“Re-report, sir!
Colonel Nezumi, the sea patrol has spotted the Buggy Pirates leaving Arlong Park in the waters near the Conomi Islands!”
“According to the intelligence gathered, the Buggy Pirates and the Arlong Pirates appear to have had a battle, though the details are still unclear…”
On another island in the Conomi Islands.
This was the location of Marine Branch 16’s base.
A soldier was relaying the sea patrol’s intelligence to Colonel Nezumi, the base’s commanding officer.
“The Buggy Pirates?”
In his office.
Colonel Nezumi heard the news, his mouse-like face registering surprise.
“That ten million Berry bounty crew?
Buggy the Clown’s pirates?”
“Yes, sir!
Colonel Nezumi!”
“Two notable East Blue pirate crews getting into a fight?
What in the world happened…”
Colonel Nezumi’s expression darkened.
Not because the clash itself affected him as Branch 16’s commanding officer.
But because he had an arrangement with Arlong.
A mutually beneficial one.
If something had happened to his primary source of income, making money was going to become considerably harder.
The position of branch commander was one he had paid for.
Money handed up to those above him.
Lose Arlong’s funding and he couldn’t cover the annual tribute he owed.
Lose the tribute and he lost the position.
“Quickly, send someone to investigate…
no, I’m going myself.
Two powerful East Blue pirate crews clashing like this is a threat to Marine authority!”
Colonel Nezumi was deeply concerned about Arlong’s situation and intended to see it for himself.
He prayed quietly as he moved.
Please let nothing have happened to Arlong.
If Arlong was gone, his entire operation was in trouble.
Couldn’t pay the tribute, couldn’t keep the position.
Under Colonel Nezumi’s orders, a warship set out toward Arlong Park.
Cocoyasi Village.
The news that the Arlong Pirates had been taken out by the Buggy Pirates, spread by Nami and Nojiko, moved through the entire village in minutes.
The whole place erupted.
Every resident broke into tears of joy.
The Arlong Pirates’ oppression had been going on for years.
Everything that had been pressed down inside, the grief and the hatred, came pouring out in one moment.
The weight was gone.
Joy and relief on every face.
Those who had lost family and friends to the Arlong Pirates could finally rest.
“Is this really all right?”
Nami had just returned from visiting her mother Bell-mère’s grave.
She put the question to Rocks.
“You were the one who defeated the Arlong Pirates and saved our village.
Why are you giving the credit to another pirate crew?”
She couldn’t quite follow Rocks’s reasoning.
Hiding what had actually happened, keeping everyone in the dark, and handing the credit to the Buggy Pirates of all people.
The Arlong Pirates’ total bounties came to more than fifty million Berries.
With the right evidence, that money was collectible at a Marine branch base.
Nami, being Nami about money, found this genuinely painful.
Her savings didn’t even come close to fifty million Berries.
“When have you ever seen a pirate kill another pirate and then walk into a Marine branch base to collect the bounty?”
Rocks ate a section of peeled orange, unbothered.
“And this is the only way to put the Buggy Pirates on the Marines’ radar, which keeps their attention off me for now.”
Giving up the Arlong Pirates’ bounty was a loss he genuinely felt.
But for the sake of putting the Buggy Pirates in the spotlight and pulling Marine attention that direction, it was a cost worth paying.
Nami muttered: “You’re not even a pirate.
What are you worried about…”
“You’ll understand later.”
Rocks smiled and didn’t elaborate.
“Arlong Park is sitting on the money they’ve taken over the years.
Somewhere in the hundreds of millions of Berries.”
He asked: “What do you think should be done with it?”
“Me?”
Nami pointed at herself.
“That’s your spoils.
You should be the one to handle it.”
“You’ve already dealt with the Arlong Pirates for us…”
“I do like money.
But I don’t want money gotten like that.”
Rocks cut her off with a smile.
“I have standards.
Money squeezed out of the local towns is money I don’t want to touch.”
The money taken from the Buggy Pirates’ ship, that he had accepted without a second thought.
He didn’t know where that money had originally come from, so it wasn’t the same issue.
But Arlong’s money had been bled from the surrounding villages for years.
That was different.
He wasn’t taking it.
That was a matter of standards.
“You handle it, Nami.”
“Gladly.”
Nami thought about it and didn’t say no.
When she looked at Rocks, there was real gratitude in her eyes. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
“Thank you…”
She had been a member of the Arlong Pirates.
She knew exactly how much harm they had done, and she had been powerless to change any of it.
Now at least some of that money could find its way back to the villages that had suffered.
That was worth something.
Rocks waved it off.
“Think of it as me building loyalty with my future navigator and making sure she never betrays me.
In short, buying goodwill.”
Nami looked at him strangely.
“Saying it out loud defeats the purpose.”
“And I’m not going to betray you anyway…”
“You don’t understand.”
Rocks ate another section of orange.
“Sometimes honesty is the most effective weapon.
It works.”
Nami had nothing to say to that.
It was actually a valid point.
After hearing it, her sense of trust in Rocks and feeling of belonging had grown considerably.
Half a day later.
Marine Branch 16’s warship arrived at Arlong Park.
They found it in complete ruin.
Fish-Man bodies lying scattered in every direction, blood soaking the ground and the pool.
Brutal.
Every Marine present drew a sharp breath.
“This is…
horrific!”
“They’re all dead.
The Arlong Pirates…”
“The Buggy Pirates did this?
This ruthless?
Strong enough to wipe out the entire Arlong Pirates?”
These Marines knew exactly how strong the Arlong Pirates were.
Letting Arlong operate freely wasn’t only because of Colonel Nezumi’s arrangement with him.
It was also because they genuinely couldn’t have beaten the Arlong Pirates in a fight.
Seeing a crew that strong wiped out left every Marine on the scene shaken.
“He’s actually dead…”
Colonel Nezumi looked around the scene.
His fury had hit its limit.
Both fists clenched.
“Damn it all.”
His meal ticket was gone.
Who was going to reliably send him tribute money now?
This was a serious problem.
The person above him had a much bigger appetite than he did.