"ARLONG!"
Kuroobi, Hatchi, and the few remaining fish-men cried out in anguish and disbelief as they saw their captain impaled through the heart, his lifeblood draining onto the stone.
At this moment, a primal fear gripped them.
Most of them were former members of the Sun Pirates; they had sailed the Grand Line, fought Marines, and witnessed the vastness and dangers of the world.
But the sheer, overwhelming power displayed by these three humans before them—the towering Captain, the demonic three-sword user, the brutal tonfa wielder—reawakened the deep-seated fear of being utterly dominated by the Marines, a feeling they hadn't experienced since their days under Fisher Tiger.
Gulp...
Kuroobi, Hatchi, and the others instinctively swallowed hard, their throats dry.
When they looked at Lancelot, Gin, and Zoro again, their eyes had completely changed.
Gone was the previous arrogance, the inherent belief in fish-man supremacy.
All contempt for these humans had vanished.
What remained was only a primal reverence for the strong and a stark, paralyzing fear of death.
Lancelot flicked his finger, shaking off the blue blood that had stained it, his expression cold and final.
"Kill them," he commanded, his voice echoing in the sudden silence.
He considered them for a moment.
These fish-men... they were actually quite capable fighters, far stronger than the average human pirate.
If he could recruit them all under his command, his crew's strength would grow even stronger, especially in naval combat.
But... these guys had a deep-seated blood feud with Nami.
They were the ones who had murdered her mother and enslaved her village.
If he used them, then he couldn't possibly take Nami.
And Nami... she was an outstanding, once-in-a-generation navigator, a skill absolutely crucial for the Grand Line.
As she developed, her own combat strength would become respectable, especially with her Clima-Tact.
And most importantly, Lancelot knew her character.
Once she sincerely submitted, once her loyalty was earned, she would stand by you through life and death.
That kind of unwavering loyalty was truly rare.
So, in comparison, these somewhat capable but ultimately replaceable fish-men became insignificant.
He needed Nami more.
"Yes, Sir!"
Gin and Zoro immediately went on a rampage.
Kuroobi, despite his mastery of Fish-Man Karate, was swiftly overwhelmed by Gin's relentless Soru-enhanced attacks and brutal tonfa strikes.
Hatchi, already injured and demoralized, lasted only moments against Zoro's now fully unleashed, three-sword fury.
The remaining fish-men fell one by one, their strength useless against the overwhelming skill and power of Lancelot's subordinates.
"Ah, this..."
At this moment, Nami, still standing at the bow of the Going Merry, watched the swift, brutal conclusion of the battle.
Her mouth hung agape, her face a mask of utter disbelief.
Although she had desperately believed, hoped, that Lancelot and his group could deal with Arlong and his crew, she had never expected them to defeat the seemingly invincible Fishman pirates so easily, so utterly.
After all, Arlong wasn't just some local thug.
He was the most wanted man in the entire East Blue, a monster who had crushed Marine Commodores and ruled her home with an iron fist for eight long years.
She remembered, vividly, a righteous Marine who had once come to challenge the Arlong Pirate Crew.
He was Marine Branch Commodore Puding Puding.
He had learned about Arlong's tyranny from a young boy and, after receiving a desperate plea for help from the villagers, had bravely come to arrest the fish-man pirate crew.
He was a good Marine, a true hero in Nami's eyes.
At first, he had bombarded Arlong Park with cannon fire, his ship sailing proudly into the harbor. But the reality was cruel—evil, in that instance, had been too powerful.
Puding Puding had suffered a crushing, humiliating defeat.
But that didn't diminish Nami's admiration for him.
If not for his brave, albeit futile, existence, the very idea of a "good" Marine would have been completely extinguished in her heart.
After all, Arlong was only able to run amok precisely because other Marines, like that rat Nezumi, were involved.
And Puding puding had been a Commodore, a rank higher than Lancelot's own Captain!
Yet Lancelot had... crushed Arlong like an insect.
At this moment, Lancelot glanced over at Nami, who was still standing frozen on the ship, lost in her thoughts.
"Soru!"
Lancelot instantly vanished from his spot on the blood-soaked stone.
He reappeared a fraction of a second later, right beside Nami on the deck of the Merry.
In the next second, before she could even react, Lancelot's arm wrapped firmly around Nami's slender waist, pulling her flush against his towering, hard-muscled frame...
"???"
The sudden change, the unexpected intimacy, startled Nami completely.
Instinctively, she turned her head, ready to fight, and realized it was Lancelot.
She couldn't help but freeze for a moment—this was the first time she had ever been held so closely, so possessively, by a man.
Moreover, from this angle, looking up, Lancelot stood silhouetted against the bright blue sky, with the afternoon sun directly behind his head.
This bathed him in a lingering, golden halo of sunlight, making him look less like a Marine and more like some celestial being descended to earth.
Coupled with Lancelot's naturally imposing height and undeniably handsome face, enhanced by this heroic angle, he looked impossibly, breathtakingly dashing.
Nami found herself momentarily mesmerized, her heart doing a strange, unfamiliar flutter in her chest.
A bright, uncontrollable blush spread across her face.
They say heroes find it hard to resist beauties, but what beauty doesn't adore a true hero? Especially one who had just liberated her home after eight long years of suffering.
"Soru!"
In the next second, before Nami could fully process her confusing feelings, Lancelot had already used Soru again, leaping back to the entrance of Arlong Park, bringing her along with him.
He set her down gently.
"You must know where Arlong hid his treasure, right?" Lancelot asked, his tone shifting back to business.
"Take Lina there. Collect everything."
As he spoke, he glanced to the side.
Lina had already caught up, her hybrid form retracted, though her eyes still held a feline intensity. Meeting Lancelot's gaze, she smiled faintly and nodded.
"Don't worry, Master! I won't leave a single Berry behind!"
Lancelot nodded in satisfaction.
...
After everything was over—Arlong and his crew eliminated, Nezumi's corruption exposed, and Arlong's vast treasure hoard secured—Nami brought Lancelot back to her home in Cocoyasi Village.
There, another equally outstanding young woman appeared before Lancelot.
She had short, striking blue hair, and intricate blue tattoos adorned both her arms and upper chest.
She wore a simple tank top and long pants paired with white sneakers.
This was Nojiko, Nami's adoptive sister, a girl with a steady, grounded temperament, possessing her own unique merits compared to the fiery Nami.
Lancelot waved his hand, cutting off their thanks.
"Although I am an Inspector, I still belong to the Marines. Dealing with pirates is our responsibility. Anyway, on behalf of the Navy, I need to apologize to all of you. If it weren't for that corrupt Captain Nezumi colluding with the Arlong Pirate Crew, things wouldn't have gotten this bad."
Nojiko, however, shook her head, her gaze steady.
"He is he, you are you. After all, the Navy is made up of people. There are those like you, Captain... and inevitably, those like him too."
Lancelot couldn't help but be slightly taken aback by her words.
He had to admit, Nojiko possessed remarkable insight into human nature for someone so young, especially someone who had endured such hardship.
He couldn't help but glance at Nami—raised by the same mother, yet how different they were.
Nami was brilliant, yes, but also far more impulsive and emotional.
Since even Nojiko could see things so clearly, he naturally didn't need to elaborate further on the Navy's internal issues.
Instead, he got straight to the point.
"My people have already gone to apprehend Captain Nezumi at the 16th Branch. The round trip shouldn't take more than half a day. After that, you'll truly be able to live peacefully here."
He paused, then added, "However, I have a proposal. I want to establish Arlong Park as my Second Inspection Division headquarters for this region. And I want you, Nojiko, to be in charge."
Nojiko froze in place, completely stunned.
Nami, however, was overjoyed.
"Captain! Do you mean to recruit my sister into your ranks too?"
Nojiko quickly regained her composure.
Her mind worked fast, and she soon understood Lancelot's intention.
By establishing the Second Inspection Division on Konomi Island, the entire archipelago would fall under the direct protection of the Inspectorate from then on.
No pirate would dare attack a Marine base.
If it were anyone else making this offer, she wouldn't dare agree; inspectors weren't necessarily good people.
But if it was this man overseeing the inspections... it might not be so bad.
The key point was that she would be the one establishing it, meaning she would hold a position of authority.
At the very least, protecting Cocoyasi Village would be as simple as giving an order.
From then on, Cocoyasi Village could rest easy.
She bowed her head respectfully. "I accept."
Lancelot nodded with satisfaction.
Another piece fell into place.
With Arlong already dealt with, apprehending the cowardly Captain Nezumi was nothing more than a wave of the hand for Gin and Zoro.
.....
Three days later, Lancelot led his group—now including a very eager Nami—and set foot in Loguetown once again.
They had returned to retrieve the Dreadnought Saber and Lancelot's remaining crew, and to collect Zoro's promised swords.
They had also collected Arlong's treasure.
Three hundred million Berries.
Lancelot never expected Arlong to have hoarded quite so much.
The key was that they had also recovered another one hundred million Berries from Captain Nezumi's personal stash at the 16th Branch.
That made four hundred million Berries acquired in one swift operation.
Only 2.6 billion Berries to go to meet his father's impossible deadline.
Smoker and Tashigi seemed to have known Lancelot would come, as they were already waiting at the port when the Going Merry arrived.
"Soru!"
The next moment, Lancelot appeared silently before the two of them.
"So it really is Rokushiki!" Smoker's eye twitched, the cigars clamped in his teeth nearly falling out.
He looked at Lancelot with a complicated expression—shock, grudging respect, and deep suspicion warring within him.
After a long while, he finally managed to say, "You kid... you've really been hiding your skills deep!"
Tashigi, standing beside him, was also utterly shocked, her hand resting on her sword hilt as she stared at Lancelot with wide, disbelieving eyes.