The thorny forest surrounding the island, if viewed from above, reveals brambles stretching a thousand meters out from the island's edge. The density is so high that not even a mouse could get through—the gaps between the thorns are simply too narrow.
The only ships capable of entering or exiting this island are medium-sized sailboats like the Going Merry. Larger vessels can't reach the island's coast.
Upon arriving at the shore, there's yet another barrier of thorns. The path from the coast to the village is completely overgrown, allowing only three people to walk side-by-side at a time. Any more, and they'd be shredded by the thorns.
After finishing his work, Shin'ya looked at the people of Cocoyasi Village and said, "You are all people Nami cares about. To make sure she can set sail with us without worry, this thorny forest will protect you. Form a watch team yourselves and guard the village. The path from the coast to here only fits three people at a time. If pirates come, you can ambush and finish them off in the corridor. And don't worry about cannon fire—those thorns are too tough to be blasted through."
Nami's eyes welled with gratitude upon hearing that the thorns were meant to protect her home. "Thank you, Shin'ya."
"It's nothing—we're partners," Shin'ya replied, then turned to Luffy and the others. "You can go in now. There's no way they're escaping. The island is covered in thorns for a full kilometer—land, sea, and even air. Not even a mouse could get out."
"I'll break the door." Shin'ya declared as he launched a powerful kick at the large steel door. With a loud bang, the door flew straight toward Arlong's face.
Three minutes earlier…
When Luffy and the crew arrived, Arlong had already heard the commotion. And since the men he sent to collect Berries hadn't returned, he guessed the villagers were rebelling.
Still, Arlong wasn't fazed. He believed his fish-men could crush any rebellion with ease. He pulled up a stool and sat right in front of the main gate, planning to intimidate whoever dared to come in.
Two minutes passed.
No one entered. Arlong grew even more disdainful.
"They're all cowards. Standing at the door too afraid to walk in. Trash," he sneered to himself.
Snacking on some fruit, he decided to wait and watch.
Just as he bit into a slice of watermelon, a voice outside shouted, "Sky-Piercing Kick!" He frowned. What kind of guy needs to name a kick to break down a door?
Before the thought finished, the steel door came crashing through at blinding speed. Arlong had no time to react.
The impact was spectacular.
Back to when Shin'ya kicked the door…
The people outside heard a scream—"Ahhh!"—followed by sickening bone cracks. Arlong was sent flying into a wall, blood gushing from his mouth. The door frame had crushed his arm, and from the sound, most of his chest was shattered. He was done for.
All the fish-men rushed over. "Boss Arlong! Are you okay?! Don't die!"
"Uh… why were you sitting right in front of the door?" Shin'ya asked, face full of exasperated lines.
Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Nami, and the others looked at Arlong with expressions straight out of the 'subway old man' meme.
Seeing Arlong's state, Kuroobi and Hachi lost it.
"Brothers! Avenge Boss Arlong! Kill them! Charge!"
But... no one else moved.
Halfway into their charge, they realized they were alone. Turning back, fury filled their eyes.
"Why aren't you coming?! Boss Arlong always treated you well! Now he's beaten to a pulp and you won't fight?!"
Fish-man A: "Kuroobi, we can't beat them."
Fish-man B: "Yeah, they kicked a door into Boss Arlong. If they hit us, we'll die."
Fish-man C: "I tried to escape through the pool, but even the waterway's blocked by those thorny trees. I broke my knife on them. Not even a scratch."
Fish-man D: "Let's just surrender. Better to land in Impel Down than be dead."
That's when Luffy and the others jumped in.
Luffy: "Surrendering won't save you! You bullied our navigator, Nami! Even if you surrender, I'm still beating you up!"
Sanji: "That's right! Touching my sweet Nami-chan? You're getting turned into sashimi!"
"What are you two blabbering about? I'm going first!" Zoro yelled, drawing his swords. "Three-Sword Style: Oni Giri! One-Sword Style: Flying Dragon Blaze! Iai: Lion's Song!" With zero martial restraint, Zoro launched his strongest techniques right away, cutting into the crowd of fish-men.
"Zoro! You didn't wait for us! Gum-Gum Machine Gun! Gum-Gum Whip!" Luffy charged in next.
"They're just small fry, whatever." Sanji followed, spinning kicks blazing.
Nami and Usopp, meanwhile, were chilling on a bench Shin'ya had created with Wood Release, watching the chaos.
As the others fought, Shin'ya went to the room Nami hated—the drawing room in Arlong Park. One "Power Punch," and the whole building collapsed.
Half an hour later…
Every fish-man except Hachi (whom Nami spared because he sometimes helped her) was left unconscious or worse.
Arlong, still stuck in the wall and spitting blood, could only watch his crew get decimated.
"Hachi… leave the East Blue. I don't want to see you fish-men here again. Thanks for helping… but I still hate you all," Nami said coldly.
And just like that, the Arlong Pirates were no more.
As Hachi made his way to the sea to head toward the Grand Line, a Marine warship slowly approached Cocoyasi Village.
Onboard, a soldier knocked on Captain Nezumi's door.
"Report! Cocoyasi Island is surrounded by some kind of thorny growth. A full kilometer out. Only one narrow opening—too small for the warship to pass."
"What?! It wasn't like that before! Let's go look!" Nezumi rushed out to the deck.
He froze as he stared at the island now encased in a wall of thorns.
A moment later, he barked orders. "Fire the cannons at those thorns!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
From the crow's nest, a Marine with a telescope reported, "Captain! No effect! The thorns didn't even flinch!"
"Lower the small boats. Leave a few to guard the ship. The rest, we're going in," Nezumi commanded.
At Nami's house, the crew was just settling down when the explosions began.
Genzo's face twisted in rage. "That bastard Nezumi! He's from Marine Branch 16. He's in league with Arlong. This must be about the Berries. A Marine working with pirates to oppress us!"
"Let's go, Luffy. Handle it. If you take them out, no one will blame you—not for these scumbags," Shin'ya said.
At the coast…
While they waited, Genzo filled them in on Nezumi and Branch 16's corruption.
Luffy and the others, still furious, now burned with rage again.
Zoro: "No wonder Arlong got away with ruling for so long."
Sanji: "Right. If we leave them, someone else will just come. Even with Shin'ya's thorns, they could eventually break through—guns, explosives, sacrifices…"
Usopp: "Yeah. The villagers have no weapons. If Nezumi isn't dealt with, this place stays in danger."
"Then we crush them. No more scumbags like this allowed to live," Luffy said with fire in his eyes.
Eventually, a dozen Marine boats arrived. Nezumi disembarked and barked, "Why are you standing there?! Disperse! Where's Arlong?!"
Sanji laughed. "Arlong? Oh, he died a few minutes before your cannons started firing. If you wanna see him, try Hell."
"That's impossible! You can't defeat Arlong! He's a fish-man!" Nezumi snapped. "Move aside! I'm going to Arlong Park!"
"Go ahead. We'll walk with you," Shin'ya said.
Luffy and Nami stayed silent—but their gazes said everything.
The fish-men corpses were still lying all over the park.
---
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