"Luo Chen! Luo Chen! Luo Chen!"
Arlong's eyes were crimson, like a vengeful ghost's. His roars were unending, filled with a monstrous killing intent.
He pulled the sharp teeth from his mouth and fitted them over his left hand. With his right hand, he brandished his giant saw-sword and charged forward recklessly.
At this moment, Arlong had lost all reason, not even bothering to enter the waterway to use the terrain to his advantage.
Luo Chen directed the wooden dragon to fly back and ram into him.
With a loud bang, Arlong's head collided with the wooden dragon's, and a large amount of blood gushed out. But he plunged his saw-sword into the ground, bracing himself against the impact.
His tooth-covered left hand grabbed the wooden dragon's neck and viciously smashed it into the ground.
The wooden dragon had already attacked several times and its energy was nearly depleted. It immediately shattered into pieces, disintegrating into wood fragments.
Arlong's expression remained ferocious. He paid no heed to anything and charged straight ahead.
Luo Chen raised his hand and caught the blade of the descending saw-sword.
No matter how Arlong roared and exerted his strength, it remained motionless.
With his physique at Lv3, Arlong's physical strength was no match for his.
Arlong's left hand, armed with his sharp teeth, swept across, aiming for his head.
A tree sprouted from Luo Chen's side, blocking the teeth on Arlong's hand.
He slapped a palm against Arlong's body.
Wood Style: Cutting Technique activated.
A wooden spike emerged from his palm and pierced directly into Arlong's body. Countless more spikes grew wildly inside Arlong, destroying his organs and muscle tissue. Finally, they burst through his skin from all over his body.
The inhuman pain made Arlong roar, his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets.
A multitude of wooden spikes formed a thorny cage, trapping Arlong within. His saw-sword and teeth fell to the ground. His body, impaled by the spikes, was suspended in mid-air, unable to move.
"A red-skinned fish-man died the same way as you today," Luo Chen said with a smile.
Arlong's crimson eyes widened again, his voice trembling as if enduring extreme agony.
"Jincheng didn't come back... you killed him... you bastard..."
Luo Chen ignored him. He picked up the wooden chest at his feet and turned to walk toward the people of Cocoyasi Village.
Arlong would be dead soon. All the organs in his body had been shattered; the only reason he could still speak was due to the strong life force of the fish-man race.
Seeing him approach, the villagers of Cocoyasi were all a little nervous. But some looked dazed, their eyes red.
Arlong, who had oppressed them for eight long years, had finally gotten his just deserts today!
Nearly every household had lost a loved one at the hands of the Arlong Pirates. Today, they finally had their revenge.
It was the young Marine before them who had annihilated the Arlong Pirates for them, avenging their deep-seated blood feud!
The villagers wept with joy, hugging each other, screaming and cheering, releasing eight years of suppressed sorrow and hatred.
Nami looked at the dying Arlong and pinched her own arm hard. Only when the skin was red and bruised, and the pain made her suck in a sharp breath, did she confirm that it was real.
It wasn't a dream.
Arlong, who had ruled over them for eight years, and indeed the entire Arlong Pirates, were all wiped out!
Annihilated single-handedly by Luo Chen, a Marine who looked like an ordinary person!
She was so excited her breathing became rapid, her pretty face flushed, and a fine layer of sweat broke out on her skin.
Genzo stood at the forefront. Without mentioning the one hundred million Berries, he solemnly expressed his gratitude.
Nojiko also thanked him, showing a hint of embarrassment. "Sorry, I didn't think you could actually beat Arlong before."
"That one hundred million Berries... please accept it as our token of gratitude."
Luo Chen had saved her, and he had saved many villagers. At this moment, Nojiko was too embarrassed to ask for the money back.
Nami gradually calmed down and looked at the wooden chest with a pained expression. All the treasure she had risked her life to steal from various pirates over the past eight years was inside.
She suppressed her reluctance and offered a beautiful and sincere smile. "Thank you."
Luo Chen placed the wooden chest on the ground and opened the lid.
Jewels and precious stones glittered in the sunlight, along with many paper Berries stained with dark blood. Besides Nami's ninety-one million worth of treasure, there was also the ten million Berries that Arlong's crew had given to Captain Nezumi before. Everything was packed inside the chest.
Luo Chen pushed it in front of Nami and smiled.
"Returning it to its rightful owner. You risked your life to steal this one hundred million Berries from countless pirates. I can't take it."
As soon as he said this, the many villagers who were expressing their thanks fell silent, their expressions stunned. It seemed they never imagined Luo Chen would say such a thing.
Genzo, Nami, and Nojiko all stared with wide eyes, their faces full of disbelief.
Nami's beautiful face showed a complex mix of surprise, confusion, and bewilderment. She stammered, "No, um, this is one hundred million Berries. Please take it as payment for saving us. I-I don't want it."
She waved her hands repeatedly and turned her head away, not daring to look at the chest of treasure again.
Nami was afraid that if she looked at it for one more second, she would agree to take it back. Since she had promised it as Luo Chen's reward, she would absolutely not take it.
Luo Chen shook his head and looked at Genzo. "Didn't I say it before? I'll return it when I'm done using it. Have Nami put it away."
He pointed toward Arlong Park. "The treasure in there belongs to me."
Genzo had a strange look on his face. His mind went blank as he scratched his head, not knowing what to say.
So, money really could be returned after being "used"? But how did Luo Chen use it?
Genzo opened his mouth but didn't ask in the end.
Luo Chen ignored the strange looks from the crowd and turned to Nami. "Do you know where Arlong hid his money and treasure?"
Nami blinked and nodded.
She understood what Luo Chen meant and consciously took the lead.
After Luo Chen and Nami entered Arlong Park, the villagers began to talk in low voices.
"Who on earth is this Luo Chen?"
"He should be a Marine from the East Blue's 16th Branch, but he's actually strong enough to kill all the fish-men, including Arlong..."
"Arlong has a bounty of twenty million, and the average pirate bounty in our East Blue is only a few million. For Luo Chen to defeat Arlong, he must be much stronger than a Branch Captain."
"Is he really not taking that one hundred million Berries?"
"..."
The eyes of Genzo, Nojiko, and many other villagers fell upon the treasure in the wooden chest.
Nojiko looked around at the villagers. "This one hundred million Berries, if Luo Chen really doesn't want it, will be shared with everyone."
"Arlong has taken everyone's money over the years. This one hundred million Berries will relieve a lot of pressure."
Genzo quickly waved his hands in refusal. "No, this belongs to Nami."
"Nami will definitely agree. I know her."
Hearing Nojiko's words, Genzo and the villagers fell silent.
They knew Nami.
When she was just ten years old, this girl had made a pact with Arlong to buy back the village for one hundred million Berries in order to save everyone.
She had worked hard for eight years to achieve this, stealing nearly one hundred million Berries from numerous utterly evil pirates.
When Nojiko said she would share the money with everyone, no one doubted it.
Because Nami was too kind.
...
Luo Chen followed Nami into a tall building deep inside Arlong Park.
In a secret room, they found treasure worth several hundred million.
Luo Chen looked at the room full of treasure chests and said silently in his mind, 'System, deposit. Fill it up for me.'
[730 million Berries have been deposited, exchanged for 73,000 Cultivation Points.]
'730 million Berries... Arlong is a bit poor.'
Luo Chen wondered if some of the money had been given to Captain Nezumi, or if not all of it was hidden in Arlong Park.
Nami's eyes sparkled with golden light as she stared lovingly at the room full of treasure. She said with regret:
"Arlong's income is several hundred million Berries a year. This should only be a part of his assets. I don't know where the rest of his money is hidden."
Luo Chen nodded. Using his Wood Style, he summoned wooden vines to pack up all the treasure and take it away.
He would leave a very small portion of the Berries for himself; the rest would all be returned to the villagers under Arlong's rule.
Now that the deposit was complete, there wasn't much use for him to keep this fortune. Besides, this money had been stolen from ordinary villagers by Arlong in the first place.
The two of them walked out of the secret room.
On the way out, Nami suddenly stopped in front of a room.
Her treasure-obsessed gaze, which had been fixated on the fortune all this time, disappeared, replaced by a look of sadness and loneliness. She walked into the room in silence.