"Isn't it only natural for the Navy to confiscate the bodies of pirates?"
The rat fiddled with the safety of his gun, speaking sinisterly, "You little brat, you've been uncooperative, sneaky, and have had a bad attitude this whole time. Now I suspect that you're hiding something shady too. Maybe you're carrying out some unspeakable crime. Men! Seal this group and the entire ship! Bring them all back for a good inspection and interrogation!"
"Colonel, sir!"
The adjutant beside him couldn't help but speak up, "Isn't this... a little too much…?"
"Shut up! Are you the officer, or am I?"
The rat, enraged, swung his hand back and slapped the adjutant hard across the face. The adjutant lowered his head and didn't dare say another word.
When the rat turned back, he saw Shano looking at him as if he were an idiot.
"Are you... brain-damaged or something?" Shano said plainly.
"Huh?" The rat was stunned, then immediately flew into a rage. "You dare insult a Navy officer!? You're tired of living, aren't you!"
"You see? Still not getting it."
Shano sighed lightly and flexed his right hand a little. "Here's the real question: you're so afraid of the Arlong Pirates that you didn't dare to provoke them — you only showed up to scavenge after they were dead."
"Then tell me — where exactly did you get the guts to come and mess with someone even stronger than them?"
"Or is it because I'm just a commoner, so you thought I wouldn't resist, that I would obediently let you do whatever you wanted?"
By the shore, there was a giant boulder, four or five meters tall, carved with the words: "Cocoyashi Village, this way."
Shano casually grabbed it — the huge rock rumbled as it was lifted from the ground. He weighed it in his hand, and under the rat's look of disbelief, hurled it toward the Navy warship!
Whoosh—BOOM!!
Just as the boulder was about to crash into the top of the mast, Shano lazily raised a finger and flicked out a shot of compressed air.
CRACK!
The giant stone exploded in the air above the ship, turning into a rain of fine powder that sprinkled down.
"This..."
The sailors remaining on the deck all stood frozen with their heads tilted back, dumbfounded.
As for the rat, his mouth hung open so wide you could fit half a Chopper in it.
"Forgot to tell you,"
Shano smiled, "The entire Arlong Pirates didn't even last twenty minutes against me."
"I wonder how long a Navy colonel like you, along with all your sailors, could last?"
The rat trembled violently, finally snapping back to his senses.
At this moment, he finally realized:
— The man standing in front of him wasn't just some strong villager, but someone way more terrifying than Arlong, several times over!
"M-misunderstanding!"
The rat's face twitched uncontrollably as he forced out a smile uglier than crying, "M-misunderstanding! Please, go wherever you want! We wouldn't dare to stop you! We're leaving now, right now!"
After blurting this out, he turned and fled toward the warship, nearly losing a shoe in his panic. He didn't even bother to fix it, stumbling the whole way until he vanished into the ship's cabin.
Like an ostrich burying its head in the sand, once he couldn't see Shano, he finally relaxed a little. From behind the door came his sharp, trembling shout:
"What are you idiots waiting for!? Set sail immediately! Head back to base!"
Hahahaha!
The villagers watching from afar burst into loud laughter.
The sailors all lowered their heads, ashamed, as they lined up onto the deck.
The adjutant, too, sighed deeply, pulling his collar up to hide half his face.
"Having a superior like that..."
Scarface leaned against the railing and clicked his tongue in pity. "Probably makes you feel inferior even among other branches."
Then he turned to Shano, who was stepping onto the deck.
"Boss, should we head out too?"
"No, you guys go first."
Shano shook his head lightly and glanced toward the direction the Navy ship had fled.
"I still have a little matter to take care of."
You're going to...?
Scarface's eyes widened.
Then Shano waved him over and whispered a few instructions, "When you get to the 77th branch base, do this and that... then wait for me to return. Got it?"
"Yes, Boss!"
Scarface shivered.
As expected of the boss — ruthless!
But honestly, he fully agreed from the bottom of his heart.
...
Night deepened.
Under the moonlight, the sea shimmered.
The Navy warship, its white sails full, cut across the waves, speeding toward the 16th branch base.
They didn't notice that, far behind them, out of their sight, a small boat was quietly following.
On the small boat—
Shano took a sip of liquor, his face calm, eyes coldly watching the distant black dot.
He was someone who easily softened.
But once he hardened his heart, once he truly decided that someone deserved death, it wasn't easy to spare them again.
The rat was one such person.
Don't be fooled by how he had been scared to death with just a few threats today.
Once he got back to base, sat behind his desk, and enjoyed the feeling of giving orders from a position of power again, his resentment would inevitably explode.
And this man was the nearest Navy officer to Cocoyashi Village — almost like a local governor.
Sitting in that position, the number of underhanded ways he could secretly make life miserable was countless.
Once Shano officially left his hometown to sail the seas, who knew how much revenge this rat would exact on Cocoyashi Village?
Better to strike first.
After all, there's an old saying:
It's easy to catch a thief for a day, but impossible to guard against one forever.
Shano checked the wind and current direction again, then sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and quietly meditated.
The Navy warship's speed was far beyond his little boat's.
If he tried to catch up now, he would only fall farther behind.
He had no choice but to wait.
But it didn't matter.
Even if the monk could escape, the temple couldn't.
Tomorrow at sunset, the two ships would reach the 16th branch base one after another.
By then, under the cover of night...
There would be plenty of time.
...
More than twenty hours later—
In front of the East Blue 77th branch base.
The large ship that once belonged to the Arlong Pirates, now renamed the "Orange Garden", was docked at the naval port.
Scarface led Nami, Nojiko, and the others off the ship, curious and looking around.
Before they even reached the dock, they were greeted with enthusiastic applause and a lineup of welcoming sailors.
"You all arrived early! Several hours earlier than scheduled!"
A woman with a mohawk hairstyle, a cigarette dangling from her lips, strode forward with a hearty laugh.
"I'm Sofia, the base commander of the 77th branch. Welcome!"
"You're too kind!"
Scarface quickly stepped forward and shook hands.
"But doesn't that mean you've been waiting here for several hours too?"
"Not at all — I just got the message and rushed over."
Sofia laughed openly.
"But honestly, I should have come even earlier. No amount of respect is too much for the heroes who defeated the Arlong Pirates!"
"To tell you the truth, ever since I heard the Arlong Pirates were nearby, I couldn't sleep well.
I had even thought about contacting the 16th branch and the 24th branch up north to launch a surprise attack while they were off guard."
Sofia rubbed her temples with some frustration.
"But who would've thought? The guy newly appointed at the 16th branch kept stalling, making excuses.
Because of that, we missed the best opportunity to strike."