Starting with two Kamui, they raised the flag of rebellion in One Piece.

The sun rises from the horizon.

Regardless of status, that warmth enveloped the sea and everyone present.

At the same time.

East China Sea, Sixteenth Branch.

Unlike Cocoyasi Village, which was still filled with the atmosphere of a banquet, a large number of marines were nervously gathering at the port as soon as it was light.

Everyone present gazed at the distant sea.

At the edge of their field of vision, the outline of a warship was gradually emerging.

"Here it comes, that's the handover ship...!"

One of the marines murmured unconsciously.

After reporting the Arlong Pirates incident yesterday, I received a reply from my superiors that night, saying that they would send someone this morning to retrieve the head of the wanted criminal. It is said to be one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea under the World Government, and Jinbe the Knight of the Sea made a special request.

Although they were unclear about the specifics of what needed to be confirmed, the Sixteenth Branch was only responsible for the handover.

But some things are quite obvious.

Normally, even the pirates with the highest bounty in the East Blue wouldn't cause a ripple if their entire crew were wiped out. However, this seemingly ordinary group of fishmen received an immediate response from the Seven Warlords of the Sea after their annihilation.

Some people can't help but wonder if the rumors are actually true, and whether Arlong's crew really has the Seven Warlords of the Sea backing them up.

Regardless of the truth.

"Heh heh heh, looks like that bounty hunter's in for a rough time."

Also standing at the port, Colonel Rat stroked his beard and couldn't help but chuckle.

Naval Headquarters.

Almost simultaneously with the handover ship heading to the 16th Branch of the East Blue, in the central location of the Grand Line, adjacent to the Sabaody Archipelago, the Red Line, and the legendary Holy Land of Mary Geoise—the place where the Celestial Dragons reside—a place that can be considered one of the world's most powerful military strongholds, the Navy's conference room.

A burly old man wearing a dog-head hat couldn't help but burst into laughter as he looked at the newspaper.

"Hahaha!"

"There are such skilled fighters in the East China Sea? I never expected something like this to happen."

As he spoke, the burly old man ate rice crackers while drinking tea.

Seeing this, another bespectacled old man wearing a seagull hat and a coat of justice, his forehead veins bulged instantly.

"Garp, how many times have I told you, don't eat senbei in the meeting room!!"

"This is no laughing matter!"

The old man, who didn't look young, rubbed his forehead in exasperation and frowned deeply, saying, "There are actually fish-men trying to establish a country in the East Blue. If things go wrong, it could become a serious diplomatic problem... Jinpei really needs to give me an explanation for this. If I remember correctly, Arlong's pirate crew seems to have had some connection with him back then."

"Never mind, don't be so nervous. It's all resolved now anyway."

Vice Admiral Garp, the naval hero and grandfather of the protagonist Luffy, waved his hand and replied with a nonchalant smile, "Instead of that, shouldn't we let this young man from the East Blue try joining the Navy?"

"Um?"

Fleet Admiral Sengoku slightly raised his head, his eyes showing hesitation.

"It just so happens that I haven't been able to go to Donghai often lately, so it would be much easier if some young people could help me with this."

"Garp!"

Sengoku's forehead bulged with a stern expression as he roared, "If you cause any more trouble, get out of the meeting room immediately!"

The noisy chatter filled the meeting room in an instant.

Admiral Kizaru, who was about to push open the door to enter the meeting room, scratched his head upon hearing this, unsure whether he should go in or not.

But speaking of that group of fish-man pirates they just mentioned...

"I feel like I vaguely remember it."

With a thoughtful expression, Kizaru spoke softly to himself in an extremely slow and deliberate tone.

The Sabaody Archipelago, Fishman Island, located 10,000 meters below the surface of the ocean.

Inside the Dragon Palace.

Compared to the outside world, where the overall discussion atmosphere is not too bad, the atmosphere within the Dragon Palace Kingdom is currently extremely oppressive.

Not long after Li Mingyuan handed over the heads of Arlong Pirates yesterday, and before the news was even released the next day, the Marine Headquarters had already notified the Shichibukai Jinbe via Den Den Mushi.

"I never expected it to be Ah Long. He finally did something like this."

"Attempting to build a fish-man empire in the East China Sea..."

Jinbe, with a grim face, spoke with the Left Minister of the Ryugu Kingdom and another fish-man, "If I had known things would turn out this way, I would never have let him go."

"At this point, the harm he has caused to humanity is irreversible."

Apart from the ministers and high-ranking officials of the Ryugu Kingdom, there was another fish-man, several meters tall, sitting on a huge throne directly in front of Jinbe.

King Neptune of the Dragon Palace Kingdom, the "Great Knight of the Sea," now looked worried.

"The impact of this incident is extremely negative."

"The fish-men were already in a very bad situation, and now that this has happened, their image will become even worse. At least for those people in the East Blue who were harmed by the Arlong Pirates, the fish-men may have become a symbol of fear."

King Neptune sighed and said, "But ironically, it is precisely at times like these that we are at a loss as to what we can do to make amends."

Upon hearing this, Jinbe also shook his head slightly.

"I am fortunate to currently hold the position of one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. The World Government will not only inform us of the situation, but will also help us retrieve the heads of Arlong and the others. Once we go there to confirm, we should be able to tell if it is indeed Arlong."

"Although he committed an unforgivable crime, Arlong is still a fishman after all. I will send the fishman corpses that I have recovered back to their respective hometowns and let them be buried on the homeland of Fishman Island."

"There's really nothing we can do."

Jinbe closed his eyes, and scenes from the past flashed through his mind.

In particular, during the period before Arlong left the Sun Pirates, he had already seen through Arlong's hatred and anger towards humans. Perhaps he had a vague premonition. At that time, he angrily beat Arlong up, but in the end, he still thought of their old friendship in Fishman Town and did not kill him.

"Unless I'm determined to kill you, will I set you free?"

Jinbe silently thought to himself, 'If I had known this day would come, perhaps the best thing I would have done back then was to kill you.'

Otherwise, things wouldn't have turned out this way.

Seeing that Jinbe had stopped speaking, King Neptune also fell silent for a moment.

Unlike Jinbe, who was experiencing mixed feelings, Neptune, as the king of the fish-men and mermaids, not only had emotional issues to consider, but also had to give the World Government a response to clarify that the fish-man empire on land had nothing to do with them.

Neptune felt increasingly heavy-hearted and helpless about his late wife Otohime's wish.

The day when mermaids, fish-men, and humans can coexist peacefully remains a distant dream.

East China Sea.

Watching the news bird fly away in the sky, Zoro glanced at the newspaper in his hand.

Normally, he would rather use this time to train himself than watch the news.

Unfortunately, after twice attempting to go out to sea only to inexplicably return to the island, he is now staying with Joseph and Johnny, who make a living by fishing, and is temporarily staying at their home before leaving the island.

I don't know what happened, but those two were arguing a lot this morning.

It just so happened that the name he vaguely remembered was mentioned.

"Oh?"

"Their leader seems to be more powerful than expected."

Zoro smiled as he looked at the newspaper in his hand.

The head of the person with the highest bounty in the East China Sea was taken down by a rookie bounty hunter. Coincidentally, the name on the head was one that he had only recently heard of.

Li Mingyuan.

"This is getting more and more interesting. I don't know who they are, but since they're asking about me, we'll probably meet one day on this vast ocean."

Gazing at the boundless blue sea, Zoro gripped his sword tightly and said with great interest.

However, this interest did not last long.

It was noon.

While Zoro was still training in a deserted area nearby, he suddenly heard a loud bang as the door was pushed open. He then saw Joseph and Johnny rushing into the house in a panic.

Zoro frowned upon seeing this, and was about to ask the two what had happened.

The result came at this moment.

When Zoro saw what was following closely behind the two men, he immediately narrowed his eyes.

one day.

Two days.

Three days.

As the revelry on Cocoyasi Village Island continued, news of the Arlong Pirates' destruction began to spread.

Regardless of the circumstances, Li Mingyuan's public identity has indeed gained him positive recognition throughout the world.

Famous throughout the world.

This initial goal can be considered a great success.

However, it is still unclear how many people will remember Li Mingyuan after defeating the Arlong Pirates. He is currently still in Cocoyasi Village, enjoying the pleasures of the banquet.

That's right.

His initial expectations were not met.

Although he thought the banquet would only last two days, in reality, just like in the original story, the banquet was a three-day and three-night celebration.

During this period, he did a lot of things and thought a lot.

First of all, Nami's thank-you money and the treasure redemption fee from the Arlong Pirates were given to him some time ago.

Although the amount was less than expected, it might be because there are still three years before the original story begins, and Nami's experience in stealing and saving money is not yet that strong, so her savings are not particularly large. Or perhaps Nami, like in the original story, intends to leave the money to the villagers, so the money given to her is not all of her savings.

Regardless of the reason, the thank-you fee Nami gave him was approximately 40 million Berries. Considering that Nami also paid a guarantee on behalf of Karina, it could be considered a ransom payment in a sense.

This is an outrageously large sum of money.

With cash on him, Li Mingyuan has already surpassed 100 million Berries. With this amount of money, he has enough confidence to sail even on the Grand Line.

In addition, Li Mingyuan also reflected on his actions in response to Nami's invitation and prepared to improve his tactics.

He thoroughly considered his previous failures.

Ultimately, Nami's concerns were not entirely unfounded. Li Mingyuan and Arlong were indeed similar types of people. He also wanted to exploit Nami's talent, only he was better at hiding and disguising it, which allowed him to bring his desires to the surface under a seemingly legitimate reason. In the end, it was different from the Straw Hat crew's sincere intentions. To put it more extremely, it was only because he successfully saved Cocoyasi Village and defeated Arlong's pirate crew, which Nami hated the most, that she gained his favor and wasn't outright rejected. Subconsciously, Nami might actually dislike people like him.

It must be recognized that Li Mingyuan is not Luffy, and it is impossible for him to win people's hearts like Luffy.

Without fully disguising himself, if Li Mingyuan wanted to persuade Nami to join him, he believed that he still needed to be honest, which might be the only way to truly gain her trust.

The night of the last day of the banquet.

After eating and drinking his fill, Li Mingyuan pondered his next plan and headed towards Nami's house.

Aside from the temporary accommodation on the first day, he stayed at other hotels for the next two days. Strangely enough, after he woke up on the second day of the banquet, Nami angrily told him a bunch of nonsense, saying that he was not only a drunkard but also had terrible sleeping habits, and that he shouldn't come near her unless necessary.

He was a little confused, but when he pressed Nami for an answer, she just stammered and didn't say anything more.

So during the three days of the banquet, Li Mingyuan didn't try to make an impression on Nami after drinking. Instead, he obediently went back to the hotel to sleep, fearing that, as Nami had said, he might have blacked out and made a fool of himself.

If this kind of thing lowers Nami's favorability, then it would be a loss that doesn't outweigh the gain.

In front of Nami's house.

Li Mingyuan walked to the front of the house with practiced ease and knocked on the door.

Not long after, a figure emerged from within, and upon seeing Li Mingyuan, revealed an expression of 'Oh no'.

It's Karina.

"How have you been these past few days, Karina?"

Li Mingyuan greeted him with a light laugh, "It's nice to have some rare free time, isn't it?"

Karina looked at Li Mingyuan with a somewhat cautious expression and said, "What's wrong? Why did you come here so suddenly? I didn't try to run away."

"Don't overthink it. I'm not looking for you. Is Nami inside?"

Li Mingyuan peered into the room behind Karina, but it was pitch black and he couldn't see anything.

"Ah, Nami? She should be in the orange grove right now."

After a moment's hesitation, Karina replied, "If you want to find her, just go there."

After saying that, Karina looked a little downcast, and she seemed listless.

Seeing this, Li Mingyuan couldn't help but feel a little strange.

After Nami paid the ransom, in order to show his sincerity, he also generously left Karina at Nami's house, wanting to show that "I don't care if she runs away or not", and also to demonstrate his excellent quality of valuing promises.

Unexpectedly, two days after releasing Karina, Nami didn't see any reaction, and Karina even became sullen.

"What's wrong?"

After thinking for a moment, Li Mingyuan asked.