Entering Nami and Nojiko's room revealed near destitution—bare walls with only scattered nautical charts strewn across the floor.
"Do you love navigation?" Roya asked.
Nami nodded emphatically. "Yes! My dream is to record every sea on charts I've drawn myself!"
Seeing Nami's radiant expression, Roya thought to himself: So even at this stage, Nami already had her dream.
"Then you must work hard. Strive for your dreams, but remember to train your strength too. In this world where the strong prey on the weak, power is equally important!"
"I will, Roya~"
As they conversed, footsteps suddenly sounded outside.
Arlong and Nezumi stood before the small house, their faces twisted in sinister grins.
"Nami! Nojiko! You two have some nerve—daring to expose me before that White Pigeon bastard!" Nezumi's furious voice rang out before they even entered.
Hearing Nezumi's voice, Nami and Nojiko instinctively moved closer to Roya.
"It's alright," Roya reassured them softly.
Picking up a pen from the table, he casually walked toward the doorway.All they heard was Arlong's vicious voice outside, "Why waste words? Just kick the damn door down!"
As Arlong's words fell, the door was instantly kicked off its hinges, flying straight toward Roya.
"Is this how you knock?" Roya held his drawing pen, the corners of his lips curling slightly.
The aura of a supreme swordsmaster erupted in full force at that moment!
With a mere flick of his drawing pen through the air—
In an instant!
A terrifying slash of sword energy formed a semicircular arc before Roya, cutting through the air with unparalleled sharpness.
It was as if even the atmosphere itself had been torn apart!
The razor-sharp, blinding slash split the door cleanly in two, its momentum undiminished as it landed on the floor.
In the blink of an eye, it passed between Rat and Arlong, grazing their cheeks.
Two streaks of blood appeared on their faces.
The suddenness of it all left Rat and Arlong completely stunned.
They never could have imagined Roya's face waiting behind that door!
But how was this possible?!
Rat had seen Roya leave with his own eyes!
The two stood frozen like wooden statues, feeling as though they'd plunged into an abyss.
An icy chill, as if from a thousand-year glacier, enveloped them.
"Gulp."
Arlong swallowed hard.
His fists clenched, veins bulging.
"Rat, you set me up?! Didn't you say the White Pigeon had left?!" Arlong ground his teeth as he spoke to Rat.
But then he noticed Rat staring at Roya in utter disbelief.
Rat felt his body trembling uncontrollably.
Stammering, he addressed Roya, "M-m-my lord, d-didn't you leave from Cocoyasi's port? H-how are you here?"
"If I hadn't pretended to leave, how else would I have flushed out you sharks?"
Arlong now realized they'd both been played by Roya.
"Thud."
No sooner had Roya spoken than Rat dropped to his knees, pointing at Arlong. "It was him! He forced me into this! I really wanted to be good, I swear! I'm a good person, my lord!"
"A good person?! One who constantly oppresses us and kills innocents?!"
Nami could no longer hold back, stepping forward from behind.
A glint flashed in Rat's eyes—if he could just grab Nami, he'd be safe!
With this thought, Rat suddenly pushed off the ground, charging toward Nami behind Roya.
Just as he was about to seize her, Rat saw his own body still standing in place.
Then everything went black as he sank into eternal darkness.
Roya had anticipated Rat's move the moment he took that first step.
With his drawing pen infused with the essence of a supreme swordsmaster, Roya had severed Rat's head in one clean stroke.
Turning to the two girls behind him, Roya asked softly, "Are you scared?"
"Not at all!"
Nami gripped Nojiko's hand tightly, though her brave front couldn't mask the terror in her heart.
But she knew that if she wanted to pursue her dreams in this world, she had to go through everything before her.
After observing Nami and Nojiko's reactions, Roya nodded slightly.
Then he turned his gaze toward Arlong standing not far away.
"I'm curious. From what I understand, you should be a slave who just escaped from Mary Geoise, right? Why didn't you follow Fisher Tiger, but instead came to the East Blue?"
Arlong, who had been planning to find an opportunity to escape, suddenly had bloodshot eyes and a ferocious expression when he heard Fisher Tiger's name.
"Fisher Tiger!!! I will never acknowledge him! Wanting peaceful coexistence with humans? Don't forget our fishman bloodline is noble by nature—we're inherently stronger than humans! We should be enslaving humans, not pursuing some damn peaceful coexistence!"
"Stronger? Then can you defeat me?"
Roya smiled faintly at Arlong.
"White Dove! Don't think just because you're an admiral you can do whatever you want! Today, I'll kill you first, then devour those two behind you!"
"Shark·ON·DARTS!"
Arlong's calves suddenly bulged, muscles swelling as veins protruded, propelling his entire body toward Roya like a torpedo.
He intended to pierce Roya's heart with his saw-like nose.
No matter how strong an admiral is, they can't survive without a heart, right?
Just as Arlong was lost in his delusions, he saw Roya's arm instantly coated in Armament Haki.
Like lightning, Roya grabbed Arlong's serrated nose.
In an instant, the saw-like teeth were effortlessly crushed by Roya, who then hurled him high into the sky.
Though it was a fight, the entire motion was fluid and graceful, like an art form.
Excruciating pain shot through Arlong's brain, forcing an involuntary scream!
As the wind howled past his ears, Arlong felt utterly disoriented.
How could a human possess such monstrous strength?
Impossible!
This is absolutely impossible!
Aren't humans just obsessed with eating Devil Fruits?
Aren't they just reliant on external power to grow stronger?
How could they surpass our fishman racial superiority by this much?!
This terrifying strength—even Fisher Tiger couldn't match it!
"Damn you!!!"