The villagers of Conomi Islands were gathered on the beach, silently watching all the Fishmen being taken onboard the hauntingly-majestic Black Pearl.
Even if they were happy to see the end of the Fishmen rule, they did not show it. All of them were terrified about what their future was going to be like. They were scared that these young kids, who had managed to overthrow Arlong, would become the next Tyrants of these Islands and take Arlong's place.
The Crew did not bother saying any words to the crowd. It was not their concern how the people of Conomi Islands felt about the situation. And since they were going to leave soon, things would eventually return to normal on these Islands.
While the rest of the crew was busy following his orders, putting the Arlong Pirates in the cells on Black Pearl, Sin, Hancock, Robin, and Bonney were standing right next to a mountain of Treasure inside the Arlong Park.
Arlong was smart and did not have a lot of valuables in the hideout. He only kept cash here, and it amounted to nearly 40 Million Berries. At first, the girls were disappointed that their haul was so little, but then a Fishman appeared out of the pool in the park that was connected to the sea. It was the last officer of Arlong's Crew, Hatchan, who seemed to have been away on an errand.
The octopus Fishman was mad when he saw the state of his brethren. He took out his swords to fight them, but Hancock gave him a beating and scared the life out of him, threatening to melt him, along with other Fishmen if he was not obedient. And the meek Hatchan, readily agreed to follow their orders. He was quite simple-minded and did not want to see his crew mates die.
Hatchan informed them about where the Arlong Crew kept the treasure, and unsurprisingly, it turned out to be in the sea, inside a cave that they had built on the sea bed.
Bepo was right. The Fishmen did indeed have loads of treasure on them. There was jewellery, precious stones, gold, silver, and even weapons, ammunition, and armor. And Hatchan obediently brought them everything.
The little girl who had earlier been uncontrollably crying was now excitedly jumping around and laughing as her eyes sparkled in the shine of the treasure. The little her jumped in the piles of jewellery and started loading herself with everything that she got her hands on. It was quite a funny sight.
"We should keep our treasure away from her hands. The girl is giving me a bad premonition." Bonney seriously said as she looked at how the orange-haired girl was behaving. She seemed to have an unhealthy obsession with treasure.
"Agreed." Robin nodded her head, but she did not really seem bothered about it.
It was not as if the girl could steal their treasure from right under their noses.
Sin ignored them and turned to look at Hatchan, who had just come out of the Pool from his last trip to the underwater cave.
"There is nothing else left." Hatchan placed a chest on the floor and dropped on his ass, catching his breath after all the beating he received and the labour he had to do.
"Thanks!" Sin patted his shoulder and carefully opened the chest.
Inside the chest were two small chests, and each contained a strange-looking fruit.
"Do you know which Devil Fruits these are?" Sin turned to Hatchan and asked, and the Octopus Fishman shook his head in negative. "Robin?" He then turned to his little sister.
She had memorised the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, and if these were listed in it, she was bound to know about them.
"The brown one is Tori Tori no Mi: Model Hawk. And the pink one is Fuka Fuka no Mi, the Fluff fruit that allows the user to generate and control wool." She informed him and restrained her giggles when Sin sighed in disappointment.
The Zoan Type was a much sought after Fruit, and since it was a Bird Fruit of a predator bird, it was bound to go for a hefty sum of around 250 Million Berries, but the Fluff Fruit would only go for 100 Million Berries, which was the base price of the Devil Fruits. Unfortunately, both Fruits did not hold much value in their eyes.
"Nami!!!"
A worried cry of a little girl sounded out and then a little bluenette came running inside the Arlong Park.
"Nojiko!" The little orange-haired girl waved at her and laughed heartily as she approached her with her hands full of jewellery. "Look! So much gold!"
The bluenette did not spare a glance at the treasure in her hands. She just rushed at the little girl and hugged her tightly.
"Are you okay?" She apprehensively asked Nami when she saw Sin, Hancock, Robin, and Bonney looking at them.
"I am fine!" Nami brightly informed her. "That big brother right there," she appointed at Sin, "defeated Arlong! We are free, Nojiko!"
Even after Nami said those words, Nojiko did not lower her guard in front of them. Her eyes were warily glancing back and forth between Hatchan and their group, and it was evident that she did not trust them.
"Thank you for saving us." She politely bowed to them and turned to her little sister. "Let's go." She took the jewellery from Nami's hand and threw it back to the piles of treasure before grabbing her hand and dragging her out of there.
Nami struggled a lot as she was unwilling to part with the treasure, and wanted to stay with Bonney some more, but after Nojiko admonished her, she lowered her head and followed her sister obediently.
"She has a talent for navigation," Robin commented. She had seen the file of maps Nami had drawn for Arlong when they ransacked the place. And she was impressed by the detail and accuracy of her work.
Anyone who would look at her maps wouldn't believe that she was only ten years old.
"A Pirate's voyage has no place for kids, Robin." Sin sighed and said.
Bonney frowned at his words. They had listened to Nami's story after she had convinced her to let it all out, and if she was honest with herself, she did not want to leave the little girl behind in this place.
"Some kids are destined for the seas, Sin." Hancock smiled at him and picked up the two bags of Cash that they had found in the hideout. "I will go give this to the Villagers of this Island." She simply said and started walking away.
"Wait for me!" Bonney called after her and went together with her.
"They bailed themselves out of transporting the treasure back to the ship." Sin chuckled and shook his head.
"I am not doing it either." Robin planted a kiss on his cheek before following after her two friends.
Sin sighed as he looked at the mountain of Treasure, but then an idea struck his mind and he smiled at Hatchan.
"The Sea Cow that is currently resting on the sea bed is with you, right?" He asked.
"That's Momoo." Hatchan nodded his head.
"Call it out to help us transport everything to my ship." He gave the command, and the Octopus Fishman did not dare to defy him.
Robin, Hancock, and Bonney returned to the ship two hours later and informed Sin that the villagers of Conomi Islands wanted to throw them a feast tonight to thank them for saving them and for leaving them with 40 Million Berries.
They decided to accept the invitation, and since they had more than half a day to spare, Sin asked Bepo to set sail towards the 16th Marine Branch. It was situated on an island, less than an hour away from Conomi Islands. And they reached their destination by noon.
The Marines of the 16th Branch were alarmed when they watched the hauntingly-majestic Black ship with black sails heading their way. They immediately recognised it as 'Nightmare' that all the Marines in the East Blue were searching for, and calls were immediately made to the Headquarters.
The Blackstar Crew had not come here to pay a visit. They already had their orders, and as soon as they were in range, 32 Canons of the Black Pearl brought destruction to the base.
Augur showed them how skilled of a Marksmen he was, and destroyed all the Marine Ships and Defensive Canons that were set on the outposts, making them unable to reply to the fire.
The Marines were in chaos, running for their lives when Sin landed on their base in a bolt of lightning.
He electrocuted the Marines who drew the guns at him. All the bullets they shot at him, and the swords that were meant to cut him, passed right through his Lightning body, leaving them completely helpless and bathing in electricity, dropping on the ground unconscious but still shaking.
Sin took his time, leisurely searching around the base for the 16th Branch's Captain, Nezumi. And he found the mouse huddled up in his office, waiting for its death.
Nezumi peed when he stared into the emotionless grey eyes that bore into his soul. His hands that held his pistol were shaking, and he found himself powerless to even pull the trigger at the young man in front of him. Not that it would have made any difference since bullets would just pass through his body.
"What have I done to you?" He managed to ask right before hell dawned on him, but never received the answer from his persecutor.
Sin tortured him in front of all the Marines of the Branch, and not one of them dared to come to the rescue of their Captain. Had he not made them stay and watch, they would have long run away from this place to save their lives from a monster like him.
"Are you ready to confess your sins, Captain?" Sin stopped electrocuting him and put him on a chair.
"Ye-s..." Nezumi fearfully nodded even if his mind was not clear.
"Bring all your Visual Den Den Mushi!" He commanded the Marines, and everything was ready in under five minutes.
Sin instructed them to make the Visual Calls to all the branches in the East Blue, and then made Nezumi confess to everything he had done in collusion with Arlong. And the coward admitted to everything, not missing out on any transaction that had happened between him and Arlong.
"Please spare me..." Nezumi begged once the confession was over, and Sin gently smiled at him.
"Sure." He said before deftly drawing the Pistol from his belt and planting a bullet right in the middle of the Marine Captain's eyes. "You can now rest in peace."
Everything happened so fast that it left all the Marines frozen in shock. There was a deathly silence, and when Sin turned to look at them, their bodies started trembling in fear, thinking that it was their turn.
"All right, Gentlemen." He brightly smiled at them and placed the Pistol back in the holster. "The Blackstar Pirates are here for your treasure. Please, lead the way."