Killing Fish

"By the way, don't you have plenty of Beli hidden on this ship? Hurry up and take it out. I need to check whether the amount is right so I can let you pass."

The fish-man shoved aside the person in charge, opened the door, and entered the ship's cabin.

"Sir, we only sell supplies. There's no way we'd carry such a large sum of money..." The person in charge climbed up from the floor, cursing inwardly while forcing a smile at the fish-man.

"Supplies, supplies... nothing but supplies..." The fish-man roughly pushed open cabin doors and found nothing but daily necessities like rice, flour, oil, and grain. He was deeply disappointed.

There was no profit to be made from this stuff. Besides, as a fish-man, he had to go underwater. Even if he took these goods, they would be nearly ruined after being soaked.

This was the clever part of merchant caravans. Even if pirates robbed them, they did not have much money on them. Pirates in East Blue could not possibly haul away so many supplies, so the merchants could still recover some of their losses.

As long as those pirates did not toss the supplies they could not carry into the sea.

"What a strong sea stench..." Ling Donglai was driven out of his training state by the smell. Current Drive had already greatly heightened his senses, and the heavy stench of sea salt and fish nearly made him vomit.

Almost instinctively, he realized that fish-men had boarded the ship.

Leaning by the door, Ling Donglai listened in on the conversation between the merchants and the fish-men, sneering.

Even among humans, some people had no sense of morality. Expecting these fish-men to honor their promise and let people go after taking their money was even more of a joke.

He loaded his revolver and tucked it into his waistband. For now, he could not clash with the fish-men. Who knew whether there were more of their kind underwater?

These fish-men were excellent at scuttling ships, while this merchant vessel was not built to weather storms and waves. It would be best to get ashore first, then slowly wage guerrilla warfare against them.

"What's in these rooms? They look different from the ones up front."

The fish-man's voice and stench gradually drew closer.

Ling Donglai opened the window and looked outside. An island lay roughly a thousand meters away. He took out his map to compare it and determined that this was probably one of the outermost islands under Arlong's rule. There was a village on it known for brewing wine.

"Sir, these are rooms for people to stay in, so naturally they're different from the rooms at the front..." the person in charge explained from the side.

Then Ling Donglai's door was violently thrown open, allowing this transmigrator born in East Blue to see a fish-man for the first time.

It had a long nose, sharp teeth, gills and scales on its hands, a large tail behind it, and red skin.

Perhaps because it had just emerged from the sea, its body was slick and slimy, covered in some kind of mucus that kept it moist. It looked disgusting.

It reminded Ling Donglai of a saying: nobody could see you in the sea anyway, so you might as well grow however you liked.

"Another human. Say, why not make these humans pay up too? I'll check whether the amount is right, and if it is, I'll let you pass," the fish-man said with a grin, turning to the person in charge.

"Well... how many of us sailors would carry that much cash when we go to sea? We have to leave it for our families. If we die, money on us would be useless anyway, wouldn't it? Don't you agree, sir?" The person in charge humbly tried to ingratiate himself with the fish-man.

Unfortunately, the more he acted like this, the more the fish-men looked down on him.

"You lowly species are all trash. You spend every day worrying about dying. Kuhahahaha..." The fish-man let out a strange laugh.

"Get lost, you trash. You have no money, yet you come here to do business? Take a look at how lowly you are!" The fish-man disdainfully swept his gaze over the humans around him and turned to leave.

Every patch of floor it passed over became wet and slippery.

"They're nothing but stray dogs. All they can do is throw their weight around in front of ordinary people." Ling Donglai rolled his neck.

This idiot was ugly enough already, yet he kept calling people lowly species and trash. How was he supposed to tolerate that?

He had come here to figure out how to become the protagonist of a power fantasy, not to play out some underdog's rise to fame.

"You trash, are you trying to resist me?" The fish-man stopped and turned around amid the terrified gazes of the merchants. Murderous intent filled its eyes. There was no way these fish-men had not killed before.

"Say one more word, and I'll turn you into a dead fish." Ling Donglai raised one finger.

"Heh..." The fish-man grinned viciously, revealing a row of sharp teeth.

"It's been a long time since I've seen—"

Crackle... Blinding lightning flashed across the fish-man's eyes as a domineering, savage straight punch shattered its throat.

"Very good. Killed without letting it scream." Ling Donglai slowly withdrew his arm and used a nearby towel to wipe away the blood.

"Y-you... you killed one of Arlong's men!" The person in charge was too shocked to speak properly.

These were pirates who had connections with the Marines—practically cops and bandits working together.

"Shh. Keep it down. Full speed to shore now, unless you want the other fish-men to surround us in the water."

"Also, I'm hungry. Bring me food."

"F-full speed ahead! Do as he says!"

There was no turning back now. The person in charge hurriedly gave the order, telling the other sailors to get the ship moving. If they reached shore, they might be able to find a way to escape Arlong's waters. If they were surrounded at sea, then there would truly be no way out.

The sailors immediately scattered. Ling Donglai crouched down, looked at the fish-man he had killed, and reached out to touch its corpse.

"Slippery. Some of the force slipped away on impact. But these fish-men are afraid of electricity. My Current Drive seems to counter them somewhat."

Lightning lit up Ling Donglai's hand. Once it touched the fish-man's mucous membrane, it quickly spread through the fish-man's entire body.

The merchant ship slowly began to move.

"Hey, what are you doing? Why is the ship moving? Where did my partner go?"

The moment the merchant ship began moving, another fish-man leaped out from underwater.

"Don't mind him. Keep the ship moving!" Ling Donglai grabbed the fish-man's tail and walked from the cabin onto the deck.

"I'm very experienced at killing fish. Here, have your partner back!" Ling Donglai hurled the fish-man's corpse at him with all his strength, then accelerated and charged after it.

"What?" The fish-man's eyes instantly reddened when it saw its dead partner's body.

"When killing fish, you have to aim for the head first. Knock the fish unconscious, and then it's yours to slaughter, right?"

Ling Donglai flipped through the air and landed behind the fish-man, who instinctively caught his partner's body.

Crackle... Ling Donglai placed a hand on the fish-man's body. Lightning flashed, making its body convulse unnaturally, while Ling Donglai's other hand shattered its neck.

"Two. How many are there in a patrol squad?" Ling Donglai tossed the corpse aside. These bodies could not be thrown directly into the sea. Some fish-men had especially sensitive noses, and leaving them on the deck could buy him a little time.

As the ship accelerated, the island gradually grew larger before Ling Donglai's eyes.