Chapter 48: Subduing Troops Without a Battle
Two days later.
Cocoyasi Village, Dragon Paradise.
Arlong’s appearance fully befitted his identity as a shark fish-man: nearly three meters tall, his entire body covered in blue skin, eyes sharp and fierce as a hawk, a mouth filled with jagged, razor-sharp teeth, and that serrated, elongated nose which was as hard and sharp as a steel saw. Coupled with muscles like forged iron and large crimson tattoos branded across his chest and arms, he looked every bit the intimidating—
Head thug.
Arlong was, in fact, nothing more than a head thug.
Despite his constant boasts of being a superior race, his daily proclamations about founding the “Arlong Empire” and ruling all humanity… the reality was that this so-called future emperor of the fish-men had, for years, done little more than—
Collect protection money.
The vast territory of the Arlong Empire amounted only to the twenty villages surrounding Cocoyasi Village. The sole thing vaguely related to his grand ambitions of empire-building were the East Blue sea charts he forced Nami to draw.
On this particular day, Arlong was once more tirelessly preoccupied with “national affairs” of the Fish-Man Empire:
“Is that rat coming today?”
“Indeed.”
His loyal subordinate, the fish-man karate expert Kuroobi, immediately replied, “We agreed to meet with Colonel Rat today.”
“Hmph!”
Arlong snorted coldly, his expression darkening considerably.
While extorting protection money from innocent villagers, he also had to regularly pay protection money to the local navy’s Colonel Rat…
Because Arlong and his crew, coming from the Grand Line, would stand out suspiciously in the navy’s eyes without a corrupt officer covering for them.
To maintain his position as the local tyrant, Arlong had to swallow his pride and pay off Colonel Rat.
Of course, the proud Arlong would never admit he was paying protection money.
“That weak, filthy lesser creature!”
Arlong, self-taught in the art of psychological victory, employed an A.Q.-esque mental triumph:
“When we fish-men rule the seas, I’ll make that greedy rat cough up every last coin he’s swallowed!”
“Yes, yes!”
His cronies nodded eagerly, as if the grand Fish-Man Empire might be established tomorrow.
But Arlong’s mood remained sour, for he was even more greedy than Colonel Rat. Every time he had to bribe the colonel, it felt as if his heart were bleeding.
And whenever Arlong was in a bad mood, he sought comfort in tormenting the weak.
After a brief pause, Arlong suddenly barked in anger:
“Why hasn’t Cocoyasi Village paid this month’s ransom yet?!”
His voice was full of violence and cruelty.
“We’ve been urging them, but they still can’t come up with the money.”
A subordinate replied, trembling.
“Can’t come up with it?!”
Arlong’s voice was laced with displeasure, his mouth curling into a cruel grin.
“Very well…”
“I’ll go help them personally!”
...................................................
Cocoyasi Village.
The villagers gathered in the square, faces filled with worry.
“Sigh…”
The sheriff, Gen, looked bleakly at everyone, helplessly asking:
“Is it true we can’t raise any more money?”
“If we don’t pay this month’s ransom, Arlong will surely use it as an excuse to cause havoc in the village again…”
“We really have no other way!”
A pale-faced villager spoke gravely, “The fishing’s been poor lately, and the crops in the fields aren’t ready for harvest.”
“We simply can’t raise any more money!”
Each villager in Cocoyasi Village had to pay Arlong a hundred thousand Berries every month for their lives, to protect themselves from the murderous fish-men of Arlong’s crew.
Such a burden was crushing for a remote village with no industry beyond agriculture and fishing.
“How about…”
A villager suggested timidly, “How about asking Nojiko for help again?”
The silence was heavy.
Gen’s face grew even darker, making the long scar across his cheek appear more sinister.
It wasn’t just Gen—every villager knew what this meant.
Nojiko was Nami’s sister and barely scraped by on the proceeds from her tangerine grove.
Asking Nojiko for money simply meant shifting the burden of protecting Cocoyasi Village onto Nami’s shoulders, yet again.
No one wanted to do this, but the harshness of life often drove them to desperation.
Gen trembled, tormented by guilt. As sheriff, he couldn’t protect the village, and instead was forced, time and again, to place the responsibility on Nami, whom he cherished as a daughter.
“Gen! Gen!”
A woman’s excited voice suddenly rang out.
Everyone turned and saw a blue-haired girl running toward them, waving a newspaper energetically.
This beautiful girl was none other than Nojiko, Nami’s sister.
“Nojiko, what’s happened?”
Gen forced a strained smile, trying his best not to look too grim in front of the children.
“Look at this!”
Nojiko, breathless from running, thrust the newspaper into Gen’s hands without pausing.
“Huh?”
Gen took the newspaper, glanced at the headline:
“A Special Feature on the East Blue Knight Garen?”
“Who’s that?”
Nojiko, visibly excited, said, “Never mind that—look below!”
Gen’s gaze dropped beneath the headline, and he instantly grew even more agitated than Nojiko:
“Nami?!!”
“She’s on the front page?!”
“What?!”
The villagers cried out in surprise.
They crowded around, faces full of concern, to see the newspaper.
There, plain as day, was a photograph: Nami in a gorgeous princess gown, standing beside Garen in a white suit, both smiling gently at the camera.
One graceful and charming, the other dignified and heroic—they truly looked like the “Knight and Princess” described in the article.
The villagers were utterly bewildered.
They scarcely had time to speculate, their attention wholly captured by the rich and exciting content of the feature.
After a long while…
Gen asked in disbelief, “N-Nami… has she found a boyfriend?!”
“It seems so.”
Nojiko nodded solemnly.
Such a conclusion was only natural…
For the article’s romantic tale of “Knight Garen” was almost entirely embellished by Nami herself, lured by Wallace’s generous interview fee.
What began as a chance encounter between a knight and a thief had been spun by Nami and Wallace into a moving love story.
“Nami… has grown up to that age?”
Gen muttered, repeating the words.
He’d always regarded Nami as a daughter, and now suddenly felt the bitter pang of seeing his “cabbage picked by a pig.”
But the other villagers’ attention was focused entirely on the “pig” in question…
“Nami’s boyfriend…”
A villager exclaimed in disbelief, “He’s such a powerful man?!”
Another chimed in excitedly, “Not just powerful…”
“He’s apparently a high-ranking noble from a great kingdom!”
“Sigh…”
Gen’s thoughts hadn’t caught up yet, “With Nami’s status, wouldn’t a boyfriend so formidable be… problematic?”
“Let’s not worry about that!”
A villager said, visibly excited, “If Nami’s boyfriend is willing to help, our village could be saved!”
Everyone had clearly thought of this.
Their faces, pale and gaunt from hardship, now flushed with a rare, excited red.
“Oh?”
A sinister voice drifted from behind: “Your village could be saved?”
The villagers shivered in unison, cold sweat breaking out on their foreheads.
A tall shadow then blocked out the sun.
Turning with difficulty, they saw Arlong the fish-man standing behind them with several henchmen, all wearing cruel, violent smiles.
The once lively village instantly fell into an oppressive, deathly silence.
“Hahaha…”
Arlong laughed loudly and arrogantly, then growled in a rough voice:
“I seem to have overheard something interesting.”
His murderous, sharp eyes swept over the villagers.
“Nami… has she been getting restless?!”
The villagers lowered their heads, not daring to meet Arlong’s gaze.
“Hand over that newspaper!”
Arlong barked to his underlings, grinning wickedly.
“So you dare to resist my rule?”
“I want to see exactly who makes you so bold!”
The newspaper was quickly snatched from the villagers and handed to Arlong, with several fish-men henchmen crowding in curiously.
“The righteous knight of East Blue?!”
Arlong sneered at the headline, “Inferior species! Still pinning your hopes on a righteous knight?”
He read on…
His expression immediately darkened, as if he’d swallowed two kilos of excrement—
The report detailed, without exaggeration, the dazzling feats of East Blue’s righteous knight Garen in just three days.
Punishing the Steel Blade Pirates, defeating the corrupt navy in Loguetown—these stories were already sensational for the weakest sea, East Blue.
But the main event came next—
Defeating a Pirate King’s crew member, the Four Emperors’ friend, Buggy the Clown…
Beating Marine Headquarters’ Colonel Smoker in three rounds…
Sparring with the Navy Hero Garp, with an even outcome…
Even the master swordsman from Marine Headquarters was awed by this swordsman’s “one true path”…
“B-Boss?”
A fish-man henchman quivered, unable to help himself, “Should we run?!”
……
Previously untouchable, Arlong now trembled all over, silent.
Complex emotions brewed in his chest, finally erupting after a long silence:
“Run!”
Boom!
Cannons roared.
Arlong turned toward the sound, only to see his beloved Dragon Paradise ablaze with glaring flames.