The thunderous strike was instant and unstoppable.
A massive golden lightning bolt just appeared out of nowhere and zapped Arlong from behind.
At the speed of light, there was no dodging it.
He was just... stuck.
With a deafening BOOM, the lightning bolt shot straight through his heart.
The raw power and heat left him smoking from head to toe.
His eyes rolled back into his head, and he collapsed face-first onto the ground.
…
"Whoa! Lightning attacks?! SO COOL!" Luffy stared at Nami with literal stars in his eyes.
"That stance! So majestic! So beautiful! I will be Nami-san's most loyal dog!" Sanji declared, already on one knee in front of her, his eyes replaced with hearts.
Zoro had looked pretty impressed at first, but seeing Sanji's ridiculous display, his face just twisted in disgust.
"Nice one, Nami!" Usopp cheered.
Everyone else had huge smiles of relief on their faces.
"Boss Nami is amazing!"
"Heh, our village has its very own war goddess now!"
"Hey Nami, how about you go on a date with my son sometime?"
"AHAHAHA!"
Laughter erupted all around.
Well, everyone except Sanji, who burst into actual flames and challenged this "son" to a duel... only to discover it was a six-year-old boy.
Sanji's face just froze: ⊙▽⊙
Seeing everyone so happy, Nami let out a long sigh of relief.
She put away her Clima-Tact and turned to Ray and Luffy.
"Thank you both," she said softly. "I've finally..."
Suddenly, a black, charred figure shot up behind her.
Even burnt to a crisp, he could still move with incredible speed.
Arlong opened his bloodthirsty mouth, aiming to sink his shark teeth right into Nami's neck.
She was too close.
Her weapon was already put away.
There was no time to block, no time to dodge.
"Damn it!"
Everyone's heart just stopped.
It felt like it leaped into their throat so hard they nearly passed out.
Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji were already moving, but they knew they wouldn't make it in time.
At that critical, heart-stopping moment...
A slender hand just slammed down on Arlong's head.
Ray let out a cold snort. "An ambush? You think you're qualified to pull that in front of me?"
With that, he just pushed.
He smashed Arlong's head straight into the ground with so much force it created a half-meter-wide crater.
Arlong's nose shattered and his skull cracked.
But what surprised Ray a little was that even with all that, the fishman still wasn't unconscious.
He was still struggling, trying to get up with the last ounce of his strength, like something was more important to him than his own life.
'Is it hatred?' Ray wondered.
He knew the story of why Arlong hated humans, but he never realized it ran this deep.
Even totally outmatched and on the brink of death, all he could think about was attacking.
That kind of deep-seated rage was actually terrifying.
"Arlong, your anger is misplaced!" Ray said, his voice sharp.
The moment he spoke, Arlong's struggles suddenly stopped.
In his hazy, fading consciousness, he remembered someone else.
A powerful, red-skinned fishman. A hero.
Fisher Tiger.
"Big... brother..."
With those words, Arlong finally passed out.
Ray looked down at his unconscious form.
"But you still have to pay for what you've done."
…
With Arlong's defeat, the battle was finally over.
The villagers crowded around the Straw Hats, thanking them over and over.
They were especially moved that Ray and Luffy had let Nami get her own revenge.
"What a wonderful crew."
"They're so strong, but so warm. Our Nami is going to be happy with them."
"And most importantly—he's so handsome, so mysterious, so cool, and so ruthless."
That last comment, of course, came from Nojiko.
As she said it, she was staring dreamily at the sky with a little bit of drool at the corner of her mouth.
"Ah, I'm so jealous of Nami."
Nami happened to walk up just in time to see her sister's reaction.
Seeing her so infatuated, Nami's first thought was that Ray must have taken his mask off.
But when she glanced over, his black-and-white mask was still firmly in place.
That's when Nami's expression went dark.
'Oh no,' she thought, a thick black line forming at her temple.
'She's actually, seriously fallen for Ray.'
Nojiko didn't even notice her, still fantasizing with a blush on her cheeks.
Nami couldn't take it anymore.
She grabbed her sister by the shoulders and started shaking her.
"Nojiko, snap out of it!" she yelled. "Don't fall into that pervert's trap!"
The yell was loud enough to snap Nojiko out of her daze, but it also got the villagers' imaginations running.
And, of course, Ray heard it too.
His calm expression instantly clouded over.
'A pervert's trap? Is she serious? Who is she calling a pervert? Do I really seem that vulgar?'
He silently swore to himself that as soon as they got back to the ship, Nami was getting extra training.
…
Ten minutes later, the villagers had tied up all the surviving fishmen.
Arlong, Hachi, Kuroobi, and Chu had all woken up and were tied up separately.
Ray had already broken all of Arlong's bones just to be safe, so there was no chance of another sneak attack.
The stage was set.
It was time for judgment!
Ray, Luffy, and the others stepped to the side, leaving the center of the space to Nami, Nojiko, and Genzo—the three people who had suffered the most.
A sea breeze swept through.
Ray looked at Nami and nodded in acknowledgment.
"Begin, don't be nervous. We're here with you."
Nami stood in the center, holding Genzo's and Nojiko's hands on either side.
She took a deep breath and slowly approached Arlong and the others.
The closer they got, the heavier the emotions weighing on the three of them.
Images of Bellemere being shot dead by Arlong flashed through each of their minds.
Then Nami spoke coldly.
"Arlong, death penalty!"
The judgment had been declared, yet Arlong showed no fear, still glaring at Nami with hatred in his eyes.
Even with every bone in his body broken, Arlong refused to bow to humans.
"Sha-ha-ha-ha, Nami, I won't accept dying by your hand. If I had another chance, I'd still kill all humans! Humans deserve to die!"
Nami frowned and released Genzo and Nojiko's hands.
She pulled out her Clima-Tact, twisted open the spear tip from the rod's end, and prepared to end Arlong.
Seeing this, Kuroobi and Chuu struggled violently, trying to break free from their ropes.
They both cursed Nami as a traitor.
Hachi's reaction differed from the other two.
He used all his strength to bow his head to the ground, begging Nami to spare Arlong's life.
Arlong grinned widely.
"If Nami can betray us today, she can betray you in the future."
"Ha-ha-ha, it will happen! You'll surely follow in our footsteps!"
Kuroobi and Chuu joined in agreement.
These guys, even in their final moments, tried to slander Nami and create discord within the Straw Hat Pirates.
But he overthought it—the Straw Hat crew members felt nothing about his attempt to sow discord.
Only Hachi continued trying to kowtow, repeatedly begging Nami to spare Arlong, offering to die in Arlong's place.
...
Zoro and Sanji stepped forward and gagged Kuroobi and Chuu.
Ray felt somewhat emotional.
Arlong's hatred drove him to use every possible method to attack humans before his death—if not with physical strength, then with words.
But he underestimated the level of trust among the Straw Hat Pirates' members.
At that moment, Nami muttered to herself.
"Arlong, I know there are things you'd give your life to accomplish. But the murder of my mother is an unforgivable sins. You can pursue your dreams in your next life."
With that, Nami stepped forward, ignoring Hachi's desperate pleas.
She put strength into her arm and stabbed straight into Arlong's heart.
And just like that, the most evil man in the East Blue, Arlong with a 20 million Belly bounty, was dead.
----------------------------
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