Under the eaves of the houses lining the village road.
The villagers stared blankly at the dismembered limbs scattered on the ground.
They first instinctively took a step back, then as if they understood something.
Their already numb pupils, like mirrors wiped clean of mist, began to flicker with the light of hope.
They watched Gu Yina pass by the corpses with excitement, not daring to make a sound.
They were afraid.
They feared that all of this before them was a dream.
This scene had appeared in their dreams countless times. Each time they woke up with excitement, only to be disappointed to find it was all fake.
This time, they knew clearly that it was not a dream, yet they still dared not easily break the silence around them.
Watching Gu Yina approach, A Jian was forced by the lingering killing intent on her to instinctively want to retreat.
Then he instantly came to his senses; the person before him was not a fish-man but their benefactor, and he had no reason to be afraid.
He shook his head and stared at Gu Yina with excitement.
As Gu Yina walked closer, Kota's eyes flashed with tenderness, and he reached out his right hand to wipe away a drop of blood that had accidentally splashed onto her face.
"Gu Yina, you've truly become a hero now!"
Only then did Gu Yina's cold expression soften, revealing a smile that bloomed like ten thousand flowers.
This smile not only illuminated A Jian's despairing heart but also the hearts of the surrounding villagers, who finally woke up from their daze.
Six whole years!
Although it was only six years, not a very long time.
But it felt like a lifetime!
In these six years, countless families and people had died at the hands of these brutal fish-men.
And now, they had finally found someone, a hero.
Her slaughter of the fish-men was as easy as killing fish on a chopping board.
They had waited for this moment for far too long.
A Jian stared at Gu Yina, trembling all over, an unimaginable surge of excitement welling up in his heart.
"Who... who exactly are you?"
"Us!..."
Kota, holding Gu Yina's hand, looked up at the excited eyes of the surrounding villagers.
"You can call us, partners in justice."
"Justice?"
"Justice?"
They hadn't felt justice from the Marines, but they felt it from these two strangers.
By the time they came to their senses, Kota and Gu Yina were already walking towards the outskirts of the village.
They watched the receding figures of Kota and Gu Yina from afar, their eyes filled with flames of hope, and shouted in unison.
"Please, you must defeat the Arlong Pirates!"
"Partners in justice..."
From a distance, they could feel the excitement emanating from them.
It was an emotion and impulse that had been suppressed for a long time, then erupted like a volcano.
Kota and Gu Yina, caught in the midst of it, felt an unprecedented sense of pleasure on a spiritual level.
Gu Yina squinted her eyes with enjoyment. This feeling of being anticipated, especially by so many people, was quite enchanting. Otherwise, so many people wouldn't want to be heroes.
Then she opened her eyes, turned around, and said solemnly to the villagers, whose eyes were filled with anticipation and hope.
"Don't worry! We'll risk our lives to completely annihilate the Arlong Pirates."
Her voice was not loud, but it clearly echoed in the ears of every villager.
Watching the two figures heading towards Arlong's territory in the distance, the villagers stood still for a long time.
They deeply remembered these two young people.
Especially the girl.
Her beauty, the cold and indifferent expression when she slaughtered the fish-men, and finally, the smile that shone into their hearts.
They prayed, praying that the girl would succeed in defeating Arlong, and praying that she would not be harmed.
Even if they ultimately failed to defeat Arlong.
They no longer wanted to endure the oppression of the Arlong Pirates.
Because the fish-men corpses scattered on the ground clearly told them that fish-men were not invincible.
This had completely unleashed the anger and shackles in their hearts.
...
On the road leading to Arlong Park, Gu Yina kept her head down, looking thoughtful.
Kota looked at Gu Yina with concern and asked, "What's wrong, Gu Yina?"
"Nothing, just some things I can't figure out."
"What is it? Tell me about it."
"When I first entered the village, I could clearly feel the villagers' fear and numbness."
"That kind of numbness wouldn't form overnight; it must have been caused by long-term oppression."
Gu Yina looked up at Kota and asked with confusion.
"But I can't understand."
"The East Blue is vast, but it's also small. How can one pirate crew, on human territory, treat humans like livestock and herd them for six years."
She furrowed her brow, a flicker of agitation in her eyes, and asked loudly.
"What about the Marines? The righteous Marines?"
Kota gently ruffled her hair and looked towards Arlong Park in the distance, a cold glint in his eyes, and said in a low voice.
"Don't think too highly of the higher-ups in the Marines. Their justice is mostly directed towards nobles; they don't care much about civilians."
"It's often the lowest-ranking and most numerous Marines who care most about civilians."
"But they don't have the authority or the strength to deal with these powerful pirates."
"So that's how it is!"
Gu Yina nodded, a look of sudden realization on her face.
"What about Marine Hero Garp? We grew up listening to his legends. Why didn't he come when such a heinous pirate crew appeared in our hometown?"
Gu Yina continued to ask with considerable anger.
In the East Blue, few people didn't admire Garp. After all, he was from their region, and he was known as a hero.
He was indeed the pride of most civilians and the Marines.
But even heroes have their hands tied at times.
Heroes must also abide by the rules, the rules of the Celestial Dragons and the World Government.
So, despite being a hero, Garp wasn't that free.
The New World needed him, Marine Headquarters needed him, and when powerful pirates appeared, they still needed him.
This guy was so busy that he even entrusted his grandchildren to mountain bandits, which resulted in both of his grandsons becoming pirates.
Of course, given Ace and Luffy's personalities, they might have become pirates even if Garp had raised them personally.
So being a hero wasn't easy.
If Garp hadn't refused to be promoted to Admiral, he probably wouldn't even have had time for his annual vacation to visit his grandchildren.
However, Kota didn't explain these things to Gu Yina. He simply said.
"Perhaps he simply didn't know! After all, he doesn't return to the East Blue very often, does he?"
"And...!"
"And what?"
"I also heard that the Arlong Pirates are colluding with the Marine Colonel 'Claw' of the nearby Marine Branch 16."
"This way, it prevents the Marines in other East Blue bases, who truly harbor justice, from obtaining information about this place and thus being unable to come to punish the Arlong Pirates."
Hearing this, a cold light flashed in Gu Yina's eyes. She gritted her teeth and said angrily.
"That Colonel Claw deserves to die."
Sometimes, enemies in the open are not as terrifying as those who help the enemy, commonly known as traitors.
Such people are often more brutal and hateful than the enemy.
They are all spineless cowards who bully the weak and fawn over the strong.
"Mhm!"
"Don't worry! Not a single one of them will escape."
A red light flashed in Kota's eyes. He had already sensed two groups of people inside Arlong Park.
Judging by their auras, they didn't seem like enemies.
Therefore, they could only be allies.
So that guy Claw should be in Arlong Park right now.
...