"Hoist him up," Whiteflame said coldly.
Arlong suddenly found, with mounting panic, that his arms felt as if bound by unseen hands—no matter how he struggled, he couldn't free them.
Two bandage humanoids floated up at his sides; their long, razor claws held Arlong's arms fast.
"Let go… let go of me!" Arlong howled.
"You lowly human trash—how dare you kill my kin? I'll gut you! I'm a superior fish-man!" he kept shouting.
"Did you do all this?" Whiteflame glanced over the ruined Coco Village. Besides the house Arlong had torn up, many other dwellings had been overturned—Arlong's work. He forbade the villagers to repair or move the wreckage; the ruined homes were a warning to anyone who refused to pay.
"So what if I did?!" Arlong spat.
Whiteflame said nothing. A bamboo stalk drifted toward him from a distance and landed in his hand. With a single deft cut the bamboo tapered to a sharp point. Whiteflame's eyes flicked; he drove the spear straight into Arlong's heart.
The bamboo tip turned pitch-black as Haki flooded it; it slipped between Arlong's ribs like paper.
"Aaaaah!!" Arlong screamed, shock and pain exploding across his face. He knew how tough his body was—ordinary bullets barely bruised him—yet a mere bamboo stake had pierced him. Could this man wield Haki from the New World?
Blood gushed from the wound like a faucet, splattering the ground.
"What do you intend to do to me?!" Arlong's voice lost its swagger; it trembled now, fear creeping into his eyes.
"Nothing," Whiteflame said coolly. "Just a little punishment for someone who brought disaster to my homeland."
"Rest assured—when your blood runs dry, you'll die."
There are many ways to punish; instant death is the simplest. But Whiteflame wasn't about to let Arlong die easily—he wanted a small, deliberate retribution.
"You—come here."
Ignoring Arlong's cries, Whiteflame pointed. All eyes turned to the village constable, Aken.
"You wanted me?" Aken asked.
Aken was a tough, straight-backed man—brave enough to stand up to Arlong's gang. But after witnessing Whiteflame's overwhelming power, he could only muster trembling hands and a racing heart.
"You're the village constable—surely you know someone called Bai Ross?" Whiteflame asked quietly.
Bai Ross—Whiteflame's father. Whiteflame had no real memory of him, but he recognized the name.
"Aken's face lit up. "Ross? You know him?" he asked, lowering his voice to avoid seeming officious.
"You look like you know Bai Ross well," Whiteflame observed.
"To be honest, I grew up with Ross," Aken admitted. "We weren't blood, but we were brothers." He sighed. "Ross and I wanted different things. I wanted to stay and protect the village; he longed for the sea—he wanted to be a pirate."
"Ross ended up on Red-Haired Shanks' ship. He joined the Red-Haired Pirates and went to the New World," Aken continued. "I begged him not to go, said pirates aren't a life, but he went for freedom…and he never came back."
His eyes reddened. It was clear Aken had been close to Ross; even after all these years, he spoke of him with grief.
"How do you know he died?" Whiteflame asked.
Whiteflame produced a cigarette and, to the surprise of the three women, didn't light it himself—instead he handed it to Aken.
The sight stunned everyone. Whiteflame, a man who'd just routed Arlong's gang and was clearly fearsome, had offered a cigarette to a humble villager. The villagers stared—being handed Whiteflame's cigarette felt like an impossible honor.
Aken accepted the cigarette, struck a match, inhaled, and spoke gravely. "It was Red-Haired Shanks."
"Shanks?" Whiteflame's eyes flashed.
"Yes. Shanks avenged them. He took the head of the killers, brought the ashes of the couple back to the village, and even built a grave for them. I saw Shanks kneel before the grave. Ross must have had a rare friend like that—powerful and loyal. I take comfort in that."
Aken blew smoke and sighed.
Become My Navigator
A Yonko himself had stood low enough to avenge a simple village couple—and had knelt at their grave.
"Red-Haired Shanks…" Whiteflame's expression changed subtly. Of the Four Emperors, few would lower themselves like that.
Aken continued, "Shanks said the couple had a child, but the child was very young, so they left him in the New World to grow without worry—away from this cruel world." He stared into the distance. "If that child survived, he'd be about your age."
Realizing he'd spoken too freely, Aken hurriedly apologized for his bluntness. Whiteflame raised a hand.
"You're right," Whiteflame said. "I am Bai Ross's son. My name is Whiteflame."
"What?!" Aken and every villager froze in stunned disbelief—their mouths hanging open, eyes wide.
"You… you really are—" Aken stammered. He could not believe that the man who so easily demolished the Arlong Pirates and left Arlong bleeding out was the son of his old friend Ross.
"No need to be so surprised," Whiteflame said. "My useless old dad went back to his hometown and didn't come back. I'm his son—I came to fulfill his last wish."
"He looks just like him… No wonder I felt I'd seen you before," Aken breathed. "You've grown so strong, and you came back for your parents. If Ross could see you now, he'd be proud—hell, he'd be thrilled. You've even surpassed him. I'm proud for Ross."
"Where's the grave? Take me," Whiteflame said.
"Right—follow me." Aken nodded and led Whiteflame and the others up toward the hill behind Coco Village.
Before they left, Whiteflame dropped a single line: "If you want revenge, go ahead."
With that, Whiteflame and his group departed.
Those words were understood instantly. The villagers, blood boiling with anger, turned their eyes toward the bled-out Arlong.
"How dare you look at me like that, you lowly humans? Are you asking for death?!" Arlong roared, trying to use whatever shred of authority remained to cow them.
But learning Whiteflame was from Coco Village changed everything. The villagers found courage. In an instant they armed themselves with brooms, clubs, hoses, pitchforks—anything they could grab—and surged at Arlong.
"That outsider's terrifying strong!" someone whispered.
"Nami—does he look familiar? Do you know him?"
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