Chapter 50: Colonel Mouse, the Vanguard Officer

Colonel Mouse and Colonel Smoker—on the surface, their titles might suggest they stood as equals. Yet every officer within the Navy knew the truth: a commission from Navy Headquarters carried weight three ranks higher than any equivalent title in a branch division, both in terms of personal strength and the authority it conferred. Thus, Colonel Mouse, a mere figurehead of East Blue’s Sixteenth Branch, could only bow and scrape before Smoker, an elite officer of Headquarters.

Smoker, stationed in Loguetown, was considered the highest-ranking naval officer in all of East Blue, its governor and guardian. To encounter such a superior—especially when engaged in questionable activities—left Colonel Mouse trembling, walking on eggshells.

“You…” Smoker’s voice, edged with menace, drifted to Mouse’s ear. “What brings you to Cocoyashi Village?”

Colonel Mouse froze, his usually slick tongue now twisted in knots. Why had he come to Cocoyashi? The answer, of course, was to step out from the barracks, mingle with the populace, and indulge in the so-called harmonious relationship between military and civilians, especially with the local model of cooperation—Arlong the Fishman. But could he confess this to his superior?

Beads of cold sweat thickened on Mouse’s brow, soon gathering into droplets that rolled down his cheeks. But then, a realization struck him: Smoker was Loguetown’s commander, the Navy’s last line of defense in East Blue, charged with guarding the entrance to the Grand Line. He would never leave his jurisdiction lightly. Why would Loguetown’s elite Navy show up in a remote place like Cocoyashi? It must mean those Fishmen from the Arlong Pirates, with their faces made for ridicule, had been exposed.

And now, here he stood, brazenly appearing in the very heart of the Arlong Pirates’ territory… The implication was all too clear.

“Well?” Smoker’s voice pressed on, sharper than before. “Cat got your tongue?”

The tension crackled in the air. Smoker’s men, catching their superior’s cue, quietly gripped their weapons. Nami, her eyes ablaze with fury, glared daggers at Colonel Mouse—she now understood that this despicable Navy officer was one of the culprits behind her homeland’s years of suffering under Arlong’s tyranny.

“I… I…” Mouse scrambled for words in the oppressive silence, desperately searching for something to say. At last, with nothing left to lose, he straightened his hunched back, forced a righteous expression onto his oily features, and declared in a loud voice, “I received reports from the public—evidence that the Arlong Pirates are oppressing the people of Cocoyashi Village!”

The more he spoke, the more he inhabited his role, his beady eyes even managing to project a semblance of the Navy’s righteous resolve. “Defending the peace and eliminating bandits is the sacred duty of the Sixteenth Branch! I am here to lead the campaign against the pirates!”

A collective gasp rippled through the crowd—Nami, Garen, Smoker’s men, and even Mouse’s own subordinates. Nami’s eyes blazed with incredulity: “I have never seen anyone so shameless!” they seemed to scream. Garen, never one for subtlety, couldn’t resist a jab: “Colonel Mouse, don’t you think that’s the wrong image for someone making such claims?”

Colonel Mouse, sweating but undeterred, pressed on. “Sir, though my appearance may not quite fit the Navy’s ideals, my heart for justice can stand any test!”

He was betting everything now, gambling that they had no concrete proof of his collusion with pirates. Flimsy as his excuse might be, it was a lifeline—however thin.

Smoker responded with a cold chuckle, raising his weapon, ready to deliver judgment. He’d had enough of the rot festering within the Navy, men like Mouse who were little more than gangrene on the body of the institution. Mouse’s performance only confirmed what Garen had said, and Smoker was ready to take him down, evidence or not.

“Perfect timing!” Garen stepped forward with a smile, intercepting Smoker. As Smoker looked on in confusion, Garen patted Mouse on the shoulder and proclaimed, “We’re here under orders from Vice Admiral Garp himself, sent to eliminate the Arlong Pirates!”

“Vice Admiral Garp?” Mouse blurted out, horror tightening his chest. Was Arlong really brazen enough to attract the attention of the legendary Navy hero? That fishman was finished.

Garen continued, his voice calm, “Since your branch is also here to stamp out the pirates, why not join forces? Let’s unite our armies and crush the enemy together!”

Mouse blinked, then quickly nodded in agreement. “You’re absolutely right, sir! I’m ready to fight alongside Colonel Smoker to defeat Arlong!”

Garen clapped him on the shoulder. “Then what are you waiting for? Go prepare for battle. We march on Arlong’s domain together!”

“Yes, sir!” Mouse replied solemnly, immediately barking orders to his men.

This time, he meant it. After all, his subordinates were as dirty as he was—none would betray him. Only Arlong, that treacherous fishman, could still expose him. If Mouse wanted to save his own skin, he’d have to silence Arlong for good.

His resolve strengthened, Mouse’s eyes glinted with determination. Meanwhile, Smoker sidled up to Garen, confusion etched on his face. “Garen, what are you doing?”

Garen’s lips curled into a sly grin as he watched Mouse marshal his troops. “Didn’t he claim he came to purge Arlong? Let’s see him prove it.”

***

After a short voyage, the two naval vessels arrived side by side at the edge of Arlong’s territory. Nami gazed at the familiar silhouette of Arlong Park; memories of nightmares and hopes for freedom interwove in her mind.

“That building…” Smoker remarked, surprised as he stared at the tall structure in the center. “It looks a lot like the ones on the Sabaody Archipelago. So these fishmen really did come from the Grand Line…”

Garen sneered. “They call themselves a superior race, loftier than humans, yet they’ve mastered all our worst indulgences.”

“Open fire,” Smoker ordered coolly. “Make sure Colonel Mouse’s division participates as well.”

The naval gunners, eager and ready, lit the fuses, and a forest of cannons thundered in unison. Mouse, all too happy to comply, urged his men to unleash a barrage on the fishmen.

“Fire! Fire!” Mouse shouted, brandishing his sword.

At that moment, he was the man most desperate to see Arlong blasted to bits.

Shells rained down upon Arlong Park, reducing the fortress built with years of extorted tribute to smoldering rubble in an instant.

“At last…” Nami watched in silence, tears glistening in her amber eyes.

After the bombardment, casualties among the fishmen defenders were significant—but not decisive. With their exceptional strength and the sea as an escape, most survived the onslaught.

As soon as the barrage ceased, the fishmen counterattacked. Dozens of towering fishmen, weapons in hand, charged the Navy ships, shrieking as they went. And they weren’t alone.

“What… what is that?” Mouse’s manic expression froze.

A monstrous beast loomed before his ship—a special combatant brought from the Grand Line: Mohmoo, the sea cow. Its fish tail and scaly flanks gave way to a bovine upper body, almost comically docile in appearance. But its sheer size—twice the length of a Navy warship—made it a terror in the eyes of Mouse and his men.

“So Arlong was hiding this?” Mouse muttered, panic rising, as he glanced desperately toward Smoker’s flagship.

To his dismay, Smoker’s ship had quietly withdrawn several hundred meters, its guns now aimed—not at the enemy—but squarely at Mouse’s own vessel.

“Colonel Mouse!” Garen called out mockingly, his voice carrying across the water. “Colonel Smoker is deeply impressed by your unwavering resolve! Headquarters has made its decision: you will lead the vanguard in this assault!”

“Wha—?” Mouse’s face drained of color as he eyed the approaching sea monster, then the bristling cannons behind him.

Smoker played his part, his voice harsh and commanding: “This is an official order! Any retreat will be punished by death!”

Mouse looked to the monstrous beast ahead, then to the guns at his back. A storm of thoughts whirled in his mind, but all that came out was:

“I…”