Chapter 40

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East Blue – Conomi Islands 

Arlong Park 

The Fish-Men near Arlong's location attack Luffy as soon as their minds process what just happened. 

But before they can even get close to Luffy, they are swiftly taken down by Zoro, Sanji, Chouchou, and Usopp, who appear by his side. 

"Leave some for us too, Captain", Zoro says, wiping blood from his sword. 

"Or if you want, you can take care of everything yourself, I really don't mind at all", Usopp says, trembling with fear at the thought of facing a bunch of them. I mean, he can handle a few, but a lot? No way, not that he'd ever admit that to anyone. 

"Wow, how considerate of you, Usopp", Sanji says sarcastically. 

"Well, besides all my other great qualities, Captain Usopp is also considerate", Usopp says, raising his nose in pride. 

"So, you're pirates, huh? You mentioned something about me making your navigator cry", Arlong says, emerging from the rubble, his face bruised and bleeding. 

He then notices Nami arriving by Luffy's side and says, "So it's you, Nami. I thought you were happy being part of our crew. Why did you betray us?" 

"You killed my mother. Why the hell would I be happy being part of your crew? I want to kill you. But death is too easy a way out for you. I'd rather you suffer, watching everything you built and dreamed of crumble before your eyes", Nami says through gritted teeth. 

Then a Fish-Man, an octopus named Hatchan, speaks up to Arlong, "Leave them to me, big bro Arlong." 

He cups his mouth like a trumpet and emits a loud sound along with a shout, "Come out, Momoo!" 

Suddenly, Momoo, the Sea King cow, appears in the pool connected to the sea in Arlong Park. 

"Momoo, eat these guys", Hatchan orders, pointing at Luffy and his crew. 

"But they're my friends. They gave me food", Momoo whimpers, tearing up when he sees Luffy and the others. 

"That's right, we fed the big cow, and now he's our friend, so he's not gonna attack us", Luffy says, crossing his arms and sticking out his tongue. 

"Oh, you guys fed Momoo?", Hatchan asks, surprised. 

"Yep", Sanji replies, lighting a cigarette. 

"Well, thanks for doing that. I kinda forgot to feed him myself", Hatchan says, thanking the Straw Hats for their help. 

"Hachi, stop being an idiot. They're our enemies!", a Fish-Man stingray named Kuroobi yells angrily. 

"Oh, right, I forgot", Hatchan says, scratching his head in embarrassment. 

Not wanting to attack his new friends and sensing that everyone is distracted, Momoo takes the opportunity to dive into the water and escape before anyone notices. 

"Before we start fighting for real, I want to know, does anyone here regret what they did to Nami and the island's citizens?", Luffy shouts, wanting to see if anyone has any redemption left in them. 

To everyone's surprise, including the Fish-Men and Nami, Hatchan raises his hand, feeling guilty and believing that what they did wasn't right. 

"What's the meaning of this, Hachi?", Arlong asks furiously. 

"Sorry, big bro Arlong, but I really regret being part of all this, and I feel guilty. This isn't what big bro Tiger wanted us to do", Hatchan says, guilt written all over his face. 

"Shut up, Hachi! You don't understand anything. What we've done here is simply show the superiority of our species to these filthy vermin", Arlong yells, enraged that Hatchan is showing empathy toward these inferior beings. 

"Nah, what you're doing is just becoming exactly like the slavers sitting atop the Red Line. Your name is Hachi, right? After this fight, you're gonna have a good talk with Jinbe, and after that, you'll have your chance at redemption, to be someone better", Luffy says, his face serious. 

"You filthy worm, did you just compare us to those disgusting scum?", Arlong asks, boiling with rage. 

"That's right. Now, enough talk, time for you to get beaten", Luffy says before charging forward, still in Gear Second mode. 

Reaching Arlong, Luffy throws a 'Gomu Gomu no Jet Bullet' hitting Arlong square in the chest and sending him flying back through the hole he had previously emerged from. Luffy then enters the same hole to continue the fight. 

Hatchan moves to attack Luffy when he sees him striking Arlong again and following him into the building, but he's stopped midway by Zoro, who strikes with his sword, blocking Hatchan from advancing and interfering in Luffy's fight. 

"If you regret it so much and want redemption, why are you attacking?", Zoro asks, pointing Wado Ichimonji at Hatchan. 

"I can regret it and want redemption, but that doesn't mean I want to see more of my people dying at the hands of humans", Hatchan says with conviction. 

"Luffy said killing you would be showing mercy, and that a better punishment would be for you to face the consequences. So after we beat and tie you up, we're handing you over to a Fish-Man named Jinbe who's coming here. And from what Luffy told us, the guy's honorable and of good character, so you'll be brought to justice", Zoro says calmly as the two circle each other. 

"Big bro Jinbe is coming here? Whew, that's a relief. You seem like good people, what's your name?", Hatchan asks, unsheathing his six swords and getting into position. 

"Roronoa Zoro", Zoro replies, also getting into position. 

"Well, I've got to at least give you a fight, right? So let's fight, Zoro", Hatchan says before charging at Zoro, using his own version of Soru. 

While Luffy and Zoro's fights begin, Sanji faces off against Kuroobi, taking a drag of his cigarette. As he exhales the smoke, he says, "Looks like I'm your opponent." 

"You don't even qualify as a challenge, insignificant human", Kuroobi says with disdain. 

"We'll see", Sanji replies before speeding toward Kuroobi, using Soru at full speed. 

Meanwhile, Nami, Kaya, Chouchou, and Usopp are surrounded by a crowd of Fish-Men, with Chew leading them. 

"With so many enemies like this, we're screwed", Nami comments, holding her Clima-Tact. 

"If we split them into groups, it'll be easier to deal with", Kaya says beside her, holding a dagger in each hand. 

"I've got a plan. Once I do my part, Chouchou splits the rest in half, then he takes on one half, and you two handle the other", Usopp says, loading his slingshot with ammo. 

Before anyone could say anything about the plan, he aimed at Chew and fired with all his strength, shouting, " Star Bombardment: Cloud Crap!" Midway, the ammo split into several pieces, hitting not only Chew square in the face but also twenty-nine other Fish-Men in the face as well. 

As the ammo hits, it creates a small cloud of smoke around their heads, causing all of them to try desperately to disperse it while gagging and retching. 

When they finally clear the cloud, they turn to Usopp, seething with rage. Realizing his plan worked, Usopp runs, dashing out of Arlong Park and into the nearby forest, with Chew and the twenty-nine Fish-Men chasing after him at full speed. 

As he bolts out of Arlong Park, Usopp shouts, "Now it's up to you guys!" 

Without wasting time, Chouchou transforms into his full Zoan form, using his massive body to split the remaining Fish-Men into two groups of thirty each. 

And so, all the Straw Hats had their own opponents to face. 

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(AN: 1,238 Words)

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