VS. Fish-Men!

Cocoyasi Village, Arlong's Territory.

"...B-Boss!"

A fish-man scrambled and crawled through the gates, which looked somewhat like the entrance to Sabaody Park, terror lingering in his eyes.

"They're here. They're here."

"Calm down! So what if they're here?!"

Arlong frowned. What could have scared him this badly?

Just as he thought that, even more fish-men poured in through the gates, nearly all the men he had stationed outside.

"..."

Arlong instantly wanted to curse, but the terror plastered across their faces did not seem fake.

"Hmph! Let's see what exactly it is!"

With a cold snort, Arlong looked through the wide-open gates at the crowd standing outside, then suddenly sucked in a sharp breath.

"Hiss... I see! Is this your Devil Fruit ability?"

The one who had come was Lowett.

Yet behind Lowett, dressed entirely in black, stood rows of corpses with rotting flesh and stiff limbs. Their eyes were vacant. Some even had half their heads chopped off, yet they still stood rigidly upright, facing the gates and silently watching them.

He could actually control the dead?!!

Arlong's scalp went numb at once. Remembering someone he had seen while roaming the Grand Line years ago, he narrowed his eyes slightly.

"If it's that guy's ability, then this is indeed a little troublesome."

"No!"

At that moment, Lowett calmly raised his head and spoke with a smile.

"This is not Shichibukai 'Gecko' Moria's Shadow-Shadow Fruit. This is magic."

He knew about the Shichibukai too!

Arlong's pupils contracted, but he bared his teeth without backing down. "Magic? Some cheap trick from a festival?"

This world had the concept of magic as well, but it originated from magicians putting on mysterious airs. No one had ever seen true magic.

"The name is the same, but the essence is different."

Lowett shook his head. "True magic is a culture, a form of knowledge, a vessel for civilization, a foundation for truth... Of course, you can also simplify it as one thing: power!"

"Interesting!"

Arlong rose to his feet. The savage ferocity exploding from him made Kuroobi, Chu, and the other officers beside him retreat.

"A mere human dares talk about power with fish-men?"

Arlong's eyes brimmed with killing intent.

"Then let me see the power of your magic."

Kill!!

Without waiting for Arlong's command, several Arlong Pirates officers attacked at once and charged toward the gates. If this dragged on any longer, the Undead Army would crush their brethren's morale.

Weren't they just a bunch of dead bones?

They had slaughtered countless living people. Why would they fear a bunch of corpses?

Facing the fish-man army charging at him, Lowett's expression remained calm.

"You seem rather anxious?"

"Hmph! If you can say that, I don't believe you aren't anxious too."

Arlong replied with a cold, contemptuous look.

Momonga could arrive at any moment. If they did not want to be surrounded, they had to end this quickly.

"As expected, rats are the stupidest of all."

Lowett sighed upon hearing that.

He was completely certain now. Although Arlong had waited here for him today, he had already prepared to flee behind the scenes.

Through Momonga arranging for the rats to go to Klar Village, he had noticed the same signs.

But now that things had come this far, no one had any choice left.

"Black Knight, kill!"

"Roar!!"

The undead let out furious howls and dragged their rotting, foul-smelling bodies toward the enemy.

Rotting bluish-purple chunks of flesh crashed viciously into the predominantly pink tide of fish-man bodies. Blood splattered everywhere, and limbs flew through the air.

From the very beginning, this battle had entered its most intense phase.

Both sides would use their full strength and end the battle in the shortest time possible!

Fish-Man Karate: Hundred Brick Fist!

Kuroobi charged at the very front like a heavily armored chariot, smashing zombies aside along the way and shattering their bones.

As a fortieth-degree Fish-Man Karate practitioner, Kuroobi knew exactly where his advantage lay.

Strength!

The power of his punches!

Fish-men naturally possessed ten times the arm strength of humans, and Fish-Man Karate, created according to the body structure of fish-men and merfolk, was the best way to unleash that power.

He had witnessed the Black Knight's speed and knew he could not let him attack freely.

At that speed, aside from officers like them, no one could react in time.

A single thread could not make a line, nor could one tree make a forest.

A hundred bricks stacked together required unimaginably terrifying strength to shatter!

And that strength was now gathered in Kuroobi's fist.

When he threw a punch, faint ripples even appeared in the air.

"So this is the strength of an officer-level fish-man?"

Lowett noticed the scene and was slightly surprised.

The previous four fish-men combined probably could not have achieved this.

For members of the same species to differ so greatly, this world's cultivation system truly could not be underestimated.

But...

"You can't hit him."

Lowett had never tested the Black Knight's speed limit, but after incorporating fish-man cells, he was certain the Black Knight's explosive speed now surpassed that of ordinary Marines who had mastered the Navy Six Styles.

Running one hundred meters in three seconds was routine for him.

Whoosh...

The heavy punch came down, screeching against the air as it struck a Big Tree.

Bang!!

The condensed force surged through his knuckles and into the trunk, instantly blasting apart the massive tree, so thick that two people could not wrap their arms around it. Wood chips scattered everywhere.

But Kuroobi did not feel happy.

He could clearly sense that something had brushed past his fist.

"Behind me!"

His battle-hardened instincts made the back of Kuroobi's head tingle. He suddenly lowered his head, and a blur skimmed over his scalp, slicing the airborne tree trunk into several pieces.

"This will take a while, fish-man... You truly are impressive."

Withdrawing his Mental Power, Lowett tilted his head as a water ball whistled past his ear.

The water ball passed less than three centimeters from his cheek, dampening the tips of his hair.

Lowett glanced sideways toward the direction the water ball had come from and asked,

"So eager to die?"

Chu, the kissing fish-man, puffed out his cheeks without saying a word. One water projectile after another shot toward Lowett.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

As a kissing fish-man, absurd as it sounded, his mouth was his strongest weapon. He could easily spit bullets more destructive than flintlock shots.

A true shotgun.

Withered Black Sand!

Lowett's expression did not change as he faced the incoming projectiles.

Black poisonous sand surged from his left arm, swelling like an inflated balloon and forming a round curtain in front of Lowett.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

Dull impacts sounded from the other side of the curtain. Chu's water balls scattered the black sand in all directions, yet they could never break through the barrier.

"This guy... has some skill!"

With every shot blocked, Chu's gaze turned serious.

"Boss Arlong, don't make a move yet. Let us wear down his stamina first~ Chu."

As he spoke, he looked at Lowett, whose face was visible beyond the black sand. "Blame yourself for having too few people. Corpses and the like are nothing to fish-men~ Chu."

Among pirates, there was no point talking about honor.

Arlong nodded at that, his face full of malice as he looked at Lowett.

"Kick them into the water!!"

At that moment, Hatchan, who was still a member of the Arlong Pirates, roared angrily.

During the battle, he had discovered that these dead bones were extremely troublesome. They were weak, but exceptionally difficult to kill.

He had cut half their heads off with a single sword strike, yet they were completely unaffected and kept fighting, forcing him to think of another way.

With Hatchan's reminder, the fish-men's eyes lit up.

That was right, the water was their home ground!

No matter how troublesome these dead bones were, there was no way they could escape the grasp of fish-men in the water.

For a moment, splashing sounds rang out without end.

Splash! Splash!

The fish-men simply gave up on cutting them down. Whenever they found an opportunity, they kicked, pushed, or rammed the undead into the several large pools in front of Arlong's Territory.

The crowded battlefield instantly cleared up, and the situation rapidly turned unfavorable.

The fish-men were fewer in number, but their average strength was greater.

Kuroobi had tied down the terrifyingly fast Black Knight. Hatchan led the remaining fish-men against an Undead Army several times their own number and had already found a way to counter them. Lowett alone had to face the pincer attack of Arlong and Officer Chu. The situation was extremely unfavorable.

"The outcome is decided, human!"

Chu stood between Lowett and Arlong, smiling cruelly and confidently.

But...

"Is this all?"

Lowett suddenly murmured softly.

"What do you mean?!"

Chu asked with a frown.

There was not a trace of gravity on the other man's face. His gaze remained the same as always—calm and confident.

"You cannot even deal with my toys. You are all far too weak."

Lowett silently shook his head and looked toward Arlong. "Perhaps only you can bring me a little surprise."

Arlong frowned. He felt that something was wrong.

What had I overlooked?

"Arrogant!!"

Chu flew into a rage. He bent down and swiftly sucked a mouthful of water from the pool into his cheeks, aiming at Lowett.

Suddenly, his expression froze, and his eyes widened.

"Ugh..."

A thin streak of black blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. Looking at his brethren who had jumped into the pools to deal with the undead, Chu could not help opening his mouth.

"Blegh!"

He vomited out a mouthful of seawater mixed with blood. His eyes were wide, his steps staggered, and he reached a hand forward.

"Don't... don't go in..."

"The water... is poisoned!"

After saying that, Chu's eyes filled with bloodshot veins. With a thud, he collapsed onto the ground and did not move again.

The clamor of battle across the field instantly froze. Looking at Chu's corpse, his eyes still wide open in death, red rapidly flooded Arlong's pupils.

"Chu!!!"

Only now, after the battle had begun, did the true slaughter truly start.

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