Upon hearing Luffy's question, none of the three Fish-Man captains answered.
The atmosphere was extraordinarily tense. Three giant Sea Beasts along with three pirate ships formed an equilateral triangle, surrounding the Going Merry right in the center, yet they made no further move—seemingly waiting for something.
"What else could it be? They're definitely here to seek revenge on us."
With a cold expression, Zoro drew his three beloved swords, looking as if he were facing a formidable enemy.
Through the intelligence Sherlock had gathered earlier, Zoro already had a fairly intuitive understanding of the strength of these Fish-Man pirates in his mind.
This moss-head actually had immense confidence in his own and his companions' strength. He felt that if a conflict truly broke out with the Fish-Man Union, the Straw Hats had a very high chance of winning.
However, the premise was that the battle took place on land.
Engaging in a head-on clash with these Fish-Man pirates out on the open sea, right on the Fish-Men's home turf, was absolutely an extremely irrational choice!
"Damn it! The ocean is so vast, how on earth did they track us down???"
Usopp also realized the current situation was far from optimistic, his nervous voice pitching up slightly out of key.
"It's probably by scent."
Chopper cowered beside the long-nosed fellow, his forehead covered in fine sweat as he said, "Even though that Sea Pug is a Sea Beast, its sense of smell is far more sensitive than a dog's!"
"Sea Beasts... come to think of it, Arlong's crew also trained a Sea Cow, named Mohmoo I think, though it was much smaller in size than these three."
Sanji pondered for a moment before continuing, "Looks like these guys really are Arlong's accomplices!"
The foolish captain turned back to glance at Sanji, a flash of realization crossing his eyes. Stepping forward with a dead-serious expression, he shouted loudly toward the surrounding Fish-Men:
"Hey, you guys! Did you come to avenge Arlong?!"
Saying that, Luffy clenched both fists into a battle stance, a fiery eagerness to fight burning in his eyes.
"I'm the one who sent Arlong flying! If you want to fight, bring it on—I'm not scared of you!"
Sanji and Zoro stepped forward almost simultaneously, standing on their captain's left and right sides respectively to bolster their presence.
If you don't yield, you fight—whoever wimps out is a coward!
This single-minded rubber idiot's attitude toward enemies was always this simple and direct.
And looking at Luffy's high-spirited appearance right now, he didn't seem to realize that the battlefield was currently the Fish-Men's home court, nor did he realize that among the nine people on their ship, five were Devil Fruit users who couldn't swim.
However, the opponent's response next took Luffy and the others completely by surprise.
"Hah? What kind of foolish nonsense are you spewing!" Willy the Fish-Man Assassin snorted with utter disdain.
"Why would we seek revenge for a piece of trash like Arlong?"
Sanji's curly eyebrow twitched violently as he asked in confusion, "Why? Wasn't Arlong your comrade?"
"That's right, Arlong was indeed once our comrade."
Alec held his custom electric blade in his arms, a pair of pale yellow slit pupils beneath the brim of his cowboy hat completely devoid of emotion.
"But ever since Arlong was exiled by Jinbe to the East Blue—that weakest of seas—he turned into a piece of trash who was content with the status quo and devoid of ambition, so much so that he couldn't even beat a bunch of rookie pirates like you. He was a complete disgrace to the noble bloodline of the Fish-Men."
"For trash like that, we wouldn't stoop so low as to call him a 'comrade'."
Alec's tone was extremely indifferent, so detached that it sounded as if he were talking about a completely unrelated stranger.
And listening to this Electric Eel Fish-Man's words, Nami—whose face was already looking terrible because bad memories had been dredged up—saw her pupils shrink rapidly.
Judging by what this Fish-Man meant, the reason Arlong's crew had come to the East Blue back then was heavily related to that guy named Jinbe!
(Belle-mère...)
Nami felt as though she were possessed. That period of memory she had been utterly unwilling to recall was now becoming incomparably clear in her mind.
A bright, sunny day very similar to today, the horribly gruesome faces of the Fish-Men, the officer's angry shouts.
The pink-haired woman quietly gazing at her, without the slightest fear of death on her face, her blood-stained lips hooked upward slightly, her eyes filled with affectionate love.
The ear-splitting gunshot echoing through the sky, two little girls crying out in despair, the splashing crimson blood set off against Arlong's cold, unrestrained grin.
(Belle... mère...)
Nami lowered her head, her eyes gradually losing focus.
She only felt that at this very moment, her heart was being squeezed forcefully and trampled upon by a demon's sharp claws!
Painful to the point of being unable to breathe!
Painful to the point of hysteria!
Painful to the point where her whole self... was about to explode!
Fear, rage, hatred!
Inexplicably, deep in Nami's heart, an imperceptible spark quietly ignited. Using the navigator's negative emotions accumulated over many years as fuel, it instantly turned into a raging wildfire, burning furiously!
Luffy and the others around her had their attention drawn by the Fish-Man Union, so none of them noticed that Nami was currently extremely off.
If one were to observe closely, within Nami's lifeless, wide eyes, two dancing black flames could vaguely be caught...
"Are you alright, Nami? Your face looks terrible."
Maya suddenly felt something in her heart. Seeing the orange-haired navigator's current unusual behavior, she involuntarily reached out to place a hand on the latter's shoulder, asking with concern.
And right at the moment Maya's soft, pale hand touched Nami's shoulder, Nami snapped back to her senses as if suddenly jolted awake from a nightmare, and those eerie black flames instantly extinguished.
"I'm fine..." Nami shook her head, her tone extremely weak.
Her whole body became somewhat teetering on the edge of collapse, her haggard appearance looking remarkably similar to when she had caught Five-Day Sickness back then.
Yet regarding her unusual state just now, the navigator didn't have the slightest suspicion, merely attributing it to her mind collapsing temporarily.
At this time, the Fish-Man captain opposite spoke up once again.
"Just as was said earlier, our target this time isn't you, Straw Hat kid."
Gould had a grave expression, his voice deep: "The person we're looking for this time is the Sorcerer!"
With that, the Fighting Fish Fish-Man reached out a finger to point at a certain glasses-guy. Seeing that this fellow was actually still fast asleep, Gould's lips couldn't help but twitch a few times.
(Though this arrogant, eyes-above-everyone attitude does bear quite a bit of that witch's charm...)
Gould thought to himself, becoming increasingly certain of his previous deduction.
Meanwhile, the expressions of the other two captains and the rest of the Fish-Man pirates were extremely unsightly. In their view, this was the Sorcerer's utter contempt for their Fish-Man Union!
"Looking for Sherlock?" xN
Robin and the others all froze, then turned their heads together to glance at the glasses-guy who was still snoring softly, their gazes extremely peculiar.
"What do you want with Locks?"
Luffy frowned deeply. Though he was a goofball, he also knew very well that these guys were definitely not Sherlock's friends.
"That has nothing to do with you!"
Willy's gaze was as cold as a venomous snake, his voice deep: "All you need to do is hand over the Sorcerer."
"We have no intention of fighting you. As long as you leave the Sorcerer behind, you may safely depart from here. Otherwise..."
With that, Alec drew his electric blade from its sheath. The strangely shaped long sword looked as though it were enchanted, arcs of electricity constantly leaping across the blade.
The Fish-Man pirates on the three ships drew their weapons as well, preparing for battle, while the three giant Sea Beasts bared their sharp teeth, glaring maliciously at the Straw Hat crew.
The atmosphere grew exceptionally heavy, as if in the very next second, a tragic, fierce war would break out on this ocean!
Luffy, however, remained completely unmoved. Taking a deep breath, he was just about to loudly reject the opponent's demand.
However, right at this moment—
"Meow~~~"
Along with a cat's meow, the small black cat that had originally been snuggled asleep in Sherlock's arms actually woke up.
Opening a pair of crimson cat eyes, it looked around, then leaped up and rapidly scampered into the cabin.
(Why did Bestia wake up so suddenly? Wait! Could it be...) Robin's expression shifted slightly.
And as if to specifically confirm this sadist's conjecture, after the small black cat slipped into the cabin, a certain glasses-guy who had previously seemed to be fast asleep suddenly stirred slightly.
Looks like this glasses-guy who was close to evolving into the God of Sleep was finally about to wake up...
--
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