Fish-Man Warrior

"Three Thousand Welas True Punch!"

"Water-Style: Sea Current Shoulder Throw!"

"Spear Wave: Swarm Rain!"

With a single punch, the newly arrived Jinbe destroyed three warships... The Fish-Man companions who arrived with him also unleashed Fish-Man techniques, either breaking the hulls from below or controlling the currents to shatter the masts.

Unlike the other freed Fish-Man and Mermaid slaves, the Fish-Men Jinbe brought were clearly "combatants"! And the moment they arrived, they didn't linger to fight—they focused first on destroying the ships...

For a moment, the Marines were thrown into chaos—their attention had been on the deck, never expecting an attack from beneath the sea.

"Damn it! Has the Ryugu Kingdom decided to rebel against the World Government?" the lead Vice Admiral roared.

"No. This humble one is Jinbe, a thug from the Fish-Man District of Fish-Man Island. I've come specifically to follow Tiger, with no connection to the Ryugu Kingdom." Jinbe rode the backlash of the sea current and leaped onto the deck where the Vice Admiral and Tiger stood.

"Do you think the World Government will believe your lies? Cease your rebellion now, or—"

Before the Vice Admiral could finish his tirade, Jinbe had already assumed a Fish-Man Karate stance. On the other side, Tiger mirrored the pose with perfect synchronicity!

"This humble one has given his explanation. Whether you believe it or not is your human affair."

A blue and a red Fish-Man—both had water rapidly coalescing in their palms, wrapping around their half-clenched hands. The next moment...

"Fish-Man Karate Secret Technique: Brutal Thrust!"

They struck the lead Vice Admiral simultaneously. Two massive shockwaves collided, crushing together, and the gauntleted Vice Admiral was sent spitting blood into the sea.

Jinbe moved to finish him off, but Tiger reached out and stopped him, shaking his head. Then Tiger asked with concern, "You came here... what about Fish-Man Island?"

A quick glance told Tiger that Jinbe hadn't just brought the troublemakers from the Fish-Man District—some were Ryugu Palace guards in disguise!

"Leave Fish-Man Island to the King and Queen Otohime! We're here to live out our own convictions! And... don't worry, Tiger. Captain Edward has already agreed to leave his flag over Fish-Man Island. Whatever we 'thugs' do won't affect it!" Jinbe assured Tiger.

Tiger's expression relaxed. "Whitebeard? If it's him..."

Sig still had no idea what was happening—he only knew that "backup" had arrived! Clutching his side, he cut down a few grunts and staggered to the edge of the deck.

By now, he felt his body temperature and strength draining through the wound in his lower back...

Just as he hesitated whether to jump into the sea in this state, the ship lurched violently. Sig lost his footing and was thrown overboard.

Before hitting the water, he vaguely saw the helmsman from earlier being run through by several Marines' blades...

It seemed the "Sword of Freedom" had only existed for these two hours.

Plunging into the icy seawater, Sig felt the pain in his wound intensify. His strength fading, his field of vision began to shrink!

As the Fish-Men dismantled the ships, they left the lifeboats behind—a path of escape for the other slaves, since humans still needed vessels to move through the sea.

Just as Sig felt he was in trouble, struggling to swim up and climb onto a small boat, a slimy sensation wrapped around his waist...

Out of the corner of his eye, Sig saw a pink-skinned Fish-Man with a white hedgehog-like head of hair holding onto him. His distinctive puckered lips, six muscular arms, and the sucker-like bumps on them marked his species—an Octopus-Man.

Sig: ???

This guy, while holding Sig, gave him a thumbs-up and a toothy grin, as if to say: Leave it to me!

The sucker-covered arms did perfectly stop Sig's bleeding, but...

He was pulling Sig deeper underwater!

Looking around, Sig could see Fish-Men and Mermaids all swimming toward the seabed, clearly planning to swim all the way back to Fish-Man Island—which lay directly below Mary Geoise, ten thousand meters deep.

Sig: ???

"I... glub glub glub..." Sig tried to speak and immediately choked on seawater, quickly shutting his mouth.

He knew the guy meant well—he must have mistaken Sig for a fellow Fish-Man and wanted to take him back to the island. But...

I'm not a Fish-Man!

The "Wrathful People" trait improved his breath-holding, but it was nowhere near enough to last ten thousand meters underwater!

The water pressure was manageable—the "Wrathful People" scales seemed to grant strong resistance to pressure. It wasn't absolute defense against such force, but rather a bodily structure that, like Fish-Men and Mermaids, made pressure irrelevant.

Still, holding one's breath wasn't the same as breathing underwater. Between his injury and choking, Sig was on the verge of passing out...

Hachi, meanwhile, was puzzled—why did this brother look like he was drowning?

No way, no way, no way—could a Fish-Man actually drown?

"Puff Puff Puff..." Hachi chuckled at his own thought as he continued dragging Sig downward.

He didn't recognize Sig, couldn't even tell what kind of Fish-Man he was, but he was certain Sig was one of his own. Of course he had to save him!

Too weak to break free, Sig's lungs felt ready to burst. Below, there was nothing but darkness, no sign that Fish-Man Island was near.

He never thought he'd die such a stupid death...

Once this Octopus-Man discovered that the "fellow creature" he had rescued had actually drowned, he would probably suffer psychological trauma too—Sig, already on the brink of death, began to let his consciousness drift.

Gurgle—

Sig simply couldn't hold it in any longer and expelled his last breath. But just then...

Sig suddenly felt a tearing, excruciating pain in the area between both sides of his neck and his collarbone!

Then came a chill, as if... seawater was rushing into his body from there?

Sig: ???

Sig had no idea what was happening. He only felt that his oxygen deprivation had suddenly improved. Accompanied by a kind of instinctive "breathing," he was continuously gulping in and out seawater through the... gills? that had split open on both sides beneath his neck!

At the same time, the ample oxygen gradually brought Sig back to life.

Could the "Wrathful People" of the Divine Path grow "gills"? Or... was this also a manifestation of the Divine Path adapting to this world?

Sig breathed a sigh of relief, but not completely.

Because if he lost consciousness, his "scales" would definitely disappear—so... would the gills vanish too?

Sig forced himself to stay awake as Hachi pulled him along, swimming deeper downstream.