Chapter 16: Novice Hunters

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While Noir and the villagers celebrated their victory at the banquet, there were always some unfortunate souls in the darkness.

On a small, isolated island, a group of fish-men lay on the ground in disarray.

At the forefront, the saw-toothed shark fish-man clutched his chest, a deep wound across it. His webbed hand covered his mouth, but it couldn't stop the blood gushing from his maw.

"Arlong!!"

The three main fish-man cadre, who had been unconscious, had awakened and rushed to Arlong's side, worried.

Kuroobi looked at the nearly dead Arlong with anguish and said, "If it weren't for that human, we wouldn't be in this state!"

Chew, with his deformed mouth and terrified eyes, trembled as he said, "That guy isn't human! He's a Devil!"

Hatchan, covering his bleeding wound, whimpered, "What should we do now?"

The fish-men fell silent again. This defeat was their most significant blow.

They had retreated from the Grand Line to the East Blue, believing that fish-men were the noblest race, and had come here to conquer humans.

Who would have thought that their grand plan to dominate the East Blue would be thwarted by a mere human boy from a small village?

"I must prove that fish-men are the strongest race..." A weak but determined voice broke the silence, revitalizing the fish-men.

Arlong, half-kneeling, straightened up. His eyes glowed red with rage and hatred, his weak voice filled with determination: "We're going back to the Grand Line!"

"What?!" Kuroobi and the others exclaimed in shock.

"We can't get stronger here. I need more powerful challenges!" Arlong laughed maniacally, sending shivers down the spines of the fish-men.

In this way, Noir had unknowingly altered Arlong's life trajectory, creating a future where Arlong would become even stronger.

But this was still far off. At this moment, Noir was still sleeping with a few villagers in a tight embrace.

Suddenly, Noir's eyes snapped open.

He felt a strange sensation, as if something was disturbing his mind, making him restless and causing him to shiver all over.

Was this the Observation Haki sensing something?

Noir concentrated, then realized...

He needed to pee!

Noir ran to a small grove outside, relieved himself with precision, and sighed with comfort.

Whistling, Noir walked along the night path when he heard the creaking of wooden boards.

With his keen senses, he stopped and looked towards Arlong's pirate ship in the distance. Two figures were moving about on the deck under the hazy moonlight.

This was Arlong's ship, left behind during Noir's chase.

Noir raised an eyebrow, puzzled: Did Arlong return?

No way, did he come back just to retrieve the ship?

Noir grabbed his sword and strode towards the ship.

Using the moonlight, he silently reached the ship, lightly tapping the wooden planks and effortlessly perched atop the mast, observing the deck.

On the deck, two people in plain clothes were moving around. Despite the darkness, Noir could see they were two women.

The girls appeared to be around seventeen or eighteen, each with a long sword at their waist and a decent physique.

One of them searched the ship, then suddenly sat down and spoke.

"Sister! Is this really the Arlong Pirates' ship?"

Her voice was so loud that Noir almost lost his balance and fell.

The noise was deafening in the quiet night, and Noir wondered if her companion's ears had gone deaf.

Before Noir could react, the other girl shouted even louder, "Keep your voice down! We're sneaking in!"

Noir almost kneeled. Where did these two come from?

How have they survived this long without getting killed?

"Arlong! That bastard has ruined so many villages! We must kill him this time!" The younger sister shouted, ignoring her sister's warning.

Noir couldn't take it anymore and casually asked from the mast, "Are you enemies of Arlong?"

"Who's there?!" The sisters reacted quickly, shouting in unison.

"Be careful, sister, hearing the voice before seeing the person means he's a master!"

"Right, get closer and don't get ambushed!"

Noir looked at the two spinning around on the deck and said, "Look up."

The older sister tensed up and warned, "Don't look, it's a trap!"

The younger sister realized, "Trying to ambush us when we look up? No way!"

"We're the smartest women in the village!"

Noir laughed in frustration. Were there no other women in their village?

He couldn't talk to these two any longer; it might give him a brain hemorrhage.

Noir jumped down to the deck, looking at the two wary sisters, and asked, "Who sent you to find Arlong?"

Up close, he noticed the girls weren't bad-looking. Each had a single ponytail, one on the left and one on the right.

Their faces were not stunning, but they were quite pretty, with delicate features and a charming demeanor. They wore crop tops and shorts, with long swords at their waists, looking like wandering warriors.

Such good-looking girls, but such loud mouths...

"We're pirate hunters, here for Arlong's bounty," the older sister, who had the louder voice, said to Noir.

She held up a bounty poster showing Arlong's fierce face and a bounty of 20 million Berries.

This was probably the highest bounty in the East Blue, no wonder the pirate hunters were interested.

"Well, you're too late. I've already dealt with Arlong," Noir said, shrugging.

"Dealt with?" The older sister was surprised.

The younger sister was skeptical, "Just you, a kid? That's a 20 million Berries pirate!"

"Is 20 million Berries strong?" Noir asked nonchalantly, fully showing off.

The younger sister nodded seriously, "Absolutely strong, he could crush you many times over!"

...

Your sister is as dumb as mine...

Noir was left speechless.

It was hard to show off when no one was buying it.

Noir looked at the two pirate hunters and said, "Then why don't you try?"

He slowly drew his sword, and the sharp blade gleamed in the moonlight.

"Come on, you'll see!"

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