Meanwhile, inside the coated passage formed from bubble coral on Fish-Man Island.
Gern and Toritoma were walking toward the warship docked outside.
All around them were colorful schools of deep-sea fish and dazzling patterns of light...
"Hey, Gern..." Toritoma recalled the tense confrontation in the Sea Forest.
In particular, the rare, almost tangible killing intent Jinbe had exuded prompted her to ask,
"Do you think... Jinbe will really kill Arlong?"
Gern walked steadily, his gaze fixed ahead. After a moment of silence, he slowly shook his head. "No."
"Jinbe... couldn't bring himself to do it."
As he spoke, he turned his head slightly toward Toritoma. "After all, he isn't called the 'Knight of the Sea' for nothing.
"He has his own principles and lines he won't cross when it comes to his comrades and brothers, especially a brother Fisher Tiger entrusted to him (he even really did look after Luffy after later promising Ace he would).
"So that killing intent was mostly meant to intimidate Arlong, and to give me an answer.
"In the end, he'll most likely just choose to banish Arlong."
At his words, Toritoma's slender brows furrowed slightly. She seemed to want to say more about the lingering threat Arlong posed.
But Gern gave her no chance to continue the subject. He changed tack outright and asked, "Nothing unusual has happened in the New World lately, has it?"
Seeing that Gern was asking about business, Toritoma immediately composed herself and answered directly, "Nothing major.
"Though clueless rookies keep pouring in from the first half of the Grand Line, with Enel and Bullet taking turns patrolling and clearing them out, they can hardly stir up any trouble.
"With Lipo and Kuma overseeing the base's daily defense and operations, and Tesoro managing everything, things have been running very smoothly."