Chapter 40

Under everyone’s gaze, the warship slowly entered the harbor.

A gangplank three meters wide was lowered, and two squads of Marines stood in formation along the sides, their expressions solemn. A red carpet extended directly from the top of the gangplank to the shore.

Only then did a figure wearing a long white trench coat slowly pace down from the ship.

A thin, long face, a goatee, and eyes narrowed into slits.

"Tch, such airs." Nami curled her lip. "I was so expectant, but in the end, such a sleazy guy came down. He doesn't look like a good person at all."

"Shh, Nami!"

Nojiko hurriedly covered her mouth. "That guy is a big shot you can't mess with. Don't talk nonsense; you'll bring trouble to Siano!"

"Hmm?"

Nezumi squinted over. He hadn't heard clearly what the two little girls were saying, but they happened to be standing on the edge of the red carpet, which looked very obstructive.

He lazily waved his hand, and two Marines behind him looked at each other, then helplessly stepped forward to push Nami and Nojiko away.

But before they could touch them, a sturdy, powerful arm reached out and blocked the path of the two Marines.

"Marines from Branch 16?"

Siano gently pushed the two Marines aside and looked up at Nezumi. "Mr. Colonel, what business brings you here so suddenly?"

"Insolent! Do we Marines need to report to you civilians in advance for what we do?"

Nezumi snorted coldly.

"I ask you, I heard that the Conomi Islands were attacked by the Arlong Pirates, and the last known location was Cocoyasi Village. That’s why I brought my subordinates here specifically to capture this group of pirates. You are a villager of this village, right? Do you know which way those fish-men went?"

"Don't know."

Siano shook his head.

"Don't know?" Nezumi smiled without warmth. "Why don't you think about it again?"

What he had said earlier was naturally a lie.

More than half a month ago, Nezumi had received intelligence that the fish-man Arlong, formerly of the Sun Pirates and with a bounty of 20 million Berries, had broken into the waters under the jurisdiction of Branch 16 with a large number of subordinates.

How could he afford to provoke them?

Nezumi was terrified, fearing the other party would come to his door to cause trouble, so he specifically called his superior, who had once promoted him, to ask for guidance.

The superior’s attitude was very ambiguous, implying both openly and secretly that he should turn a blind eye.

He even specifically reminded him that Arlong’s group had a close relationship with the current Seven Warlord of the Sea, Jinbe.

The legal looting rights granted to the Warlords by the World Government might also apply to Arlong.

Nezumi suddenly understood, and so for the past half month, he had been content to play deaf and dumb, ignoring the emergency distress signals the base kept receiving.

It wasn't until a few days ago that he suddenly heard rumors that the Arlong Pirates had already perished in the Conomi Islands area.

Only then was he pleasantly surprised and hurriedly set out from the base.

Right now.

Seeing that Siano didn't seem very willing to cooperate, Nezumi clicked his tongue and waved for his men to drive away the other idlers who had gradually gathered out of curiosity.

Then, staring at the sturdy young man in front of him who looked obviously foolish and easy to deceive, he said with a grin:

"Forget it, I'll be blunt. I just received intelligence that those fish-men have already died on this island. Haven't you seen their corpses?"

He held up two fingers. "Don't worry, as long as you cooperate honestly, I can give you this much as a reward for supporting the Marine operation."

"Two million Berries?" Siano raised an eyebrow.

This guy was too stingy, wasn't he? He wanted to embezzle the bounty of over 80 million Berries but was only willing to give up this little bit?

"It's twenty thousand Berries!"

Nezumi said irritably. "You’re not very old, yet you’re quite greedy. You really dare to think! Do you know that the reward I get from my superiors for accomplishing such a big thing is at most a few hundred thousand!"

Siano sneered inwardly. Only a ghost would believe that you, of all people, would mobilize so many people for that little reward.

It was eighty percent likely that he had already found someone to falsely claim the bounty in private and would split it later.

He was too lazy to waste time with this guy and originally wanted to just walk away, but he was worried this guy would enter the village and harass or threaten the villagers, so he simply said:

"I killed them."

"Hmm?" Nezumi was stunned, not reacting for a moment. "What did you say?"

"The Arlong Pirates, all sixty-seven of them, from top to bottom, were all killed by me," Siano said indifferently, then turned back and shouted, "Scar!"

"Here, Boss!" A rough voice came from the ship.

"Lay out all those heads one by one and let this Colonel Nezumi see them."

"Yes, Boss!"

Before long, the fish-men’s heads were lined up along the ship’s railing.

To prevent rot and stench, they had specifically been sealed with ice. Looking through the ice, they were lifelike, and many still had their mouths open and eyes wide, filled with terror.

One couldn't help but wonder what they had encountered before they died to still have such expressions left behind.

"This, this..." Nezumi was dumbfounded. "It really is..."

"Colonel." A sub-lieutenant stepped forward. "Should I take some men up to verify?"

"No need!" Nezumi immediately reached out to interrupt.

He had long since drooled over the wanted posters of these fish-men; he was very familiar with them and absolutely couldn't be wrong!

This was the Arlong Pirates; everyone with a bounty was here, not a single one missing.

"I didn't expect this, I didn't expect this."

Nezumi laughed loudly, his attitude suddenly becoming enthusiastic, and he reached out to put his arm around Siano’s shoulder.

"A hero truly emerges from the youth. Such powerful pirates were actually wiped out by you alone. I was wondering why you were waiting on the shore; were you preparing to go out to sea to claim the bounty?"

"That’s right. I’ve already contacted Branch 77 and was just preparing to head over." Siano swayed slightly, dodging Nezumi’s reaching arm.

Branch 77?

Nezumi widened his eyes, hurriedly leaned in, and lowered his voice.

"Young man, you might not know the ropes. For those famous pirate hunters, it’s extremely difficult to claim the full bounty, let alone a small civilian like you. Don't believe the nice things Branch 77 says; when you get to the scene, it’ll be good if they give you thirty percent of the bounty."

Siano looked at him quietly.

"Speak your mind, and don't beat around the bush."

Nezumi’s smile stiffened slightly, but he quickly returned to normal. He coughed and said with a grin:

"Don't be in such a hurry. What I mean is, since you’ve traveled so far, why not just hand over all these pirates' heads to me? Given how fated we are, I can make an exception and give you a very good cut. Fifty-fifty, half for you and half for me, how about it?"

"..."

Siano shook his head, too lazy to bother with him anymore, and turned to walk toward the ship. "Nojiko, Nami, let's go."

"Oh! Coming!" The two little ones had been so engrossed in the show that they hurriedly followed after waking up.

"Stop right there!"

A roar suddenly came from behind, as Nezumi, embarrassed into anger, directly pulled out his pistol and aimed it at the backs of the three: "Lawless... who allowed you to leave!"

Siano turned his head, saw the dark muzzle, and narrowed his eyes slightly.

(End of chapter)