Most of Arlong's fish-men had been cut down by that terrifying swordsman.
Even Kuroobi, one of Arlong's elite officers—
someone Nami always believed to be overwhelmingly strong—
had been killed in a single instant.
And Hachi…
He hadn't even seen how it happened.
Everyone just died.
Only he survived because the intruder said so.
Hachi was tied up.
Every other member of the Arlong Pirates had been slaughtered by Adrian's two subordinates.
Outside Arlong Park,
the two sisters stared blankly at the sea of corpses.
A moment ago,
the moment they learned Arlong had never intended to honor his deal—
that he'd only been toying with them—
their hearts burned with cold fury.
But that fury evaporated instantly.
Because those very fish-men
were now lying dead on the ground.
Nami and Nojiko both felt their emotions short-circuit.
"…He's that strong? Then doesn't that mean we—"
Nami suddenly remembered something crucial.
She and Nojiko… had been forced to join this man's "Bandit Crew."
Originally, their plan had been simple:
Lead Adrian to Arlong Park →
Let both sides fight →
Best case: both sides take heavy losses
Second-best: Adrian's group dies and the sisters get the satisfaction of seeing Arlong's pirates killed in the chaos.
But reality?
Reality laughed at their plan.
In the span of a few minutes—
They learned Arlong had lied for eight years.
They felt their hope collapse.
They got ready to fall into despair.
But before they could even be sad for three whole minutes—
The entire Arlong Pirates were wiped out.
Whatever scenario Nami might have imagined,
she had never, ever imagined this one.
The overwhelming strength of the fish-men had been deeply imprinted into her childhood nightmares.
She had grown up believing humans could never defeat fish-men.
And yet—
Here, in front of her eyes,
those terrifying fish-men died like weeds under a scythe.
It didn't matter if she didn't want to believe it.
It didn't matter if she tried to deny it.
The truth was right there on the ground.
The Arlong Pirates—
were trash.
And under Adrian's order,
his two men shredded them effortlessly, like chopping vegetables.
They didn't even get a chance to resist.
Only one remained alive—
and only because Adrian told his men to spare him.
Otherwise Hachi would be a corpse too.
"…So we just traded one evil crew for another?"
Nojiko murmured.
Originally, only Nami had been part of the Arlong Pirates.
Now, both sisters had been coerced into joining Adrian's "Bandit Crew."
They didn't know whether this was good news or bad news.
But at least one thing was worth celebrating:
With the Arlong Pirates gone,
their village—
Cocoyashi Village—
was finally free.
No more extortion.
No more fear.
No more executions for failing to pay tribute.
However…
Who exactly was Adrian?
If an even stronger group replaced the Arlong Pirates and continued exploiting their village…
Then this "liberation" would be meaningless.
It would be just another nightmare.
"Sis… let's test the waters first,"
Nami whispered.
By all rights,
Nami should still be drowning in grief and betrayal after learning Arlong never planned to honor the deal.
But now—
after seeing Arlong's pirates obliterated—
her sadness had evaporated completely.
All that mattered now was confirming Adrian's true intentions.
Would he replace Arlong?
Would he take over the village?
Would he start his own reign of extortion?
They needed answers.
Meanwhile, inside Arlong Park…
Adrian and his men had completely finished off all enemies, tied up Hachi, and stuffed a gag into his mouth.
Then they immediately began searching the base.
After all—
They didn't come here to be heroes.
They came here as bandits.
Robbery was the main event.
Now that the enemies were cleared out,
it was time to collect spoils.
And those spoils directly affected the rating of Adrian's "Bandit Event."
Loot size = part of the "Influence Rating."
So… the more they looted, the better.
After a long round of searching and sorting—
Adrian and his two subordinates finally organized everything neatly.
And the results?
A massive haul.
Translator's Thoughts:
Nami and Nojiko's emotional rollercoaster in this chapter is wild. In the span of minutes they went from betrayal… to despair… to witnessing their lifelong nightmare casually butchered like seafood at a buffet. Their brains didn't even have time to finish being sad before Adrian's crew wiped out every single fish-man.
And now the sisters are left wondering whether they've just exchanged one tyrant for an even scarier one. Adrian didn't come as a savior—he came as a bandit, and he's treating Arlong Park like a supermarket on clearance day.
Next chapter: time to see just how big the haul is… and what kind of outlaw rating he'll get for annihilating an entire pirate crew!
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