One Piece Shadow Army - Chapter 48

Cocoyasi Village, on the shore.

The patrol ship slowly docked as Curls led fifty Marines ashore.

This inspection mission was to uncover the corrupt Marines in the 16th Branch colluding with pirates.

And without a doubt, the biggest corrupt Marine was Captain Nezumi!

But even knowing this.

Curls couldn’t just go and arrest him directly.

Without evidence, Captain Nezumi could easily deny everything.

So, Curls didn’t take the patrol ship to the 16th Branch first but instead came to Cocoyasi Village to investigate.

East of Cocoyasi Village was Arlong Park. As long as they confirmed evidence of collusion with the pirates.

Captain Nezumi wouldn’t escape justice!

……

The sun was high in the sky.

The weather was scorching, but Cocoyasi Village felt cold.

All because a dozen Fishmen stood in the village center.

Cocoyasi Village was a peaceful place where villagers lived simple, happy lives. But ever since the Arlong Pirates arrived five years ago, everything has changed.

These powerful Fishmen, under the pretense of building an empire, extorted money from the villagers, threatening to destroy any village that didn’t comply. Bloodshed and sacrifices never ceased from the start.

The villagers reported to the nearby Marines, but no one came to challenge the Arlong Pirates.

Over time, the villagers realized that the local Marines and the Arlong Pirates were in cahoots. Hoping for Marine rescue was a delusion.

Under the brutal rule of the Arlong Pirates, the villagers dared not resist, but the high monthly protection fees made their lives unbearable.

Finally.

Someone bypassed the local branch not long ago and sent a message to other Marine bases.

But this was now known to the Arlong Pirates.

Bang!

A huge parasol in the village center fell with a loud noise.

A strong blue Fishman grabbed a middle-aged man by the neck, easily lifting him.

Fishmen are naturally ten times stronger than humans, making resistance futile for ordinary villagers.

“Chu, didn’t you hear what Arlong said? Anyone who reports what’s happening here will die!”

The middle-aged man, wearing a brown sheriff’s uniform, had a face full of scars, looking pitiful.

He was Genzo, the village police chief of Cocoyasi Village.

The Fishman holding Genzo by the neck was Chu, an officer of the Arlong Pirates, whose lips protruded like a triggerfish.

Genzo’s neck turned red from Chu’s grip, struggling to breathe, until Chu threw him hard to the ground.

Villagers had gathered around, their faces full of fear and worry.

“Genzo, are you okay?”

“Are you hurt?”

Genzo waved his hand, signaling for everyone to stay back.

Chu had already drawn a flintlock pistol.

“Who reported us?”

“Kill me; I won’t tell.” Genzo replied firmly.

As the village police chief, he wouldn’t betray anyone in the village.

“Chu, then you can die!”

Chu opened the safety of the flintlock pistol, pointing the black muzzle at Genzo’s head.

Silence fell over the crowd!

Though the villagers were furious, they were powerless to help Genzo.

Even one Fishman officer could easily handle dozens of ordinary villagers, and Chu had brought over a dozen Fishmen with him.

Compared to Fishman.

The villagers were like lambs to the slaughter.

In a moment of crisis, a seventeen-year-old girl with blue hair stepped forward, shielding Genzo with her arms.

“I reported it. Kill me instead!”

“Nokiko, get out of the way!”

Genzo, seeing the familiar girl, shouted in panic.

Nokiko turned and smiled, “Genzo, you’ve always protected me. Now it’s my turn to protect you!”

Genzo tried to get up.

But his injuries from Chu left him too weak to stand.

Chu, seeing Nokiko step forward, frowned deeply.

This woman’s sister, Nami, had joined the Arlong Pirates as an officer.

Arlong valued Nami’s navigation skills and wouldn’t want to upset her by harming Nokiko.

“Chu, you humans are so troublesome!”

Chu, annoyed, aimed the flintlock at another villager and fired.

Genzo and Nokiko turned in horror.

A villager was shot in the leg, blood oozing, wailing in pain.

Chu pointed the gun at the wounded villager’s head, speaking coldly.

“Chu, I don’t care who takes the blame, but since someone dared to report us, someone must die. Unfortunately, I choose you.”

“No!”

The injured villager’s wife pleaded, but it was useless. The villager’s child tried to intervene, only to be kicked away by another Fishman.

“Alright, time to die!”

Chu pulled the trigger slowly.

Bang!

A gunshot echoed in Cocoyasi Village.

At the same time, a young voice rang out.

“That’s enough, Fishman pirate!”

Chu howled in pain, his wrist hit, bleeding, and the flintlock fell to the ground.

The onlookers turned in shock.

Not far away, a handsome young man in a Marine coat holstered his flintlock, leading a team of Marines.

Marines?

The villagers were confused, not understanding why the Marines, who had ignored them for so long, suddenly came to their rescue.

“Who are you?”

Chu noticed these Marines seemed different; they didn’t appear to be from the 16th Branch.

Curls led his Marines to the village center, seeing the confusion and fear in the villagers’ eyes.

When did the Marines become synonymous with villains to the people?

Finally, Curls’s gaze landed on the injured Fishman officer.

He drew his long sword.

Silent Slash!

Deadly cuts appeared on Chu and the other Fishmen, killing them instantly.

“We are the righteous Marines from Loguetown, here to eradicate the Arlong Pirates.”

The most convincing explanation is action!

Curls didn’t want to alter the original storyline too much.

Cocoyasi Village didn’t need his intervention. In a few years, Luffy would set sail and defeat the Arlong Pirates, freeing the oppressed villagers.

But seeing the Fishman officer casually injure villagers, indifferent to their lives.

Curls was furious. He wasn’t as selfless as Major Karn, but neither was he cold-hearted enough to watch pirates harm civilians without acting.

This world could wait for Luffy to set sail, and Nami could wait for the Straw Hats to rescue her.

But as a Marine.

Curls couldn’t wait, and neither could the villager about to be killed!

Because justice needs to be timely!

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