Rats Can Never Stand the Light of Day!
By the time Captain Nezumi spotted Ivan, Ivan had already spotted him.
As the warship carrying Captain Nezumi drew closer and closer, the smile on Ivan's face grew deeper.
He couldn't even be bothered to wait for the other ship to pull alongside. He turned to Nami beside him. "Nami, do you want to kill this disgusting rat with your own hands?"
Nami's eyes were full of hatred. Without hesitation, she gritted her teeth and nodded. "Yes, of course I do!"
Ivan laughed aloud, wrapped an arm around Nami's slender waist, and said softly, "Blue: Geppo!"
The next moment, the two of them leaped into the air and flew toward Nezumi's warship!
Aboard the warship, Captain Nezumi noticed Ivan and Nami flying toward him. With his hands behind his back and his triangular eyes narrowed to slits, he fixed an ominous stare on Ivan as he approached.
Ivan landed firmly in the middle of the deck with a thunderous crash. The tremendous force spread out from beneath his feet, stamping spiderweb cracks into the hard deck.
Captain Nezumi's mouth twitched violently at the sight, and he cursed inwardly:
Just as I thought, he's a reckless brute with no regard for the rules, the same sort as Arlong!
He composed himself and stepped forward, a cold smile spreading across his sleazy face. "Major Ivan, boarding my warship uninvited? Isn't that a bit too much of a breach of protocol?"
"My apologies, Captain Nezumi." Ivan curled his lips, though the smile didn't reach his eyes. "I came to see you because I have an urgent matter to take care of."
"Oh, what a coincidence. I also have a score to settle with Major White Dove." Nezumi's expression grew colder.
As though he hadn't noticed, Ivan calmly raised a hand and gestured for him to continue. "Then you go first."
Seeing this, Nezumi pulled a Den Den Mushi from inside his clothes and smiled smugly.
"Major Ivan, everyone says you've been leaving Loguetown without permission and going to other branches' jurisdictions to enforce the law in violation of regulations. I didn't want to believe it, but I never expected it to be true.
I imagine you wouldn't want Marine Headquarters to find out about your violations, would you?"
As Ivan listened, his expression gradually grew strange.
Why does that tone sound so familiar?
Could it be that Captain Nezumi was influenced by people from that country too?
Ivan raised an eyebrow and said dismissively, "And? What are you trying to say?"
Even at a time like this, this guy still dares to be so arrogant!
Nezumi could no longer keep up his fake smile. His face darkened instantly, and he said viciously:
"Hand over those Fish-Men's heads, and from now on, you're not allowed to set foot in the waters under the 16th Branch's jurisdiction again!
As long as you do as I say, I'll delete all the photos I took. Otherwise, you can wait to be removed from your post and investigated by Marine Headquarters!"
Nezumi was certain Ivan would never dare refuse the offer.
Whatever Ivan was planning, his status as a Marine major was the foundation of his position.
Without that uniform and the authority of an officer, everything he had now-power, influence, confidence, and even future glory and riches-would vanish like a dream!
Having experienced his current wealth and status, how could he possibly want to go back to his days as a nobody?
Ivan saw through Nezumi's scheme at a glance.
Ultimately, this money-grubbing rat was nothing more than a weakling. He simply didn't understand that on these chaotic, lawless seas, the only truth was that strength decided everything!
So Ivan promptly shook his head. "Sorry, I refuse!"
"How dare you!" Nezumi's pupils abruptly contracted, and his voice rose to a shriek. "It's only a matter of a few tens of millions of Beli. Are you really willing to give up your status as a Marine major for that?"
At those words, Ivan's smile grew brighter, but icy killing intent churned in his eyes. "It seems you've forgotten something very important."
Nezumi's heart skipped a beat, and he instinctively asked, "What?"
Ivan spoke slowly and distinctly, his tone calm. "If I kill you, no one will ever know I enforced the law in violation of regulations."
Nezumi: "???"
Before Nezumi could react, Ivan and Nami vanished from where they stood and appeared in midair.
Ivan drew his long blade, dyed it azure, and said in a weighty voice, "One Sword Style: Blue: Horizontal Cut!"
Ivan had put all his strength into this slash, making it far more powerful than the one he had used to kill the Fish-Man with his finger.
With a piercing whistle, the azure slash tore through the air and cut Nezumi in half at the waist in an instant.
After cutting Nezumi in half, the azure slash continued unabated, splitting his warship down the middle!
The fierce sword energy even severed the seawater on both sides of the warship, carving a jagged gash through the surging waves.
"Aaaah!"
"What happened? Run!"
The Marine soldiers on deck instantly panicked. Screams and cries of alarm rang out together as they fell into chaos.
Ivan landed once more on the deck of the slowly sinking warship and said to Nami:
"I'll leave Nezumi to you. I'm going to deal with the rest of the scum."
Nami nodded. After Ivan left, she turned her gaze to Captain Nezumi, who had been cut in half at the waist.
The bloody sight before her didn't make her shrink back in the slightest.
Instead, she clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white and ground out each word through her teeth:
"Damn you, you were in league with Arlong, weren't you? I'll never let you off!"
The next second, an unbearably piercing scream erupted, drowning out the cries and shouts on the deck and the sound of the surging waves. It echoed over the sea for a long time.
At Loguetown's harbor, the fruit shop owner looked up and spotted a warship growing larger in the distance.
He hurriedly said to the old woman who sold snacks, "Granny, look! Major White Dove is back. Huh? Why are there a few extra orange trees on his ship?"
The old woman's eyesight wasn't as good as the fruit shop owner's, but as long as something concerned Major White Dove, she was immensely interested.
As long as she was the first to learn something about Major White Dove, she could boast about it to her old friends all day:
"Come on, come on! Let's hurry and see what Major White Dove has accomplished this time!"
By the time the fruit shop owner and the old woman reached the docks, the warship had just come alongside.
Then they saw Major Ivan's subordinates carrying dozens of small bags that were steadily seeping blood, heading straight for the Loguetown Marine Branch.
Because they were so close, they could see what was inside the bags: they were Fish-Men's heads!
One of the heads looked especially familiar to them. The moment he saw it, the fruit shop owner exclaimed in shock:
"That's Arlong, captain of the Arlong Pirates, with a bounty of twenty million Beli! Major Ivan actually killed Arlong!"
At those words, the entire harbor grew even livelier, and all the townspeople looked at Ivan with even greater fervor!
How fortunate they were to have such a powerful and kind Marine stationed in Loguetown!
They could only hope Marine Headquarters wouldn't transfer Major White Dove away!
But they also knew the chances of that were slim.
After all, now that Major White Dove had killed Arlong and wiped out the Arlong Pirates, he would certainly be promoted again, even though he had only just been promoted!