“Fishpeople?” Conis asked. She knew Saphir was a fishwoman, so they are the sa species, she thought.
“She probably ans fishn,” Nojiko clarified, her expression growing serious. She saw the Willy Pirates as they were coming here. It had to be them. She felt angry.
“What happened?” Izaya asked, stepping closer to the distraught woman.
“There were people, no, monsters, who looked like fish,” she began, her voice trembling. “They broke into our hos and took our loved ones. Won and children were dragged away. They beat many of the n nearly to death and took so, saying they’d make good slaves,” she recalled.
Everyone around her listened in shock. Ben thought Willy did so slave trading before but it was on a low scale.
“What?” Maya gasped, her hands clenched the orbs tighter onto her chest.
“No, it’s happening all over again,” Lacos murmured, his voice heavy with a sense of dreadful familiarity. She thought about the pirate attack.
“We need to save them,” Izaya urged, his eyes blazing. He was not going to let it happen again.
“These fishn… it sounds like the Willy Pirates,” Ben interjected, his voice grim. “They’ve been known to raid villages and sell people into slavery,” he added.
“They never change,” Nojiko said. She looked angry.
“Indeed, they don’t,” Alvida agreed.
“The Willy Pirates have been raiding villages and selling captives to so unknown slavers,” Tashigi added.
“Hina has also heard they attacked a Marine prisoner transport ship recently,” Hina noted, her gaze shifting to Ben.
“A Marine prisoner transport ship?” Zala asked, eyebrows raised in surprise.
“Yes,” Hina confird. “They freed Kuroobi, Kaneshiro, and Take.”
“Those guys…” Honey growled, her fists tightening in anger.
“The sa nas as those who attacked Nami and Nojiko’s village,” Raki said, her voice heavy with emotion. “The ones who killed their mother,” she added.
“So they are dangerous,” Izaya concluded, his resolve hardening.
“Tonight is our chance to break the curse,” Maya said, her voice resolute. “We can’t miss this,” she added.
“Captain, it’s likely they’ll leave with the prisoners tonight. Once they’re gone, it’ll be nearly impossible to track them down again,” Robin warned.
“We need to save them,” Vivi insisted, her voice firm with determination.
“We also have to deal with the Marine Dojo,” Mikita reminded them, the weight of their responsibilities pressing down.
“What should we do?” Conis asked.
Alvida turned to Ben. “My love will decide. He is the Captain,” she stated.
Ben looked around and smiled. “We have a lot of enemies coming at once,” he began, his voice steady and confident. “But I believe in all of you. We are strong, and together, we can take them all out tonight.”
“We will divide into two groups,” Ben said. He continued,”One group will go for the Willy Pirates. The other group will go for Saga and stop the curse.”
“Dividing our firepower is a risky strategy,” Robin warned.
“It could an that we are too stretched,” Raki added.
“It is a risk however,” Zala said.
“We also have the Miss Love Duck, Lexie and Pau Ra Pa,” Ben finished off. “And on top of that, we have Tashigi and Hina,” Ben added.
They both looked surprised. “We are not part of your crew,” Tashigi replied.
“But you will be helping,” Ben replied.
Tashigi thought for a second. “We will but,” Tashigi replied.
“Welco to the crew,” Alvida said.
“He got another one,” Nojiko added.
“I said, I am not joining,” she pouted as she crossed her arms.
Ben approached and looked at her. He leaned in. “You are awfully cute,” he whispered. Tashigi went red. She looked at Ben. He was handso but he was a pirate. Ben saw she was flustering.
He walked over to Hina. “Are you with us?” he asked, extending his arm.
“Only for this,” Hina replied. Hina knew that reinforcents from Navy HQ wouldn't arrive on ti. The Marine Dojo had gone rogue. The lives of the villagers were at stake.
Ben gently took Hina's hands in his, his touch warm and reassuring. “Thank you,” he said, his voice soft. Hina's lips curved into a smile, and for a mont, the world seed to pause around them.
As he let go, Hina stared at her hands, still tingling from his touch. He touched , she thought, her heart pounding in her chest. The simple contact sent a wave of warmth through her, leaving her breathless and flushed. She could still feel the imprint of his fingers on her skin, and she couldn't help but wonder if he felt the sa spark that she did. No, he is a pirate, she thought so.
“Okay, so the two teams will be Mikita, Honey, Robin, Nojiko, Vivi, Kaya, Marianne, Conis , Raki and Hina,” Ben said. “The second team will be myself, Tashigi, Alvida, Zala and Saphir with Maya for the ritual,” he added.
“There seems to be almost double on one side,” Mikita pointed out.
“The first team will go after the Willy Pirates and I expect there to be more there,” Ben added.
“He is right. Willy may have slaves and fishn are ant to be on average stronger,” Robin agreed.
“I will take down Willy,” Nojiko said. She had fire in her eyes. Ben thought she looked a little scary.
“Okay, but then you can take, Lexie and Pau Ra Pa,” Vivi insisted.
“We will take Lexie,” Ben replied.
They all nodded.
Maya looked around her. She thought it was over when Marine Dojo attacked them but Ben saved them with his crew. Now, so other pirate group kidnapped their villagers, Ben again is helping them. She was grateful to him. No, she thought, she had to do more. He asked to join the crew. She walked up. “Ben, if you save the villagers and help lift the curse, I will join your crew,” she stated.
Ben smiled. “That's all I needed to hear,” Ben replied.
Tashigi and Hina looked on, they thought Ben was dangerous.
Izaya looked at her granddaughter. She thought she had grown. She looked at the other girls, they were happy. She thought, her daughter had no idea what she had gotten herself into.
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