Chapter 54: Throwing Lives Away

A group of so-called "righteous men" couldn't wait to jump out and distance themselves from Captain Nezumi, drawing a clear line between them and him. They loudly declared their stance against corruption and began shouting over each other to expose all of Captain Nezumi's dark secrets.

One by one, Nezumi's shady dealings with Arlong were dragged out into the open without mercy.

Nami's heart burned with rage as she listened, itching to drive a blade into Captain Nezumi herself.

She finally understood: all those years she had begged the Navy for help and received no response wasn't just because of negligence. It was also because of this rotten Captain Nezumi, who had been helping Arlong suppress any fallout from his crimes.

But even after most of Nezumi's misdeeds had been laid bare, those "righteous snitches" still wouldn't shut up. It was like they were about to turn it into some kind of undercover agent trauma support meeting.

The place was as noisy as a vegetable market.

"Silence!"

Smoker barked coldly:

"You all know whether you're clean or not!"

"If you keep flapping your mouths, I'll deal with you the same way I did with Nezumi!"

The scene immediately fell into dead silence.

"What's wrong?"

Smoker turned back to the now ashen-faced Captain Nezumi and said coldly:

"Now, tell me again—what are you doing here?"

"I-I…"

Captain Nezumi's forehead was drenched with cold sweat, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't squeeze out a word.

After a long silence, realizing there was no way to talk his way out of this, Nezumi trembled as he admitted his crimes:

"I've been covering for the Arlong Pirates, helping those fish-men conceal their crimes."

"Heh!"

Smoker let out a chilling snort, his voice filled with suppressed fury.

"You're a Navy captain, a man meant to uphold justice, and yet you shamelessly accepted bribes and turned a blind eye to pirates for years!"

"You deserve worse than death!"

"I'm guilty!"

Nezumi didn't fight it anymore. He even tried to 'sincerely' plead for leniency:

"I'm willing to accept military tribunal punishment!"

This was his last desperate gamble. If he were dealt with under military law, he wouldn't be executed on the spot. Instead, he would be taken to Navy Headquarters for trial.

Once there, he'd have more room to maneuver.

Getting off completely was impossible—but saving his own miserable life? That wasn't out of the question.

Lieutenant Hammer once had the same idea.

Seeing this eerily familiar scene play out again, Garen silently gripped his greatsword tightly and moved in close to Nezumi's side.

However, before Garen could even raise his weapon, a heavy Jitte came crashing down on Nezumi's head, smashing it open in an instant—blood and brain matter splattered everywhere.

"Military tribunal?"

"Too late."

Smoker slowly retracted his weapon and said coldly:

"You resisted arrest. I executed you on the spot."

…

Arlong's Territory, Beach

When Kuroobi and Hatchan led a group of terrified fish-men back to the shore, they happened to run into Arlong and the rest, who had rushed back after hearing the sound of cannons.

"Boss Arlong!"

Hatchan said in a panic, "The Navy's attacking us!"

Which was kind of unnecessary, considering Arlong had already spotted the two Navy warships approaching the coastline.

"Oh, it's just the Navy?"

Arlong actually let out a huge sigh of relief.

Having just read the big news earlier, Arlong was afraid that the terrifying figure mentioned in the newspaper had shown up to help that gold-digging Nami take revenge.

But Wallace, anticipating the need for secrecy during the coming operation, had deliberately included a bold subheading at the end of the article claiming that Garen and the Navy had parted ways back in Loguetown.

So Arlong had no idea that the so-called "The Righteous Knight of the East Blue," who supposedly had power on par with a Navy admiral, was currently standing on one of those very ships.

"Boss Arlong!"

Kuroobi added,

"One of the warships is from Captain Nezumi."

"I thought he was here for his usual bribe run, but the moment he arrived, he just opened fire!"

"What?!"

Arlong froze for a second. The panic in his mind was quickly replaced with a burning rage:

"That shameless bastard!"

"I paid him so much, and he still tried to double-cross me?!"

He clenched his massive fists, bulging with muscle and radiating killing intent.

"Wait a minute…"

Looking at the ships drawing closer, Arlong turned to Kuroobi and Hatchan with a deep frown:

"Why the hell did all of you swim back to shore?"

"Our turf is the ocean!"

"Well…"

Hatchan looked a little guilty and said awkwardly:

"There's something weird about one of those Navy guys."

"He can talk underwater, doesn't drown, swims faster than us fish-men, and wiped out seven or eight of our brothers in a single clash!"

"Even Momoo the Sea Cow was taken down with one slash!"

As he spoke, Hatchan wore an expression that clearly screamed "It's not that we suck—it's that he's too strong."

"We didn't want to waste any more brothers' lives, so we came back to ask for your help."

But hearing this, Arlong's heart, which had just calmed down a bit, immediately grew heavy again.

"That guy…"

Arlong's angry expression wavered slightly as he asked in a strange tone:

"How strong is he, exactly?"

He paused and gave a frame of reference:

"Compared to me?"

"That guy's definitely not as strong as you, Boss Arlong."

Hatchan replied seriously.

Kuroobi nodded in agreement:

"Yeah, his strength is probably still a notch below yours."

Neither of them were the type to flatter—they were just reckless and straightforward.

So Arlong found their words believable and sighed in relief again:

"Good. Then it's probably not the East Blue Knight."

Just then, another fish-man officer stepped forward, looking completely displeased.

This was Chew, a kissing fish-man. Unlike most fish-men with exposed sharp teeth, his facial features were odd, with a pair of protruding, puffy lips.

His special ability was storing water in his mouth and using his unique oral structure to shoot powerful water bullets.

Hearing Hatchan and Kuroobi's defeated tone, Chew was very displeased:

"If that guy's weaker than Boss Arlong…"

"Why are you all scared of one person?"

Before they could answer, Chew started ranting again:

"We fish-men are unbeatable at sea, and yet you guys don't even have the guts to fight!"

"Hey!"

Hatchan, ever the nice guy, didn't argue. But Kuroobi, hot-tempered as always, snapped back:

"I already told you—he's stronger than us!"

"If we didn't come back for Boss Arlong's help, were we supposed to let everyone die?!"

Chew sneered in disdain and countered with the typical fish-man supremacist logic:

"We fish-men are naturally ten times stronger than humans!"

"There are so many of us—why should we lose to one human underwater?!"

"You…"

Kuroobi's eyes widened in fury and he pointed at Chew's ridiculous lips:

"No wonder you're a kissing fish—you're only good at spraying garbage at your own teammates!"

"You bastard!"

Chew's blue skin flushed red with anger:

"Are you mocking my species?!"

Even among fish-men, there were major differences in traits—shark and whale types were stronger by nature, while kissing fish types were known for their comical features.

Wherever there are people, there are hierarchies and prejudice. Fish-men were no exception.

Humans living in the same city even looked down on outsiders, so intelligent species like fish-men weren't immune to internal bias.

"Yeah, I am mocking you! So what?!"

Kuroobi had completely lost it, roaring:

"All you do is talk! If you think you're so good, then get in there!"

"Fine!"

Furious, Chew didn't hesitate:

"I'll go! Watch me!"

"Be my guest!"

Kuroobi huffed and looked away.

Arlong considered it for a moment and ultimately approved of Chew's impulsive move.

He did want to send someone out to test the enemy's strength.

"Chew!"

Soft-hearted Hatchan warned, worried:

"That guy already killed seven or eight of our brothers…"

"Be careful!"

"Hmph!"

Chew completely ignored his concern and proudly declared:

"Watch me take ten of our guys and sink those two Navy ships!"

"Then we can clean up whatever's left!"

With that, he waved over ten fish-men goons and swam straight toward the warships.

Not long after…

Two fish-men fled back in panic:

"Bad news!"

"Brother Chew's been cut down too!"

(End of Chapter)