Arlong Park.
"You're really something, Boss... Robbing Nami of every single beri she's saved over the years."
A fish-man sneered as he looked at Arlong, who lounged arrogantly in his throne-like chair.
There was no hint of pity on his face—only cruel amusement.
"Cruel? No... I'm the kindest soul there is," Arlong replied, baring his razor-sharp shark teeth in a grin, his eyes gleaming with menace. "As long as Nami helps me map the entire ocean, I'll set her free."
"That'll take decades!"
"No way. I say even a hundred years wouldn't be enough!"
"Shahahaha!"
The fish-men around him burst into raucous laughter, utterly shameless in their mockery. Arlong laughed along with them, his voice echoing through the compound.
BOOM!
"?!!"
Their laughter came to a screeching halt as a section of Arlong Park's towering stone wall exploded inward under a massive force.
"Who's there?!"
Arlong's eyes went bloodshot, zeroing in on the collapsing wall. Smoke and dust filled the air, and from within it, a silhouette slowly emerged.
"You're Arlong, aren't you?"
A calm voice cut through the smoke. Ace stepped forward, eyes cold, flames flickering faintly around him. Behind him stood a group of determined villagers from Cocoyasi Village.
Nami and Kaya watched from the back, their gazes filled with worry as they stared at Ace's back.
"And who might you be?" Arlong asked coolly, still seated, unmoved. To him, the villagers were nothing more than weak, disposable humans. A few fish-men could wipe them all out without breaking a sweat.
But the kid in front of him...
There was something about him that made Arlong feel... uneasy. And he hated that feeling.
"I'm Ace. I'm a pirate. And Nami is my navigator."
He lifted his head, eyes sharp as flint.
"You made my navigator cry, didn't you?"
"Oh? Nami's your navigator? That's news to me."
Arlong grinned, more feral than before. The blood vessels in his eyes pulsed visibly.
"Oi, Nami—is that true?"
Arlong's voice oozed threat and mockery. His gaze then turned back to Ace, his tone dropping into a snarl.
"You little punk. Bringing a bunch of lowly humans to challenge the Arlong Pirates? Do you even know what your punishment is gonna be?!"
Two fish-men stepped forward, cracking their knuckles as they approached Ace menacingly.
VMMMM—
Ace lifted his head sharply. In the blink of an eye, violet-black lightning exploded outwards like a storm.
BOOM!
A terrifying burst of Conqueror's Haki tore through the compound like a shockwave, sparing only Arlong.
The fish-men, who had been laughing moments ago, didn't even have time to scream. Their eyes rolled back into their heads, and they collapsed instantly, unconscious.
Insects... not even worthy to look a king in the eye.
Conqueror's Haki!
"Wha—what just happened?"
Ajian stared in disbelief, gulping hard as he looked at Ace's silhouette standing tall amidst the chaos.
"A-Ace..."
Nami stood frozen, tears welling in her eyes.
The monstrous fish-men who had terrorized the entire sea for years... were all taken out by just a single look.
The pirates that had suffocated her soul for so long... began to crumble with a single step from Ace.
Arlong still stood—but Nami had no doubt now.
Ace would defeat him.
In that moment, an overwhelming sense of safety wrapped around her heart.
Ace... I'm so glad you're my captain...
A tear slipped down her cheek.
"Y-you...!"
Arlong staggered back, his shark mouth agape, bloodshot eyes wide in shock.
That power... it couldn't be...
Old memories stirred in Arlong's mind—memories from his days sailing the Grand Line with the Sun Pirates.
His body began to tremble.
"No! Impossible! Something like that can't exist in the East Blue! There's no way!"
Fury overtook fear. Arlong roared and sprang to his feet, grabbing his massive saw-blade sword.
"Whatever trick you used on my men, I'll grind your bones to dust, piece by piece!"
With a stomp, he surged forward—his fish-man strength turning him into a blur as he lunged at Ace.
The saw-blade came crashing down—
FWOOSH!
It passed right through Ace's body.
"Ha! What now, brat?! Can't even keep up with a fish-man's speed? Go reflect in hell!"
Arlong laughed, triumph erupting from his throat.
"Ace?!"
Nami and Kaya screamed.
WHOOSH—
But then... the body he'd just struck burst into flames.
"What...?"
Ace reformed from the blaze, completely unharmed, and slowly raised his head.
"You couldn't even hit me," he said coldly. "That kind of attack isn't worth dodging."
His index finger, now a pillar of fire, extended toward Arlong's chest.
"You ever tried dried shark?"
"?!!"
Arlong's instincts screamed at him to retreat.
"Shinka: Shiranui."
SHHHH!
A lance of blazing fire erupted from Ace's finger, piercing Arlong's chest and pinning him to the ground.
The burning pain was unbearable. Arlong howled in agony, his body writhing as the flames scorched his flesh.
But it wasn't the pain that broke him.
It was the fear.
"This power... Logia... You're a Logia-type user!"
All the ferocity drained from Arlong's eyes, replaced by pure, unfiltered terror.
---
TL/N:
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