Clash

"Damn it! Those bastards on that island must've tipped off the Marines. We should've robbed them while we had the chance!"

"Enough complaining. Captain Fisher Tiger won't be happy if he hears you."

"Quit standing around! Anyone who can't fight, get down to the gun deck!"

"Yaa-hoo! Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

Plenty of the Fish-Men were cursing under their breath. After all, most of the fighters had come from the Fish-Man District.

Only Hachi seemed excited. He swung all six swords while making sound effects with his mouth!

It was written all over his face that he had absolutely no desire to steer the ship, and he didn't even notice Captain Jinbe shooting him a look.

Unlike the ships of ordinary single-ship pirate crews, the Sea Bass had a dedicated gun deck below the main deck. In fact, its top two levels were gun decks.

Aside from having a ram, armor, and more deck guns, ordinary pirate ships had interiors more like merchant vessels, with large cargo holds. To some extent, pirates had to go around "picking up cargo," too.

The Sun Pirates were different, though. They had no interest in plunder or treasure hunting, and since the entire crew belonged to the Fish-Man Race, they didn't even need to stockpile fresh water. So the ship had two gun decks!

And because the entire crew were Fish-Men, the crew's sleeping quarters were in the exact opposite place from those on ordinary ships. For ventilation and dryness, the first level below deck was usually where the crew slept. But on the Sea Bass, the crew's quarters were at the very bottom. A few branches from the Eve Tree had been used as building material, allowing sunlight to reach all the way down. After all, the Eve Tree's main trunk could carry sunlight to the entire Fish-Man Island.

Sometimes they could let water in to steady the ship, and it was more comfortable to soak in it. For Fish-Men, the Sea Bass probably had the best living conditions of any ship.

As for Sig, who lost his Fish-Man features when he fell asleep, he'd been granted special permission to hang a hammock on deck...

Unlike their first sea battle with Sig, the Sea Bass charged without hesitation toward the fleet to the southeast, trading cannon fire with the Marine ships!

Unlike naval battles in low-tech worlds, where the key factors were cannon accuracy and armor thickness, there was another crucial way to decide a shootout at sea: catching cannonballs with your bare hands!

"Fire!" Fisher Tiger ordered, raising a hand at just the right moment.

Jinbe was at the helm himself. First, he was the best sailor among them. Second... it was a chance to give the young ones some "battle experience."

Unless a Marine headquarters officer got involved, Jinbe and Aladdin wouldn't fight. Fisher Tiger would go aboard the lead ship to keep the others in check. He was worried those wild youngsters would get carried away and start slaughtering the enemy.

The Sea Bass's cannons scored the first hit, punching a hole in the outer armor of an escort ship. Cheers immediately rang out across the deck.

But just then, a cannonball from the other side was about to land on the Sea Bass's deck. Kuroobi, dressed in a martial arts uniform, leaped up and kicked it into the sea. Then he landed back on deck, looking completely at ease.

Another round of cheers and shouts of praise erupted.

Kuroobi was young, one of the crew's New Generation. He had a real talent for Fish-Man Karate, and was always so serious, putting on the airs of an old-school pugilist.

But Sig keenly noticed Willy click his tongue in disdain.

He'd tried to poach Kuroobi earlier, but Kuroobi had flatly rejected him without giving him any face.

When another cannonball came flying over, Willy roared and strode forward two steps, swinging the iron hammer in his hand...

Duang—

A tremendous clang rang out. The cannonball went flying back and punched straight through the enemy ship's outer armor!

The cheers grew even louder.

At the moment, Willy was a little stronger than Arlong. He was older, after all—only a little younger than Jinbe and the others, and about half a generation older than Arlong.

But the killer whale Fish-Man was a bit petty. This was supposed to be a chance for the elite fighters to show what they could do, yet he'd hurried to step forward. Sig clearly noticed several of the younger Fish-Men pursing their lips.

Of course, although they competed with each other, it was still healthy rivalry overall. When a fight broke out, they would all unite against their enemies.

"Listen up, Fish-Man Pirates! Lay down your weapons at once, hand over the escaped slaves from Mary Geoise, and surrender where you stand! Otherwise, I will act on behalf of the World Government—"

The Marine ship on the other side blared threats through its loudspeaker as it charged straight toward them.

"Ready! The enemy's three anchor chains away..."

"Ready! The enemy's ten gangplanks away..."

Arlong and Willy spoke at the same time.

"Huh? Anchor chains? Did I hear that right? Since when do the Sun Pirates need something like that?" Arlong mocked Willy with an exaggerated expression.

"Pfft, hahahaha! Gangplanks? Kid, are you too scared to leave the ship without a gangplank?" Willy shot back.

An anchor chain meant the length of the ship's anchor chain, while a gangplank meant the plank used to disembark or board another ship. Both were standard equipment aboard a ship.

Here, though, they were being used to describe distance.

The length of an anchor chain or gangplank varied with the size of the ship, but by convention, one anchor chain meant about sixty meters, while one gangplank meant about twenty.

Sailors in the East and South Blues usually said "gangplank," while those in the North and West Blues tended to say "anchor chain."

Fish-Man Island lay beneath the sea at the crossroads of the four Blues... and ships from all over came there, so both expressions were used.

In fact, neither anchor chains nor gangplanks were much use aboard the Sea Bass. Arlong and Willy were just using them as an excuse to needle each other.

The two were squaring off face-to-face again when, "fortunately," a cannonball flew straight at them. They both reached out and stopped it, then each gave a snort and turned away.

"Men! Get ready to board!" Willy swung his tiger-headed hammer.

"Follow me! We'll smash up their hulls and feed them to the fish!" Arlong drew his saw-toothed blade.

Hachi hurriedly explained from the side, "Brother Long means we're going to sink the Marine ships, but we won't damage the lifeboats. He doesn't mean we're going to kill anyone. 'Feed them to the fish' is just a figure of speech..."

"Shut up!" Arlong rapped the mood-killer on the head with the hilt of his blade.

With that, Arlong led dozens of Fish-Men straight into the water. Willy would wait a little longer, since he still had to protect the ship for a while. Besides, the Fish-Men didn't need gangplanks to board. They would leap across or climb the ropes!

Sig was hesitating over which group to join when Jinbe said calmly, "Sig, protect me while I steer."

"Huh? Oh... yes!" Sig's first thought was that he'd misheard. I'm supposed to protect Jinbe? With one hand on the helm, Captain Jinbe could probably take on two Marine ships with his other hand, right?

Though Sig had no idea what Captain Jinbe was thinking, he immediately agreed.