"It's late. He's already here," Qin Chuan said with a slight smile as he stood up and stretched.
Beside him, Douglas Barrett downed his rum in one gulp and slammed the wooden mug down.
Together, the two stepped out of the tavern.
The street outside was eerily silent. At the far end, a group of Fishmen blocked the road with weapons in hand. The entire town had been sealed off.
"A lockdown? This pirate crew's acting pretty bold," Barrett sneered.
"Let's go." Qin Chuan patted him on the shoulder, and they began walking calmly toward the port.
"Stop right there! One more step and we'll show you no mercy!" a sharp-mouthed Fishman shouted, raising a spear.
In the next instant, Barrett moved.
With no suspense, a few more corpses dropped where the guards had stood.
From the windows of nearby houses, villagers witnessed everything. They gasped. To them, Arlong was a devil—but the man they'd just seen was something far beyond a devil.
As the two approached the port, a pirate flag came into view—two skulls crossed like blades and a red shark emblem with a jagged snout emblazoned in the center.
"Quick response," Qin Chuan said with a smirk.
"Let's just say we're doing charity work for the Navy," Barrett chuckled. "Maybe someday we'll win an award for 'Good Pirates.'"
The pirate ship docked, and more than ten pirates leapt off. Leading them was a tall Fishman with a long, jagged nose and an open shirt.
His bare chest bore the Sun Pirates' mark, and the left forearm was inked with the Dragon Pirates' emblem.
This was Arlong, captain of the Dragon Pirates.
To his left stood a round-faced Fishman with six arms, twin trumpet-like mouths, silver-gray hair, and a kind look—Hatchan, one of Arlong's top men. He bore the Sun Pirates' mark on his forehead.
On the right was a burly, cartilage-skinned Fishman with two sharp conical horns protruding from his head and the Sun Pirates' symbol on his chest—Croobi, another cadre of the crew.
Behind them stood a row of young pirates from the Dragon crew, posturing like wolves.
"What the hell are you two? You dare cause trouble in my territory? You must be tired of living!" Arlong snarled as he stepped onto the dock.
"I'm Douglas Barrett. Heard of me?" Barrett asked calmly.
"Barrett?" Arlong froze.
He had read today's World Journal. The headline was still fresh in his mind—Douglas Barrett, the legendary monster from the Roger Era, had broken out of Impel Down with a mysterious youth.
Now, standing before him, was that very pair.
Arlong swallowed hard. He had ruled over weak, helpless villages, but now he faced two walking calamities.
"Boss, want me to finish them?" Croobi asked coldly. He hadn't read the paper and didn't know who Barrett was. He didn't even sense the pressure radiating off the man.
Hearing Croobi's suggestion, Arlong's face turned green.
But he couldn't back down—not in front of his subordinates.
He forced a grin. "What are you two here for?"
"Nothing much," Qin Chuan said coolly, arms crossed. "We came for a drink. Then one of your boys started barking about Dragon Pirates, and well... here we are."
"Then maybe it's a misunderstanding. Why don't you two move along? I'm not in the mood to fight today," Arlong offered cautiously.
He hoped they'd just leave, let him save face, and vanish from this nightmare.
But he was hoping too much.
"Leave?" Qin Chuan's voice turned icy. "Kneel and give me three knocks. Then we'll talk."
The air froze.
Even Qin Chuan couldn't stomach what Arlong had been doing to the villagers—extortion, oppression, terror. And now the bastard wanted to walk away like nothing happened?
Arlong's face twisted. "Three... what?"
Croobi had heard enough.
With a roar, he lunged at Qin Chuan, fist cocked.
Qin Chuan didn't flinch. He stood there, smiling.
As Croobi's punch closed in—ten centimeters from Qin Chuan's face—it stopped dead in the air, as if hitting an invisible wall.
His body froze, and blood spurted from his mouth. His eyes widened in disbelief as he looked down.
A fist—Qin Chuan's—had struck him clean in the gut.
Before he could speak, he collapsed, too weak to make a sound.