East Blue.

Cocoyashi Village.

"Scum, hahahaha! Lowly humans are born to be dominated by fish-men."

"You'll be the first one punished by Lord Arlong... for your pathetic love."

Arlong, with his jagged nose, placed a gun against the forehead of a human woman, one hand on his hip.

"Nami, Nojiko... I care about you."

Arlong pressed the gun to Bell-mère's head, laughing cruelly. "Scum, hahahaha! Under my rule, those without money will perish!"

"You understand now!! Inferior beings!"

The villagers around them displayed a mixture of fear and disdain.

"Huh... If you truly love them, shouldn't you protect them?"

On the path in the distance, a figure slowly approached the crowd, wielding a long knife.

Bell-mère, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, resigned to her fate, but this nonchalant voice felt like a heavy blow to her heart.

"Inferior..."

Thunk!

Before Arlong could finish his sentence, a flash of white light blinded everyone, followed by the sight of a massive arm soaring through the air.

"Damn it! Damn it all!"

Blood gushed from the severed limb. Before the fish-men and villagers could react, Dylan kicked Arlong to the ground and pressed Kitetsu against his chest.

"Superior race? Huh?"

A salmon fish-man holding a wine bottle witnessed Arlong's swift defeat and shouted, "Hey, you bastard! Our elder brother is Jinbei!"

Upon hearing this, Arlong's eyes widened. "Don't speak his name! We don't need to rely on that traitor's reputation!"

Arlong spat blood, refusing to yield. "Scum... scum, hahaha! Do you really think you can make the great fish-man surrender like this?"

Dylan smirked, his energy surging down the knife's handle. A visible ripple spread out, and the force pressed Arlong's body directly into the ground.

"The Arlong Pirates attacked human villages and towns, killing civilians. All members... were executed!"

As a black shadow, almost imperceptible to the naked eye, darted around, a subtle slicing sound filled the air. When the surrounding noise subsided, only Arlong and an octopus, knocked into the ground by Dylan, remained intact. The rest of the Evil Dragon Pirates lay in pieces on the ground.

The air filled with the scent of blood mixed with the fish-men's distinct fishy odor.

"Hey, octopus. Jinbei's name won't save you."

Hachi, the octopus fishman, was speechless in surprise, his mouth shaped like a trumpet: "New...you...you..."

Seeing the frightened octopus with no fighting spirit, Dylan turned around and ignored him, carrying the bloody Kitetsu back to Arlong.

"What should we do? A higher race... how about you buy your life with money?"

"How much is the life of your hairtail fish worth? Five pele or ten pele? Huh?"

"You bastard! Despicable human being!! The fishman will not give in!"

Bang bang~

Dylan inserted Kitetsu next to Arlong's neck and clapped.

"What an admirable courage, but a pity..."

Dylan held the Kitetsu knife handle with his backhand.

Black-red sword light rose from the ground.

Except for his head, Arlong's body disappeared instantly.

"I won't accept this!"

Octopus Hachi, who was standing not far away, was frightened by the sharp edge that shot into the sky, and other humans also showed shocked expressions.

"Hey! Octopus ,"

Dylan raised his foot and kicked Arlong's head towards Hachi.

Seeing the ferocious head flying over, Octopus Hachi subconsciously wanted to avoid it, but his body froze in Dylan's eyes, and then he reached out blankly to catch Arlong's still angry head.

"Go back to The Fish Men Island and tell the bastards in Fish Men Street."

Kitetsu returned to its sheath, its sharpness gone.

"If I encounter even one so-called 'advanced race' on the sea again... I will raze your Fishman Street!"

After the crowd disposed of the corpses of the Arlong Pirates, everyone else left. Only Ken and Bell-mère, mother and daughter, stayed where they were and looked at the young man sitting on the stone.

"Are you... are you... Marine?" Ken swallowed and looked at the tall young man in white. Although he didn't attack humans, the aura he exuded just now almost made them faint.

"Ah...yes, I'm with the Marines." Dylan crossed his legs and placed Kitetsu under the orange tree next to him.

"So... may I ask who you are..."

"Looking for someone," Dylan looked up at Bell-mère, who had pink hair.

Bell-mère noticed the way he looked at her and glanced at Dylan in surprise: "You came to see me?"

"Well," Dylan leaned against the orange tree and gently held Kitetsu's scabbard, "On behalf of myself, I invite you to join my team and return to the Marines."

"I..." Bell-mère, who had been retired for nearly 10 years, was in a bit of a dilemma. She had been away from the battlefield for too long, and Nami and Nojiko were still young.

"I am a Marine, not a pirate. I will not force you, nor will I use kindness to coerce you. After all, it is the duty of the Marines to protect civilians, isn't it?"

Bell-mère hesitated for a moment, glanced at her frightened daughters beside her, and then spoke after pondering, "Then I..."

"Join in!"

There was a loud shout from the side.

"You must join! Mel, I know this is your dream. Nami and Nojiko will be taken care of by me and the people in the village," Jian, the village guard, exclaimed. "Follow your dreams! Mel, when you become stronger, remember to protect the village."

Even the older Nojiko reacted. Though she was in tears, she still tugged on the corner of Nami's clothes, walked up to Bell-mère, and hugged her.

"Aunt Mei, thank you for raising us up. Remember to come back to see us often when you return to the Marines," Nojiko said, her voice choked with emotion.

Nami also raised her little face and looked at Bell-mère. "When I grow up, can I take Aunt Mei's warship to draw navigation charts?"

Bell-mère knelt down and hugged her two thin daughters tightly, then turned to look at Jian. "What do you mean by protecting the village? Isn't this a man's job?"

"This is not like you, Mel. Didn't you say that women should be full of courage?" Jian laughed, a look of relief on his face. "Hey, let me tell you, I went to be a Marine, not to go to Impel Down and go to jail. You don't have to make the atmosphere so sad. You can always come back."

Dylan couldn't stand the emotional scene any longer and interrupted their farewell as if it were a matter of life and death.

Bell-mère, tears streaming down her face, managed a smile. "That's right. With a powerful man like you as my superior, it would be very difficult for me to die."

She gently patted her two little sisters on the back, signaling for them to let go of her, and then stood up. "Then, may I ask why you chose me?"

Dylan smacked his lips and smiled at Bell-mère. "Pirates need companions, and of course, the Marines do too. As for why you... it's because of your 'courage'. I believe this is your most unparalleled potential."

Bulu Bulu~ Bulu Bulu~

"Hi, I'm Dylan."

"Ah, have you arrived in East Blue yet? Rhodes' head has been sent back to headquarters for verification. Additionally, the headquarters has re-evaluated your merits in East Blue. Congratulations, Dylan, you're now a Rear Admiral."

"Hmm... Rear Admiral... just so-so."

"Are you unhappy? That's quite nerve-wracking. By the way, didn't the phone bug mention that you encountered someone from the Charlotte family? How's it going?"

Bell-mère, hearing Aokiji's nonchalant tone from the other end of the line, felt a wave of panic. Could this man communicate directly with the Admiral at Headquarters?

"I cut him down, but I let him go."

"Let him go?"

Dylan stood up, Kitetsu resting on his shoulders. "Yes, I let him go. Now isn't a good time to start a war with the pirates in the New World, so I made a deal with Linlin and she bought back her son."

"...,"

There was a silence on the other end of the phone, and Aokiji's voice returned after a long pause. "You don't need to tell me about these things."

Dylan chuckled. "Are you going to report me to Sengoku? If I were to return with Dafu's head, Sengoku would go crazy."

"Ah... you really understand Sengoku-san. Forget it, just let him go. But won't the Charlotte family leak this?"

"Don't worry, if the news leaks, I'll be expelled from the Marines at most. But the Charlotte family will be embarrassed in front of other big pirates. They won't disclose it, and Crocodile isn't foolish enough to do so."

"It's good that you understand. By the way, you're a Rear Admiral now. Come back as soon as you've dealt with matters in East Blue and take my place..."

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