Two days later in the early morning.
Ken hummed a tune as he walked along the field ridge outside the village entrance, pushing his bike. The weather was comfortable and just right for a patrol.
Suddenly a strong wind gusted by, sending his wide-brimmed police hat flying. He hurriedly parked his bike and bent down to retrieve it.
The little pinwheel got wet again, and it took him a while to clean it. Feeling a bit frustrated, Ken put it back on.
He had just made a new one last night. The one he made a year ago mysteriously disappeared just a few days ago without a trace.
Why is this happening, and who on earth would keep targeting a worthless little pinwheel?
Ken still couldn't figure it out after all this time.
As he straightened up, he suddenly saw, in the distance, a few kids who often played by the dock running anxiously towards him, frequently glancing back as they ran.
Upon seeing him, they urgently shouted, "Uncle Ken! Something's wrong, something's wrong!"
"Pirates! There's a pirate ship at the dock over there!"
What?!
Ken was shocked, quickly straddling his bike, "I'll go check it out. You guys go to the village and tell everybody to hide up the mountain..."
Wait, the mountain?
He suddenly froze, realizing that Cocoyashi Village was no longer in an era where any random pirates could easily overrun them.
In the mountains, there was quite a frightening figure guarding them!
"Gather any adults you meet on the way and go find Shano!" He immediately corrected himself, "Have him hurry over to the dock. This is urgent, no delay, do you hear me?"
"Got it, Uncle Ken!"
Ken watched the kids run off into the distance before he continued pedaling his bike towards the dock, biting his lip with a slight unease lingering in his heart.
Cocoyashi Village had been peaceful for many years. This time, what level of pirates are coming?
What if, by terrible luck, it turns out to be one of the most powerful pirate gangs in the East Sea?
Can Shano really hold them off?
......
Deep in the mountains.
A black-haired youth was wielding a several-ton-heavy giant tree as if it were a Golden Cudgel, having a grand time swinging it around when he suddenly caught sight of a white figure passing swiftly across the sky out of the corner of his eye.
"Moonwalk!"
— Swish!
Shano leapt into the air, reaching the mid-sky in a few flashes, intercepting the News Bird.
"Gah!!!"
The News Bird squawked in fright, its feathers ruffled all over.
It was responsible for this area of the East Sea and had only heard from its companions about humans who could fly over in the Grand Line, but had never witnessed it itself!
"A newspaper for today, please." Shano flicked his finger, and a 50 Belly coin fell right into the pouch around its neck.
With the Great Success of Moonwalk, he could stay afloat for a few seconds, but just managed to retrieve the newspaper before his body began plummeting downward.
The News Bird picked up the coin, staring dumbfoundedly at the descending figure.
— This guy actually has the leisure to open and read a newspaper, isn't he afraid of falling to his death?
"Princess Otohime assassinated?"
Shano stared at the headline on the front page without moving, allowing his body to free fall.
Moments later, he crashed heavily onto the mountaintop, creating a gigantic crater with dust and debris scattering all around.
As the dust settled, he finished reading the report, furrowing his brow.
So it turns out Ah Long arrived at the East Sea and the incident with Hody Jones killing Princess Otohime happened in the same year?
Two generations of scum... no, fish scum, truly continuing the tradition, committing evil deeds in unison.
He folded the newspaper, and stepped out of the crater he had created, approaching the southern edge where he had repeatedly looked out towards the dock countless times over the past year as a habit.
"Ah Long, Ah Long, why aren't you here yet..." he murmured almost instinctively.
But the next moment, his gaze suddenly sharpened, stunned in place.
At the far end of the sea horizon, a massive pirate ship emerged from nowhere, heading towards the dock.
Beneath the billowing skull flag, the prow of the ship shaped like a shark's saw looked menacing.
The sea breeze swept by, the silhouette on the mountaintop remained still and silent.
Finally, after a long pause.
"Ah Long..."
A voice that seemed both crying and laughing finally full of resentment came out. His body relaxed, his entire musculature emitting a chilling creaking and trembling sound, "So you've finally come..."
"I really, really missed you..."
As soon as these words fell.
Crack, crack, as his arches gradually tightened, countless cobweb-like cracks suddenly spread along the mountainside from beneath his feet, and the entire cliff groaned as if bearing an unbearable burden.
Boom——!!!
The next instant, the air suddenly exploded with ripples, the enormous muscular figure vanished instantly, and the cliff collapsed completely.
Reappearing, he was now tens of meters away atop a coconut tree, the trunk bowing taut like a drawn bow, propelling him fiercely into the distance once more!
......
Thud!
With a crashing sound, the Shark Spab forcefully docked at the pier, mercilessly crushing the wooden planks into smithereens.
Step by step, dozens of extraordinarily burly figures leisurely descended from the ship, treading upon the scattered debris to land.
"So this is Cocoyashi Village?"
Looking at the village in the distance with smoke curling up, Qiu, the fishman with the lip mask, raised an eyebrow:
"It seems a lot larger than it looked on the Nautical Chart. Judging by the looks, if we search thoroughly, we might still be able to squeeze out quite a bit of money, chu~mi~"
"I find it disappointing."
Another officer, Croobi, with an indifferent expression, crossed his arms and said flatly:
"No surprises at all. I haven't stretched my muscles in a while, but in this rural little village, finding someone qualified to go toe to toe with me is practically impossible."
Wearing a navy blue outfit, with muscles bulging and a black belt representing a karate rank around his waist, and hair tied into two small horns, he looked quite daunting.
Clap.
A large purple hand suddenly landed on the shoulders of the two fishman officers.
"Shaha—hahaha—! Enough of this nonsense, little ones."
Ah Long bared his teeth in a grin, revealing a mouthful of fangs, "We've set foot on land, now it's time to follow me and shout the declaration of our Ah Long Pirates."
He suddenly spread his arms wide, and behind him, the fishman pirates began jeering and drawing their swords.
"Pathetic little humans!"
Ah Long laughed wildly towards the distant village, "From now on, this village... no! This entire island will be under our rule!!!"
"Shaha—hahaha—!!!"
Amidst rampant laughter, the Ah Long Pirates stepped off the dock and headed towards the village with large strides.
Only, just after rounding a bend.
They found four fallen coconut trees laid horizontally across each other, conveniently blocking the road to the village.
"Hmm? Was this done by someone?"
Croobi squinted his eyes with a snicker, "Are they scared to death at the sight of a pirate ship, naive! Thinking something like this could block our path?"
"Look closely, someone's sitting on top, chu~mi~"
Qiu next to him chuckled, looking at the figure in black sitting atop the tree trunk.
"Hey, young man, are you planning to protect your village all by yourself? Well, I have to say, that kind of courage is truly commendable!"
The figure had been sitting silently, head bowed, clenching his fists trembling slightly, seemingly doing his best to conquer his fear.
At the sound of the compliment, he finally looked up, revealing a clear, clean young face.
Amidst the mocking gazes of the many fishmen, he gave an embarrassed and shy smile:
"...Thank you."