"Huff... huff..."
On the shore, snoring could be heard clearly.
The people of the fish-man village gathered around, looking at the old man who was snoring on the ground.
Wall climbed out of the sea, puzzled, "He doesn't look like a slave trader, is he a refugee?"
Hocka blinked, "A refugee... able to sleep this soundly?"
Wall tossed him from the sea onto the shore, and he even plunged headfirst into the sand.
If it were a normal person, they might have broken bones, but this old man seemed like nothing had happened, and he was still sound asleep.
He even blew a snot bubble!
He's sleeping so well?!
Not far away, grease dripped from the roasting meat by the fire, splattering into the flames, sizzling.
The smell drifted over and entered the old man's nose.
"Ugh!"
The old man's eyelids twitched, and he muttered, "Oh, oh, are we having roast meat tonight? Tsuru-chan, you really know what I like!"
Suddenly, the old man seemed to remember something, and he opened his eyes wide, shouting:
"Tsuru-chan, let me explain. I came out to scout the sea conditions, I definitely wasn't slacking off..."
As he said this, the old man finally saw the situation in front of him—
A group of fish-men.
The old man blinked.
The fish-men blinked.
Big eyes stared at small eyes.
The old man sat cross-legged on the ground, arms crossed, head tilted.
"Huh?"
...
By the fire.
This old man, who was a bit too healthy, was chewing on a piece of meat with bones, laughing loudly:
"Turns out I fell asleep on the boat!"
"Scared me, I thought Tsuru-chan had even invited fish-man friends to catch me!"
"Speaking of which, this roast meat is really good, ah ha ha ha ha!"
"..."
The fish-men were quite speechless about this, thinking that this human old man was a bit too familiar.
They were about to ask him more about where he came from, but suddenly they noticed something moving on the sea.
In the dark sea, a large ship was heading towards the shore.
When the ship got closer, Hocka and the others saw the flag on the sails and their faces changed suddenly.
A blue seagull with a wrench-like pattern underneath—
That was the Marine's symbol!
Using their fish-man abilities, Hocka and the others had managed to avoid the Marine's pursuit several times, but they didn't expect to be found here.
"The Marines are here, what do we do?"
"Run!"
"But... I really don't want to run anymore."
"Let's fight them!"
"Those are the Marines, do you want to cause trouble for the people here?"
"..."
The different opinions reached Hocka's ears, making the fish-man boss's face even darker.
Just as he was about to make a decision, the old man next to him finally finished his piece of roast meat.
The old man wiped his mouth, looking just as worried.
"Oh no, they've chased us here!"
Hearing this, the fish-men were stunned and asked in surprise, "You escaped too?"
The old man nodded hard, "Yeah, it took me a lot of effort to get away!"
The fish-men felt a sense of shared suffering and patted the old man on the shoulder.
"It must have been tough for you!"
The old man's eyes were full of emotion, "It's good that you understand!"
"Since we're all in this together, then stay!"
Hocka said as he stood at the front, stretching his shoulders, and said in a deep voice, "No matter what you guys think, I'm tired of running."
Behind him, Wall clenched his fists and roared, "Then let's fight for our new home!"
"Yeah!"
The fish-men all stepped forward, with some humans holding weapons mixed in.
They growled and made up their minds.
Seeing this, the old man was clearly stunned and waved his hands repeatedly, saying:
"No, no, it's just skipping work to be lazy, there's no need to go this far..."
Unfortunately, because he felt so guilty, he spoke very quietly, so the excited fish-men didn't notice what he said.
The Marine warship gradually approached the shore, and the people of the fish-man village were ready to fight. The two sides were about a hundred meters apart.
In the next moment, a dark shape rose into the air from the warship's deck and disappeared into the darkness.
Its speed was so fast that the fish-men widened their eyes.
They couldn't see it at all!
Whoosh!
When the dark shape reappeared, the sharp blade in his hand was already against Hocka's neck.
A man wearing a Marine justice coat stood there with a cold expression.
"Move and your head will be in two pieces!"
A concise threat.
Wall immediately signaled everyone to stop moving, and the two sides were in a stalemate.
At the same time, a boat was lowered from the Marine warship, and several people took the boat to the shore.
Using the light of the fire, the crowd could see the people who had come.
At the front was an old woman with gray hair and many wrinkles on her face, but she didn't look old at all and was also wearing a justice coat.
The old woman's sharp eyes fell on the old man.
The old man was instantly covered in sweat, scratching his head and laughing awkwardly, "Tsuru-chan, let me explain..."
"You can give your excuses later."
The old woman narrowed her eyes and turned her attention to the group of fish-men, saying slowly, "Aren't you curious why there is a fish-man camp in the desert country?"
Hearing this, the old man immediately understood.
"Oh yeah, that's so strange!"
"Sigh, what a slow man."
The old woman shook her head helplessly and signaled with her eyes.
Although it was dark, the old man noticed the old woman's action and looked in the direction she pointed.
Then, his pupils shrank slightly.
Because he saw the outline of a mark that was deliberately covered under one of the fish-man's clothes.
Although it was only a blurry corner, the knowledgeable old man could guess what it looked like.
It was the mark of the Celestial Dragon's Hoof!
After thinking for a moment, the old man understood who these fish-men were.
"Oh, I see."
He touched his chin and turned to Hocka, asking, "You guys said before that this is your new home?"
Hocka had a dark face and didn't want to answer.
The old man said to himself, "Yeah, this is after all a country, you can't build a village here without anyone knowing."
"Which means... you got permission?"
The old man's eyes lit up and he grinned, "Someone actually allowed the fish-men to build a village within their country! Who? That emperor from eight hundred years ago?"
Hearing this, the people of the fish-man village understood.
These Marines weren't here to catch them.
Their target was Ryan Rowan, who had taken them in!
Seeing that Hocka and the others still didn't want to speak, the old man shook his head helplessly, and then laughed loudly:
"Interesting, I really want to meet that emperor now!"
Hearing this, the old woman threw a justice coat to the old man.
"Then stop slacking off, hurry up and put on the coat and come with me."
The old man reached out and took it, putting it on his back.
The Marine lieutenant also put the knife on Hocka's neck back into its sheath, and then bowed slightly, adding "Sorry for the offense".
Then, under the surprised eyes of the fish-man village residents, the two leaders led more than ten Marine soldiers and set off in the direction Rowan and the others had left.
Their destination was the capital of Alabasta, Alubarna.
...
At this moment, the fish-men still didn't know who the people in front of them were, let alone how amazing the old man and the old woman were on this sea!
Marine Hero – "Iron Fist" Garp;
Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral and "Great Staff Officer" – Tsuru;
Following the order of the then-Marine Fleet Admiral Sengoku, they arrived at Alabasta!
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