Caught Off Guard

The massive Marine warship slowly sailed toward the coast where the Arlong Pirates were stationed.

"Boss, bad news—it's the Marines." A Fish-Man ran into Arlong Park, his face full of panic.

"The Marines?"

Arlong's expression darkened. "They actually found this place. Which branch?"

The Fish-Man quickly replied, "It says 16. It's a warship from the Branch 16 base."

Chuu raised an eyebrow. "Branch 16? Isn't that the one in charge of this sea? I remember Hoshigakure Town and Cocoyasi Village were both under Branch 16's jurisdiction."

Beside him, Kuroobi said, "Boss Arlong, should we fight them?"

Arlong waved a hand. "Don't start a fight yet. They're in charge of this sea. If we can bribe them, it'll save us a lot of trouble."

After thinking for a moment, Arlong said, "Send someone to negotiate with them first. As long as they turn a blind eye to us, we can give them two million Belly. After that, we can share some of the money we collect with them every month—one million Belly a month. If they refuse, kill them."

Arlong looked around, intending to find someone to negotiate, but at that moment—

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The cannons roared, and shells flew out. Three cannonballs came hurtling their way.

Bang! One cannonball struck the wall, smashing it apart.

Splash! Another struck the water, sending up a huge spray.

The third cannonball flew toward Arlong. Arlong opened his mouth and caught it between his teeth.

Crack.

Arlong clenched his jaws and bit the cannonball to pieces.

"Looks like they don't want to negotiate. Then kill them."

Arlong spat out the fragments and spoke viciously.

At his words, the Fish-Men rose to their feet and gathered around him.

"We don't need that many people."

Arlong waved a hand. "Kuroobi, Chuu, take two Fish-Men each. Can you kill them?"

"Chuu and I will be enough."

Kuroobi's expression remained calm.

"Leave it to us." Chuu wore a mocking smile.

"Go."

Arlong waved them off. Kuroobi and Chuu each picked two Fish-Men and walked straight to the pool before leaping in.

Chuu was the fastest. His body shot forward like an arrow, and he quickly reached the ship. He launched himself straight into the air beside it and spat out a water cannon with a puff.

Bang.

A Marine was struck by the water cannon. Blood burst from his chest, and he collapsed without rising again.

"Enemy attack!"

The Captain in Marine uniform saw Chuu appear and shouted, "Swordsmen, guard positions! Riflemen, take aim!"

Seeing Chuu approach, the nearby Marines gripped their swords warily, while some raised their rifles and aimed at him.

"Fire!"

The Captain in an officer's uniform waved his hand.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bullets flew from the muzzles.

But Chuu darted about, evading the gun barrels and dodging every bullet.

However, the continuous gunfire left him unable to counterattack.

Damn it.

Chuu sensed the trouble, but then, with a thunderous boom, the ship shook violently and tilted slightly.

The Marines could not keep their footing, and their gun barrels tilted aside. Chuu seized the chance and spat out several water cannons, knocking down several Marines.

At the same time, two Fish-Men climbed up from beneath the water and pounced on the Marines from both sides.

"Kill them!"

The Captain drew his sword and charged at Chuu first, but Chuu flashed aside, dodging his blade before spitting out a water cannon.

Bang.

The Captain was struck head-on and thrown backward, crashing onto the deck with severe injuries.

"Too weak."

Chuu snorted and continued his assault.

Meanwhile, underwater, Kuroobi led the other two Fish-Men over to the ship.

Rip.

Kuroobi gripped a plank, planted his feet against the hull, and pulled with both arms, ripping the plank free in one go before swimming away.

The other two Fish-Men held chisels and hammered at the side of the ship.

But at that moment, Kuroobi's expression changed. He shouted, "Dodge!"

"Huh?"

The two Fish-Men froze slightly at his words. One reacted quickly, kicking off the hull and rapidly retreating.

The other was a beat slower, but that delay ended up saving his life.

Boom.

A huge black shadow charged over. It had originally been heading for the ship, but then it suddenly turned its head and shifted slightly, biting the Fish-Man who had moved away from the ship and catching him in its jaws.

Crack.

Its teeth closed, turning the Fish-Man into a pulp of flesh.

Then Xia Qiu continued charging forward, his body scraping past the hull.

"It's that thing."

The moment Kuroobi saw the enormous Black Fish, he thought of the fish Hachi had mentioned half a year ago—the one that had killed four Fish-Men. He had not expected it to appear now.

"Kill it."

Kuroobi kicked off with both feet and shot toward the Black Fish. Once he drew close, he kicked out.

Fish-Man Karate: Underbelly Kick.

The kick carried tremendous force as it struck toward Xia Qiu's lower abdomen.

But Xia Qiu had been using Ultrasound to track his movements. The time difference could reach 500 picoseconds, allowing him to sense nearly every movement Kuroobi made.

As Kuroobi approached, Xia Qiu accelerated forward while swinging his body sideways, lashing his tail directly at Kuroobi.

Boom.

The tail fin collided with Kuroobi's foot. Currents surged and churned in every direction.

Crack.

Two of the hard spines on Xia Qiu's tail snapped. That was only because Xia Qiu had shortened the range of his attack.

Kuroobi's foot, meanwhile, was wracked with sharp pain.

"What tremendous strength."

Pain shot through Kuroobi's right foot, while the sea fish had already dashed into the distance.

"Boss, what do we do?" The other Fish-Man who had narrowly escaped looked at Kuroobi.

"Keep destroying the ship. If it dares come again, kill it."

Kuroobi spoke fiercely and moved back toward the planks to destroy the bottom of the ship.

Not long after, his eyes narrowed. "It's coming. Hide beneath the ship."

"Yes."

The Fish-Man immediately swam under the hull, while Kuroobi waited for his opponent to charge in.

Boom.

Xia Qiu came rushing forward amid tremendous vibrations, opening his bloody maw and biting toward Kuroobi.

"Die!"

Kuroobi crossed his arms over his chest and spun rapidly upward, narrowly dodging Xia Qiu's jaws as he brought one foot down in a chopping kick.

Fire Flower Heel Slash.

Kuroobi's foot slammed directly into Xia Qiu's horn.

Bang.

After the muffled impact came a massive shockwave, and the seawater churned violently.

Crack.

Xia Qiu's scales shattered, and cracks appeared in the hard bone of his horn. His enormous body actually came to a halt.

Boom.

Kuroobi was sent flying backward, and the bones in his right foot fractured instantly.

His strength is too great.

Kuroobi's expression turned ugly. He had not expected his opponent to be so powerful. Even though he had kicked downward from above, the force rebounding from the blow was more than he could withstand.

Not only that, it had a huge horn—extremely hard and massive enough to absorb much of the force.

Otherwise, no matter how powerful it was, his kick would have injured the fish's brain.

It hurts.

Xia Qiu felt intense pain from his horn, but he did not stop. He charged at Kuroobi again.

"It's coming again?"

Kuroobi narrowed his eyes. "It may be strong, but it's still only a fish. I won't meet it head-on."

Kuroobi kicked off with both feet, shooting to the right and narrowly avoiding Xia Qiu's massive jaws as he skimmed past its head.

At the same time, Kuroobi leaned forward and kicked off again, his body shooting ahead. He bent his arm, aiming the sickle-like fin on it at Xia Qiu's pectoral fin.

Fish-Man Karate: Wrist Blade Slash.

I'll cut off your pectoral fin.

But just as Kuroobi dodged Xia Qiu, Xia Qiu had already begun spinning to the left, exposing his belly to Kuroobi.

Trying to dodge?

Kuroobi saw Xia Qiu's movement, and his eyes narrowed. "Then I'll slice open your belly."

Kuroobi grinned savagely and slashed forward, but the next moment, his eyes widened. "What is that?"

In the next instant, Kuroobi charged into Xia Qiu's tentacle area, and his wrist blade struck the tentacles.

Pfft! Pfft!

Two of Xia Qiu's tentacles were severed and fell downward, but Kuroobi's forward momentum also came to an abrupt stop.

The other eight tentacles had slowly closed around him, wrapping and binding his body.

"What am I seeing?"

Even after being tied up, Kuroobi's face remained full of disbelief. "A fish has tentacles?"

Are you fucking kidding me?

Earlier, Kurume's Marine base had been changed from the 154th Branch to Branch 19. The 154th Branch should be closer to Branch 153, but after checking the map, Branch 153 was very far from here.