Chapter 56: Threaten My Family?
East Blue - Cocoyasi Village - The Coast
The sea breeze carried the smell of smoke and burnt flesh. The beach was a ruin of scorched sand and the broken bodies of Fish-Men.
Hatchan (Hachi) sat trembling in the sand, his six arms shaking, his eyes bloodshot with terror as he stared at the two young boys.
"Wh-what... what have you done?!" he stammered, his voice cracking. "Do you have any idea what it means that our old captain is a Warlord of the Sea?!"
Kuroobi, dragging his shattered arms, staggered to his feet, his face a bloody mess. "You're finished!" he roared. "Big Bro Jimbei won't let you get away with this! He's a Warlord! A pirate recognized by the World Government! You... you killed Arlong-san... He'll avenge us!"
He took a desperate, gasping breath and screamed, "He'll hunt you down! He'll kill all of your families! DO YOU HEAR ME?!"
The wind stopped. The beach was dead silent.
Ace and Luffy just stood there, their expressions unreadable.
"Kill... our family?"
In that same instant, the same images flashed through both boys' minds—
Grandpa Garp, standing on a clifftop, shattering a mountain with a single punch, laughing. "Bwahahaha! Pirates? Just punch 'em!"
Big Bro Roy, warping, his fist annihilating an entire pirate ship in a single blow. "Remember, brats. Mercy is for people. Not for animals."
Instructor Zephyr, his fist hitting the ground like a cannon, "You're slacking?! Training is doubled!"
Fleet Admiral Sengoku, his 'Buddha' form glowing as he roared at Garp. "GARP! WAS THIS YOU AGAIN?!"
In that moment, the names "Jimbei" and "Warlord" meant nothing to them. All they could picture were the faces of their real family.
"..."
After a short silence, Ace just tilted his head, a look of pure contempt on his face. "Are you... bluffing?"
Luffy just picked his nose and grinned. "Jimbei? What's that? Is it a fish? Can you eat it?"
Hachi: "...???"
Kuroobi: "...???"
"Are you two... STUPID?!" Hachi finally snapped, his voice breaking. "Do you know what a Warlord is?! He's one of the kings of the sea, acknowledged by the World Government! And you just—"
SMACK!
Luffy walked over and slapped him across the face, sending him spinning.
"You're too loud."
"A Warlord?" Ace's eyes narrowed. "I'd like to see him try and touch my Grandma."
"Big Bro Roy taught us..."
"If anyone... threatens our family," he said, raising his flaming fist, "there's only one answer: Burn them."
Hachi and Kuroobi froze, their bodies paralyzed by a new, more immediate terror.
"Wh-what kind of monsters are these kids...?!"
Just as Hachi was about to make one last, desperate plea—
"FWOOSH!"
A gust of wind kicked up the sand. A tall, imposing figure landed silently behind Ace and Luffy.
His white "Justice" coat snapped in the wind, his military boots crunching on the sand.
Rear Admiral Roy, the "Monster" of the East Blue, glanced at the battlefield, his voice calm. "Good work."
The voice was quiet, but it hit the surviving Fish-Men like a thunderclap.
Hachi stared, his six arms wrapping around himself as if to ward off the cold.
"This... this pressure... This isn't a normal human!"
His gills flared, and he suddenly remembered who he was looking at.
"R-Roy... the Rear Admiral Roy?!" Hachi shrieked, his eyes bulging. "The monster who fought 'Red-Hair' Shanks and walked away?! The one who's been tearing up the New World?!"
"We're... we're dead... we're dead!"
He finally understood. The reason these two brats weren't afraid of a Warlord wasn't because they were stupid. It was because the man standing behind them... was someone even the Warlords wouldn't dare to provoke.
"Big Bro Roy!"
"You're finally here!"
Ace ran over, his flames still flickering. "Hey... that Fish-Man... he said something about a 'Warlord'..."
"I... figured you didn't stop me, so I just... burned him. That's... okay, right?"
Luffy bounced over. "Yeah! And the octopus guy said he'd kill our family! He's a bad guy!"
Roy laughed, ruffling Ace's hair. "He's just a pirate. What's the big deal? You did well."
His voice was so casual, as if they'd just kicked over a trash can.
Roy then turned, his cold gaze landing on the terrified Hachi. He crouched down, meeting the Fish-Man's eyes.
"You heard him, right?" Roy's voice was still gentle, but his eyes were filled with ice.
"Gulp..."
Hachi's six arms shot straight up in terror, waving like seaweed in a storm. Kuroobi, who had been trying to get up, just rolled his eyes back and passed out cold.
Roy looked at Hachi, his voice like the polar ice. "Go back. Give that 'Warlord' of yours a message."
"If he wants revenge, I'll be waiting."
"But—"
Roy paused, his voice dropping to a deadly whisper. "If he ever... so much as thinks about touching a hair on these two boys' heads..."
"I will personally visit Fish-Man Island... and we'll have a long talk."
Hachi was frozen, as if he'd been dipped in ice.
Roy stood up, brushing non-existent dust from his pants, and smiled.
"Now... get lost."
"YES, SIR!!! AAAAAH!!"
Like he'd been given a royal pardon, Hachi scrambled to his feet, grabbed the unconscious Kuroobi, and ran, his six legs churning, hitting the water at a full sprint. He was gone in seconds.
Ace pouted. "Tch. That was boring. I thought he'd put up more of a fight."
Luffy suddenly jumped. "Ah! Big Bro Roy, you promised! You said if we won, we'd get barbecue!"
"Mhm." Ace nodded. "The 'Volcano-Grill' place we missed last time."
Roy looked at the two kids, their faces covered in soot and demanding meat, and sighed. He turned toward the village. "Alright, alright. Let's not keep the villagers waiting."
The three of them walked away, their long shadows stretching out in the sunset, leaving the burning wreckage of the pirate ship behind them.
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