Chapter 38: The Morning of the Straw Hat Pirates

The morning, two days later.

Genzo hummed a little tune, pushing his bicycle along the field path outside the village entrance; the weather was comfortable, perfect for a patrol.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew past, and his wide-brimmed police hat went flying off again. He hurriedly parked his bike and bent over to pick it up.

The little pinwheel had gotten wet again; after wiping it for a long time to get it clean, Genzo put it back on with a somewhat aggrieved expression.

He had only finished making this one last night; the new one he’d made a year ago had mysteriously vanished without a trace a few days prior.

Why on earth, and who exactly, would repeatedly target a worthless little pinwheel?

To this day, Genzo could not figure it out.

Just as he straightened up, he suddenly saw in the distance several children who often played by the docks running over in a panic, looking back over their shoulders from time to time.

As soon as they saw him, they hurriedly shouted, "Uncle Genzo! It's bad, it's bad!"

"Pirates! Over at the docks, a pirate ship has arrived!"

What?!

Genzo’s face turned pale with shock. He immediately swung his leg over his bicycle. "I'll go take a look. You all go to the village immediately and tell everyone to hide in the mountains..."

Wait, the mountains?

His movements suddenly stiffened as he realized that the Cocoyasi Village of today was no longer the kind of place that would be helpless against just any random pirate.

Deep in those mountains sat an incredible monster!

"Gather the adults you meet on the road and go find Siano together!" he immediately corrected himself. "Tell him to come to the docks immediately. This is the most important thing; it cannot be delayed. Do you hear me!"

"Understood, Uncle Genzo!"

Genzo watched the children run off before pedaling his bike toward the docks. He gritted his teeth, feeling a lingering sense of unease in his heart.

The peace of Cocoyasi Village had been maintained for many years; what level of pirates had actually come this time?

What if—what if his luck was terrible, and it was one of the most powerful pirate crews in the East Blue?

Could Siano really hold them off?

…………

Deep in the mountains.

The black-haired youth was gripping a two- or three-ton giant tree, swinging it like a Monkey King staff, enjoying himself, when his peripheral vision caught a white figure streaking across the sky.

"Moon Walk!"

——Swish!

Siano shot up from the ground, flickering a few times to reach mid-air, blocking the News Coo's path.

"Caw!!!"

The News Coo was startled into a duck-like squawk, its feathers standing on end.

It was responsible for this sector of the East Blue; it had only heard its partners talk about humans who could fly in the Grand Line, but it had never seen one with its own eyes!

"One copy of today's newspaper, please." Siano flicked his finger, and a 50-Beli coin dropped into the mailbag hanging in front of its neck.

His mastered Moon Walk was enough to keep him suspended in the air for a few seconds, but just as he took out the newspaper and before he could unfold it, his body began to fall.

The News Coo picked up the coin and stared blankly down at the falling figure.

——Does this guy actually have the leisure to open a newspaper to read while falling? Isn't he afraid of falling to his death?

"Princess Otohime assassinated?"

Siano stared at the front-page headline, holding the newspaper motionless, letting his body fall in freefall.

A few seconds later, he crashed into the mountaintop with a boom, creating a huge crater and sending dust and smoke flying in all directions.

By the time the dust settled, he had almost finished reading the report, and he couldn't help but frown.

So Arlong coming to the East Blue and Hody Jones murdering Princess Otohime happened in the same year?

Two generations of scum... no, fish-scum, truly cut from the same cloth; they both acted on their evil impulses at the same time.

Putting away the newspaper, he stepped out of the crater he had made and walked to the southernmost edge, doing what he had repeated countless times over the past year, habitually looking toward the docks in the distance.

"Arlong, oh Arlong, why haven't you come yet..." he muttered almost subconsciously.

But the next moment, his gaze suddenly sharpened, and he froze in place.

At the end of the horizon, a massive pirate ship had appeared from nowhere and was sailing toward the docks.

Under the fluttering skull flag, the figurehead on the bow was carved into the shape of a shark saw, looking incredibly ferocious.

The sea breeze blew past, and the figure on the mountain peak remained motionless for a long time.

After a while.

"Arlong..."

A voice that sounded like both crying and laughing finally drifted out, full of resentment. His body stretched, and his muscles emitted a chilling, twisting, and trembling sound. "Have you finally come..."

"I really, really missed you..."

The moment the words fell.

Crack, crack—as his arches tightened, countless spiderweb-like cracks suddenly spread from beneath his feet down the mountain, and the entire cliff groaned under the unbearable weight.

Boom——!!!

The next instant, the air suddenly exploded with ripples, the massive muscular human figure vanished from the spot, and the cliff collapsed completely.

Appearing again, he had teleported to the top of a coconut tree dozens of meters away, stepping on the trunk until it bent like a taut bow, and using the rebound force, he shot fiercely toward the distance again!

…………

Thud!

Accompanied by the sound of impact, the Shark Superb docked forcefully, mercilessly crushing the wooden pier into splinters.

Tap, tap, tap—dozens of exceptionally robust figures slowly disembarked, stepping onto the land over the debris.

"So this is Cocoyasi Village?"

Looking at the village in the distance with wisps of cooking smoke, the Kissing Fish-man officer, Chew, raised an eyebrow.

"It's still quite a bit bigger than it looked on the sea chart. It seems that as long as we search thoroughly, we can still squeeze out quite a bit of money, chu~"

"I find it disappointing."

Another officer, Kuroobi, had a cold expression, arms crossed over his chest, and said indifferently:

"Not a single surprise. I haven't stretched my muscles in a long time, but there's no help for it. In a small, backwater village like this, finding someone qualified to trade blows with me is as hard as ascending to heaven."

He was dressed in an indigo-blue martial arts outfit, his muscles were well-developed, a black belt representing his Fish-man Karate rank was tied around his waist, and his hair was tied into two small buns, making him look quite formidable.

Slap.

A large purple hand suddenly rested on the shoulders of the two Fish-man officers.

"Sha-hahahaha——! Enough with the nonsense, little ones."

Arlong grinned, revealing a mouthful of fangs. "We've already stepped onto land; it's time to follow me and shout the declaration of our Arlong Pirates."

He suddenly opened his arms, and the Fish-man pirates behind him also grinned and drew their swords.

"Boring, pathetic humans!"

Arlong laughed wildly toward the village in the distance. "From now on, this village... no! This island will be ruled by us!!!"

"Sha-hahahaha——!!!"

Amidst the rampant laughter, the Arlong Pirates stepped off the docks and officially marched toward the village.

However, just after turning a corner.

They discovered four fallen coconut trees stacked together, blocking the road to the village.

"Hmm? Man-made?"

Kuroobi narrowed his eyes and sneered, "Did they see the pirate ship from afar and lose their nerve? Naive! Do they think something like this can stop us?"

"Look closely, there's someone sitting on top, chu~"

Chew, beside him, giggled and looked at the black-clad figure sitting on the tree trunk.

"Hey, little brother, are you trying to protect your village all by yourself? Tsk, tsk, tsk, if nothing else, this courage is truly worth admiring!"

The other party had been sitting quietly, head bowed, saying nothing, his fists clenched and trembling slightly, as if he were desperately trying to overcome his fear.

Hearing the praise, he finally raised his head, revealing a delicate and clean youthful face.

Amidst the mocking gazes of the many Fish-men, he smiled somewhat shyly and embarrassedly:

"...Thank you."

(End of chapter)