Of Course I Killed the Fish I Ran Into!

At Nami's words, the villagers fell silent at once. Some of the wariness faded from their faces, though they remained on guard.

Some villagers even warned her:

"Nami, don't let them fool you. You know that damned Nezumi and his men are in league with Arlong!"

Nami hurried to explain, but Ivan stopped her.

After stopping Nami, he turned toward the village road in the distance. A cloud of dust was rising there, with a group of Fish-Men beneath it, rushing over after hearing the news.

Ivan stepped toward the Fish-Men and turned to smile at the villagers. "I know you don't believe me, but that's all right. You will soon."

The villagers watched, wanting to speak but holding back.

They had a vague sense that this Marine was different from scum like Nezumi and his men, so they wanted to stop him before he clashed with the Fish-Men.

After all, the villagers had always believed that Fish-Men were invincible. Even Marines were no match for those monsters.

But it was too late. While they hesitated, the Fish-Men had already charged up to them.

At the front of the group was a red-skinned goldfish Fish-Man.

Kinjo, the goldfish Fish-Man, saw Ivan walking slowly toward them and sneered:

"Hahaha, another Marine piece of trash who doesn't know when to quit. You even came looking for us to get yourself killed. You must be tired of living!

"Boys, get him! I'm going to pound him into meat paste!"

"That's right, get him! We'll show the Marines!"

Seeing the Fish-Men's reactions, Ivan understood at once.

Apparently, Hachi hadn't gotten word here at all. These guys had no idea how strong Ivan was.

That suited him just fine, though. He could wipe out all these Fish-Men in one fell swoop!

Watching the Fish-Men charge at him with teeth bared and claws out, Ivan raised a hand and held up one finger.

A sharp, brilliant blue suddenly gathered around his fingertip. He gave his wrist a slight turn and drew a horizontal line across his chest:

"One Sword Style: Blue: Horizontal Cut!"

The moment the words left his mouth, a piercing sound erupted as something tore through the air!

A concentrated blue slash ripped through the air in a straight horizontal line, swept through the Fish-Men in an instant, and struck the ground directly behind them.

The next moment, the sound of tearing flesh rang out without end.

The Fish-Men at the front were still throwing punches when their bodies suddenly stiffened, clean cuts quietly opening across their waists.

In the blink of an eye, the shouting Fish-Men had all been sliced in half at the waist, blood and entrails splattering across the ground!

Amid the Fish-Men's howls, Ivan turned to face the Cocoyasi villagers standing stunned behind him.

He nudged the round sunglasses on his nose and flashed a swaggering grin.

"Hahaha, these small fry are the ones who made your lives so miserable?

"Come with me. Today, I'll clear out all this rotten flesh for you once and for all!"

With that, he strode toward Arlong's towering base in the distance without waiting to see how the villagers reacted!

Behind him, the villagers erupted in an uproar.

They hadn't expected this Marine major who had appeared out of nowhere to really want to help them!

Still less had they expected the Marine officer to be so powerful. He could unleash an attack that strong with just his index finger. Perhaps he really could defeat the fearsome Arlong!

They wept with excitement and, as one, followed Ivan toward Arlong Park. They wanted to see that tyrant die with their own eyes!

On the way to Arlong Park, however, the villagers didn't forget to chat warmly with Nami.

This left Nami even more puzzled. Her voice caught as she asked, "I-I've been hitting and scolding you at every turn lately. Why are you still so kind to me...?"

The villagers looked at one another and smiled even more kindly.

In the end, Nami's older sister Nojiko embraced her and explained gently:

"Nami, everyone knows you joined the Arlong Pirates for our sake, and that you only pretended to be so unpleasant for us too.

"So nobody hates you at all. We're worried about you instead. We've all just been pretending we didn't know."

Nami could no longer contain the emotions welling up inside her. She burst into tears. "Waaah..."

Ivan noticed the scene behind him, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

Traveling with such a large crowd was naturally slow, but Ivan didn't mind. He knew that after he killed dozens of Fish-Men, Arlong would definitely come to kill him.

After all, in Arlong's eyes, humans were as lowly as pigs and dogs, but every Fish-Man was a brother of his own flesh and blood!

Sure enough, before long, a large number of Fish-Men appeared ahead of them.

At their head stood a burly figure a full 2.6 meters tall.

It was none other than Arlong, the sawshark Fish-Man and leader of the Arlong Pirates!

The two sides were still far apart when Arlong's arrogant, unrestrained laughter came rolling toward them on the sea breeze:

"Shahahahaha, inferior humans, I didn't expect you to actually dare gather to rebel against me. Good. I'll kill you all and make an example of you for the other villages."

But Arlong soon stopped and glanced over the crowd. His expression suddenly darkened, and he demanded in a low voice:

"Where are my brothers? Where are they?"

Arlong had suddenly noticed that none of his Fish-Man brothers were among the crowd, and a bad feeling immediately came over him.

Ivan spread his hands, apparently helpless. "Of course I killed the fish I ran into. What else was I supposed to do, save them for New Year's?"

"You... y-y-you lowly human!" Arlong flew into a rage.

His brothers were all elite Fish-Men who had followed him back from the Grand Line, surviving countless brushes with death!

They had once joined the Sun Pirates together and weathered decades of storms side by side. Their bond had long since grown stronger than that of blood kin.

But now...

Dozens of brothers who had faced life and death with him had fallen at the hands of this human he regarded as no more than an ant!

Arlong's eyes turned bloodshot with rage. His mouth stretched all the way to his ears in his fury, and he forced out a savage growl:

"Lowly humans, I'll tear every last one of you to pieces!"

Before he had finished speaking, he led the charge, bringing the many furious Fish-Men behind him rushing toward Ivan and the others.

At the sight, the villagers behind Ivan went deathly pale. After years of brutal rule, their terror of Fish-Men had long been etched into their souls.

Besides, Fish-Men were stronger than they were to begin with. They were no match for even a single Fish-Man, so they didn't dare fight them.

Ivan hadn't been counting on the villagers in the first place. After all, for people at the bottom, a difference of several times in arm strength meant being utterly crushed.

In a mild tone, he gave Tashigi and the others an order. "Tashigi, take the villagers farther away. Leave these Fish-Men to me."

Barton was somewhat worried. "Major Ivan, are you going to take on all those Fish-Men alone?"

Ivan saw through Barton's concern. Looking at the Fish-Men charging toward them, he loosened up his arms and legs.

"Hahaha, who are you underestimating? I'm strong, you know!"