Chapter 19 Luffy's Trick on Arlong Sparks Internal StrifeThis evokes a profound sense of contradiction, yet also a deep sense of respect.
"Listen carefully," he says, "I am the king who rules over 20 surrounding towns. Even the slightest rebellion would greatly trouble me."
Arlong, hands on his hips, spoke with an arrogant air.
"As the administrator, to make an example of them, I've completely wiped that disobedient Great Harbor Town of Gosa off the map. Failing to pay their protection fees on time means betraying our supreme rule as fishmen."
Arlong's flippant tone made it seem as if wiping out a town was as easy as crushing an ant colony, causing the villagers hiding in their houses to grit their teeth, wishing they could rush out and bite him to death.
Nojiri explained to Luffy in a low voice, "Every month, we have to pay a fee per person to buy our lives. 100,000 for adults, 50,000 for children. If even one person in the village can't pay, even if it's just a single Beli, the entire village will be slaughtered like in Goza."
"This is Arlong's reign of terror. These damned racists don't care about human lives at all."
Luffy narrowed his eyes, a dangerous glint in them. Having witnessed the carnage in Goza firsthand, Luffy now had a more direct understanding of the Fish-Man Pirates' brutality.
This further strengthened his resolve to eradicate the Fish-Man Pirates completely today.
Would he simply defeat them, send them to prison, and then wait for them to escape and reunite on the Grand Line, like in the original story?
What a joke! Who knows how many innocent villages and towns will suffer along the way?
Luffy didn't consider himself a saint, but he wasn't stingy with lending a hand—it was a small favor that offered both experience and a chance to right a wrong.
"Listen up, you lowly inferiors!"
Arlong looked at Gen, who was waiting to die with his eyes closed, then glanced around at the villagers trembling in their houses, and shouted, "You inferior humans don't need to think about anything. Brains are superfluous for you. Just keep working like animals and making money for us!"
"I need enormous funds! With your continuous tributes, in the near future, this place will become the solid foundation of the 'Arlong Empire,' ruling this entire East Blue!"
"Hahahaha! What a magnificent blueprint!"
Arlong spread his arms, threw his head back, and laughed wildly, his laughter filled with ambition for the future.
Nojiko glared angrily at Arlong. Did this guy actually intend to turn the entire East Blue into a slave empire of fish-men?
"Pfft..."
Amidst the tense atmosphere, Luffy couldn't help but let out a sudden, soft laugh.
"What are you laughing at? Are you crazy?" Nojiko glared at Luffy, displeased. "Do you know how serious what Arlong said is?!"
"Haha, sorry, sorry, I just couldn't help it. Arlong Empire? Do you know how much effort Fish-Man Island went through to barely beg and plead to become a member state of the World Government?"
Luffy clutched his stomach, laughing until tears almost streamed down his face. "This guy's been slinking back from the Grand Line for so long, his brain's probably atrophied, haha."
"Do they really think they're the Vinsmoke family, capable of replicating the glory of the Germa Empire? That's laughable."
"The Germa family? What nonsense are you talking about?" Nojiko stared blankly at Luffy, who was laughing heartily, completely bewildered.
"Nothing, just suddenly remembered something funny, haha..."
At that moment, the situation on the field suddenly changed. Arlong seemed to have lost his patience, suddenly reaching out his large, scaly hand and grabbing Genji's neck tightly, lifting him into the air.
Nojiko clutched her clothes tightly with her right hand, leaning forward, wanting to rush out, but reason told her that rushing out now would only lead to her death. She could only hold back her tears and remain where she was.
You see, for Nami and Nojiko, Mr. Genji, although not related by blood, was like a father figure.
Despite his fierce appearance and muscular face, the comical windmill on his head was actually a prop to amuse the baby Nami when she cried from fear, a head he wore for 18 years. Only after Nami was rescued was the windmill, carrying his father's love, placed back at Bellemere's grave.
At this moment, Genji's face was flushed, his legs kicking wildly in the air, held painfully in Arlong's hands.
"Possession of a weapon constitutes treason. To prevent future idiots like you from appearing, I have no choice but to execute you here in public as a warning to others."
Hearing this, Nojiko could no longer hold back; his reason completely collapsed.
She suddenly rushed out from behind the wall, hysterically shouting at Ah Long, "Ah Long! How could you do this! For the past eight years, we've paid you every penny on time! How could we possibly dare to rebel now? Release Mr. Ah Jian!"
With Nojiko leading the way, the long-suppressed villagers finally erupted.
"That's right! That's right! He didn't use any weapons against you, did he?"
"Stop it, you bastard!"
"Release Mr. Ah Jian!"
One by one, the villagers inside the house emerged, carrying simple farm tools, and angrily surrounded him, forming a human wall.
"I've said it before, possessing weapons is tantamount to rebellion," Ah Long's face suddenly darkened, his eyes flashing with murderous intent. "Or do you, you ants, want me to destroy the entire village right now?"
"If even one of you dares to lay a hand on us, this village is destined to disappear from the map today! Killing you all is nothing to me,"
Ah Long looked mockingly at the villagers, filled with righteous indignation yet afraid to step forward, reveling in the thrill of controlling life and death.
Ah Jian forced out a voice from his throat, shouting painfully, "Everyone… go back now! If we resist here, then eight years of our patience and effort will have been in vain! If we were to refuse rule by fighting to the death, we would have done it eight years ago, wouldn't we?"
"Don't forget your oath! We are going to fight a protracted war. For that hope, we must survive no matter what!"
Everyone glared at Arlong through gritted teeth, listening to Ken's heart-wrenching screams. Their fists clenched, nails piercing their palms, blood dripping, yet they could only fall into a deathly silence.
Arlong looked at the chaotic scene in Cocoyasi Village with a mocking expression. Having made a promise with Nami, he naturally knew what these people were hoping for.
But this was precisely the game he was playing: using Nami's life to control Cocoyasi Village, and using the lives of everyone in Cocoyasi Village to control Nami.
This feeling of manipulating people's hearts intoxicated him.
He lifted Ken high, laughing maniacally: "What a brilliant theory! Well said! That's right, only by living can you have value to be exploited by me. That's the only meaning of existence for ants like you!"
"Living beings are not born equal! That's the law of nature! Hahahaha!"
With that, a fierce glint flashed in Arlong's eyes, his arm muscles bulged, and he slammed Ken violently onto the hard ground.
If that fall went through, A-Jian would be dead for sure.
Just as A-Jian's head was about to explode, a large, thick hand suddenly and unexpectedly patted A-Long on the shoulder from behind.
A-Long's laughter faltered, and he turned around in surprise.
He found that his fishman subordinate, who should have been patrolling Goza Town and was probably still out there lording it over there, was now standing expressionlessly behind him.
A-Long looked at his subordinate with suspicion and asked, puzzled, "What's wrong, fellow countryman? Is everything over there settled?"
Nojiko, seeing this, turned pale, as if she had seen a ghost.
This guy… wasn't he dead?
She clearly saw him being devoured to dust by the terrifying sharks summoned by Luffy!?
"Shh—"
Luffy's figure appeared behind Nojiko like a ghost, whispering in her ear, "Don't make a sound, the show's about to begin."
Nojiko was stunned to find Luffy had somehow blended into the crowd behind her, grinning mischievously.
When Nojiko mechanically turned her head to look at Arlong,
the expressionless, "resurrected" fish-man, without a word, swung his fist, the size of a sandbag, and slammed it hard into Arlong's long, jagged nose.
"Ouch, holy crap!"
Caught off guard, Arlong felt as if his chin had been struck by a battering ram. He instantly became a shooting star, flying backward and crashing headfirst into the nearby wall.
Everyone present, including all the fish-men and villagers, was completely dumbfounded.
What the hell? What's going on?
The Fish-Man Pirates... are fighting amongst themselves?
Arlong stared blankly into those dead fish eyes, utterly dumbfounded, staring at his fellow fishman before him: "Fellow countryman, what happened to you?"
Arlong was notoriously protective of his fishman brothers; even if he'd been slapped for no reason, his first reaction would be to check if the other had been wronged.
Luffy, standing in the crowd, nearly burst out laughing, his lips curling into a smirk.
Suddenly, the fishman opposite him let out a piercing scream, his acting absolutely phenomenal: "It was you! Arlong! You killed our brother!"
The merman trembled, his finger shaking as he pointed at Arlong: "You killed our patrol brothers! I was guided by the Sea God and crawled back to take your life!"
Arlong's forehead was covered in question marks: "What the hell???"
The surrounding mermen were also in an uproar, crowding around in disbelief: "Hey, are you crazy? How dare you talk to Brother Arlong like that?"
The merman, in a dramatic display, clutched his chest, feigning agony, and roared: "My brothers and I were patrolling Gosa Town when this guy attacked us without a word!"
"What a load of bull, the Arlong Empire! It's all a lie! He's already colluded with the World Government to sell us all into slavery for money!"
"He's using our brothers' corpses as a pledge of loyalty! Arlong, you traitorous double-crosser!"
The surrounding merman henchmen turned green with fear, looking at Ah Long in terror: "Boss, is this for real?"
Ah Long's cheeks trembled with rage as he roared furiously, "Bullshit! I've been camped out in Ah Long's Paradise the whole time, I haven't gone anywhere! Besides, if I really wanted to kill them, would this guy still be standing here, all alive and kicking?"
The henchmen, upon hearing this, thought it made sense and nodded in agreement. With Ah Long's abilities, if he wanted to silence them, he certainly wouldn't leave any survivors.
To everyone's surprise, the merman sneered, a laugh that sent chills down everyone's spine: "I survived only because the sea god intervened, lending me a breath, just to expose your hypocritical face!"
The surrounding mermen were completely bewildered, staring at him as if he were an idiot: "Brother, are you out of your mind? What sea god?!"
The merman didn't waste any more words, instead letting out a tragic howl to the sky: "Watch out for that old bastard, Ah Long!"
The words had barely left his lips when a muffled "bang" rang out, and the merman exploded on the spot, turning into a puddle of foul-smelling water.
All the fish-men present were terrified, their eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets as they stared intently at the puddle of water.
Could it be that some sea god had truly performed a miracle, bringing the dead back to life?
This eerie scene sent chills down everyone's spines, and they instinctively took several steps back, keeping a safe distance from Ah Long.
The villagers watching were stunned, unable to contain their astonishment, and began to whisper among themselves.
"Arlong is too ruthless! He's even killing his own people?"
"It's like dogs fighting, they're all killing each other! I hope they all die!"
Nochi whispered, nudging Luffy: "Did you cause this commotion?"
Luffy grinned, revealing a set of bright white teeth: "How was it? Exciting, right?"
Nochi rolled her eyes: "His acting was too over-the-top."
Luffy almost slipped and fell: "Just watch it. Those fish-men are totally idiots, they believed it completely."
The fish-man who self-destructed earlier was actually a prank Luffy pulled using his Water Clone and Transformation techniques.
It has to be said, those basic three-body techniques from the ninja world are a game-changer in the One Piece world.
If Luffy knew what Fisher Tiger looked like, he thought Arlong would immediately kneel down and call him "daddy" if he transformed into Tiger.
After all, Kozuki Oden suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Kaido because of his distraction tactics using the Imitation Fruit.
Just then, Nami rushed in from outside the village, panting, her orange hair plastered to her face with sweat. She shouted anxiously as she ran, "Arlong! The agreement isn't up yet! You're not allowed to touch the people of Cocoyasi Village!"
But when Nami got closer, she sensed something was off, eerily unsettling.
The villagers were whispering amongst themselves, while Arlong stood alone to one side, isolated by his men.
"What...what happened?"
Nami looked around blankly.
Suddenly, her gaze fixed on a figure carrying a massive Samehada sword. Her pupils contracted sharply, and her heart nearly leaped out of her chest.
Luffy?! What's he doing here?!
Nami was frantic. She couldn't tell if Luffy had come to capture Arlong or to ask for her ship back. She could only frantically pray that he wouldn't do anything reckless.
Nami took a deep breath and shouted at Arlong, "Arlong, I've gathered the 100 million Berries! I'll deliver it to Arlong's Paradise tomorrow. You're a man, so keep your word!"
Arlong, who had been completely bewildered, finally snapped out of his daze upon hearing this.
He got up from the ground, dusting off his trousers. "That's a must! I never slack off when it comes to money, hahaha!"
Then he turned his head, his eyes sweeping menacingly over his panicked underlings. "A bunch of idiots! We've come from the Grand Line! This so-called Sea God, I think it's a devil causing trouble!"
The fish-men were stunned for a moment. "Brother Arlong, you mean…"
"A Devil Fruit user is causing trouble!"
Arlong's face was so dark it could drip water, his fierce eyes scanning the surroundings.
Nami's heart leaped into her throat, terrified that Arlong would discover Luffy's presence.
Strangely, Arlong searched the area but couldn't find Luffy anywhere, which surprised Nami.
Arlong, his face dark, waved his hand dismissively: "Retreat!"
The large group of pirates then marched back to Arlong's Paradise in a grand procession.
Nami forced a smile and greeted the villagers, "Everyone, long time no see..."
But the villagers, upon seeing Nami, avoided her like the plague, turning away without a word and slamming the doors shut.
Nami, the only one in the entire village unaware of what had happened, stared at the closed doors, her eyes filled with undisguised disappointment and heartache.