One Piece: Revenge of the Slaves

The musket fire was impossible to ignore. Unlike Arlong, who lacked a sense of distance, Nami knew instantly that the shots weren't coming from the village. The cannon fire had been from within the village, but the musket fire was from outside. This increased her anxiety; had the enemy overrun the village, forcing everyone towards Arlong? The intensity of the gunfire suggested a powerful enemy; she worried about the villagers! She rowed frantically towards the village.

"Hahaha, a fight!" Arlong showed no concern for his comrades; he lacked experience; he hadn't fought in a long time; he mostly intimidated villagers and dealt with weak pirates. He'd bribed Captain Nezumi; the Navy posed no threat. He hadn't had a fair fight in a long time. Arlong was a small-timer.

The Straw Hats had struggled against him; Sanji had fought, Zoro was injured by Mihawk; if not for Luffy's antics, the Straw Hats could have won easily. They were New World rejects. Fish-men who couldn't defeat an injured Zoro or Luffy were insignificant in the New World; their imprisonment by the Navy made them realize their weakness; they fled to the East Blue. Arlong's crew couldn't defeat even the Fish-Man Island's guard, let alone Fish-Man District. Lacking formal training, they were unskilled; Arlong's fish-men were mostly untrained.

Their glee was shattered by a mud-caked boy. "Arlong! Your men were ambushed! They have many guns; five or six fish-men died; they're hiding; I saw this and came to warn you; save them!"

His acting had improved since the first time; otherwise, he would have laughed; he controlled his expression, using mud and sweat to mask his emotions, using urgency to hide his feelings.

Arlong's eyes widened; he grabbed the boy by the neck, lifting him. "My men are dead?" His grip tightened; his saw-toothed nose hovered near the boy's neck. "Why are you alive?"

Arlong hadn't changed. The boy's gaze hardened. "If I died, no one could warn you; you wouldn't know where the enemy is, and you'd be ambushed again…"

This restored Arlong's composure; he threw the boy down. "Hatchan, take the sheep to the port; destroy their ship! Others, with me!" He smashed a wall, drawing a saw-toothed blade.

Hearing of their comrades' deaths, the fish-men grew serious; few had firearms; most had swords; at sea, they could easily attack ships. Except for Logia-types, Devil Fruits were useless; this gave them a false sense of superiority, but on land…they couldn't even defeat a 30 million Berry bounty pirate. Even a 17 million Berry bounty East Blue admiral could defeat them easily. They were unaware of their limitations, confidently landing, ready to attack.

"Arlong, hurry! It's urgent!" The boy ran, shouting. Gunfire from the village indicated the battle wasn't over.

Arlong, furious, led thirty fish-men towards Cocoyasi Village. The boy's smile was barely contained; he shouted, making the fish-men agitated; Arlong roared, "Shut up, just lead the way!"

The boy, startled, ran silently. Arlong's group followed quickly, unlike Kuroobi. But the red flags and gunfire startled them.

Though more numerous, the villagers were more experienced, aiming carefully. After two volleys, few fish-men remained standing; most were injured. Arlong, with a dozen wounds, was bleeding profusely. The remaining fish-men's eyes burned…

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