Noticing the coast getting closer and closer, Orin didn't bother speaking any further.
After all, words were useless—only experience could teach.
Sitting at the edge of the ship, Orin smiled and waved toward Koala.
This made the little girl a bit frightened, since just moments ago she had seen the Fishman all looking fearful of Orin. Even Tiger, who was always so dignified, appeared humble before him.
She instinctively glanced at the Fishmen around her, but all she saw in return were encouraging looks.
"Go on, Koala."
"Orin-sama won't harm you."
Hearing their words, Koala finally dared to step forward. Orin picked her up and lifted her high into the air.
This little girl—Orin remembered her. She was Sabo's childhood friend, and one day she would become a member of the Revolutionary Army.
Unlike other beauties who were already promising beauties as children, Koala wasn't exactly like that.
Her head was a little big, and her main charm was simply being cute.
Seeing Orin lift her up made the young Jinbe in the distance tense up, but fortunately Orin didn't do anything excessive.
He only patted her head and then handed her over to Tiger.
"We'll talk about our matter later. For now, you should take this little one home."
Tiger accepted the small Koala. Hearing Orin's words, he froze for a moment, then smiled and nodded.
"I understand, Orin-sama."
Tiger didn't sense anything wrong. He thought Orin supported his actions of helping slaves, and became somewhat excited. Holding Koala, he quickly ran off the ship, heading toward the island's interior, where Koala's family was.
Orin simply sat at the ship's edge, the corner of his lips curved upward, watching him leave.
When Tiger had completely gone far, Orin finally turned back to the Sun Pirates.
"Do you guys… have orange juice on this ship?"
...
On the other side—
After arriving on the island, Tiger's mood was clearly good.
Koala, this little girl, had improved his view of humans. Now that he had safely returned her to her family, Tiger felt a weight lift off his chest.
He still remembered when he had first met this girl—abused to the point she had developed a stress response, only able to smile and apologize…
"You're free now!"
"From now on, you can cry when you want to, laugh when you want to!!!"
"Also, remember this—Orin-sama is not the same as those foolish Celestial Dragons. Don't ever hold a grudge against him, Koala!"
Tiger was worried the child, like other former slaves, would harbor hatred toward all Celestial Dragons, and by extension lump Orin-sama in with them.
So he made sure to remind her.
Regardless of whether Koala understood, Tiger brought her to the outskirts of a small village.
Koala had returned home.
From a distance, Tiger watched the family reunion. The girl's happy tears and smile made his own lips curve slightly upward.
"I believe that when you grow up, humans and Fishmen will definitely…"
In the end, he chose to leave silently.
But before he could get far, suddenly—
Kaka—
Kaka—
Countless guns were aimed at him. A carefully prepared ambush closed in, led by none other than the Marine officer—
Strawberry.
Seeing this, Tiger's good mood instantly vanished. His eyes widened, blood vessels bursting in his eyes.
He couldn't believe it!
Why were Marines lying in ambush???
Could it be the villagers had informed on him…?
"I am Rear Admiral Strawberry of Marine Headquarters. We received intelligence from someone on this island that you would come here."
"As the price for letting the Celestial Dragon's former property—the child—go free, Captain of the Sun Pirates, Fisher Tiger, your crimes are assault and escape!!!"
Gunfire rang out, quickly catching the attention of the Fishmen aboard the ship—of course, and also Orin, who had been resting with his eyes closed.
Lying on a chair, one of his eyes slowly opened, glancing to the side.
"After getting bitten this time, you'll finally learn your lesson, won't you, Tiger?"
While the Fishmen worried whether something terrible had happened to their leader, suddenly, from the distant sea, an abnormal sight appeared.
Several Marine warships, engines roaring, sailed straight toward them, surrounding the Sun Pirates.
"It's the Marines—we're surrounded!!!"
Arlong ground his teeth, glaring at the incoming warships.
"We've been set up! That brat was a Marine decoy!!!"
Jinbe was calmer, ordering everyone not to panic.
"Don't worry, Orin-sama is still on our ship… Orin-sama, eh???"
"Where's Orin-sama?"
No one knew when it had happened, but by the time Jinbe and the others looked over, the reclining chair was empty—only a half-finished glass of orange juice remained.
...
High in the sky, Orin coldly observed this bloody farce.
Both sides were acquaintances.
Tiger went without saying. But most importantly—that young Rear Admiral Strawberry.
Wasn't this the very student he had once taught Haki to, back when he was a teacher?
Impressive. He had even become a Rear Admiral now.
Watching the fierce clash between the two sides, Orin had no intention of playing the good guy. He wanted to use this chance to make Tiger truly suffer.
At the same time, he intended to use this opportunity to turn Tiger, the strongest Fishman, into his own secret enforcer.
With Strawberry entangling him, plus the constant Marine gunfire, Tiger—who wasn't yet skilled in Haki—was already in a desperate state.
Flesh and blood, under several rounds of gunfire, his body was riddled with bullet holes, blood flowing in streams, looking utterly miserable.
But as a Fishman with a powerful physique, even relying solely on his vitality, he managed to withstand several rounds of gunfire.
He glared at the surrounding Marines, looking like a monster bathed in blood.
"Tiger!!!"
At that moment, Jinbe and the other Fishmen finally arrived.
From afar, seeing Tiger in such a heavily wounded state, they roared with fury!
Seated above the clouds, Orin saw that the blue fat man had arrived, and with Tiger already half-dead, he decided the timing was just about right.
His eyes glowed scarlet. With one hand outstretched, palm downward, he slowly made a grasping motion.
At the same time, a nonchalant smile played on his lips. Orin invoked the awakened power of the Warp-Warp Fruit, causing the space below to distort on a massive scale.
"Earthquake~"
As his palm tightened in the air, after a brief silence—suddenly!!!
Boom boom boom—
Crack crack—
To the shock of both Marines and Fishmen, half the island began to quake violently. The earth split apart, and many Marines fell into the fissures.
Everyone's faces turned pale with horror as they struggled to keep their footing.
"An earthquake?!!! Why all of a sudden?!!!"
In the midst of everyone's disbelief, the half-dead hero, Fisher Tiger, fell into the great fissure opened by the quake.
His fate—unknown!!!
...
(A/N: Don't rush to call this saintly—wait for the next chapter.)