My son Yang Cheng has what it takes to be a Marine Admiral!

"Oh, I didn't expect you two brats to have even more money than I thought."

Arlong first snatched the money from Nami and Nojiko, then bared his vicious, razor-sharp teeth. "As I said before, every adult only needs to pay a protection fee of a hundred thousand Beli, and they'll be safe.

"But unfortunately, this woman just dared to attack us noble fish-men...

"If you want us to forgive her, that's not impossible. You just have to pay ten times that amount in compensation for her-a million Beli. Then we can call this matter settled."

Arlong knew perfectly well that this was the East Blue, the weakest of the seas, and Cocoyasi Village clearly wasn't wealthy.

Naturally, the main reason he demanded such an outrageous sum was that he wanted to kill Bellemere for daring to defy them.

Arlong had seen the villagers resisting them earlier, too. If he didn't kill someone as a warning and put some fear into these villagers, how would they rule this island in the future?

But just as Arlong, wearing a savage grin amid Nami and Nojiko's sobs, was about to pull the pistol's trigger-

A blue, crescent-shaped slash suddenly shot toward him from afar!

Blood sprayed into the air as a deep gash opened across Arlong's gun-wielding arm.

The pain also made him drop the pistol to the ground.

The fish-man race had bodies far tougher than those of ordinary humans, and Yang Cheng's mastery of "Tempest Kick" was still limited, so the blow failed to sever Arlong's arm outright.

Enraged by the sudden injury, Arlong glared toward Yang Cheng.

But he soon discovered, to his astonishment, that the person who had attacked him was nothing more than a young brat!

And just as Arlong was about to order his men to capture Yang Cheng, he was stunned to find that the boy had vanished from where he stood in an instant.

By the time he reacted again, the boy was already right in front of him!

"You little brat, what the hell..."

Looking at the brat who barely reached his waist, Arlong had only gotten halfway through his sentence when a sharp pain shot through the wrist of the hand holding Bellemere.

With a crisp crack, the searing pain in his arm forced him to release Bellemere, whose head was already battered and bleeding.

Yang Cheng reached out to catch Bellemere as she fell, then leaped up and drove a powerful downward kick straight into Arlong's chin.

Boom!

When Yang Cheng's furious kick struck Arlong's chin, it shattered the sharp teeth in his mouth.

His hulking body, at least twice Yang Cheng's size, was sent flying backward by the tremendous impact. He skidded across the ground, even crashing through several nearby buildings.

From Yang Cheng's sudden appearance to his kick sending the fish-man Arlong flying, everything had happened in the blink of an eye.

As a result, neither the Arlong Pirates nor the people of Cocoyasi Village had fully processed what had just happened!

The first to react was Bellemere, whom Yang Cheng was gently lowering to the ground.

The look she gave Yang Cheng was one of utter astonishment.

Of her three adopted children, Nami was the youngest and undoubtedly the most mischievous.

Nojiko was the oldest, so she was more sensible and often helped her with things.

But when it came to maturity, Yang Cheng was undoubtedly the most mature.

Yang Cheng had been deeply committed to becoming stronger since childhood. Considering that having some strength to rely on wasn't necessarily a bad thing on these seas, Bellemere had always supported him in pursuing his dream.

Yang Cheng was thirteen now, and Bellemere had even considered recommending him to her former Marine Branch to become a Marine when he turned fifteen.

With Yang Cheng's talent and determination, his future achievements would surely surpass hers!

She had always been busy tending the family's Orange Grove. After teaching Yang Cheng everything she knew several years ago, she had no time left to oversee the boy's affairs.

To Bellemere, Yang Cheng had always been the child she worried about least. Whenever money was tight at home, the thoughtful boy would even bring back fish.

He said he had caught all those fish himself, which had once made Bellemere wonder whether Yang Cheng was a born angler. After all, he never came home empty-handed.

In Bellemere's eyes, Yang Cheng's tireless training, day and night, was undoubtedly just building up his physical fitness.

If he wanted to learn real skills, he would still have to attend a Marine academy.

But what had she just seen? Those fish-man pirates from the Grand Line, the beings she called monsters-

Her adopted son, only thirteen years old, had just kicked one of them dozens of meters away!

Having just suffered at his hands, Bellemere knew better than anyone how powerful Arlong was.

To put it bluntly, with strength like his, Arlong could do practically whatever he pleased in a backwater like the East Blue.

Even the Marine captains stationed at the East Blue's Marine Branches were no match for him.

Yet this very monster from the Grand Line had nearly been kicked to death by Yang Cheng!

My son Yang Cheng has what it takes to be a Marine Admiral!

Seeing Yang Cheng rescue Bellemere, Nami and Nojiko immediately approached him as though they had finally found someone to rely on.

When the other fish-men of the Arlong Pirates finally reacted, they drew their weapons and surrounded Yang Cheng.

"Nami, Nojiko, take Bellemere off to the side first. Just leave the rest to me.

"And everyone from Cocoyasi Village, I hope you'll stay out of this too. They hurt my precious family, so I want to send every last one of them flying with my own hands!"

Seeing Yang Cheng surrounded by the fish-men of the Arlong Pirates all alone, Genzo, Cocoyasi Village's resident policeman, thought the boy was being far too reckless. He was just about to rally the villagers to help when Bellemere reached out from beside him and stopped him.

"Bellemere, he's only thirteen! Are you really going to let that child face so many vicious fish-man pirates alone?"

The people of Cocoyasi Village had watched Yang Cheng grow up, too. Seeing a mere child dare to stand up and fight those pirates naturally stirred the other villagers' spirits.

"No, Genzo. It's not that I don't want you to help. It's that even if you went over there, you wouldn't be able to do

"anything to help. You'd only distract Yang Cheng.

"These fish-man pirates all came from the Grand Line. Their strength is beyond even what the Marines in the East Blue can handle.

"Yang Cheng is different now. He already has the strength to protect everyone!"

(Slacker's diary: Another day of listlessly churning out words. My buddies in the group keep suspecting I'm a little girl.

I told them that if they cast a few more monthly votes, I could whip it out to prove my innocence. But I'm worried that would give them an inferiority complex, so never mind. (´▽｀)...)