"Roman—"
"You bastard."
Facing Zoro and Nami, who had rushed to his side, Roman rose to his feet with a grin.
"I'm fine."
Well, Roman was charred black from head to toe, looking like he could perfectly play a murderer if he wandered into Conan's world. It had absolutely nothing to do with being "fine." But then:
"Good! Good! Good!!"
After three teeth-grinding "goods," Arlong, the fish-man leader, finally decided to make a move!
Zoro and Nami stood beside Roman with weapons in hand. And there was also:
"Ha ha ha ha~~~ Cough, cough."
Outside Arlong Park, Usopp, covered in injuries, staggered in while supporting himself against the wall.
"I took care of... that... long-mouthed... freak fish."
Faced with Usopp's raised thumb, Roman, looking like the unluckiest man alive, also gave him a thumbs-up.
"Nice work, Usopp!"
It really was good work. Roman had not been surprised that Zoro could defeat one of their officers. But Usopp managing to take down an officer as well had been beyond Roman's expectations.
"Fine, then! You actually dare look down on us great fish-men like this!"
Arlong was so enraged by the "arrogant" attitude of these people that he was about to explode! But today, he was destined to become even angrier.
"Ha ha ha, noble fish-men?"
Roman threw back his head and laughed. With Canson dead, he could finally use his Devil Fruit ability without worry.
Sheets of paper flew out and wrapped around him, sparing him the embarrassment of running around naked. At the same time, a Sailor's Knife and a shield fell into his hands. He pointed the knife at Arlong's prized nose.
"This so-called 'nobility'—"
"Does it mean the 'nobility' of fetching sky-high prices at the slave markets of Sabaody?"
!!!!
"Human, you're courting death!!"
"What, did that hit a sore spot—"
Roman stepped forward to confront Arlong, cold mockery spilling continuously from his lips. "People in the East Blue may not know your background, but do you think no one else does?"
"So-called fish-men are nothing more than scarce 'goods' fought over by pirates and slave traders on the Grand Line!"
"What—"
"This..."
The villagers of Cocoyasi Village were all stunned!
The fish-men who had oppressed them for eight whole years, who had occupied more than twenty nearby villages and towns, the invincible fish-men they had been unable to resist, were actually...
"Noble fish-men? Are you trying to make people laugh themselves to death? A race captured and sold as slaves, and you dare—"
"Shut up!!!!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
Here it came!
Several flashes of cold light shot toward Roman ahead of bullets, making Roman, who had been spouting nonsense while staying fully alert in secret, tense up. The shield in his hand immediately moved into the path of those "bullets."
Pfft, pfft, pfft.
With a series of muffled impacts, Roman's shield easily blocked the opponent's Fish-Man Karate: Arrow Shark. Fish-Man Karate: Arrow Shark was a technique that fired water like bullets. Its power was no weaker than gunfire, and it was extremely hard to detect. But:
Paper absorbed water!
And right after the "water bullets" came a huge mouth opening to ninety degrees! Along with two rows of teeth like daggers.
Crack!!
Those sharp teeth bit down viciously, instantly tearing a large chunk out of Roman's "shield." But then:
Swish.
As he drove his opponent back with a slash, Roman sneered.
"Don't casually eat things made by someone else's ability, hey."
Pshht.
The chunk of shield Arlong had bitten off suddenly expanded from a "block" into a "hedgehog" inside his mouth! It was only a spiked ball made of paper, but that was more than enough to injure the soft insides of his mouth.
"Arghhhhh~~"
With a "hedgehog" stuffed in his mouth, Arlong staggered back several steps in agony. Then, gritting his teeth, he reached in and tore out his entire gumline—
Psh—
"Brat, I'll make you die horribly. Horribly!"
After ripping out his entire gumline and pulling out the "spiked ball" lodged in his mouth along with it, Arlong's face darkened. He crouched down, gathered strength, and assumed a charging stance. Then he kicked off fiercely—
"Shark Dart!"
Relying on his powerful physique, Arlong shot toward Roman like a torpedo... flew toward him! His proud nose, capable of piercing steel, was his deadliest weapon!
Come on, I've been waiting for you—
"Paper Dance: Red Leaf Hunt!"
Crash—
A row of sharp paper blades suddenly "grew" from the ground, standing before Roman like a forest of knives! And if viewed from the front, no one would notice this trap, thin as paper.
But:
Pfft.
Arlong's expression changed abruptly as he came flying in at high speed. His feet slammed into the ground to "brake," kicking up dirt and stones as he forcibly dragged two deep furrows across the ground! At the same time, he crossed his arms in front of himself.
Bang, bang, bang!
Though Arlong's high-speed stop did not make him kill himself like Captain Kuro once had, the paper blades still carved several wounds across him. Roman had already seized the advantage and showed no mercy, charging in with his knife and shield!
Roman's blade flashed and flickered, while his shield blocked and deflected. But Arlong was tall with long arms, and his heavily trained muscles were no weaker than steel! Even when he took Roman's knife and shield in their "chainsaw" mode head-on, he suffered nothing more than superficial wounds. It looked like:
"They're evenly matched."
On the other side, Zoro, who was holding back the last Fish-Man Karate officer, glanced over and raised a brow.
Roman and Arlong's battle was too violent. Wherever they fought, sand and stones flew while walls collapsed and the ground cracked! And as the strongest fighters on each side—Zoro had just taken a slash from Hawk Eyes and was severely weakened—their victory or defeat would largely determine the outcome of this battle! So:
"Brother Arlong!"
"Take down that human—"
"Fish-men are the strongest~~"
Cocoyasi Village was no less willing to back down, and cheers of encouragement rose one after another.
"Go, big brother~~~"
"Cut that fish-man down!"
"Roman, go—" Boom!
After another clash, Arlong took advantage of Roman being knocked back and slammed into the tall building beside him!
The sturdy brick and stone exploded before him like tofu, and he immediately rushed inside—not to flee, of course, but because:
"Such... such a huge weapon..."
It was a three-meter-long Big Saber! No, rather than a Big Saber, it looked more like a saw.
"Sha ha ha ha ha, human!"
After taking the weapon from the room, the tall fish-man named Arlong had turned golden-eyed! They were the eyes of a Sea King driven enraged.
"I'll cut you into pieces with Zanpo!"
As he spoke, the three-meter-long weapon in his hand swung fiercely toward Roman. The shrill sound of it cutting through the air was like a high-speed fighter jet screaming past! With one slash, it even carved a blade mark over ten meters long into the floor! But then:
Smack.
A foot wrapped in paper stepped onto the blade of Zanpo, accompanied by Roman's cold sneer.
"Who do you think you can hit with that giant saw?"
Though Roman had never specifically developed abilities to strengthen himself like Paper Body, the Paper-Paper Fruit had still vastly improved his ability to evade. Against such a violent attack, even the gale it kicked up would automatically "push" him away.
"—You!"
Arlong jerked upward, but the long blade was pinned firmly beneath Roman's foot.
It looked as though Roman held a huge advantage and victory was already decided! Smiles slowly appeared on the faces of the surrounding villagers, gradually turning into cheers.
"Nice!"
"Take Arlong down in one go!!"
"Finally, we finally..."
Good. That was close.
Roman let out a breath. He would finish this off just like—
?
His vision blurred, and the body Roman had trained day and night suddenly swayed.
??
Huh, why did everyone around him look so shocked? Why had Zoro's expression changed? Nami, what were you shouting...
The ground beneath his feet vanished, and Roman's entire body tilted. Across from him, Arlong wore an expression that was seventy percent ferocity and thirty percent relief as he swung the massive Zanpo at Roman!
Need... to block...
Although Roman immediately raised his shield before his chest, his whole body had suddenly gone limp, as if all his bones had been pulled out. His body shuddered, and Arlong's slash sent him flying backward!
Bang!!
It felt as if he had been struck head-on by a speeding train. Stars burst before Roman's eyes as he flew through the air, while a hot, fishy taste surged into his throat! Pain flared repeatedly across his back, and he heard a long series of crashing sounds in his ears. Clearly, some building had suffered for it.
"Cough, cough... what is this..."
Sliding down a shattered wall, Roman dropped to one knee and wiped his face. His hand came away covered in slick blood!
"Roman—"
He could not see it himself, but everyone else could see it clearly: red-black blood slowly flowed from the seven openings of Roman's face, which he had wrapped in paper like a "mummy."
This... could it be?!
Roman staggered to his feet, his gaze falling on Canson's already burned corpse.
"Sha ha ha ha ha~~~~"
Arlong, having landed a successful blow, was in no hurry to attack. Instead, he burst into wild laughter.
"See that, weak human!"
"Canson's flames were mixed with deadly poison. You fought him for so long, and by now, the poison must have seeped into your organs!"
As he spoke, he pointed his massive serrated blade at Roman, who was clutching his temple and shaking his head. His mockery could not have been more obvious.
"You're finished!"
I was careless.
But:
"I have indeed grown weaker, Arlong."
"But that doesn't mean trash fish like you have grown stronger—scum so terrified of Impel Down's food that you fled to the East Blue!"
"I'll kill you!!"
Swish.
The massive serrated blade slashed down, splitting the wall in half on the spot! But Roman had already:
"Flying away? You can't escape—"
Bang, bang, bang!!
Roman had barely managed to create paper wings and hover in the air before the leaping Arlong launched a flurry of wild slashes at him! The two fought their way upward along the building behind them, until near the top, Roman finally ran out of strength and was smashed into the building by one of Arlong's blows!
"This is bad, we need to help—"
"That room is..."
"Roman." Clutching her three-section staff, Nami gritted her teeth! She could do nothing, only watch her companions fight for her. This feeling...
Crash!
Leaping through the hole Roman had made, Arlong looked around the room and put away his huge serrated blade. This was where Nami worked, and the entire room was filled with nautical charts of the nearby seas.
"Actually..."
Roman, lying on the other side of the room, raised his head and looked at the tall fish-man before him.
One was seriously wounded and near death. The other still had more than half his strength left.
"Personally, I don't dislike fish-men."
"Only now you want to beg for mercy?"
At Roman's words, the fish-man named Arlong pulled at the corner of his mouth, revealing a vicious smile.
"I know about the grudges between fish-men and humans. The Sun Pirates, Fisher Tiger, the Celestial Dragons... I know it all."
??
"If you fought against the Celestial Dragons and their lackeys in the New World, then perhaps one day we could have been friends. But!"
Roman slowly rose while supporting himself against the wall beside him.
"A great man once said: 'When the strong grow angry, they draw their blades against those stronger than themselves. When cowards grow angry, they draw their blades against those weaker than themselves.'"
Roman raised his head and stared directly into Arlong's eyes. Even with red-black blood still seeping from his face, there was not a trace of fear in his eyes.
"You came to the East Blue to bully ordinary people? A Fish-Man Empire? There's a limit to how much you can deceive yourselves. Any random vice admiral from the Grand Line could wipe you out as easily as crushing an insect!"
!!!
"Are you done with your last words?"
Arlong gritted his teeth, but could not stop his lips from trembling. Of course he understood that the "Arlong Empire" he always talked about was nothing but a soap bubble. Since that was the case:
"I'll kill you! Then I'll kill those people below, and then I'll kill Nami—"
?!
"What are you laughing at!?"
"Ha ha ha ha~~~" Though he could not even stand, Roman laughed with such... delight.
"You won't kill anyone today, because you're going to die here."
?!!
"Shahahahaha, what are you going to use to kill me?"
Arlong did not mind exchanging a few more words with Roman. To him, it was nothing more than the barking of a defeated dog.
"With that body that can barely stand, or those trash down below?"
"That's right. Six broken ribs, a fractured left arm, and deadly poison..." As for the one-hundred-percent burns covering his body, those were merely "minor problems"...
No matter how one looked at it, he had reached the end of the road, hadn't he?
"Nami—!"
Roman's voice rang out from the top floor of the building, echoing across the entire battlefield.
"—Lend me your strength!!"
??!!
While everyone else stood there in utter confusion, only Nami covered her mouth as crystalline tears streamed down her face once again.
"Shahahahaha, Nami? Nami?!"
In the room on the top floor, Arlong laughed so hard he bent over. After wiping the "tears" from the corner of his eye, his expression suddenly turned savage!
"Nami's strength—this is your final means of resistance?"
"That's right."
Roman reached out, picked up a sea chart from the table, and waved it.
"Do you know what this is?"
?
"A sea chart?"
"Wrong." Roman, utterly spent, bared his teeth in a wolfish grin.
"The answer is:"
"Paper!"
"Paper Dance—!!"
A declaration rang out from the top-floor building of Arlong Park! It was Roman's voice.
"—Death Storm!!!"
Whoosh!
A gale!
A gale that stretched from earth to sky!
A rapidly spinning gale appeared atop the building, and then:
The entirety of Arlong Park instantly crumbled into dust, starting from the top floor, within that "gale"! Amid the rapidly spinning gale, a towering figure let out a miserable scream!
"AAAAAAAAAAAH~~~~~~~~"
"...We fish-men... are the ones..."
"Shut up."
Puff puff puff puff puff—!!
The enormous "gale" spiraled downward like the sword of a god of war, slicing the towering Arlong Park into a field of rubble! Then a figure slowly emerged from within it:
"Ro... Roman!"
Though his entire body was wrapped in white strips of paper, there was no mistaking that silhouette:
"Where's Brother Arlong?"
"Where's Arlong—!"
"N-No... that's impossible..."
As the fish-men trembled all over in despair, Roman slowly extended his hand and caught a sea chart drifting before him.
"Your Arlong is right here."
Yes, all his flesh and blood had been smeared across the sea charts filling the sky! All that remained was red.
"Roman."
Facing the orange-haired girl, who was crying and smiling at once, Roman merely gave a proud smile.
"I told you, killing people... I'll... leave it... to..."
Roman's vision went black, and his entire body fell forward, only to be caught by a pair of soft arms.
"Mm, leave it to me."
"Roman."
PS: Ah, because of the story's continuity, I won't split this into two chapters. Also, please vote~~~~ Anything is fine~~~
Before you continue