Setsuna did not lower his voice. The conversation between him and Nami was heard in its entirety by the Fish-Men.
Arlong could no longer suppress his erupting fury and immediately charged forward to fight Setsuna to the death. "Damn human! How dare you say we Fish-Men are a slave race?!"
He broke free from the attempts of his underlings to hold him back, brandishing his serrated longsword and lunging straight for Setsuna.
Yet, his great sawblade, [Kiribachi], was stopped by a single finger from Setsuna.
Where the blade's edge met the fingertip, tiny sparks even flew.
"Impossible! That was Arlong-san's strongest attack!" Kuroobi's jaw nearly hit the ground.
"That's an attack that can cut through warships!" Hatchan covered his head with all six hands simultaneously.
The group of Fish-Men were utterly shocked. Although they had guessed this human might be powerful, he was severely wounded, so Arlong's chances should have still been good, right?
Yet, Arlong couldn't even cut through the man's finger?
"I don't believe it!" Arlong dropped his weapon. His large mouth, filled with sharp teeth, opened to its limit as he aimed for Setsuna's throat.
This time, before he could even get close to Setsuna, he was blasted away by a mass of flame falling from the sky.
The flames gradually coalesced into Ace's form. "Captain, am I not too late?"
Setsuna asked calmly, "Did you manage to bring all the residents from Sky Island down?"
The pirates on the sky island were inconsequential, but there were some ordinary residents as well.
While Ace couldn't fly while carrying people, he could use jets of flame to lift a small piece of land and lower it slowly.
"Don't worry, everyone was rescued," Ace said, patting his chest.
While the two conversed as if no one else was around, Arlong was consumed by rage and fear. "A Logia… another Logia!"
That despicable Marine who had trampled him years ago also possessed a Logia Devil Fruit power.
"If not for Devil Fruits, we Fish-Men could rule the world!" Arlong roared in unwillingness.
"Huh? Rule the world?" Ace looked at this Fish-Man with a strange expression. His strength wasn't even comparable to Ace's before he ate his fruit. So he wondered where did the confidence and nerve to say such a thing come from.
"By the way, Captain, what's the deal with these Fish-Men?" Ace asked, a bit slow on the uptake.
"No idea. I initially thought this young lady wanted to sell me her Fish-Man pets," Setsuna shrugged, playing 'innocent'.
"I told you, I am a noble Fish-Man, not a slave, and definitely not a pet!" Arlong charged at Setsuna again with renewed ferocity, only to be easily knocked down and pinned under Ace's foot.
"Arlong-san!" The other Fish-Men officers tried to rush forward to save him.
Ace casually shot out a ball of searing white flame. The Fish-Men screamed and rolled on the ground.
Nami stood frozen in place, her orange hair stirred by the heat waves.
The nightmare that had kept her awake for five years was shattered so easily.
Her legs suddenly gave way, and she collapsed to her knees, tears pouring out like a broken dam.
"Thank you… thank you."
Ace rubbed his chin. "Doesn't seem like it's just about pets, huh."
"They are demons…" Nami gritted her teeth, recounting the crimes of these Fish-Men.
As Nami spoke through her sobs, Ace's eyes grew colder and colder.
When he heard about Bellemere voluntarily going to her death to protect her adopted daughters, the flames on his fist erupted uncontrollably.
Arlong, however, laughed loudly. "This is the revenge of us Fish-Men! Retribution for the sins you humans have committed!"
Setsuna let out a derisive laugh. "Too cowardly to strike at the real slave traders who persecuted you, only daring to hide in this weakest of seas, numbing yourselves. So this is your revenge? Are you trying to make me die laughing?"
The smile froze on Arlong's face. Breaking down, he roared, "This is just the beginning! I'm lying low here, gathering strength!"
Setsuna played with Arlong's serrated nose, using a pitiful tone. "Then after all these years of gathering strength, why are you still so weak? Weak as a toy."
"Graaghhh!" Arlong nearly fainted from rage, his body twitching incessantly.
"Captain, how do we deal with them?" Ace asked, cracking his knuckles, his aura murderous.
"Don't be hasty. Letting them die just like that would be too easy." Setsuna activated Food Honor. The wounds left from his battle with Golden Lion healed at a visible rate, returning him to pristine condition in the blink of an eye.
Ace's eyes widened. "Captain… you didn't even go all out when fighting Golden Lion, did you?"
"Of course I did. I fought him very seriously," Setsuna corrected.
Seeing this, Arlong completely broke down. "Why… why are there so many monsters among humans… Could it be that humans are truly a superior race to Fish-Men?"
Setsuna no longer wanted to waste words on him. He clenched his fist like a hammer and smashed it heavily into the ground.
A peculiar shockwave spread out in a ring. All the Fish-Men suddenly stiffened, then began frantically clawing at their own skin.
Their expressions twisted to the extreme, their mouths agape but unable to utter any sound.
Ace felt a slight chill. "Captain, what's wrong with them?"
Setsuna let out a faint sigh. "I've struck their pressure points. Since they show no remorse, let them feel a bit more pain before they die."
Ace wiped cold sweat from his brow. Thank goodness he hadn't tried to welch on their deal after losing.
Nami initially felt a twinge of pity, but remembering Bellemere's tragic death at the hands of these Fish-Men, that pity turned into satisfaction.
"You two sirs, thank you… I truly don't know how to thank you…" Nami said, then suddenly seemed to remember something. She turned and ran back, shouting as she went, "Please wait for me, sirs!"
Ace didn't mind, speaking in a grave tone. "Captain, I'm sorry."
"Hm? What for?"
"I hid my identity before. My father… is indeed Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King."
"It's fine, understandable." Setsuna patted Ace's shoulder, his tone sympathetic. "Anyone with a scumbag father like that wouldn't want to admit it."
Ace scratched his ear. Although he himself deeply despised that man, he had to admit that most people on the seas still worshipped and revered the name Roger. People like Setsuna, who looked down on Roger, were exceedingly rare.
Seemingly sensing Ace's inner conflict, Setsuna explained voluntarily. "From what I know, Roger was already suffering from an incurable disease. That's why he disbanded his crew after becoming Pirate King and planned to use his own death to start the so-called Great Pirate Era."
"But a man resolved to die… just had to find a woman and father a child in the final year of his life, without making any arrangements for them. How would you evaluate such a man?"
Ace said with a dark expression, "A scumbag. A scumbag among scumbags!"
Setsuna shook his head slightly. No wonder, in another timeline, Ace chose to retaliate to the death upon hearing Akainu insult Whitebeard. Compared to Roger, Whitebeard was simply too good.
Of course, perhaps it was just the prevailing attitude. This sea had far too many scumbag fathers. Like Yasopp, Queen, Judge, Saint Garling… Compared to them, Roger wasn't even that exceptionally terrible.