Cocoa West Village, within the orange grove, at Belle-Mere's doorstep.
Arlong laughed, the sound mocking.
"Hahaha! What do you say? My offer is a bargain! If I help you kill one kid, you pay fifty thousand Berries less. Two kids, and it's a hundred thousand Berries off."
Belle-Mere's face twisted in fury. She gritted her teeth, and could only plead softly, "Please, wait a moment. I'll go borrow money from the villagers right now, to gather the two hundred thousand Berries."
"Hahaha! Alright, but be quick! Otherwise, if I get impatient, I might just randomly kill one of those stinky kids."
Nami and Nojiko's faces went white as sheets.
For the safety of her daughters, Belle-Mere swallowed her anger, turned, and went to the door to borrow the money.
Arlong and the others didn't stop her. Instead, they moved aside slightly, clearing a path for her.
Just then, a slightly flippant voice rang out from within the orange grove.
"Oh my! Things are lively here! Can anyone tell me what's going on?"
Everyone looked toward the voice and saw a silver-haired young man. He wore a blue floral shirt, white beach shorts, and two sabers tucked at his waist. He walked out from beside an orange tree.
Gulp! ×21
After the Arlong Pirates clearly saw the newcomer's face, they all swallowed in unison. Some of the more timid Fishmen even started trembling.
On the other side, Belle-Mere sighed in relief when she saw the newcomer.
"What's wrong? Is no one going to answer me?"
Sephiroth's gaze was cold. He swept his eyes over the Fishmen, a fake smile on his face.
"Mr. Sephiroth, these Fishmen are members of the Arlong Pirates. They're collecting protection money in this village. One hundred thousand Berries for adults, fifty thousand for children. If they can't pay, they get killed…" Belle-Mere said with a smile.
Because Sephiroth had previously served as the Commander of the Navy 16th Branch in the East Blue, Belle-Mere had heard stories about his strength…
Her earlier decision to compromise was partly due to concern for her daughters' safety, and partly because Sephiroth would be coming to the orange grove to buy oranges in a few days…
She knew that once she mentioned this matter to Sephiroth, he wouldn't ignore it. In Belle-Mere's heart, the Arlong Pirates' fate was already sealed!
She just didn't expect the retribution to come so quickly!
"So, you're here to collect protection money? Arlong!… Thanks to Jinbe's willingness to become a Shichibukai, your past crimes were pardoned, and you were released from Impel Down. Now, you're shamelessly engaging in the profession of Pirates again… Are you trying to go back to prison!?"
Sephiroth slowly walked up to Arlong and gently poked his chest with his right hand. His face was playful, and his tone dripped with mockery.
However…
Facing Sephiroth's ridicule and contempt, Arlong completely lost his previous arrogant demeanor. He just stood there, his expression ugly, silent.
The reason he was like this was simple: he couldn't win!
Arlong had been instantly defeated by Kizaru with a single move. He understood his own strength very well…
Facing Admiral-level combat power like Sephiroth, he definitely couldn't win!
Arlong neither dared to seize territory in the New World nor dared to hang out in the first half of Paradise. Instead, he chose the weakest of the Four Seas, the East Blue, wanting to become a king here…
In the end, he was just a small-time thug who bullied the weak and feared the strong!
Therefore, it was difficult for Arlong to even consider resisting.
However…
In this oppressive atmosphere, a Fishman in the crowd finally spoke!
"Boss Arlong, this guy is just a human, an inferior creature, and he dares to be so arrogant…"
Swish!
A red light flashed as the butcher knife was unsheathed, cutting through the void. The Fishman who hadn't even finished speaking was decapitated, falling heavily to the ground with a "thump!" Blood gushed from the severed neck.
Immediately, Sephiroth, holding the butcher knife and pointing the tip towards the ground, enveloped all the Fishmen with his killing intent. Then, he said with a fake smile:
"Who else wants to die… speak up!"
"…"×20 Silence! A deathly silence! Sephiroth's speed in drawing his sword and killing was so fast that they couldn't react at all. They couldn't even clearly see the movement of his sword swing… It was only when he stopped moving that they realized he had already attacked! That Fishman who was cut down was clearly standing in the crowd, over five meters away from Sephiroth, yet he was suddenly decapitated by a single slash! They couldn't understand at all how the other party attacked that Fishman… Under the shroud of Sephiroth's killing intent, the Fishmen felt as if a Saber emitting a chilling kill intent was held against their necks… If they dared to make any rash moves, their lives would be instantly ended! Under the terrifying killing intent deterrence of Sephiroth, the members of the Arlong Pirates couldn't help but hold their breath, not daring to even pant, fearing that they would follow in the footsteps of that Fishman.
"Originally! I'm on vacation today and didn't want to bother with you… However, you're simply too presumptuous! So! … If you don't want to die, all you scum should put your hands on your heads and squat on the ground!"
Swish! Swish! Swish!…
As soon as the words left Sephiroth's mouth, Arlong, terrified of him and concerned for the lives of his crew, didn't dare resist. He obediently put his hands on his head and squatted on the ground.
The disparity in strength between the two sides was too great. Even with twenty of them, there was no chance of winning.
The members of the Arlong Pirates, led by Arlong, could only follow suit, putting their hands on their heads and squatting on the ground, trembling.
This scene left the villagers who had followed from the village completely dumbfounded.
At Sephiroth's signal, the villagers quickly tied up the Fishmen with ropes, preventing them from continuing their reckless behavior.
Inside the house, Nami first glanced at the Fishmen who had been so arrogant moments ago, then walked to his side. She tugged at his pants, her eyes sparkling. "Sephiroth, you're amazing! You scared the Pirates who were just very arrogant so much that they don't dare to make a sound…"
Sephiroth bent down slightly and stroked Nami's orange hair, chuckling. "Of course! After all, I'm a very powerful Marine!"
The reason Sephiroth handled this matter so indecisively was because he considered that Arlong was Sharley's half-brother. Even though their relationship had always been bad, he didn't want to cause any rift between himself and Sharley, which was why he kept arguing with the Arlong Pirates.
Otherwise, if it were another Pirate group, he would have already started a killing spree!
Finally, Sephiroth contacted the nearby Navy 16th Branch by dialing a military den den mushi. After the warship arrived, he had the Marines from the branch take unified custody of the Fishmen of the Arlong Pirates.
Incidentally, he also "specifically instructed" the Branch Commander that, given Arlong's voluntary surrender, he should exempt Arlong from the death penalty and replace the punishment with life imprisonment.
If this guy Arlong were left unchecked, he would definitely continue to act recklessly.
But…
If he were sentenced to death directly, Sephiroth was worried about creating a rift with Sharley, so he could only choose a compromise.