One Piece: It All Started When I Found Shanks' Arm

Chapter 45: The Haze Dissipates

"Don't joke around."

Genzo looked around, sweating, and said with a bitter smile, "These are all fish-men. What could I have done? Any one of them could have sent me flying with a single slap."

Speaking of which, when he was riding his bicycle on the path earlier and saw that it was fish-men who had come ashore, his heart had sunk. He had read about these guys in the newspapers. They were all pirates who had once belonged to the Sun Pirates, coming to the East Blue from the Grand Line. Their strength was on a level that no East Blue pirate crew could compare to.

Who could have predicted that less than twenty minutes after this group of fish-men landed, they would all be turned into corpses?

Although he had witnessed how exaggerated Shane's performance was when he was training his body, how could that compare to the shock of seeing these pirates from the Grand Line all wiped out with his own eyes?

"Shane," Genzo said with emotion, "you, my friend, are a true monster. It seems our Cocoyasi Village is finally going to produce a great figure."

"You think so?"

Shane laughed heartily, stretched, and stood up.

"Right now, I just want to go home and get some good sleep. I'll have to trouble you with cleaning up the battlefield here, Uncle."

Genzo nodded. Before he could say anything, his eyes suddenly widened, and he stared at something behind Shane.

What's going on?

Shane followed his gaze and saw the sea surface not far away churning violently. A large sea beast covered in green spots, looking very much like a cow, emerged, staring blankly at the corpses on the ground.

"Moomoo?"

Only then did he remember. Wasn't this the sea beast raised by the Arlong Pirates? Was it here now to avenge Arlong?

Shane grinned and jumped to the front of the deck. The him of now was no longer the little brat who had to compromise when facing the Lord of the Coast. Moomoo was several times larger than the Lord of the Coast, but against his current physical strength, it probably couldn't even take a single punch.

MOO—!

Who knew that the next moment, Moomoo would let out a cheerful cry to the sky, spit a large mouthful of saliva at the fish-man corpses on the ground with a "Ptooey," and then bow its two front legs towards Shane...

"Am I seeing things, Shane?" Genzo said from the shore, utterly surprised. "Is that thing bowing to you in thanks?"

It seems so.

Shane was also stunned by its actions. For a moment, he didn't know whether to throw the punch he had clenched.

But Moomoo didn't give him much time to think. It turned around, leaped, and joyfully swam into the sea with a flick of its tail, disappearing from sight in no time.

"This scene is a bit familiar."

Shane pinched his chin, lost in thought.

Is there a possibility that Shirahoshi is actually an imposter, and I'm the real Sea King Poseidon of this generation?

Half an hour later.

Villagers began to arrive one after another to help clean up the battlefield at the pier.

When the children had brought the news of the pirate crew's landing earlier, the villagers had been in a panic. It was only after hearing that Shane had already gone to deal with it that they calmed down. And Shane did not disappoint. He had single-handedly annihilated the entire pirate crew.

As for the overly bloody scene near the pier... no one thought it was cruel. Everyone just thought these pirates deserved to die. If it weren't for Shane, the ones lying in pools of blood today might have been them!

Especially when Genzo called the other villages on the surrounding islands to ask about their situation and was shocked to learn that the neighboring Gosa Village had been completely destroyed by the Arlong Pirates, with more than half of the villagers dead or injured. Amidst their righteous indignation, everyone couldn't help but feel a lingering fear and relief.

Thank goodness their Cocoyasi Village had produced such an incredible powerhouse! Only then was a tragic ending averted.

On the path lined with coconut trees.

Shane walked leisurely towards home with his arms clasped behind his head. He wasn't running, let alone using "Shave" to rush. His pace was even slower than an old man's morning stroll.

Four years had passed in the blink of an eye since he had awakened his memories. It had been a long time since he had been able to relax so completely.

Arlong was dead.

The Arlong Pirates were annihilated.

This meant that the dark cloud of gloom that had been hanging over Cocoyasi Village had finally dissipated. And the huge stone that had been weighing on his heart for so long had completely shattered.

"What a beautiful day."

Shane looked up at the blue sky and white clouds, his mood pleasant and relaxed.

He brought his thoughts back and casually opened the system panel. The cleanup of the battlefield had been left to the uncles in the village, but he certainly hadn't forgotten to collect the spoils of war. Before Genzo arrived, he had already tested almost everything that could be sacrificed.

There were a large number of named fish-man corpses, which provided ample opportunity for trial and error and also gave him a new understanding of the system's rules.

Besides sacrificing cherished personal items, it seemed that limbs like arms and legs were the limit of what the system could accept. It was impossible to directly sacrifice an entire corpse; even a severed head could not be sacrificed. A smaller head was even more out of the question. It was as if the system was also restricted by the River Crab God; things that were too dark, bloody, or cult-like were not included in the list of sacrifices.

Shane could understand that.

In the end, he tallied up the information flow from the system panel. Officers who were mostly filler and had no significant role in the story, like Shioyaki, Pisaro, and others, provided pitifully few points, averaging only about twenty to thirty.

Stronger officers like Kuroobi and Hachi provided points ranging from a few dozen to two hundred.

All of them combined were far less than Arlong. He had cut off Arlong's arm with the red tattoo, and after sacrificing it, he received a whopping eight hundred points, enough to buy a decent training manual from the store.

Good things shouldn't be wasted.

Shane felt his pants pocket. Inside were Arlong's nose and a few fangs. These were his reserves. He would find a hidden place to freeze them and sacrifice them one by one each time the cooldown ended. This behavior seemed a bit unscrupulous, but Arlong probably wouldn't mind.

"Bro!"

A familiar voice suddenly sounded. Shane looked up and saw Nojiko and Nami running towards him excitedly.

"You really defeated the invading pirates, didn't you!"

"Yeah," he said, picking them up one in each arm and smiling. "But you're both late. The battle was over a while ago."

"Hmph, I knew it! It was a piece of cake! Some of the kids in the village were worried you might not be able to beat them alone. What a bunch of clueless guys. Don't they know what the Number One Great Swordmaster of the East Blue means?!"

Nami, why are you still spreading rumors!

Shane ruffled her hair in annoyance. You're the clueless one, you brat! You've peeked at my training so many times, can't you tell I don't know the first thing about swordsmanship?!

"Are you taking us home now?" Nojiko asked.

"No way!" Nami pouted, shaking her head like a rattle drum. "We just snuck out! I still want to go see what those pirates look like."

"It's too bloody, not suitable for children. You're not allowed to go."

Shane grabbed Nami, who was trying to slip out from under his arm. He ignored the fact that the little girl's lips were now pouting like a small teapot and looked at her arm. Then he looked at Nojiko's.

Both their small arms were fair and clean, with no trace of a tattoo. There was no need to prick them with a small knife, to stab, to cry...

"Hey, bro, what are you staring at!" Nami glared at Shane, dissatisfied. "Are you thinking of secretly telling Belle-mère on me again? I took a bath last night, and I washed my hair too!"

"Well, you're a good girl then."

Shane laughed heartily, lifted his two sisters high above his head, and then placed them on his broad shoulders. Facing the warm afternoon sun, he strode towards home.