Guidance

Sig stayed on the deck of the Sea Bass, watching as Willy led the boarding Fish-Men to claim the first victory. The battle on the warship was overwhelmingly tilting in favor of the Sun Pirates!

Sig suspected that the previous two refusals to engage and hasty retreats had led the Navy to severely underestimate the Sun Pirates' strength.

Two standard fleets, and they thought that would be enough to surround the Sun Pirates?

Forget dispatching an Admiral—at least a "Buster Call" level force would be needed to show proper respect, right?

Of course, Sig also understood that the Sun Pirates weren't anchored to a fixed island, nor did they follow a set route while sailing. The Navy couldn't exactly scatter Buster Call-level forces across the entire ocean.

Still, Willy was remarkably carefree, not bothering to leave anyone to guard the Sea Bass's deck. At that moment, another warship pulled up alongside and dropped a boarding plank.

"These damned Fish-Men... kill that fat helmsman first!"

Sig: ...

At this time, Jinbe was still unknown on the high seas. The World Government had certainly kept tight-lipped about the Mary Geoise incident. In the Navy's eyes, he was just a blue fat man who didn't seem to know how to fight.

Now, this "fat man" was genuinely focused on steering the ship, coordinating with their gunners to fire while twisting and turning to dodge incoming cannonballs.

It was hard to imagine a ship could be so agile.

As for the shots that couldn't be dodged... well, there was Aladdin the Ship Doctor, who doubled as a damage dealer!

Since Jinbe wasn't fighting, Sig, as the Second Helmsman, took on the duty of protecting the main helm.

Clang—

Sig drew his sword.

"Do you know how to use a sword? If not, your body is a Fish-Man's best weapon," Jinbe reminded him at that moment.

Sig instinctively wanted to say he didn't know any Fighting Technique, and that a blade would deal more damage. But the words caught in his throat as he suddenly realized Jinbe's intent—was Jinbe-sama planning to teach me hand-to-hand combat?

As for Hachi...

It wasn't that Jinbe was playing favorites, but Hachi was a rare Octopus-Man. In the classification system of the world Sig had transmigrated from, octopuses weren't even considered fish.

And though it seemed no different in the anime, now that Sig was living among the Fish-Men, he could clearly feel the difference—other Fish-Men either had scales or tough hide, but Hachi's skin texture was heretical even among them, and his physical defense was weaker than the average Fish-Man!

His advantage, however, was having six arms, and he had indeed trained in swordsmanship himself...

"Oh." Sig decisively tossed his sword aside, awkwardly raised his fists, and planted his feet in a stance he'd seen in martial arts movies.

"Bend your knees slightly, sink your center of gravity into your hips—don't put it on your knees!" Jinbe said sternly.

Sig quickly adjusted as instructed, while the charging Navy soldiers froze for a moment—first they thought he was surrendering when he threw away his sword, but then he struck a strange pose?

A Lieutenant-looking officer waved his hand and ordered, "Take him!"

Since they'd already boarded the deck, the soldiers didn't bother aiming their guns first, and Aladdin deliberately steered clear of this area.

Sig: ...

What was this? In a deck battle, strategically abandoning the helm?

Despite his inner complaints, Sig's body tensed up honestly.

Even more nervous than when he'd first fought and killed someone back in Mary Geoise!

Back then, Sig's mind had been filled with only one thought: "Survive." Just do it.

Now, though he was much safer, his thoughts ran wild—Would this look good? Would Jinbe-sama focus on teaching me afterward? I've never trained in Fighting Technique—will I disappoint him? What if I accidentally kill someone?

Fortunately, Sig's raw stats were strong enough, and "Fighting Aptitude" was part of the Divine Path's enhancements, especially for the Sailor Path—the "Wrathful People," also called the "Storm Guard," were a combat sequence to begin with!

So Sig's physical instincts were actually quite good...

Relying on brute strength and speed, Sig used a "wild punches beat the old master" approach, stunning the man in front of him before hoisting him up and swinging him into the blades of the other soldiers, making them hesitate to strike.

But the Lieutenant immediately ordered, "He's just strong! Cut his arms! The World Government won't forget your sacrifice!"

Once the Navy ignored casualties, Sig was instantly flustered. The gleaming blades sent a chill through his heart.

"Idiot! These are just ordinary soldiers' blades—look with your heart! Even if they hit you directly, only a few trajectories and points of force can actually wound you! Their openings are far bigger than that!" Jinbe's tone was harsher than when he taught helmsmanship.

Hearing Jinbe's words, Sig's mind stirred, and he instantly understood Jinbe-sama's meaning.

Given the strength of these ordinary Navy soldiers, even if they slashed at him normally, Sig—though his scales weren't as tough as Arlong's hide and he couldn't use Armament Haki—could still withstand it.

Unless they swung with full force or stabbed with the tip...

Though the blades around him were jagged and threatening, Sig realized he didn't have to avoid every single one. He just needed to watch out for the points of force in those slashing strikes!

Facing the sharp edges, Sig suppressed his fear as much as possible, analyzing and judging keenly. Before the enemy could put their strength into a blow, he either knocked their blades aside or struck at their bodies and arms.

With this guidance, Sig's combat ability improved at an astonishing rate.

But his opponents still outnumbered him. If he'd used a sword, Sig would have already finished them off. However, without effective offensive output, the Navy wasn't afraid of this "strange Fish-Man" and closed in layer by layer.

Suddenly, Sig felt a sharp pain in his left arm—he'd taken a slash, leaving a wound.

"That little scratch won't affect your strength! Don't get distracted!"

"Your waist! Your waist! Your center of gravity is in your waist—are your knees growing out of your waist?"

"Brace against him, use your abs, throw him upward—yes, like that, slam him down!"

"Your power must be straight! Don't twist your strikes for the sake of a seeming opening—it won't achieve anything."

Under Jinbe's guidance, Sig managed to take down a squad of Marines, including that Lieutenant—though if he'd used his sword from the start, it would have been over long ago, but the meaning behind it was completely different.

If Sig used his sword, he'd just be bullying fodder with the blade's sharpness and his own strength and defense, which wouldn't benefit his growth at all.

Watching Sig panting heavily as he finally put down his opponent, Jinbe finally cracked a smile.

Catching this from the corner of his eye, Sig confirmed Jinbe's intent—eight parts of it were naturally to see if Sig had potential in combat, and the other two parts... were a final confirmation!

After all, in the Sun Pirates, Sig was the only Half Fish-Man whose background was unknown. Now Jinbe could fully confirm that Sig had never known any Fighting Technique before and couldn't be a Spy.

By now, the entire battle was nearing its end. Jinbe took both hands off the Helm, sucked on his Pipe, and blew out smoke: "Phew... Sig, do you want to learn Fish-Man Karate?"

Sig was overjoyed at the words. Though a thought flashed through his mind—I'm not a real fish-man, can I really learn it?—he immediately recalled that in the original story, Koala had even less connection to fish-men, yet she still learned it, didn't she?

"Master!" Sig called out directly.

Jinbe was startled and even choked a little: "Cough, cough, what master? Idiot... Just call me boss. Arlong and the others' Fish-Man Karate was all taught by me too..."