45 Chapter 45: Which One of You Is Arlong!?

Third Person's PoV:

"What a lovely day, isn't it? You know....for some physical, mental, and maybe...just maybe, some electrical therapy."

The same chilly voice spoke up again. The most daunting part was that there was not an ounce of emotion present in the voice. Most people's mental conditions could be recognized by their emotions, thus, one might be able to deduce someone's motives.

Nezumi judged that the person wanted to, at the very least, hurt him. While his motives were currently unknown, it made him even more susceptible to fear as a result.

Sweat rolled down all over Nezumi's face. Just as he thought he'd die of suffocation, the hand that was tightly grasped over half his face relented.

"Sadly, I can't do that just yet..we'll have to follow the route of a mental breakdown first..."

After he was released from the unknown enemy's grip, Nezumi immediately put some distance between himself and the clear lunatic.

"Who the hell are you!? Don't you know who I am? I am the marine captain Nezumi! You won't get away with this, GUARDS! Get rid of this intruder!!"

The fear that gripped Nezumi just a moment ago was put to the back of his mind when he was released. Since he was no longer in imminent danger, his ego kicked in and Nezumi threatened the other party.

"I'm afraid they're not comin. After all, most of them are currently....indisposed." Josh said calmly with his face remaining expressionless.

"What do you—argh!!"

Unwilling to waste anymore time with Nezumi's useless threats, a jolt of lightning shot out from his pointed finger, knocking the marine captain to slumber.

Nezumi didn't even see the attack and was unable to react. Instantly, he was on the floor, convulsing violently, after that, there was no more movement.

From marine ship stationed a few miles south of one of the Conomi islands, a dark cloud flew out of there in high speed, heading straight for a group of men walking towards Arlong Park with steeled expressions. On the dark cloud are two people, one standing, while the other had no clue what the hell was happening to him.

On the simple road that wasn't even paved yet, the Strawhat pirates were grimly making their way towards the bastard responsible for one of their crewmate's grievances.

"Where the hell is Josh? We'd have a much easier time with him around." Usopp spoke up.

"No clue what's going on with him. He hasn't shown up for awhile now." Zoro replied back. He was also feeling indignant because of the blonde's recent absence.

"He'll be here. I trust him." Luffy frowned. He was leading the group in the form of walking in the very front. This was natural as he was the captain of the crew.

Just as the crew were discussing their dissatisfactions about Josh, Usopp noticed something heading straight for them in the distance. What made him speechless was that....the unknown object was flying in the sky.

"Is it the Arlong pirates!?"

Alerting the rest of the crew, Usopp asked the probable question. Since they were heading towards Arlong Park with the intent to do damage, it wouldn't be strange if the other party took action as well. Just that, he didn't expect them to attack from the sky.

Taking out his slingshot in preparation for a counterattack, Usopp aimed his pachinko ball at the only figure visible. However, as the silhouette became clearer, Usopp noticed something and his face changed.

"No wait...it's Josh! And he's riding a....cloud?" Usopp said in bafflement as he slowly put his weapon down. How come Josh was suddenly riding on a cloud!? How is that even possible?

Within the span of a few breaths, the ferociously moving cloud stopped right in front of the crew that all had their mouths hanging open and their eyes wide.

"Am I late for the party?"

Standing a few meters above the ground and a dozen inches away from the crew, Josh asked with an irritating smirk on his visage.

"The hell you are! Where have you been!?" Putting the fact that the other blonde was standing on a floating cloud aside, Sanji walked up to him and pointed an accusatory finger.

"I had a rat to catch.." Josh answered with a relenting tone while nudging his head behind him to show them what he was talking about. He was feeling helpless at the moment. His action of leaving was inexcusable, especially since Nami was in pain right before him. However, Josh felt that guilt would crush his entire being if he stayed there and watched as the women sobbed. He felt the need to rectify the situation, thus, Josh went to capture the other person responsible.

In his heart, the biggest culprit was himself, there was no changing that fact, however, it was that same fact that set him in motion. He would slowly make Nezumi pay for what he did.

"Get on." Josh ushered everyone to get on the flying cloud. He felt a bit prideful as he showed off the cloud to the speechless crowd.

After they all got on the cloud, it slowly turned towards the direction of Arlong Park and made it's way towards their destination.

The cloud was still a few meters away from the ground and it moved much slower than previously. To reflect their current feelings, Josh conjured up his devil fruit abilities and the heavens started to move.

The sky slowly darkened and soon, thunder could be sparsely seen coiling in the clouds like dragons.

"Hit it!" To make the mood even more pronounced, the original music from this exact scene started playing. Josh worked it out with the system while he was heading towards Luffy and the others.

As this was not the anime, background music did not play as it did. If it had, that would've truly been a sight.

At this moment, the Strawhat pirates were riding a cloud with an awe inspiring music playing behind them while they made their way towards their enemies. With lightning striking around them at random, yet never coming close enough to actually hit them, they looked incomparably menacing and untouchable.

"I'm not even gonna ask how you're doing everything else but...how are you making that music!?" Usopp asked with an incredulous expression. Throughout their short time together, he witnessed the blonde do many incredible things that left him speechless.

"Well, if you must know..my devil fruit has the ability to control the electromagnetic sound waves in the air. By utilizing the subatomic particles which litter the atmosphere, sound waves, in the form of music, which have been recorded in my memory, can be reproduced through recalibrating the radio wavelengths to match the pitch and tone of sound to produce musical notes, and even replicate voices." Josh replied in a lecturing manner. He sounded like everything that just came out of his mouth was nothing but the truth, not a speck of lie hiding within.

"N-never mind. Forget I asked..." Usopp almost fell over from everything he just heard. He was already lost after "electromagnetic sound waves", thus, everything that followed was nothing but nonsense to him.

Of course, everything Josh said was just bullshit. He couldn't exactly tell them that it was the system that was the one doing the job. Josh just conjured up a scientific sounding explanation by using words even he had no clue about. Even he didn't know what everything he just said meant, or if it even made sense.

...

In front of the gate of Arlong Park, many citizens with uncommon weapons in their hands were lining up to oppose the tyrant. They had resigned themselves to their fates and made efforts to struggle for the last time. However, two men were currently blocking their way at them moment.

After Johnny and Yosaku caught up with the villagers, they tried talking them out of being too hasty. As they were ordered by Zoro to not let the civilians continue with their self-sacrificing decisions, the bounty hunter duo made haste to obstruct them.

Nothing they said lead the villagers away from approaching their suicidal counterattack, so they resorted to blocking the front gate.

"Get out of the way!!"

"We have business with Arlong."

"Who the hell are you guys!? Are you one of Arlong's subordinates!!?"

The already angry villagers almost exploded with rage when the two men blocked their way.

"No..we're trying to stop you from killing yourselves!"

"Nami-anesan wouldn't want all of you to throw your lives away like this!"

The duo hurriedly tried to explain themselves, however, the enraged villagers were having none of it. Just as they were about to forcefully charge through even the two men, they suddenly heard music coming from behind them.

The music became louder and louder as it neared their location. At first, some people didn't notice the music, but after a while, everybody turned their heads in bewilderment.

Looking back, they saw that the sky was progressively darkening towards them. In their location, the sky was crystal clear, not a speck of dark cloud could be seen. However, as the music neared, as if by some bad omen, the sky darkened along with it.

Soon, the figures of five men, proudly standing atop a dark cloud, could be seen. The villagers stared in bafflement as the men came closer.

The men had their arms crossed in front of their chest collectively, and most of their faces were shadowed. Sometimes, their visages would be completely revealed for a brief moment due to the flashes of lightning behind them. However, all the people saw were faces of rage, the same as them.

Who were these people? First, there were these two men who blocked their way. Now, these imposing men were coming towards them threateningly. None of them could fathom what was going on.

"WHICH ONE OF YOU IS ARLONG!?"