We arrived at Cocoyasi Village. Mihawk followed without a word. Sanji looked at the peaceful, uneventful scenery and said, puzzled,
"Huh? Nami-chan, is this the right place? The village looks fineānothing's happening. It looks peaceful."
"The Arlong Pirates are at Arlong Park. This place is a bit far from there. There's a huge sea cow called 'Momoo' near Arlong Park, and if it attacks, your ship could sink. That's why we landed a little distance away."
"I see."
We walked into the village. But the villagers' expressions when they saw Nami didn't look good. So Usopp quietly asked Nami,
"Nami, the vibe here's kindaā¦"
"That's because I'm with Arlong's crew."
Nami rolled up her sleeve slightly and showed the Arlong Pirates tattoo on the back of her shoulder. Luffy and the others were shocked.
"I had a talent for drawing maps, so Arlong found out and forced me to draw charts. And he said if I joined the crew, he'd sell me the village for 100 million Berries. So I've been saving money like crazy."
Mihawk, who'd been listening, said,
"Interesting story. There's no way guys like that would keep their promise. Naive little lady."
"I know that. I know, but the Marines, piratesāevery time they came, Arlong killed them. I had no choice. Now there's no one around to resist, and I've finished drawing all the charts, so if Arlong gets bored of this village and leaves, maybe he'll keep the promiseā¦"
"Hahaha, that's what makes you naive."
"Then what am I supposed to do! Sob sobā¦"
Nami started crying again. Then Luffy smiled, put his straw hat on Nami, and said,
"Shishishi, don't worry now! We're here."
Sanji, Usopp, and Zoro each said something too.
"Guys who make women cry are unforgivable. Trust me, Nami-chan~"
"Yeah, we're here, so it'll work out somehow."
"I'll end it quickly. Next is you, Mihawk!"
Mihawk gave a small smirk at Zoro's comment. We passed through the village and arrived at the entrance to Arlong Park.
"Let me know if you need help, I'll help."
Luffy smiled at my words and said,
"Thanks, but this is our crewmate's business. We want to handle it ourselves."
Mihawk heard that and said,
"Hmph, little lady, you made good crewmates."
Luffy immediately punched down the front gate of Arlong Park.
Boom! Crash!
"Let's go!"
"Okaybari!" "Got it." "Let's do this!"
Mihawk and I sat on a building in the corner of Arlong Park and watched.
"Here."
I handed him liquor and dried meat. Mihawk took the drink and said,
"Where do these things keep coming from? Devil Fruit ability?"
"Something like that."
"I see."
There were so many 'Do-Whatever-The-Hell-I-Want Fruits' out there, so he just let it go again. Mihawk munched on the dried meat and sipped the liquor. I drank with him while watching Luffy's crew.
Luffy walked in confidently and approached a fish-man with a saw-shaped nose.
"You Arlong?"
"What are you?"
"A pirate."
"What business does a pirate have with me?"
Luffy immediately punched Arlong in the face.
Thwack!
Arlong was sent flying and crashed into a wall, stopping there.
"Huh! Arlong-sama!!?"
Arlong's subordinates worried about him, but Arlong didn't take much damage. He lifted his head, glaring at Luffy.
"Grrā¦ Who the hell are you?"
"You made my crewmate Nami cry!!"
Seeing that, Arlong's subordinates drew weapons and charged Luffy.
"You bastard!" "What the hell are you doing!" "This crazy guy!"
Thud thud! Slash! Pow!
"Kyaaagh!" "Guhk!" "Aaaagh!"
"Small fries, stay in the corner!!"
Sanji and Zoro, who came in after Luffy, took out the small fries in an instant. While watching with interest, Nami led the villagers over, armed with weapons. Seeing that, I stepped in front of Nami and asked,
"Nami, why'd you bring people?"
"Wellā¦ there are a lot of Arlong's crew, so this might be our last chance. I brought a little help, thanks to Genzou and NojikoāI somehow convinced themā¦"
Nami trailed off, surprised at the small fries already beaten and collapsed inside Arlong Park. The villagers had the same reaction.
"How did this happen?"
"Did they do this?"
"Can't believe itā¦ fish-men."
Murmur murmur
"Don't go in any further. You'll get caught in the fight."
I released a little Conqueror's Haki to warn the villagers.
"Tchā¦ got itā¦"
Crash boom~!
Moooomooooo~
Just then, the sound of a building being destroyed came from inside Arlong Park. Luffy had grabbed a huge creature and was spinning it, smashing buildings. That monster looked like the sea cow 'Momoo.' Nami saw it and said, shocked,
"No wayā¦"
"Hey. You guys."
I called over Yosaku and Johnny, who were just standing there watching.
"Yes? Us?"
"Yeah. Stop the villagers from going in."
"Yes sir." "Yes sir."
Yosaku and Johnny quickly ran over and blocked the entrance.
"To get past here, you'll have to kill us!"
They knew they were useless in this fight and had been awkwardly standing around watching, so when I gave them a job, they rushed over and struck cool poses to block the entrance. It was kind of funny, but with them there, villagers wouldn't get into Arlong Park and die.
I went back and sat next to Mihawk.
"You even have 'Conqueror's Haki.' And you control it naturally, too. Today's not going to be easy."
Mihawk said that, but he didn't look tense. If anything, he looked excited.
"You say that, but your expression looks like you're really looking forward to fighting me."
"Hmphā¦ It's been a while since I've had a strong opponent."
Mihawk and I watched Luffy and the others again. Unlike the original, Zoro was completely fine, so Sanji could fight without distraction, and the two took out Hatchan and Kuroobi easily. And Luffy didn't fall into the sea. Sanji broke the rock, so he got free right away. Usopp was nowhere to be seenāhe must've run from Choo.
"Now only you're left."
"Hatchanā¦ Kuroobiā¦ You bastards, what did you do to my precious brethren!!"
Arlong and Luffy faced off. Zoro and Sanji seemed to be leaving the finish to Luffy.
"What's the biggest difference between you and me?"
"Nose! No? Jaw? Got itāgills!!"
"It's race!!"
Arlong lunged at Luffy, trying to bite him. Arlong was a shark fish-man, so his teeth were extremely sharp. Luffy easily dodged, and Arlong kept lunging, attacking with bite after bite.
Luffy dodged, backing up, and was cornered against a pillar when Arlong seized the chance and grabbed Luffy's neck, trying to bite his head. But Luffy cleverly used his Gum-Gum Fruit ability to stretch his head and dodge.
"Whoa!"
Crunch!
Arlong bit the pillar instead, and you'd think his teeth would shatter from the impact, but the pillar broke apart. The people watching were amazed.
"The pillar broke!"
"If you got bitten by that, you'd be eaten bones and all."
"This is the power we fish-men are born with. The gods didn't give humans this kind of ability. That's why you're inferior."
"So what! Don't brag about that!"
Luffy swung his fist and smashed the pillar.
Thud!
"I don't need to biteā I can break stone."
Arlong got angry at Luffy's words and said,
"Nonsense! Humans are a weak and foolish race!!"
Mihawk, who was quietly listening, said,
"Looking at what he's doing, he must've been beaten badly by humans. But taking it out on a weak sea? Trash."
Mihawk was right. If Arlong thought his race was superior and wanted to prove his strength, he should've fought strong enemies in a strong sea. Doing this in the weakest East Blue was just thuggery.
The fight went similar to the original. Luffy was bitten by Arlong's teeth and bled a lot, but he used his 'Gum-Gum Fruit' abilities well and fought back. Arlong, frustrated that his bites weren't working, jumped into the pool connected to the ocean in the center of Arlong Park.
"Shark on Darts!!"
Arlong shot out of the water fast, attacking Luffy with his powerful saw-shaped nose. But Luffy stretched his fingers in midair and formed a net, catching the rapidly incoming Arlong.
"Gum-Gum Net!"
Then he gathered both soles and delivered a powerful kick to Arlong's abdomen.
"Gum-Gum Spear!!"
Bang!!
"Kugh!!"
Arlong took the blow, flew from midair, and crashed into the ground, coughing blood. But it wasn't enough to take down tough Arlong, and with an enraged look, he grabbed the falling Luffy and hurled him at Arlong Park's building with the mighty strength of a fish-man.
"Inferior human trash!! What did you do to me!!"
Whoosh~!
Kwaang!
But it was useless. Luffy had eaten the Gum-Gum Fruit, so without [Armament Haki], attacks other than slashes didn't deal damage.
"Ahā¦ that surprised me. Doesn't hurt, but he looks mad."
Arlong charged at Luffy and threw a punch, but Luffy jumped and grabbed the second-floor railing, dodging the blow.
"Whoa!"
Kwaang!!
Arlong's attack seemed aimed at something elseāhe grabbed something from the building, a massive saw-toothed greatsword. Nami shouted a warning when she saw it.
"'Kiribachi'!!"
Arlong gripped the greatsword, spun his whole body, and tried to bring it down on Luffy, but Luffy used his rubber ability to keep escaping, dodging upward through the building. Arlong followed, spinning continuously, swinging the greatsword as he chased Luffy up to the top floor. Luffy dodged into the room on the top floor, and Arlong went in after him. Seeing that, Nami said,
"That'sā¦ the survey roomā¦"
That room was where Arlong had forced Nami to draw maps. It was quiet for a while. Probably, like in the original, Arlong and Luffy were talking about Nami in that room.
Then the conversation must have ended, because things started falling from the room.
Crash!
"That's a desk? I thought Luffy was falling."
"What's all that falling?"
"They're fighting pretty intensely."
Nami covered her mouth and shed tears as she watched furniture and charts fall from that room. Luffy must be destroying the furniture and charts after hearing Nami's situation.
"Thank youā¦"
Peeeooong!!
Then the shark-shaped ornament on Arlong Park's roof was destroyed, and Luffy's foot stretched high into the sky, visible. It looked like he was going for the finishing move. I shouted loudly to the people near the building.
"The building's coming down! Get back!"
As soon as I finished, Luffy's foot, which had risen high, rapidly shrank and slammed down on Arlong, and a huge sound started.
Boom!! Kung! Kung! Kung!!
Crack! Creeeak!
The massive building of Arlong Park started cracking from the roof down, floor by floor, with loud noises, and people quickly fell away from it.
"The world's ending!"
"It's dangerous! Everyone get away from the building!"
But Nami didn't runāshe moved closer to the building.
"Luffy's still in there!"
I quickly grabbed Nami and moved away from the building. I'm absolutely not doing this to satisfy any personal feelings. Ahemā¦
"Let go of me!"
"Don't worry. He's a rubber human, he doesn't die easily."
No sooner had I said that than Arlong Park began collapsing.
Crash rumble rumble!
"Luffy!!"