The scent of blood in the tangerine grove had not yet fully dispersed.
Captain Nezumi's corpse, pinned to the earth, served as a resounding wake-up call that snapped the people of Cocoyasi Village out of their long nightmare.
Genzo and the villagers, drawn by the commotion, stood before the chests of treasure. Their faces held no joy of recovery—only endless sorrow and a burning, primal rage.
If Arlong could conspire with a Marine Captain to seize this money, it meant that from the very beginning, the Fishman never intended to keep his word. It was an eight-year-long fraud.
"Unforgivable... absolutely unforgivable!!"
Someone shouted first, and then, like a spark in a field of dry grass, the fury ignited the crowd.
"If we're dead either way, we might as well go down fighting!!"
"That's right! For Bell-mère! For everything Nami has suffered all these years!!"
With bloodshot eyes, the villagers grabbed hoes, shovels, and even kitchen knives. Crude as they were, these tools now carried a collective will to die. The crowd became a torrent of rage, surging toward Arlong Park.
"No... don't go!!"
Nami watched as the situation spiraled out of control. She scrambled forward, arms wide, trying to block the villagers who had raised her. "Please! Don't go! It's Arlong! You'll all be killed!!"
But no one stopped. Genzo gently pushed Nami aside, a look of grim resolve on his scarred face. "Nami, enough. You've worked hard these past eight years."
"Leave the rest to the adults."
The villagers bypassed Nami, marching toward the "park" that symbolized their death and oppression.
"Everyone..." Nami's outstretched hand froze in mid-air before falling limply to her side.
In the empty tangerine grove, amidst the rising dust, she knelt. She looked down at her left arm—at the black, jagged tattoo. It was the mark of the Arlong Pirates, the root of her nightmares, the brand of a slave. Despair, anger, and regret twisted into a singular, violent impulse.
"As long as this thing exists... as long as I have this!!"
Trembling, Nami picked up a dagger dropped by a villager. She raised the blade, her eyes blurred with tears and hatred, and drove it toward the tattoo on her arm!
Grip.
Just as the tip was about to pierce her skin, a powerful hand shot out and caught her wrist like a steel vise. No matter how hard she struggled, the hand remained immovable.
"Ugh..." Nami looked back through her tears.
She saw a face devoid of its usual mirth. Viktor. He wasn't smiling; his black eyes were as deep as an abyss, staring at her as if looking through the fragility of her soul.
Beside him, Luffy stood silent and still, his hand pressing his straw hat down, his gaze fixed on her with absolute focus.
In that moment, under the gaze of these two men, the high walls Nami had built for eight years finally crumbled.
Clatter.
The dagger fell. Nami could no longer sustain her false strength. She clutched the dirt beneath her, bowed her head, and used every ounce of breath to scream the words hidden in the depths of her heart:
"...Waaaaah..."
"...HELP ME... MY NAKAMA!!!"
Hearing those words, Luffy's mouth split into his signature grin. He reached up, took off the straw hat—the treasure more precious to him than life itself—and pressed it firmly onto Nami's head.
He turned toward the sky and let out a roar that shook the very air of Cocoyasi Village:
"YOU BET I WILL!!!!!"
It was a declaration of war.
Luffy marched forward. As the perspective widened, at the end of the path, the crew was already waiting.
On a stone railing, Zoro tightened his dark green bandana. His eyes flashed with a demonic ferocity, his hand already resting on his hilt. "Ah, it's finally starting. I've been waiting long enough."
Beside him, Sanji took a deep drag of his cigarette and exhaled a slow ring of smoke. "Since you made a lady bleed that much... even if the opponent is a Fishman, I'm going to kick him to death."
Usopp's legs were shaking uncontrollably, but he gripped his slingshot with a death grip, refusing to retreat a single step. "I am a brave warrior of the sea! I... I won't be afraid of a few salty fish!"
And Viktor. He released Nami's hand and picked up the long sword that had just tasted Marine blood. The cold killing intent radiating from him was heavier than anyone else's. He looked at Luffy's back and chuckled softly.
"Since the Captain has given the order..."
"Let's turn that 'Park' into a living hell."
At the towering gates of Arlong Park.
"Go back! Everyone, go back!!" Johnny and Yosaku were sweating profusely, arms spread to block the villagers. "Don't go in there! It's suicide! Trust us! Those fishmen messed with the wrong people! Monsters are coming to handle them!"
Just as the crowd grew more agitated, a red silhouette bypassed them, heading straight for the massive, closed iron gates. Luffy had no intention of using the door like a guest. If you're here to tear down a house, you do it properly.
Luffy stopped, raised his right leg high, and stretched it back to its limit, accumulating massive potential energy.
"Gum-Gum—" His eyes burned with fury. "BATTLE AXE!!!"
BOOM—!!!
In a world-shaking explosion of stone and metal, the iron gates of Arlong Park—the symbol of absolute rule—collapsed alongside meters of thick stone wall. Rubble flew, and the ground trembled.
When the dust cleared, the five members of the Straw Hat crew stood in a line. Luffy in the center, with Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, and Viktor flanking him. Each radiated a terrifying aura that seemed to freeze the air.
Luffy looked up at the pavilions and pools of the park and let out a deafening roar:
"HEY! WHICH ONE OF YOU IS ARLONG?!"
Deep within the park, sitting on a throne-like beach chair, the Saw-Shark Fishman—Arlong—slowly set down his wine glass. He looked at the group of humans with venomous eyes, his forehead veins bulging at the sight of his destroyed gate.
"Shahahahaha..." Arlong stood up, his massive frame casting a looming shadow. "Lower-class species... you dare destroy my park? It seems unless I kill you all, you won't understand the terror of the sea."
As their killing intents collided, a mechanical system prompt rang out in Viktor's mind.
[Ding!][Key Plot Point Detected!][Main Story Mission Triggered: The End of the East Blue.][Objective: Annihilate the Arlong Pirates. End Arlong's reign.][Reward: A-Rank Jutsu—Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame.]
Viktor's pupils contracted. Majestic Destroyer Flame. Uchiha Madara's signature jutsu. A fire style so powerful it required dozens of Water Style ninjas to counter a single blast.
"Heh... that's a reward I can't refuse."
Viktor rested his hand on his sword hilt, his crimson Sharingan spinning slowly as he locked onto his prey. He glanced at his crewmates and spoke with a grin.
"The shark with the saw-nose belongs to Luffy."
Viktor's blade slid from its sheath, the tip pointing to the ground.
"As for the rest of the trash... don't let a single one escape."
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