

Today was the day the Arlong Pirates collected their head tax—and the day they paid Captain Nezumi his bribe.

High stone walls surrounded the whole of Arlong Park, with a single massive stone gate facing the sea.

Beyond the gate ran a long waterway, designed by Arlong specifically for his Fish-Man crew.

Beside it were two pools of equal width where the Arlong Pirates usually played and lounged.

At the end of the waterway stood a tall, five-story tower. The Arlong Pirates' flag fluttered atop a spire shaped like a shark with its jaws wide open.

On the passage between the tower and the waterway lounged a tall sawshark Fish-Man with a long, sharp, serrated nose.

He was Arlong, captain of the Arlong Pirates.

Seated across from Arlong was a man who looked like a rat and wore a Marine officer's coat. Two rank-and-file Marines stood behind him.

That had to be Captain Nezumi.

"Here's this month's share. Take it."

Arlong took a thick stack of bills from a subordinate behind him, set it on the table, and pushed it toward Captain Nezumi.

"Heh, heh, heh!"

"Brother Arlong, you think nothing like an ordinary pirate!"

Captain Nezumi beamed at the money before him.

He snatched it up, stuffed it into his coat, and nodded with satisfaction. "You really know how the world works!"

"Shahahaha! The same goes for you!"

Arlong spread his arms and laughed. "As long as you're willing to be my friend, you'll enjoy all the riches the East Blue has to offer."

Then his laughter stopped. He lowered his arms, sat up straight, braced his hands on the table, and narrowed his eyes at Captain Nezumi.

"And the fact that you understand that proves you're a clever Marine captain!"

Though he smiled, his eyes were ice-cold.

Arlong was a racist through and through.

He believed that Fish-Men were born superior to humans, that humans who resisted them defied the laws of nature. He ruled the humans under his control with an iron fist and treated their lives as worthless.

Greedy and brutal, he also worshipped money. To him, it was the best thing in the world—and the only thing he could trust.

A trace of cold sweat appeared on Nezumi's face under Arlong's stare. He forced a laugh. "Sorry for all the trouble I've caused you."

"Shahahaha! Why bring that up now?"

"Goodwill is good for business!"

Arlong leaned back, relaxing.

He laughed at Nezumi. "Money is a wonderful thing. It's more trustworthy than anything else."

"I hate humans, but I'll make an exception for someone like you who knows how things work."

Nezumi felt deeply uncomfortable as he looked at Arlong.

He knew Arlong was talking nonsense, but he still had to smile and nod along.

Arlong was stronger than him, after all—and his meal ticket.

Only when Arlong finally finished talking did Nezumi hurry to his feet. "Well, I'll be taking my leave for today."

He didn't want to stay a moment longer. The Fish-Men around him looked at him like livestock, making his skin crawl.

Just then, a teasing voice came from the wall on the left.

"Leaving?"

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Why not wait and go to hell together?"

"Who's there?"

The twenty or so Fish-Men lounging or sitting by the pools, along with Arlong and Nezumi's group, all turned toward the high wall on the left.

Two people had appeared atop it without anyone noticing.

They were, of course, Kuta and Kuina.

The two had been standing on the wall, listening to Arlong and Nezumi talk for some time.

Kuta spoke only when Captain Nezumi tried to leave.

The Fish-Men by the pools saw that they were merely two humans and relaxed. They went back to what they had been doing, no longer paying them any attention.

Arlong, however, seethed with malice.

Those two humans were standing above him. How could members of such a lowly species make him, a member of the great Fish-Man Race, look up at them?

He would rather they had smashed through the wall than stood on top of it.

He glared viciously at the pair.

"You're nothing but two humans, yet you dare enter my territory and threaten my guest? You must be begging to die!"

With that, he crushed the wineglass in his hand, spilling wine across his palm.

He clenched his fist around the wine and shards of glass, then whipped his arm toward Kuta and Kuina.

As the glass shards and droplets hurtled at them, neither Kuta nor Kuina showed the slightest alarm.

Red light flashed in both their eyes. They tilted their heads slightly, and the projectiles missed.

The moment Kuina stepped onto the wall, she fixed her gaze on Captain Nezumi. His ratlike appearance stood out, and she could tell at a glance he was a traitor.

Kuta, meanwhile, watched Arlong with interest, making no effort to hide the disgust and coldness in his eyes.

That look—as if Arlong were a fish laid out on a chopping board—pushed him over the edge.

Ever since he arrived in the East Blue, only he had looked at humans that way. Since when did a human dare look at him like that?

His eyes turned bloodred, gleaming with bloodlust, and he roared at Kuta.

"Comrades, tear them apart!"

Arlong's murderous shout rang throughout Arlong Park.

The Fish-Men beside the pools had already risen when Arlong crushed his glass and attacked.