Loli A left the coffee money and a tip on the table before stepping out of the Mermaid Cafe. Outside, she happened upon Otohime, flanked by her royal guards, pulling at a Carp Fish-Man. "Please, sign this! Commit to living in harmony with humans and let us bridge the gap between our races!"
"Give me a break, Your Highness!" The Carp Fish-Man waved her off dismissively.
If anyone else spent all day spouting such rhetoric, these Fish-Men would have kicked them into the sea long ago. But because Otohime was so beloved by the people, the residents of New Fish-Man Island chose to "flee" rather than confront her.
"Not a single signature again today."
Otohime sighed helplessly, letting the man go. But a moment later, she clenched her fists and encouraged herself: "I won't give up! I will break the barrier between Fish-Men and humans and ensure our race truly integrates into the world."
Watching Otohime, Loli A simply let out a faint smile. Though the dream was impractical, it wasn't entirely impossible; such a person only deserved to be mocked once. In contrast, she felt that someone like Big Mom, who possessed raw power but lacked any ambition beyond base survival, was far more deserving of ridicule.
"Move! Out of the way!"
Suddenly, several pirates came charging through the crowd from a distance. The leader had his left hand clamped around a mermaid's neck while his right hand fired a pistol into the air, forcing the surrounding residents to scramble back in terror.
"Pirates!?"
"No way! On the old Fish-Man Island, maybe, but this is New Fish-Man Island!" the residents on the street cried out in disbelief.
What kind of place was this?
It was the territory of the Immortal Pirates, flying the flag of the Whitebeard Pirates. The combined might of the two strongest pirate crews in the world was concentrated here. That fact alone should have been enough to scare off nearly every pirate in existence. But as the situation proved, there would always be fools who valued money over their own lives.
Initially, Loli A thought they were just third-rate thugs lusting after a mermaid's high market value. But upon closer inspection, she realized that after snatching the mermaid, they didn't try to flee. Instead, they charged straight toward Otohime and her royal guard.
"Out of the way!" the lead pirate roared. In the next breath, he actually aimed his gun at Otohime.
"Seize them!" A Seahorse Fish-Man barked an order, and the guards immediately formed a protective circle around the Queen. A group of Seahorse guards then surrounded the five pirates.
"Release the mermaid and surrender for arrest!" the lead guard shouted, brandishing his trident.
The slaver pirate looked at the surrounding forces and suddenly ripped off his shirt. He screamed at the Fish-Men, "You bastards! Do you have any idea who we are? We are members of the Immortal Pirates!"
Loli A, who had been about to leave, stopped in her tracks and turned back. On the back of the slaver who had stripped his shirt, there was indeed a tattoo of the Immortal Pirates' emblem.
The crowd erupted into a chaotic murmur.
"It's the Immortal Pirates' mark."
"Is that for real?"
Seeing the hesitation and fear on the faces of the Seahorse guards, the slaver pirate grinned triumphantly. "Now you get it? You're under our crew's protection! Our finances have been a bit tight lately, so we're just taking one of your girls. Otherwise, you wouldn't be living such a comfortable life!"
Loli A had already reached into her coat, pulling the white pistol Casull halfway out of its holster. But before she could act, a cold voice, even faster than Alucard's intent, drew everyone's attention.
"Since when did our crew start recruiting such disgusting trash?"
Loli A glanced toward the source. The speaker was a man in black with a short, spiky undercut. He walked toward the five slavers with an annoyed expression, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. Behind him followed over a dozen men.
Loli A slid Casull back into its holster, her lips curling into a slight smirk. "Looks like there's no need for me to step in."
"Captain! That guy is... he's Keith Fallon, captain of the Black Thorn Pirates under the Immortal Pirates! He has a bounty of 479 million Berries!" one of the slavers' subordinates cried out in horror.
"4... 479 million!?" The lead slaver's tongue nearly lolled out of his mouth. Panic set in: I... I'm not even worth 50 million...
By then, Fallon had already passed Otohime and the guards. He stood before the five slavers, his face darkened with menace. "I asked you a question. Since when did our crew start taking in garbage like you?"
"I... I, uh..." The slaver stuttered for a long time before finally managing a sentence. "I-I just joined recently! Captain Fallon, it's only natural you wouldn't recognize me..."
"Ohhh, I see~" Fallon nodded as if enlightened. Just as the five slavers looked relieved, thinking they had dodged a bullet, Fallon suddenly delivered a brutal kick to the lead pirate's face.
The heavy, bloated body was sent flying over ten meters. The mermaid he had been holding was instantly rescued by the Seahorse guards.
"Do I look like an idiot to you?"
Fallon's expression became hideously contorted, one eye narrowed and the other wide with rage. He walked over to the pirate he had just kicked and ground his boot into the man's fat face. "I finally get a chance to take a vacation, and I run into a bunch of fakes. You're even more annoying than Ivalis!"
As Loli A walked away from the scene toward the outskirts of the busy district, she suddenly overheard a group of people whispering in the shadows.
"Damn it, what rotten luck! We try to use decoys, and they run straight into the real deal!"
"Hody, what do we do now? If they talk, we're in trouble."
"Don't worry. Based on what the news says about Black Thorn's style, he's not the type to show mercy. He won't wait for those losers to explain themselves—the Immortal Pirates will finish them off right here."
———————
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over here ——— pa-tre-on.c-om/AlexandrusTL [remove the hyphen for normal access]