Chapter 48: I Am a Soft-Hearted Person

"Isn't it only natural for the Marines to confiscate the corpses of pirates!"

Commander Nezumi flicked the safety switch of his firearm, his voice oozing sinister malice. "You brat, you've been uncooperative all along—sneaky with a terrible attitude. Now I suspect your own hands aren't clean. Who knows what unspeakable crimes you're hiding! Men, seal off these people and the entire ship! Bring them all back for a thorough interrogation and investigation!"

"Colonel, sir!"

His adjutant couldn't help but speak up. "Isn't, isn't this going a bit too far..."

"Shut your trap! Who is the superior officer here, you or me?"

Furious and flustered, Nezumi lashed out with a backhanded slap. The adjutant took the blow squarely, lowered his head, and dared not utter another word.

When Nezumi turned back around, he found Shano looking at him as if he were an absolute idiot. "Is there something wrong with your brain?"

"Hmm?" Nezumi froze, then flew into a rage. "You dare insult a Marine officer? I'd say you're truly tired of living!"

"Look at you, still completely clueless. You were so terrified of the Arlong Pirates that you never dared to provoke them, only coming out to scavenge after they were dead."

Shano sighed lightly, casually loosening up his right hand. "The question is, where on earth did you get the guts to provoke an even stronger me?"

"Could it be that because I'm a commoner, you assumed I wouldn't resist and would just obediently let myself be captured?"

By the shore stood a massive boulder four or five meters high, bearing the prominent inscription: "This way to Cocoyasi Village."

Shano casually grabbed the boulder, and with a rumbling sound, he yanked it straight out of the ground. After hefting it in his hand for a moment, he hurled it fiercely toward the direction of the warship right before Nezumi's incredulous eyes!

Whoosh—Boom!!

Just as the boulder was about to crash into the top of the mainmast, Shano casually raised his fingertip and fired a supplemental projectile of compressed air. In an instant, the boulder exploded mid-air above the warship, shattering into countless fine particles that drifted down like a heavy mist.

"This..."

The marines remaining on the deck stared dumbfounded, their heads still tilted upward in frozen disbelief.

Nezumi's mouth opened so wide that half a Chopper could have easily been stuffed inside.

"I forgot to mention, the entire Arlong Pirates didn't even last twenty minutes in my hands."

Shano smiled faintly. "I wonder how many minutes a Marine branch colonel and all the marines on this warship can hold out?"

Nezumi shivered violently and finally snapped back to reality.

At that very moment, he finally realized something.

The person standing before him was no simple, sturdy villager—he was a merciless, terrifying monster several times more lethal than Arlong!

"It's a misunderstanding!"

Nezumi's face twitched as he managed to squeeze out a smile far uglier than tears. "A misunderstanding, a total misunderstanding! Go wherever you like, how could we ever dare to stop you? We're leaving right now, right now!"

With that, he panicked and scrambled back toward the warship. His foot twisted and he nearly lost a shoe, but he couldn't care less as he stumbled clumsily and dived headfirst into the cabin.

Acting like an ostrich, he only felt safe once he could no longer see Shano. A shrill roar echoed from behind the closed door:

"What are you standing around for! Get this ship moving and set course back for the base at once!"

Hahaha! The villagers watching from afar burst into boisterous laughter.

The marines lowered their heads in collective shame as they formed ranks and climbed onto the deck. The ensign adjutant let out a long sigh, quietly pulling up his collar to cover half his face.

"Serving under a commander like that, you'd probably feel inferior the moment you ran into colleagues from other branches," remarked Barba, leaning against the railing with a click of his tongue.

Then he looked at Shano, who was stepping onto the deck. "Boss, should we get moving too?"

"No, you guys go on ahead." Shano shook his head slightly, glancing in the direction where the warship was disappearing. "I have some unfinished business to attend to."

Did that mean?

Barba's eyes widened, and then he watched as Shano beckoned them all over. "Once you arrive at Branch 77's base, do this and that... and then just wait for me to return. Understand?"

"Yes, Boss!"

Barba shivered involuntarily. As expected of the boss, this was utterly ruthless, but it was also entirely justified, and he supported it wholeheartedly from the bottom of his heart.

***

Night fell, deepening gradually.

The moonlit sea rippled with shimmering light. The warship, its white sails unfurled, cleaved through the waves and sped at full throttle toward the 16th Branch base.

They had no inkling that outside their field of vision, a small boat had quietly trailed behind them at some point.

On the small boat.

Shano took a sip of liquor, his expression detached as he gazed at the vague little black dot in the distance.

He was a person who easily softened his heart, but once he hardened it and truly believed someone deserved to die, letting them walk away alive wasn't going to be so simple.

Nezumi fell squarely into that category.

Don't let today's display fool you—the man had been so terrified by a single threat that he nearly wet his pants.

Once he returned to his base, settled behind his desk, and reaccustomed himself to the feeling of holding a lofty position and barking orders, the resentment toward Shano would inevitably flood back tenfold.

Worse still, this fellow commanded the Marine branch closest to Cocoyasi Village; he was practically the local magistrate of his hometown.

Sitting in that position, the number of petty, sickening ways he could make life miserable for others was countless. And the moment Shano eventually left his hometown to truly take to the seas, who knew how the man might retaliate against Cocoyasi Village?

Better to strike first.

There was a saying: a thief is guarded against for a thousand days, but there is no such thing as being on guard against a thief for a thousand days.

After confirming the wind direction and ocean currents, Shano paid the warship ahead no further mind. He crossed his legs, sat down, and closed his eyes in silent meditation.

A warship's speed was simply not something his pathetic little boat could match. Continuing to trail them directly would only widen the distance until he lost them entirely, making an immediate strike impossible.

Still, the monk could run, but the temple couldn't. By tomorrow after sunset, both vessels would arrive successively at the 16th Branch Marine Base.

When that time came, under the cover of a moonless, windy night, there would be plenty of time.

***

Twenty-some hours flashed by.

Before the gates of East Blue's Branch 77.

The large ship formerly belonging to the Arlong Pirates—now renamed the Orange Grove by Shano—was docked safely inside the military harbor.

Accompanied by Nami, Nojiko, and the others who were looking around in wide-eyed wonder, Barba stepped off the ship. Before they even reached the shore, they were greeted by enthusiastic applause and a welcoming honor guard lining the path.

"You're awfully early, everyone! You've arrived several hours ahead of the time you gave over Den Den Mushi!"

A female colonel with a mohawk hairstyle strode forward with a hearty laugh, a cigarette dangling from her lips. "I'm Sophia, commander of the Branch 77 base. Welcome!"

"You're too kind." Barba hurriedly stepped forward to shake her hand. "Does this mean you've been waiting here for several hours yourself?"

"Not at all, I only just received word and rushed right over," Sophia replied truthfully, letting out a hearty laugh. "Though it is indeed right to be early. No amount of courtesy is too much when welcoming the heroes who exterminated the Arlong Pirates!"

"To be frank with you, ever since I got intelligence that the Arlong Pirates were operating nearby, I haven't been able to sleep a wink out of worry. I originally planned to join forces with Branch 16 and our colleagues at Branch 24 to the north, hoping to catch them off guard before they could prepare."

Sophia rubbed her temples with a troubled expression.

"Heaven knows what that newly appointed idiot at Branch 16 was thinking, though. He kept stammering and making all sorts of excuses to stall, dragging things out until we completely missed the optimal window for battle."