Arlong Underfoot!

"How should we do this, Arlong?"

"Yeah, just tell us what to do, and we'll do it!"

Arlong swept his gaze over Hatchan, Chew, Kuroobi, and the others. Pleased by their support, he lowered his voice and began giving orders.

"There are eight of us in total. Hatchan, Chew, Kuroobi, you're with me—we'll handle the Marines. Kingen, Shioyaki, Take, Pisaro, split into two groups. Two of you destroy the equipment, and the other two attack the workers. Remember, be fast, and listen for my signal. The moment you hear me say 'retreat,' jump into the water and head straight back to Fish-Man District. Understood?"

In Arlong's eyes, humans were simply too weak. They only occupied most of the world because of their numbers. More importantly, they couldn't breathe underwater, so as long as he and his men escaped into the sea, humans would be helpless against them.

"Understood!"

Hatchan, Kuroobi, and the other Fish-Men nodded together. They did not take the danger of this operation to heart at all.

A Fish-Man's strength was ten times that of a human—everyone knew that. Not to mention, they were all stronger than ordinary Fish-Men. The only things worth watching out for were the muskets in human hands and how to evade the Neptune Army afterward.

Soon, the eight split into two groups. One group silently circled around to the other side of the crowd, preparing to launch a pincer attack.

At that moment, teams of construction workers carrying toolboxes followed transport vehicles toward the construction site under the watchful eyes of countless merfolk and Fish-Men.

Including the Marines assigned to guard them, no one expected anything to go wrong. The scene in Mermaid Harbor was simply too peaceful and beautiful. Some Marine soldiers even accidentally met the eyes of beautiful mermaid ladies, and both sides blushed in embarrassment.

Mermaids were curious about humans, and humans were equally curious about mermaids. As for Fish-Men... well, that was more like morbid curiosity.

"Now!"

An accident suddenly erupted. Four burly shadows leaped out from the Fish-Men crowds on both sides, charging maliciously toward the vehicles and workers in the middle of the road.

"Who are you?!"

"Stop!"

The surrounding Marines all hailed from Marineford. Even if they had relaxed somewhat, they were not negligent enough to be caught completely off guard. They immediately raised their guns or drew their blades, attempting to intercept the attackers.

At the same time, Arlong, Hatchan, Chew, and Kuroobi took advantage of everyone's attention being focused on Kingen's group and launched their attack without hesitation.

[Bang!]

"Argh—"

Almost simultaneously, four Marines were struck hard. They only had time to cry out before collapsing to the ground. Some passed out on the spot, while others clutched their injuries and wailed in pain.

"Ah, it's the Arlong Pirates!"

"Why are they doing this?"

The surrounding merfolk and Fish-Men cried out in alarm. Those who recognized Arlong and the others looked at them with disgust. These eight had been causing trouble for years and had long been regarded as thugs by the people of Fish-Man Island.

But faced with such a violent scene, they no longer dared to stay and watch. They hurriedly scattered in all directions, with some, afraid of getting dragged into trouble, plunging into the water and swimming away.

This only made the situation even more chaotic.

In less than a minute, more than ten construction workers had been attacked. Take and Pisaro had also overturned an excavator bearing the World Government's emblem with their bare hands, then punched out its tires.

"Take them down!"

Marines in the distance noticed the situation and rushed over to reinforce their comrades. After knocking down another four Marines, Arlong sensed this and shouted loudly.

"Retreat!"

The moment the word left his mouth, he turned without hesitation to make his escape. But just then, the nearby Marines had already arrived.

A sharp whistle cut through the air.

A burly Marine, around six feet tall, rushed toward Arlong at astonishing speed. He wore the same blue trousers as the other Marines, but his upper body was clad in a fitted yellow T-shirt, a white coat, and a Marine cap. His right fist, already wound up and fitted with a cold iron knuckle duster, shot through the air toward Arlong's face.

"Heh heh~"

Arlong looked disdainfully at the puny human before him. Though he was only seventeen, his sawshark Fish-Man bloodline had already made him nearly eight feet tall, and he was still growing.

He showed no weakness, swinging a fist as large as a bowl straight ahead. It collided with the iron knuckle duster of this Headquarters Class ensign in midair. A dull boom erupted, and faint ripples spread through the air at the point of impact as though an explosion had gone off.

"How is this possible?!"

Arlong stared in shock at the human Marine, who had only been pushed back fifteen feet or so after trading fists with him and looked almost completely unaffected. Since when could a human's strength rival that of a Fish-Man?

Ignorant as he was, he had no idea that the claim that Fish-Men possessed ten times a human's strength applied only to ordinary Fish-Men and ordinary humans. And ordinary humans referred to untrained civilians under six feet tall.

The Marine before him, though only a little over six feet tall, was a genuine Headquarters Class ensign. In the Four Seas, he would have held the rank of a branch-base field officer. In terms of raw strength alone, he could easily suppress an ordinary Fish-Man!

Just then, the Headquarters Class lieutenant rolled his wrist and sneered. "You look pretty big, but you're not that strong. Or are all you Fish-Men too poor to afford food?"

"You inferior race, you dare mock superior Fish-Men?"

That single sentence completely enraged Arlong. Without another word, he burst forward.

At this age, he was at his most impulsive and extreme. Provoked like this by someone he considered inferior, he could only think about how to torture the other man to death.

But he failed to notice that Hatchan, Chew, Kuroobi, and the others had also been entangled by Headquarters Class ensigns and lieutenants. In an instant, more than a dozen figures fought in a blur of afterimages.

At the same time, more and more gun-wielding Marine soldiers were gathering around them.

Finally, a Marine major wearing a Coat of Justice arrived. He first glanced at the melee, then asked a Marine soldier about the situation.

"Major Hodgson, after speaking with several Fish-Man civilians, we've learned the basics. These eight Fish-Man rioters are a gang of thugs from Fish-Man District. Apparently, they're extreme racists who see us humans as an inferior race!" the Marine soldier said angrily.

"What? Humans are an inferior race?"

Major Hodgson, over six feet tall with reddish-brown hair, found that unbelievable. As he remembered it, Fish-Men had once not even been considered people, but had been classified as fish.

Only two hundred years ago had they begun to be regarded as demi-humans, and even now, many humans had not changed their views.

The major then watched the battle for over ten seconds before shaking his head.

These officers were fairly capable, but the odds of taking down these Fish-Man rioters quickly were almost nonexistent. What mattered now was restoring order to the construction work. If this disturbance went on too long, it would be a failure of duty on his part.

[Whoosh—]

He vanished from where he stood. The next second, he was already in front of Arlong. Arlong's vision went dark, and before he could react, a heavy axe kick crashed down onto his skull.

With a thunderous bang, Arlong slammed face-first into the ground. The force was so great that he nearly blacked out. His head spun, and it hurt like hell!

Then a polished black leather boot stepped onto his head.

"Hey, this is your leader, right?" Major Hodgson planted one foot on Arlong's head and called out to Hatchan, Kuroobi, and the other Fish-Men.

The others instinctively turned to look, then froze in shock, stopping their fight.

"Arlong!!"