Chapter 54: The Arlong Pirates
East Blue - Cocoyasi Village - The Coast
The wind howled, and the waves crashed.
A massive, dark pirate ship cut through the water, its bow adorned with a savage, shark-themed figurehead. Rusted anchors hung from its sides, dripping.
At the bow stood a tall, imposing figure, his arms crossed.
This was Arlong, captain of the Arlong Pirates, a Fish-Man with a bounty of 20,000,000 Beri. His serrated, blade-like nose glinted in the sun, his face a mask of contempt and savagery.
"Heh... Let's start here," Arlong licked his sharp teeth, a sick smile spreading across his face. "This human land... from today on, it will be our Fish-Man paradise!"
"Arlong-san is right!" Hatchan (Hachi) waved his six arms, his eyes shining. "I can't wait to use the village's takoyaki grill~"
Kuroobi, Chew, and the other Fish-Man pirates leaped from the ship, their heavy feet hitting the sand. They were a terrifying sight, a crew of bloodthirsty monsters.
However, the beach was not undefended.
Dozens of villagers stood before them, armed with rusted fishing harpoons, pitchforks, and wood-cutting axes. It was a flimsy, desperate line of defense, but it did not break.
At their head was a man with a pinwheel on his hat: Genzo, the village sheriff. His eyes were bloodshot, but he didn't take a single step back.
"Pirates! I'm warning you!" Genzo yelled, his voice hoarse but firm. "There's no place for you in Cocoyasi Village! Crawl back to whatever gutter you came from!"
The Fish-Men stared for a half-second.
And then, as if they had just heard the world's funniest joke, they erupted in laughter.
"BWAHAHAHA!"
"Are they serious?! A bunch of inferior humans think they can fight us?!"
"Did they dig those harpoons out of a museum?!"
Arlong stepped forward, each heavy footstep like a drumbeat on the villagers' hearts. He stared at the harpoon in Genzo's hand, then grinned.
"You mean this?"
CRUNCH!!
He bit down on the steel harpoon head. The forged metal shattered in his mouth like a cracker. He spat out the bloody, twisted metal shards.
Genzo stumbled back, his hands trembling, holding only half a pole.
"Listen up!" Arlong roared, his eyes filled with contempt. "I'm not just any Fish-Man. I'm 'Saw-Tooth' Arlong, a pirate with a 20,000,000 Beri bounty!"
"Wh-what...?"
"A 20 million Beri pirate...?"
"We're... we're doomed..."
The villagers panicked, some falling to their knees.
"From this day on," Arlong said, his smile fading, "this village... belongs to me."
"You will all pay a tribute. 100,000 Beri for every adult. 50,000 for every child. Every month."
"And if you can't pay..." His hand moved to the giant, saw-toothed blade at his waist. "...you'll pay with your lives."
"...You bastard!" Genzo spat, his eyes bloodshot. "We are people of the East Blue! You Fish-Men..."
SMACK!
Kuroobi appeared in a blur, his fist smashing into Genzo's stomach, sending him flying back into a stack of wooden crates.
The villagers screamed. "Gen-san!!"
"Stay back!!" Genzo yelled, spitting up blood as he tried to stand, holding his arms out to stop the others.
"You... can't escape," Chew sneered, licking his fangs as he advanced, his face a mask of cruel excitement. "Just give up, you inferior species."
"From today on, you are our—"
BOOOOM!!!
Before he could finish, a black shadow smashed into the beach from the sky like a thunderbolt!
"BAM!!!"
The shockwave hit Chew before he could even scream. He was sent flying like a cannonball, crashing into the cliffs fifty meters away, sending up a cloud of pulverized rock.
The beach went dead silent.
As the dust settled, a young boy was crouched in a small crater, his fist buried in the ground. He looked up, a huge, bright grin on his face. "Shishishi~ Luffy is here!"
"Luffy! Why are you always in such a hurry!"
Another figure landed gracefully beside him, his black hair stirring, his fingertips dancing with blue-white fire. It was Ace.
The two boys stood side-by-side, young, but carrying the pressure of a storm.
The Arlong Pirates stared, their eyes wide. "Two... brats?!" Kuroobi stammered.
A vein pulsed on Arlong's forehead. "Two human children... dare to humiliate us?!"
"Kids! Get back!" Genzo roared, horrified. "You're no match for them!!"
"It's okay!" Luffy yelled back, grinning, his eyes burning with a fighting spirit. "We were trained by Big Bro Roy!"
"You're dead!!"
"Shark On Darts!!"
Arlong shot forward, his saw-toothed nose extending like a spear, aimed right at Luffy's back!
"Luffy, watch out!" Ace yelled, moving in an instant.
FWOOSH!
He slammed his hand down on Luffy's head, shoving him to the ground. The next second, Arlong's high-speed "dart" impaled Ace straight through the chest!
The villagers screamed in terror. "NOOOO!!!"
But... the "impaled" section of Ace's chest had simply exploded into a column of swirling fire.
"What?!" Arlong's pupils shrank. Before he could react, he felt a searing pain.
"GYAAAAH!!"
He screamed, yanking his nose back, only to find the tip had been badly burned and was blackened!
Ace re-formed, frowning as he brushed his chest. "Luffy, you were careless."
Luffy, still on the ground, just laughed. "Shishishi~ It's fine! I knew you were here, Ace!"
"DAMN YOU!!!" Arlong was beyond furious, his roar shaking the beach. "So what if you're a Logia?! You're just two brats!!"
He raised his massive blade. "ALL OF YOU! KILL THEM!!"
"GYAHAHAHA!"
Kuroobi, Hachi, and the other officers charged, roaring like a pack of sea monsters!
"Luffy."
"Yeah!"
"Let's show them..." Ace's whole body erupted in blue-white flames, turning him into a miniature sun.
"What it means to be trained by a Marine Rear Admiral!!"
"FIRE FIST!!"
Ace shot forward, his entire right arm transforming into a massive column of fire, aimed straight at the charging officers!
"BOOOOM!!!"
The super-heated flame-wave swept across the beach, instantly swallowing four of the Fish-Men in a blazing inferno!
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