Chapter 5 Return to Ashes

The air was stagnant as an underlying pressure was being unintentionally released. The spectators, whether they were fishmen pirates or cocoyashi villagers, involuntarily gulped. Even though the young man in front of them had a messy appearance like he had just ran over as fast as he could, his demeanor gave them some hope. While Arlong looked like he had just swallowed a lemon. As a pirate who was originally from the Grand Line he is accustomed to those with devil fruit users. Even with this, believing that the weakest of the Four Seas there wouldn't be anyone to contend with his superior status, devil fruit or not. His expression turned cruel and laughed at the other party's words.

"Yahahahaha, puny human does having a devil fruit in this sea give you this kind of courage? Do you know what we are? We are fishmen, the most superior race on these seas. Humans like you should just kneel and accept your position. It seems we need to teach these humans how inferior they really are. Kill them all."

With his orders the fishmen under him began to act bloodthirsty as they stared condescendingly at the villagers who were now afraid. Bellemere, who was struggling to stay awake, saw the situation take a turn for the worse. Seeing that Nami and Nojiko were in the crowd, she was terrified. With all the energy she could muster she screamed at her two daughters. "Nami! Nojiko! Please run away, you must live!!!"

Just as all chaos was about to break loose a wave of intense oppression instantly released from Eli. Small sparks of red and black lightning were coming off from his body. After it died down the air was stagnant, there was complete silence and you could even hear the crashing waves far in the distance. One by one, friend and foe alike began to fall to the ground unconscious. The ones who managed to avoid the burst of Conqueror's Haki were still standing but could feel the sweat on their body from the pressure.

"Unfortunately I'm not very good at controlling this, so I apologize to everyone in advance. In the meantime I'll take care of this scum." Eli's voice broke the silent tension, and the few fishmen pirates that managed to stay standing looked at him in horror.

However he didn't let them gain their calm and quickly made his way towards the enemy. In a burst of flames he flashed into the center of the group of pirates. Even with their strength of ten times that of the average human, they couldn't keep up with him. With the innocent bystanders that were in the background, he knew that he couldn't make any large scale attacks. He clenched his fists with his pointer finger extended. Luckily he was wearing his black gloves during his training, because this next technique was a little uncomfortable to use with bare hands.

His extended finger began heating up and was glowing blue and yellow like his flames. Next he began dashing between the 7 fishmen still standing around Arlong. His finger melted through their defenses leaving their bodies riddled with burning holes. Eventually they couldn't handle it anymore and collapsed to the pain or the damage. Meanwhile Arlong quickly broke out his stupor and began charging at Eli. His face was full of fury and madness, watching his brethren falling and not doing anything to stop the perpetrator.

Seeing Arlong blindly charge towards him, a condescending smile made its way on Eli's face. Because he could see even in the end Arlong never believed he would lose, blinded by his racial superiority mindset. So, without much fanfare, with a burst of speed he arrived in front of Arlong who was stunned by his sudden appearance. Placing a hand on Arlong in his mind he called out the name of his most destructive technique, 'Disintegration Wave'. Waves of intense heat began pulsing through Arlong's body. In the next moment Arlong watched in horror as his body started to turn to ash before his very eyes. Unable to fight back and unable to say anything else he disappeared into ash being blown into the wind. Only a hand glowing in intense heat was left in place of where he was.

<MC POV>

Letting out a breath of satisfaction I began to cool off from my battle state. I wasn't expecting much from this fight. In my memories Arlong was a weak villain who fled from the Grand Line to pick on weaker people to satisfy his ego. As an embodiment of hatred between fishmen and humans I didn't feel much remorse in turning him to ash. I could care less about the fallen fishmen on the ground, they disturbed my peace and that's my bottom line. I'm more concerned about what I should do now. This situation will probably be reported to the marines, and finding someone that can use Conqueror's Haki in this small island will no doubt alarm them. It's a shame I'm going to have to abandon our small home, but I need to find a doctor anyway with our child's birth close at hand. My only regret is that we won't be able to say goodbye to Bellemere and her daughters.

I had an unrealistic dream in my heart, where Robin and I raised our child in peace on this island. Where little Nami and Nojiko would play with them and be good big sisters. Unfortunately, things aren't that simple and I have to think about where I should move to next. My current idea is that we move to fishman island, which isn't really monitored by the World Government or the Marines. I'll have to ask Robin about her opinion about this, after all communication is necessary in a relationship.

Before I left the scene I noticed a certain octopus fishman who was lying on the ground and pretending to be unconscious. Not sensing any willingness to fight, I simply ignored him and looked at one of the villagers who managed to avoid my Conqueror's Haki. "The danger has passed. In the meantime get other villagers and begin helping those that have fallen unconscious. After that tie up the remaining fishmen and call the marines, they should be able to handle the rest from here."

Without waiting for his affirmation I made my way to my small cabin. There Robin was waiting for me on the porch who had a worried expression when she saw men. I knew she had confidence that I would be able to defeat these small-time pirates. However, like me she knew we wouldn't be able to stay on this peaceful island any longer. Even though the Government and Marine presence in the East Blue is weak, it doesn't mean they won't send stronger people to catch her. With a heavy heart I bring her into a silent hug, while internally I'm dreading flying back to the Grand Line…