You're the One They Call Arlong?

Meanwhile.

At the East Gate of Arlong Park.

Whoosh—!

A sudden sound tore through the air.

Will appeared in front of the gate of a large European-style mansion.

From here, he could see a striking tower-shaped building inside the courtyard.

At the top of the tower was a sculpture of a sawtooth shark's head.

A pirate flag hung above it.

At that moment, more than a dozen fish-men were walking toward the mansion's gate. They didn't look like guards.

"So this is Arlong Park. It looks pretty fancy."

Will paid no attention to the fish-men and simply studied the mansion in front of him.

He thought back to the dilapidated village he had just passed.

The contrast between the two made the chill in his eyes grow even more pronounced.

The group of fish-men in front of Will seemed to sense that something was wrong. They all turned around to look.

Only then did they notice that, at some point, an exceptionally tall human had appeared behind them.

One fish-man had hair shaped like a frill, with the character for "gold" tattooed on his chest and forehead. He warily stepped forward.

He raised a hand and pointed, shouting, "Who are you?!"

Will shifted his gaze to the strangely shaped fish-men before him but didn't bother to answer.

Then he put his hands in his pockets and walked toward them at an unhurried pace.

His complete indifference made it seem as though the fish-men were nothing more than ants by the roadside, unworthy of his attention.

"Damn inferior human! How dare you ignore me!"

The fish-man Jincheng, with hair shaped like a frill, immediately darkened his expression.

He swept out a hand and roared, "Everyone, attack together! Take him down!"

A dozen or so fish-men charged at Will.

He continued strolling along as if nothing were the matter, slowly pulling his hands from his pockets.

Inside Arlong Park.

The fish-men were still merrily holding their banquet.

Clack—!

Suddenly, the eastern gate swung halfway open.

A fish-man, his face full of terror, came scrambling in on his knees and hands. He hurriedly shouted to Arlong, who was sitting on a lounge chair:

"Boss Arlong! A huge human is attacking us at the gate!"

"The dozen or so companions who came with me to join the banquet are all dead!"

"Even the shipwright Jincheng was killed by that guy!"

Arlong was stunned by the news. His face twisted as he roared, "Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

"Just a human! A lower species!"

"And there's only one of him! How could he defeat us mighty fish-men?!"

Seeing that Arlong refused to believe him, the fish-man hurriedly pointed toward the eastern gate and cried out, "It's true, Boss Arlong! That guy's right outside!"

He had seen with his own eyes how brutally his companions had been killed. He was already panicking.

But as soon as he finished speaking—

Boom—!

The eastern gate suddenly exploded. Shattered stones flew in every direction as dust billowed through the air.

The object that had smashed through the gate fell to the ground.

It was none other than Jincheng, the fish-man with the character for "gold" tattooed on his chest and forehead.

Jincheng's eyes had rolled back, blood ran from all seven orifices, and all four of his limbs had been brutally broken.

Then, through the dust, a tall figure slowly approached.

"Ah! He's broken in! That damned human!"

The fish-man who had run in to deliver the warning collapsed to the ground. Terrified, he used both hands to keep scrambling backward.

Arlong stood up from his lounge chair and glared toward the eastern gate, his face grim.

Hachi produced six swords from somewhere and gripped them in his hands.

The fish-man Kuroobi held his hands at his sides, ready to attack at any moment.

The fish-man Chuu also pulled his right hand from his pocket, his lazy expression turning grave.

The fish-men who had been swimming in the pool climbed out as well, all taking up fighting stances.

Every fish-man could tell that the intruder was probably no weakling.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have dared come straight to their doorstep.

Through the dust,

the figure gradually came into view.

A tall, muscular man appeared before the fish-men, spotless from head to toe.

After taking care of all the fish-men blocking the entrance,

Will had used one of them to smash open the gate, then strolled inside without hurrying.

Then,

he saw a group of fish-men, each with a different appearance and build, staring at him with anger and wariness.

After looking them over,

Will fixed his gaze on the few fish-men standing in the middle.

He looked at the purple-skinned fish-man standing there, whose nose had a distinctive sawtoothed shape.

Will raised an eyebrow and asked coldly, "So you're the one they call Arlong."

"Damn... that wretched human!"

Arlong's face darkened. He didn't answer, but his eyes gleamed with intense bloodlust as he cursed inwardly.

Looking at the tall human before him, he couldn't help remembering the humiliating defeat he had suffered in the past.

Back then, a tall human Marine in gray clothes, with a leering expression, had beaten him with ease.

He had never forgotten it!

When Arlong remained silent, Will continued speaking as if to himself:

"You're nothing but a fish-man, yet you brought your men to the East Blue, where you've occupied so many human villages and towns."

"You're completely lawless!"

A fish-man beside him heard this and charged forward, roaring, "Damn human! How dare you talk about Boss Arlong like that!"

Boom—!

Without even looking, Will threw a casual punch and sent the charging fish-man flying. He smashed into the wall nearby, leaving a crater in it.

"What?!"

The fish-men present all looked shocked.

Clearly, they hadn't expected this human to take out one of their companions in a single move.

The fish-man embedded in the wall wasn't moving. He was clearly dead.

Will didn't seem to care in the slightest.

Seeing Arlong's face grow even darker, Will asked in surprise, "What, do you really think humans can't defeat fish-men?"

"You might be able to fool other people, but don't fool yourself."

"Your kind may not be human, but the word 'fish-man' still has 'man' in it."

"And when a man is killed, he dies. Fish-men are no different."

Arlong's face grew shrouded in gloom. He glanced once more at his companion on the wall.

Then he turned to Will and growled furiously, "Why waste your breath?!"

"You came here because you intend to take me down, don't you?!"

"I've been in the East Blue for years. More challengers than I can count have come after me, and every last one of them died at my hands!"

He pointed at Will, his expression twisted with rage, and snarled, "You'll be no different!"

At that,

Will looked distinctly surprised and immediately corrected him. "You seem to have misunderstood something."

"Let me give you a friendly reminder."

"Between the two of us, you're the challenger."