Anime Girls are Moist

Chapter 1131 1,130: Future Change, Another Deal!

The two of them touched down.

The crack sealed shut behind them without a sound, as if it had never existed.

The entire village fell into a deathly silence—so quiet you couldn't even hear breathing.

The fishmen of the Arlong Pirates had already reached the village entrance. Hearing the disturbance, they turned around—and froze.

A few seconds later, they snapped back to reality. With a clatter, they all raised their weapons, blades and guns aimed at the two newcomers.

Arlong narrowed his eyes.

"Hey."

His voice dropped low, wary.

"Who the hell are you?"

Rei Ao didn't answer.

His gaze settled on Nami and Nojiko.

"You two," he said, his voice calm and flat.

"Do you need help?"

The words fell like a stone into stagnant water.

Villagers exchanged stunned looks.

The fishmen, on the other hand, exploded.

"The boss is talking to you! You deaf?!"

"Playing tricks? You wanna die?!"

One hotheaded fishman charged straight in, swinging his cleaver in a wide arc at Rei Ao's back.

The blade tore through the air—fast and vicious.

Rei Ao didn't turn.

He didn't even move.

He simply lifted his left hand and pressed his index finger down, lightly.

The charging fishman was slammed by an invisible hand and shot backward even faster than he'd come.

In midair, his body began to crumble—starting from his hands and feet, disintegrating inch by inch into fine gray dust. The wind caught it and scattered it into nothing.

He didn't even have time to scream.

Silence.

The kind of silence you get around a corpse.

A muscle twitched in Arlong's face. He stared at Rei Ao, his caution twisting into uncertainty and shock.

"…A Devil Fruit user?"

Rei Ao still didn't bother looking at him.

He took two steps toward Nami and Nojiko.

The fishmen instinctively tried to block him.

But what they'd just seen was too terrifying. No one dared be the first to step in. All they could do was keep their weapons up and shuffle backward, step by step.

Rei Ao stopped in front of the two girls and bent slightly at the waist.

"Answer me," he said. "Do you need help?"

Nami looked up.

The tear tracks on her face weren't dry yet, her eyes swollen and red.

But something flickered in those eyes—faint, like an ember on the verge of going out… yet undeniably there.

She looked at Rei Ao, then at the villagers who were too frightened to move, and finally at Arlong's group.

Hatred.

The kind of hatred that burned so hard it hurt in your gut.

"Yes…"

Her voice was hoarse, but unwavering.

"I want you to help me kill them."

She raised a hand and pointed at Arlong.

"All the fishmen. Leave none alive!"

Rei Ao looked at her.

A few seconds later, he nodded.

"Alright."

The instant the word left his mouth, he raised his right hand, spread his fingers toward the Arlong Pirates, and closed them gently into a fist.

The air congealed.

Every fishman froze at the same time, like they'd been sealed inside a block of ice.

Their faces were stuck in mid-expression—ferocious, terrified, confused—but their bodies couldn't move at all. Not even their eyeballs could shift.

Arlong clenched his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead. He wanted to speak, to curse, to fight back—he couldn't even open his mouth.

All he could do was stare, eyes wide, at Rei Ao's hand.

That hand tightened into a fist.

Pop.

A soft sound, like a bubble bursting.

Dozens of fishmen—Arlong included—blew apart at once.

Not a messy explosion of flesh and blood. They turned into a cloud of ash-black smoke and dust, and with one sweep of the sea breeze, it all scattered away.

The ground was spotless.

Not a single drop of blood remained.

As if those swaggering monsters had never existed at all.

The villagers were dumbstruck.

Some people's legs gave out and they dropped to their knees. Some collapsed where they stood. Others covered their mouths, eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

After a few seconds of stunned quiet, chaos erupted in a jumble of voices.

"G-Gone…?"

"All dead? Just… like that?"

"A god… a god came to save us?!"

Many people fell to their knees toward Rei Ao and Robin, bowing and knocking their heads to the ground, babbling thanks in incoherent disbelief.

Rei Ao didn't look at them.

He walked back to Nami and Nojiko and looked down at the two girls.

"That's the first favor done," he said. "Anything else?"

Nami stared blankly at him, then at the spot where Arlong had been standing.

It was empty—just a few blades of grass trampled flat.

Her enemy… was gone?

Her mind couldn't catch up.

Nojiko moved first.

She struggled to her feet, then dropped with a thud to her knees in front of Rei Ao, her forehead slamming against the ground.

"Please…"

Her voice was raw from crying.

"Please save my mom. She's dead… she died protecting us…"

She tried to bow again.

Rei Ao lifted a hand, and an invisible force held her up, stopping her from hitting the ground.

"I can."

Two words—said as casually as if he were agreeing to fetch water.

Nami's head snapped up, eyes wide.

"…You can?"

Her voice trembled.

"You mean you can bring Bell-mère back?"

"Mm."

Rei Ao turned and walked to Bell-mère's body.

He crouched and lightly tapped a finger against her forehead.

"But," he added, lifting his head to look at Nami and Nojiko,

"there's a price."

Both girls stopped breathing.

"…What price?" Nami asked.

"Your future," Rei Ao said bluntly.

"From now on, your lives belong to me. You follow my orders and work for me."

"Of course, I won't send you to your deaths, and I won't abuse you. On the contrary—I'll give you power, knowledge, resources… resources far beyond what you can imagine."

He paused, then added:

"In exchange, I'll revive your mother."

The sea wind blew in, carrying salt and fish.

Nami and Nojiko looked at each other.

There was struggle in their eyes. Fear. Defiance.

Their future belonged to someone else? Obeying someone else's commands? How was that any different from being sold to Arlong?

But…

They both looked at Bell-mère.

She lay there still, her body already cold, her face drained of color.

She hadn't lived an easy life—not for a single day. To raise two girls she'd picked up, she'd swallowed every hardship there was.

And in the end, she'd died under a fishman's gun for them.

If… if she could live again…

If they could hear her call "Nami" one more time, feel her arms around them again, taste one more bowl of the fish soup she made…

Nami closed her eyes.

When she opened them, her decision was already made.

"I agree."

Her voice was quiet, but every word was bitten off clean and clear.

"As long as Mom can come back, I'll agree to anything."

Nojiko nodded hard, tears spilling again.

"I agree too! Please—bring Mom back!"

Rei Ao watched them for a few seconds.

Then he smiled.

A faint smile—so slight it was almost invisible, but it was there.

"Deal."

He rose to his feet and lifted his right hand, palm up. A gentle white glow poured from his palm, almost alive, drifting slowly toward Bell-mère's body and wrapping around her.

It was bright, but not harsh.

The villagers held their breath as they watched.

Inside the white light, the wound in Bell-mère's chest began to heal at a visible speed.

The torn fabric knit itself back together. Color returned to her skin. Even her cheeks flushed with warmth again…