Hyozou, Troublesome Matters

Bright pursed his lips.

The emotions he had finally managed to build up were interrupted, and the words he had organized couldn't be spoken.

Can't you at least read the room, you guy?

Bright looked at the swaying, drunken figure approaching, his brow furrowed. "Hyozou."

The red-skinned octopus fishman, with tentacles below his waist, carried a sake gourd in one hand and a sword in the other.

An old acquaintance.

The undisputed number one swordsman of Fish-Man Island, Hyozou of the Eight-Sword Style.

Of course, in a place where everyone practices Fishman Karate, the "number one swordsman" title's true value was understood by those who knew.

"Arlong said you dealt with Hody?"

Hyozou was drunk.

Hody's actions had already spread throughout the Fish-Man District via Brother Arlong.

This had naturally shocked all the fishmen.

To attack their own kind to deal with Bright and Jinbe!

The fishmen detested such behavior.

In a sense, Bright's reputation in the Fish-Man District had soared because of this incident.

Though it paled in comparison to Arlong's praise.

However, Bright knew that Hyozou wasn't here for revenge for Hody, even though in the original story, he was Hody's subordinate.

Hyozou was more of a mercenary; he followed whoever paid him more.

Hody probably hadn't had time to hire him yet.

"But honestly, Hody wasn't that great anyway,"

Hyozou hiccuped, his eyes filled with a dazed look. He said slowly, "If he thinks he can lead the Fish-Man District forward like this, hic I, I won't agree..."

"Hey, Hyozou, you bastard!"

Arlong jumped down from the table, shouting angrily, "What do you think you're doing..."

"Leave it to Bright, Arlong."

Jinbe reached out and stopped the furious Arlong, saying calmly, "If he can't even handle something like this, what's he talking about changing Fish-Man Island for?"

"Have you forgotten what Brother Fisher Tiger did back then?"

Arlong thought for a moment, then nodded.

This might be an opportunity.

Despite his and Jinbe's support, there were still countless people in the Fish-Man District who were unhappy with Bright.

But it didn't matter; the Fish-Man District lived by the law of the jungle.

As long as Bright could display overwhelming power, just like Brother Fisher Tiger back then, he would gain everyone's support!

Now was the perfect chance.

Bright understood this as well. "So, if I have the strength to defeat you, you'll acknowledge me."

Hyozou's clouded eyes became fervent. Although he still hiccuped, the hand holding his sword had become very steady.

"That's always been the rule, hasn't it?"

Bright grinned, tilting his head slightly towards the bar door. "Let's go outside."

He turned and walked out.

"Heh heh, I'm looking forward to it!"

Hyozou chuckled and followed.

"Ooooh!!!"

The drunken patrons inside the bar immediately started cheering wildly.

"A fight!"

In the decaying Fish-Man District, there wasn't much entertainment, and the fishmen always found joy in fighting or watching fights.

On the street outside the bar, Bright and Hyozou faced each other. Almost all the fishmen from the bar had poured out, cheering them on with linked arms.

Thanks to someone tipping them off, fishmen from even farther away were flocking over.

Those who arrived later quickly learned from the early arrivals what had happened that night.

"Whoa! A battle for the leadership of the Fish-Man District?"

"Doesn't that mean the Fish-Man District is about to get lively?"

"Hahaha, I never thought I'd see something like this again, like back in Brother Fisher Tiger's time!"

The fishmen chattered amongst themselves, reminiscing.

That was a chaotic yet passionate era.

A certain man stepped forward, using his strength to forcefully end the chaos in the Fish-Man District!

"You don't need a weapon?"

Hyozou looked at Bright and slowly drew his sword.

Not one, not two, but eight.

He was an Octopus Fishman, possessing tentacles in addition to his arms.

"Fists are enough."

Bright didn't even bother using his abilities, raising his hands into a stance as faint electrical sparks began to dance around his body.

"Hahahaha, this fight will be over in an instant!!"

Arlong, watching from the side, burst into laughter. "Even though Bright isn't using his full power, how could that Hyozou guy possibly be his opponent!"

"Is that so?"

Hachi sounded a little worried. "But that Hyozou guy, he's really strong!"

He had already lost to Hyozou countless times.

"No need to worry,"

Jinbe said calmly, crossing his arms. "They're not even on the same level."

He knew Bright's strength better than anyone. Hyozou might not be weak, but he would never be able to defeat Bright.

"Haha, don't blame me if you get cut down!"

Hyozou laughed wildly.

He had no legs, but eight tentacles. The flexible tentacles exerted force simultaneously, enough to propel his body forward like a cannonball.

As he shot forward, his eight sharp blades began to swing from every angle, turning into a veritable storm.

"He's going to be sliced into pieces!!"

Someone among the watching fish-men exclaimed.

In their sight, Bright would be completely swallowed by the blade storm in the next instant.

Too slow.

Bright's lips curled into a smile.

His body transformed into a streak of blue lightning.

The lightning flashed to the side, then refracted forward at a sharp angle.

In just a flash, Bright appeared diagonally behind Hyozou.

Although Kaido's Bloodline granted him a resilient body and the Primitive Diamondfish provided an exoskeleton beneath his skin, which were both developing rapidly, Bright had no intention of blocking swords with his body before learning Haki.

Using electricity as an energy source, employing the moves of Shark Skin Palm Strike, the speed he unleashed was, in Bright's opinion, no less than Soru, one of the Rokushiki.

At the very least, Hyozou didn't react at all.

"What?"

By the time he turned around in shock, Bright had already extended a large hand and grabbed one of his tentacles.

"This is the end."

Hyozou's body was flung into the air and then slammed heavily onto the ground.

Then he was flung up again, and slammed onto the ground again.

After repeating this several times, the ground around them was already pockmarked with several large craters from Bright's slams.

When Bright finally let go, Hyozou could only lie in the crater, gasping weakly.

"Is this, the end?"

A watching fish-man marveled. "That Hyozou, he had absolutely no power to fight back!"

"So strong!! Bright is really so strong!"

"Still calling him Bright? Call him Brother Bright!!"

Some fish-men shouted excitedly. "Brother Bright is our new boss of the Fish-Man District!!"

"Long live Boss Bright!!"

The mermaids cheered and shouted.

"Is it because of this kind of strength that you chose to trust him, Arlong?" Kuroobi asked in amazement.

He had passed out beforehand the last time Bright defeated Hody, so he hadn't witnessed Bright's true power.

"This is nowhere near Bright's full strength."

Arlong grinned. "Once you see his true power, you'll understand. He's the hope of Fish-Man Island!"

"In that case," Kuroobi nodded slowly, "perhaps, as you say, Arlong..."

The watching fish-people cheered heartily.

Even Hyozou, who was incredibly weak, slowly managed to say with difficulty, "Su-super strong, I acknowledge you..."

Bright slowly let out a breath and looked at Jinbe and Arlong.

Jinbe gave him an encouraging look, and Arlong gave him a thumbs-up.

"Then, starting today, I will lead the Fish-Man District forward!"

Bright shouted loudly, "Anyone who disagrees can challenge me!"

"Oh!! Brother Bright!!"

Cheers echoed throughout the night sky.

"So, just like that, you became the boss of the Fish-Man District?"

Sharly looked up from her ledger in surprise at Bright.

"Didn't you tell me to do what I wanted to do?"

Bright said with a smile.

"It seems you've followed that to the letter."

"Because what Sharly says is always right."

"Heh, so what's next, Bright?" Sharly's expression barely changed. "What do we do now?"

"It's too early to talk about unifying the Fish-Man District."

Bright said, "Although Jinbe and Brother Arlong support me, you know as well as I do that there are countless small gangs in the Fish-Man District, so what needs to be done next is still very troublesome."

"Oh, like Brother Fisher Tiger back then?" Sharly nodded slightly.

Bright said earnestly, "So many people in the Fish-Man District are always idle, poor, and ignorant. It's the most unstable part of Fish-Man Island."

"If we want to change Fish-Man Island, we'll start here."

"Have you already figured out what to do?"

"I only have a general idea right now. I'll discuss the specifics later. For now, I need to prepare for the upcoming troubles."

"That's a shame," Sharly said, shaking her head regretfully. "It looks like you won't be able to work at my shop."

"I'm sorry, Sharly. Things won't be as leisurely as I originally thought from now on," Bright said earnestly.

"Didn't I tell you? Just do what you want to do."

Sharly smiled gently. "And then slowly move towards the future I see."

"So, what exactly did you see?"

"I refuse to answer. If you knew, wouldn't all the anticipation be gone? You just need to know, Bright, that if you keep moving forward, we will eventually reach a very beautiful future. So, don't stop."

"That's a temptation I can hardly refuse, but don't say such ominous things."

"Huh? That makes no sense."

In any case, next, in between training, there were troublesome matters to attend to.

In the time that followed, Bright would always encounter such things.

"You're Bright, right! You want to be the boss of the Fish-Man District, did you even ask us?"