For a brief, eerie second, no one moved.
Captain Nezumi's body collapsed in a heap, blood spreading slowly across the dirt. The entire squad of marines stared in stunned silence, their minds blank with disbelief.
The few who had been pretending to be unconscious moments earlier jumped up in terror and scrambled backward, putting as much distance as possible between themselves and the figure standing at the center of it all Ryan Quinn.
"W-what just happened?" one of them whispered.
Ryan's golden eyes swept lazily over the marines surrounding him. Her voice, when she spoke, was calm and cold.
"What's this supposed to be? Are you saying self-defense is a crime now? Or do you really plan on arresting me? You people looking to die?"
The chill in her tone froze the words in their throats.
The marines exchanged uncertain glances. They'd all worked under Nezumi for a long time long enough to have benefited handsomely from his "arrangement" with Arlong. Now that both their Captain and the fish-man pirate were dead, they had no idea what to do.
Normally, if it were some rookie pirate or a petty criminal, they'd have fired already and ended the problem with bullets.
But this woman…
The scene just now was burned into their memories how she had effortlessly erased flying bullets from existence and then moved faster than they could blink, killing Nezumi with a single, precise stroke.
No one here could guarantee they'd survive a fight against her. Even together, they doubted they could lay a hand on her.
And the truth was, none of them were loyal enough to die for Nezumi.
The standoff hung heavy in the air. No one dared breathe too loudly.
Ryan's voice broke the silence.
"If you wanna fight, then come at me. If not, then pay up. We'll take the money, you keep your lives, and everyone goes home happy."
Her words shattered the tension like glass.
The marines shifted nervously as Ryan walked toward Nami. Every step she took made their fingers tighten around their rifles.
Nami, realizing what Ryan was doing, quickly bent down and picked up a heavy cloth bag from the ground. She held it out with trembling hands.
"This… this is the head of Arlong, captain of the Arlong Pirates," she said, forcing herself to stay calm. "His bounty is twenty million Berries."
She gestured to two smaller sacks beside it.
"This one is Chew, one of his officers. Nine million. And this is Kuroobi, another officer. Five and a half million."
She straightened up, her voice steady but firm.
"There are still a few of Arlong's men alive back there. Altogether, I think fifty million Berries is fair. Don't you?"
The marines gawked at her, mouths open in shock.
She wasn't lying. They could see it those heads, those terrified surviving pirates in the distance.
She really did it.
She wiped out the entire Arlong crew.
"Then what are you waiting for?" Ryan frowned impatiently. "Go get the money."
Her tone snapped them out of their stupor.
"Yes yes, ma'am!" several marines stammered, rushing off toward the treasury room. The rest kept their guns raised, eyes darting nervously between Ryan and Nami.
Ryan sighed, rolling her shoulders. "Seriously. Wasting my time. I haven't even had a proper meal in days."
Inside the 16th Branch Headquarters, tension still hung thick.
"You guys go get the money," one of Nezumi's closest subordinates said in a hushed voice. "I'll contact headquarters. We need to report this."
While the others hurried off, he slipped into Nezumi's office. The room still smelled faintly of gunpowder and cheap liquor.
He pulled open drawers and rummaged through the mess until he found a small, snail-like device nestled in a locked box a transponder snail, used for direct calls to Marine Headquarters.
He hesitated only a moment before dialing the number.
At Marine Headquarters, in the office of Fleet Admiral Sengoku, the rhythmic sound of paperwork being shuffled filled the air.
Buru buru… buru buru buru!
The transponder snail's eyes blinked as the call came through. Sengoku reached out and answered.
"This is Fleet Admiral Sengoku speaking."
"F-Fleet Admiral! This is the 16th Branch of the East Blue! Our commanding officer Captain Nezumi has been killed!"
"What?!" Sengoku shot upright, slamming his palm against the desk. "In the East Blue?!"
The East Blue was known as the weakest of the four seas. For a Marine captain to be killed there was unheard of.
"There haven't been any major pirate incidents in your region recently," Sengoku muttered, frowning. "Who did this?"
The voice on the other end trembled. "It wasn't a pirate crew, sir. It was a… a bounty hunter. A woman. She brought in the heads of the Arlong Pirates for their bounty… and then… she she killed Captain Nezumi."
Sengoku's expression darkened.
"A bounty hunter?" he repeated. "Without even a bounty on her own head?"
"Yes, sir. There was… a conflict. Captain Nezumi drew his weapon first."
The admiral's brows furrowed deeper. He could hear the fear in the soldier's voice this wasn't someone lying to cover for their superior.
"And what's the situation now?"
"She's still here, sir. Waiting for her payment. We've sent men to get the money, but we weren't sure if we should… actually give it to her."
There was a pause. Then Sengoku sighed heavily and rubbed his temples.
"…Give it to her," he said finally. "Pay her what she's owed and send her away peacefully."
The marine on the other end hesitated. "Are you sure, sir?"
"I'm sure," Sengoku said firmly. "If you refuse, and she decides to start killing again, that entire branch could be wiped out. Right now, your only job is to keep her calm and get her to leave. Once she's gone, we'll deal with it."
He leaned back, muttering to himself. "A bounty hunter strong enough to kill Arlong and a Marine captain in the East Blue… this era keeps breeding monsters."
His eyes narrowed slightly. There was one man who might handle this properly.
"East Blue…" he murmured. "Smoker."
He turned back to the transponder snail. "All right, that's your order. Pay her and send her off. No heroics. Once she's gone, report again."
"Yes, sir! Understood!"
The line went dead.
Sengoku wasted no time dialing another number.
"Get me Captain Smoker," he ordered.
The snail blinked, the connection ringing into the distance.