Underhanded? Yes, That's Me!

"Nami, what are you doing!"

"I'm talking to you, you bastards!"

"Just a bunch of humans, and you dare ignore us!"

The Fish-Men's faces twisted with anger.

Ever since they'd come to the East Blue...

They'd never met anyone so insolent!

"Get them! Take them down!"

Several nearby Fish-Men charged at them with savage grins.

Clang—!

Zoro's mouth curled into a faint smile. He drew his swords first and sprang forward to meet the Fish-Men.

"Don't bother us with small fry."

The twin blades in Zoro's hands gleamed with a cold light. In the blink of an eye, he was in front of the Fish-Men, and a flurry of sword strikes flashed past.

Slash! Slash! Slash!

"Ugh!"

In an instant, the first few Fish-Men fell into pools of blood.

"Bastard! What did you do?!"

Arlong ground his teeth and growled, "You actually injured my kin..."

He was an extreme racist. In his eyes, humans were nothing but a lowly, inferior race, while his own kind mattered more than anything.

"These guys aren't small fry. Don't let our brothers throw their lives away for nothing."

"Chuu, Kuroobi, you're up!"

"Yes, Arlong!"

At his command, several officers stepped forward and faced them.

The Fish-Man called Kuroobi was tall, with long fins on his arms and two round buns of hair.

"Is that... Diamond Nezha?"

Lina couldn't help thinking, then turned his gaze to another Fish-Man.

He was a Kiss Fish-Man, tall and slender, with long lips and a touch of blush on his cheeks.

"Nami, what's the meaning of this?" the Kiss Fish-Man asked, fixing his gaze on her.

The Fish-Man with the buns scoffed. "Hmph! I always said this woman couldn't be trusted."

"We came here today to declare war!"

Nami glared at Arlong behind them and shouted through gritted teeth, "Arlong, I'm officially leaving you today and joining the Straw Hat Pirates!"

"Oh?"

Arlong regarded Nami with amusement. "So they're the help you found, are they? These guys?"

"Hahaha! Don't make me laugh, Nami. In consideration of your talent, I'll give you one more chance. Keep drawing charts for me, and I'll forgive your past offenses."

"Draw charts for you?... Heh."

Nami lowered her head and let out a low, bitter laugh. Her expression twisted as she raised her head and screamed:

"I dream of seeing you dead!"

"Arlong!!!"

"If that's how it is, then you'll all die here!"

Arlong stood with a vicious grin, yanked the lounge chair out of the ground, and hurled it at them.

"Is Arlong going to fight them himself?"

"These humans brought this on themselves."

Lina had already summoned his three powerful undead. The Blade Devil raised a hand and cut the flying iron chair in half.

Luffy leaped out from behind it and charged at Arlong.

"You think you're worthy of making Arlong fight you himself?"

Kuroobi and Chuu were about to attack when the Chainsaw Devil and Wolverine stepped in to stop them.

"What the hell is that?!"

"What kind of strange species are they?"

"No, are they cyborgs?"

Kuroobi and Chuu stared at the two undead who had suddenly appeared. Even they, who had traveled the Grand Line, were taken aback.

By then, Luffy had reached Arlong, his arm stretching back.

"Gomu Gomu Pistol!"

Luffy threw a punch, brimming with anger. Arlong was caught off guard and took the full force of it to the face, flying backward and slamming into the wall before sliding down like a lump of dough.

"Arlong!!!"

"His arm stretched!"

Arlong got back to his feet, his brow furrowed. He wiped a trace of blood from the corner of his mouth. "A Devil Fruit user? Looks like I underestimated you."

"But..."

"Don't think a Devil Fruit makes you invincible!!"

Before he'd finished speaking, Arlong charged at Luffy. He dodged Luffy's punch, ducked low, and drove a heavy fist toward Luffy's stomach.

But Luffy neither dodged nor flinched. His retracted arm clenched into a fist and smashed into Arlong's face.

"Bazooka!"

The punch twisted Arlong's cheek, bunching the flesh together, and slammed his head hard into the ground.

The ground cracked in an instant, forming a deep crater.

At the same time, Arlong's blow sent Luffy flying. But he was a Rubber Person, and ordinary attacks had no effect on him.

That was why he'd chosen to trade blows. Whatever else you could say about him, Luffy's fighting instincts were top-tier.

"...Cough... cough..."

Arlong spat out a mouthful of blood. Seeing Luffy rush toward him, he braced himself with one hand on the ground and dipped the other into the pool.

"Water Shot!"

"What?!"

A huge ball of water appeared in front of Luffy and knocked him flying.

At the same time, Arlong realized that physical attacks had little effect on Luffy. He ran into the room to retrieve his sawtooth blade.

Back with Lina, Zoro had already engaged Chuu, while the Blade Devil had Kuroobi pinned down.

The Chainsaw Devil and Wolverine were still cutting down the Fish-Men who swarmed them.

As for Nami and Usopp...

"Nice work!"

"Charge!"

They were hiding behind the wall and cheering them on. Lina was with them, of course.

"At this rate, we're sure to win!"

Nami couldn't stop smiling as she watched the battle unfold.

She'd never imagined Luffy could hold his own against Arlong all by himself.

"About time."

Lina was delighted by the two undead's performance.

He began weaving through the battlefield, "looting" the bodies.

I hope Luffy can keep fighting for a while. If these Fish-Men scatter and escape underwater, they'll be hard to catch.

That was why he hadn't sent all the undead after Arlong to finish him off right away.

As long as Arlong hadn't been defeated, the Fish-Men wouldn't lose their fighting spirit.

And Lina would have a steady supply of undead to add to his collection.

He'd even told the Chainsaw Devil and Wolverine to hold back a little. Otherwise, the Fish-Men would probably stop charging after just a few exchanges.

He was basically fishing for them.

"What are you doing to my friends?!"

A deep, muffled voice sounded behind him.

Had he been spotted?

Lina turned around and saw an octopus Fish-Man with six arms and a large water jug on his back, staring at him.

"Hachi?" Lina blurted out.

"Huh? You know me?

"No, no! What are you doing to my friends?!"

Hachi glared angrily at the fallen Fish-Men in front of Lina.

He'd been sent to pick up a Marine who looked like a rat, but he'd waited on shore for ages and no one had shown up.

Unable to stand it any longer, he'd gone ashore to check. The Marine Arlong had sent him to meet was already dead.

Hachi had immediately returned to report to Arlong, only to stumble upon this gruesome scene.

The battlefield was strewn with corpses.

"Hachi, you're back!"

"Great, come help us!"

A few Fish-Men called out to Hachi when they spotted him.

Lina pointed at the two undead cutting down the Fish-Men and explained to Hachi, "Your friends? Those two did it. I don't know them."

"Oh, is that so? Sorry for misunderstanding you."

"Yeah, no problem. Go get them."

"You bastards! Try my Six Sword Style!"

Hachi drew six swords, turned around, and charged at the two undead.

No wonder Hachi had been able to carry Zoro to Cocoyasi Village in the original story, even after Zoro cut down a whole bunch of Fish-Men.

"Too easy to fool."

The moment Hachi turned around, Lina aimed his gun at his back.

He didn't want to have anything to do with the undead for the time being, so he had to avoid using his ability in front of everyone as much as possible.

Taking a shot from behind was definitely the best option.

That's right, I'm a lowlife. I'm underhanded, and I know it!

Lina pulled the trigger without hesitation.

"Bang—!"