Chapter 145 - 145 - Rayleigh Invitation To Battle!
In the face of Issho's probing, Rayleigh did not answer, but just poured all the wine from the bottle into his mouth before laughing heartily: "Even if I really have mistakenly entered the den of thieves, with such a fine wine, with such a confidant as Issho-san, we need to drink a lot!
Rayleigh opened another bottle of wine and drank it alone before wiping his mouth and looked at Will and asked: "Is little brother from the East Sea?"
"Yes!"
"What do you know about the Arlong Pirates?"
Nami's hand instinctively trembled when she heard those two words. Although Arlong was dead, the fear he had brought her over the years had not diminished much but had been buried deep inside Nami's heart.
Will sensed that Nami was different, and without thinking too much, he grabbed her hand to give her comfort and security.
As a matter of fact, Nami gradually calmed down after having someone to rely on, and then she didn't break away and just looked at him quietly for a few moments.
"They all die from my hands!"
At this stage, how can Will not know Rayleigh intentions, but he has a clear conscience, that even if he received a second chance, he still wouldn't let anyone from the Arlong Pirates off the hook!
Even if he had saved Rayleigh's life, it wouldn't cancel out the evil things Hachi had done over the years. .
Did Nami's adoptive mother, Belemer, deserve to die?
If Rayleigh must avenge Hachi's death, then let's do it!
Faced with the imposing Will with a clear conscience, Rayleigh was silent instead, and only after finishing another bottle of wine did he slowly ask: "Is a fisherman named Hachi from the Arlong Pirates still alive?"
"He is Dead, I killed him by my own hand!" The crew has already prepared for the worst, Will is now completely fearless, and his tone is hard and rude, wishing that Rayleigh would immediately turn against him and go out to fight!
Who would have thought that after hearing him say the result, instead of being angry and furious, Rayleigh would have been very despondent and melancholy, and before he knew it, he had finished the fourth bottle of wine.
At one point, the others wondered if this white-haired man was not playing a trick just to get a drink!
"When Hachi insisted on going to sea with Arlong I thought that sooner or later this day would come, Arlong's hatred for humans is too deep, maybe this is retribution..."
"Uncle knows Hachi and Arlong?"
With Will holding her hand, Nami regained her courage, and wondered why Arlong did that to the people of her village, was it simply because of his bad character?
"Yes, I know.... . more than 20 years ago Hachi even saved my life, when I was in a shipwreck..."
As Rayleigh drank, he recalled that time in the beginning, and a smile of reminiscence appeared on his face without noticing it.
The white-haired man in front of him said that the young Hachi had once saved his life, Nami was embarrassed and stopped asking questions, since no matter what, they were the murderers who had killed his saviour.
It's just a matter of time before they get to the point where they can't tell the difference between right and wrong, and it's just a matter of subjective choice for everyone.
Just like what Hachi did all these years in the East Blue Sea, is it not clear to Rayleigh at all?
But if one day he learns that Hachi is in trouble, he will still save him, even if he's wrong!
This principle is like a father who chooses to rob and kill in order to treat his child. In the eyes of the child, his father's love is great and his father is the best in the world, but in the eyes of outsiders, the father is a real executioner.
No matter what the starting point, you should end up paying for what you did!
Rayleigh also thought so, so he took the initiative to tell the story about the fish people, in this story those who go around catching fish people the 'human' become the villain, while the fish people instead become worthy of sympathy for the side, and in the end, Fisher Tiger death is sad ...
So far Nami finally understood why the fish-man like Arlong hated humans so much, and why they were so cruel to the villagers...
But wrong is wrong!
For the rest of her life, Nami will never forgive Arlong and the others for what they did to her and her village!
She will never forget the strong smile that Belemer left her before she died!
Will patted Nami's somewhat trembling shoulders.
"Fisher Tiger's greatness is to be admired, but what Arlong and his crew did only deepened the hatred between the two sides, and if I were to encounter such a Fish-man again, I would still do it without mercy!"
Rayleigh sighed and put down the empty wine bottle, "You're right, Arlong made the wrong choice, and I'm also to blame for how Hachi ended up like this, blame me for not persuading him to stay on Fishman Island..."
"But after all, Hachi saved me, and I have to return that favour!"
Rayleigh suddenly became serious, and the others understood almost everything after hearing it for so long, so everyone looked at him warily after he finished speaking.
"Sir Rayleigh, what are you..." Sitting cross-legged, Issho very seriously 'looked' at him.
"I'm sorry, Issho-san, but if I were in your place, I believe you would have made the same choice."
"Although Hachi's death was self-inflicted, I can't be indifferent to it. This battle has nothing to do with righteousness or wrong, it's just a bad old man who had to do this to repay a debt of gratitude!
"After this battle, no matter if I win or lose, I will repay Hachi's kindness, so I will have the face to meet him in the afterlife."
Rayleigh openness and frankness made Issho silent, and the others also looked at Will, waiting for his response.
Compared to the full confidence of Koby and the others, only Will knew that the hardship of this battle would never be weaker than that of the battle he had with Admiral Kizaru and Enel!
Otherwise, the Navy wouldn't have allowed Roger's remnants to strut around in the Sabaody Islands for so many years!
Think of the importance the Navy will place on Roger's bloodline in the future and it's not that the Navy doesn't want to wipe out the entire crew of Roger's ship, it's that they simply can't!
Even an old man like Rayleigh would not be outclassed against an admiral in a short time!
Will the other roger pirates be worse?
The only thing limiting Rayleigh's ability to fight now is his age and his rapidly declining strength, yet even with his declining strength, Rayleigh is still able to swim his way through the nest of sea kings - the Calm Belt!
But Will will not retreat, nor can he retreat!