"I won't let you attack Arlong again! I'll deal with you!" Hachi blocked Tom's path as he charged toward Arlong. Before Hachi could attack, Tom used the long spear in his hand to vault over him, leaping into a mid-air flip to avoid him.
But as Tom landed behind Hachi, Chew fired several water bullets from his mouth at him. "Don't think you're taking another step! Iron Water Gun!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The three water bullets fired from Chew's long mouth came with tremendous force, their speed clearly faster than ordinary bullets. Unable to dodge, Tom swiftly spun his spear several times, blocking the water shots.
Just as Tom successfully blocked Chew's attack, Kuroobi, some distance away, dropped into a horse stance, left fist drawn back at his waist, his right fist thrust forward violently toward Tom's direction. "Just die! Fish-Man Karate: Hundred Tile Brick Fist!"
Although Kuroobi's punch did not directly hit Tom, Tom felt his body suddenly slammed by a powerful impact. He was sent flying, crashing through a wall, and continued flying nearly ten meters before slamming into the ground.
"He's finished. Impressive as always, Kuroobi." Hachi, seeing Tom lying motionless in the distance, thought Tom was done and said happily.
"Hmph. A mere insignificant human, daring to run wild in our territory." Kuroobi withdrew his fist, confident in the punch he had thrown. He believed Tom was absolutely dead. After all, his attack could shatter dozens of tiles underwater in a single blow. No ordinary person could withstand it.
"Foolish fellow. With us here, he still wanted to cause trouble for Arlong? He got lucky escaping last time. No such luck this time." Chew said disdainfully, seeing Tom lying silent and still in the distance.
"Humans truly are lowly and ignorant creatures. And to think he was so confident earlier, saying he'd tear my mouth apart. What a joke! Sha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" The surrounding fish-men joined in with bursts of cheers. "Our officers really are something—taking down that troublesome-looking guy in one move."
While Arlong laughed triumphantly, he suddenly heard Tom's voice.
"You stinking fish, what are you laughing at?"
Seeing Tom alive and well, the fish-men who had been cheering all fell silent, all staring blankly at Tom. The place became eerily quiet.
Tom slowly stood up and rudely spat a mouthful of bloody saliva. After taking Kuroobi's attack, he felt as if his internal organs had been flipped upside down, leaving him extremely uncomfortable.
This was Tom's first time encountering a long-range attack since setting out to sea. He had been hit because he hadn't anticipated that Kuroobi's Fish-Man Karate could effectively strike from a distance.
Many of Tom's not-yet-fully-healed wounds split open again from the heavy blow. Blood quickly seeped through his bandages, staining them bright red.
"You're still alive?" Kuroobi was deeply shocked to see Tom, already wounded, stand up as if nothing had happened after taking that punch.
Chew and Hachi, seeing Tom stand again, wanted to step forward and continue attacking, but Arlong stopped them.
"Can't you see? By yourself, you can't deal with us. If you choose to run away, you still have a chance to live. Why aren't you running? Are you trying to show me how ignorant humans are?" Arlong, having suffered losses at Tom's hands before, still understood his strength somewhat. But deep down, he believed humans were inferior to fish-men. Seeing Tom get knocked away by one punch made him fall back into underestimating humans, leading to a mistaken judgment.
"This is the difference between me, a human, and you, a stinking fish." Tom, holding the long spear in his right hand, walked toward Arlong. His blood-red pupils locked onto him. "The words I said in front of her—I must make them real. Otherwise, wouldn't I become the same as you, a lying beast?"
"Precisely because there are things lower than pigs and dogs like you who deceived her for a full eight years, I must honor my promise even more! Since I said I'd tear your mouth apart, even if it costs me my life, drains me of my blood, I will do it!" Tom roared at Arlong, gradually quickening his pace, gripping the spear with one hand as he charged at him again.
Seeing the determination to die in Tom's blood-red eyes—a look only someone prepared to give up their life could have—sent a chill through Arlong's heart. His killing intent instantly surged to its peak.
"I think you've got it wrong. Fish-men and fish are not the same. Don't call me a stinking fish! Do you want to be bitten to death alive?" Arlong, having been called a stinking fish repeatedly, glared at Tom with bloodshot eyes, his voice filled with menace.
"You look down on humans, right? Then I'll just ignore the part of you that's human. That way, you're just a stinking fish. What problem do you have with me calling you that?!" Tom's words undoubtedly enraged Arlong, whose face grew dark.
"Ignorant human. If you're so eager to die, we'll grant your wish!" Chew and Kuroobi, seeing Tom charge toward Arlong again, both launched their attacks.
"Take another punch! Fish-Man Karate: Hundred Tile Brick Fist!"
"Such a fool eager for death is truly rare. Iron Water Gun!"
As Kuroobi threw his punch at the charging Tom, Chew also spat out five water bullets from his mouth.
"Using the same tricks over and over? I'm already tired of watching them." As Tom said this, his figure flashed as he used Soru (Shave), easily evading both Kuroobi's and Chew's attacks.
Kuroobi and Chew only saw a blur of motion. Reacting quickly, they realized Tom had already moved behind them and hurriedly turned to pursue him.
Knowing he couldn't drag this out, Tom used Soru to slip past Kuroobi and Chew, then gripped his spear and headed straight for Arlong.
"I didn't expect your speed to be this fast. But it's useless. You won't get past me." Hachi stood in front of Arlong. His six octopus arms each held a sword. All six moved at once as he slashed at Tom. "Take this! Six-Sword Style: Octopus Swordsmanship!"
Seeing Hachi's six blades cutting wildly without any pattern, Tom paused briefly and used his spear to counter the attacks.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
After blocking all of Hachi's strikes, Tom feinted with his spear, forcing Hachi back. Then, before Kuroobi and Chew could close in from behind, he used Kami-e (Paper Drawing).
"He disappeared?!" Hachi waved his six swords, seeing Tom vanish from his sight in the blink of an eye. With no target to attack, he stood there stunned.
"Where did he go?!" Chew and Kuroobi, who were about to catch up, stopped and scanned the area when Tom vanished before their eyes.
"He's here!" Arlong sensed movement on his left. As he turned, a silver-white spear thrust straight at his face.
Clink!
Arlong directly opened his mouth and clamped down on the spearhead with his sharp teeth.
Hmm, his jaw really is strong!
After Arlong bit down on the spear, Tom shook it forcefully several times, but it didn't budge at all. He felt a chill in his heart—it was because Arlong was a shark-type fish-man, granting him far superior jaw strength.
The reason Tom hadn't used Soru earlier was because he hadn't yet fully adapted to its speed. During high-speed movement, his control would deviate.
Like just now—Tom had intended to approach Arlong, but instead he nearly ran to the seawater pool less than a meter away.
That was dangerous. As a Devil Fruit user, if Tom fell into seawater, it would be over.
So Tom using Soru now was actually a last resort. Otherwise, he wouldn't have used a technique he hadn't yet mastered.
With that close call in mind, Tom didn't want to use Soru again here. Who knew if next time he might actually fall into the sea?
The only option now was to end this quickly. Otherwise, if Hachi and the other two officers attacked together, he would have difficulty holding them off.
Seeing Hachi and the others rush in to surround him, Tom quickly shortened the spear Arlong was biting. He leapt toward Arlong and delivered a series of rapid, forceful kicks with both feet to Arlong's chest.
After taking several kicks, Arlong finally groaned in pain, released his bite, and staggered back several steps.
"Look! It's on fire up there!"
"That's bad! That's the chart room!"
Time had passed, and the fire Tom had set in the chart room had grown increasingly fierce. The fish-men couldn't help but notice.
"You did this, didn't you?! You dare burn the sea charts I spent eight years of effort collecting—" Arlong saw thick black smoke pouring from the top-floor chart room. Thinking of those extremely important charts being burned made his eyes bulge with rage. But before he could finish, Tom's spear stabbed toward him.
"You think you can really hurt me?" Arlong grabbed the incoming spear with one hand and sneered.
"Your eight years of effort? How dare you say that?!" Tom roared angrily. Before Arlong could close his mouth, something sliced across both sides of his mouth. The searing pain made him scream in agony.
It turned out that after Arlong grabbed the spear, the somewhat blunt spearhead split apart, dividing into two pieces that shot out like two razor-sharp arrows.
Thin wires were attached behind the arrows, which flew to either side of Arlong's face. With his mouth open, Arlong was struck by the sudden arrows.
To be precise, a hole was shot through each side of his face. It would be strange if it didn't hurt.
After Tom retracted the arrows, they merged back into a single spearhead.
"Despicable! Using such a strange weapon!" Arlong glared at Tom. As he spoke, both sides of his face burned with pain, like being slapped hundreds of times. His face was already covered in blood, making him look even more ferocious.
"Despicable? Do you even have the right to say that? On my ship, my main job is fishing. As a fisherman, using a fish spear against you, a stinking fish, what's strange about that? Don't you know fish spears are meant to be fired? How I fire them is my freedom. Feeling good now?" While speaking, Tom continued backing away. "Your mouth is already ruined. Next time I see you, it won't just be your mouth. One of us will definitely fall!"
"Just wait, you stinking fish. Ruining your mouth isn't enough to vent my anger!" Seeing Hachi and the other officers closing in, Tom left those words behind. He then used the fishing line from his left wrist shooter to latch onto a distant wall and swung away.
After leaving Arlong Park, Tom finally couldn't hold it in and coughed up a mouthful of blood. His body swayed, nearly collapsing. His physical condition had already been poor; he had only forced himself through the fight. Now with no enemies around, he no longer needed to endure.
I can't fall yet. There's still something I must do!
Tom wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, shook his feverish, heavy head several times to clear it, then sprinted toward Cocoyashi Village.
Back at Arlong Park, the fish-men wanted to chase Tom, but Arlong—his face bearing two bloody holes—stopped them. "No need to chase him. He'll come back here. There's no need to waste effort searching for him!"
"Put out the fire upstairs first. Hopefully the charts inside weren't all burned." Arlong glanced at the flames leaping from the chart room. Remembering Tom's blood-red eyes as he left—like they were truly burning—made him feel faintly uneasy.
This was the first time since coming to the East Blue that Arlong had felt a trace of fear. Though it quickly vanished, it left him deeply unsettled. The pleasure of stealing Nami's fortune was long gone, replaced by frustration over his torn mouth.
As Tom rushed toward Cocoyashi Village, Nami had already returned.
But what she saw was a group of villagers filled with righteous fury, determined to fight Arlong. This tightened her nerves instantly—it was the situation she least wanted to see.
Earlier, when Nami went to confront Arlong, Genzo had explained in detail how her money had been stolen by Marines colluding with Arlong.
For eight years, they had known about Arlong's agreement with Nami to buy Cocoyashi Village for one hundred million Berries and grant her freedom.
As long as Nami stayed alive, the villagers would endure and not resist the fish-men's brutal rule.
But now Arlong had clearly decided not to honor the agreement. Their eight years of waiting became meaningless, and Nami's sacrifices filled them with pain.
The villagers knew well what Nami had given up over those eight years. With no hope of saving the village, they stopped clinging to hope. Instead, they wanted Nami to be freed as soon as possible.
So under Genzo's call, the villagers decided to take up arms against Arlong—even if it meant dying in battle.
"Stop! Don't act impulsively!" Nami didn't want to see the villagers throw their lives away. She wiped her tears, steadied herself, and forced a seemingly cheerful smile. "Please endure a little longer. I'll keep trying! I'll start saving money from scratch. It's just one hundred million Berries. It's simple. I'm already used to stealing from pirates. This time I'll definitely save it faster."
Unfortunately, Nami's persuasion was completely ineffective. Genzo and the villagers, having made up their minds, didn't want to burden her any longer.
The people of Cocoyashi weren't fools. They could see Nami was just forcing a smile and knew what she said was impossible. Even if she really saved another hundred million, Arlong would use despicable means to steal it again.
"You carried the lives of all the villagers on your shoulders alone for eight years. Eight years ago, you were just a little child. Now you've grown so much." Genzo had watched Nami grow up and knew her well. Seeing her still trying to endure everything alone made his eyes redden.
He remembered ten-year-old Nami sneaking books to read, getting caught by him several times. Back then, she laughed so brightly. But in these eight years, he had almost never seen her smile.
Now Nami was smiling again, but anyone could tell it was a smile hiding tears.
"For you, joining that group was more painful than death. You've done more than enough. Just leave this place directly." Genzo's words stunned Nami. Then she heard Nojiko say, "Don't you have dreams you haven't fulfilled? Go out to sea. Don't come back here."
"Please don't go. I don't want to see anyone get hurt anymore." Nami stood alone in front of the villagers, dagger in hand. "You'll really die!"
"We know that!" Genzo grabbed Nami's dagger directly. His hand was immediately cut.
Seeing bright red blood flow from Genzo's hand, Nami's grip on the dagger weakened.
"Move aside, Nami!" Genzo roared, raising his sword as he called out, "Everyone, let's go! Even if we can't win, we'll show our backbone!"
One by one, the villagers passed Nami without hesitation, their steps firm and resolute.
Watching Genzo and Nojiko lead the villagers toward Arlong Park, Nami froze completely. She felt everything inside her hollow out, her face filled with helplessness and despair. Her eyes lost focus as she fell to her knees. On the verge of collapse, her right hand clutched the tattoo on her left arm, her nails digging deep into her pale skin as blood seeped out.
"Sha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" Arlong's rampant laughter echoed in her mind. Gritting her teeth, Nami shouted, "Arlong!!"
Eight years of endurance, struggling with a sliver of hope—only for it all to end in nothing. Her eight years of effort had all been for nothing.
The more Nami thought, the more unwilling she felt, the more hatred burned inside her. She grabbed the dagger lying beside her and stabbed fiercely at the Arlong tattoo on her left arm.
"Arlong!!!"
"Arlong!!!!!"
"Arlong!!!!!!!!"
With each stab, Nami used more force, her cries growing more heart-rending, tears streaming endlessly. But this was no longer crying.
For Nami, these eight years had been spent alternating between painful waiting and bitter endurance—waiting within endurance, hoping within despair. But when there was nothing left to wait for, nothing left to endure, all that remained was death as release.
For someone submerged in despair, wanting to kill oneself was all too easy.
"What are you doing?!" Tom, who had arrived with Luffy and the others, saw Nami from afar stabbing her own arm. He immediately fired the fishing line from his right wrist shooter, latching onto Nami's dagger and yanking the blood-soaked blade away.
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T/N :
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