Anger

Kalle's claw came down over his head, and Sig reacted in the blink of an eye!

Before his special training, Sig would either have panicked or relied entirely on instinct, rolling away like a donkey. But now, he raised both arms and braced them against Kalle's wrist.

Plip—

A few droplets of water splashed.

A layer of liquid, about a centimeter thick, had seeped over Sig's forearms and fists. It was similar in nature to seawater, but was, in essence, Water Power.

Many Fish-Man Karate techniques made use of Water Power. One source was the Water Power within a Fish-Man's body; the other was the Water Power in the ocean. That was why Fish-Men were strongest in the sea, next on land where the air was rich with moisture, and weakest in dry places.

Kalle pressed down on Sig's wrist, then dragged his iron claw across Sig's forearm, raking up a streak of red along with the water.

Though the wound wasn't deep, Sig endured the pain and resisted the instinctive movements that would have thrown off his form. His hands became blades, and wrapped in splashing water, they struck at Kalle's face in a flurry!

Kalle leaned back slightly and dodged, but the force of the blows blew his hood off.

Next, Kalle lifted his knee and drove it toward Sig's abdomen. But just as Kalle's heart turned vicious, Sig sensed it and, with uncanny timing, raised his own knee to meet it. Their knees collided, and both men bounced away.

Kalle's strength was about equal to Sig's, roughly on par with Commodore Sea Bird. When Commodore Sea Bird had appeared, Sig's anger had been far more intense than it was now, which was why Sig had completely overpowered him.

Right Claw of the Fierce Wolf...

If nothing unexpected happened, he was probably the strongest fighter beneath the two leaders of the Two-Headed Wolf.

And Sig's Fish-Man Karate rank was about the same as Kuroobi's.

Sig's memories of the pirate story weren't that clear. He couldn't remember much from the earlier parts, and for the later parts, he'd only read a few forum discussions. He hadn't paid much attention to Kuroobi's name.

But because of the large fins on Kuroobi's arms, and his connection to Arlong, Sig vaguely recalled that in the original story, Kuroobi later became one of the Arlong Pirates' officers.

Arlong and his crew should have been pretty capable in the first half of the Grand Line.

But blinded by hatred, they'd become obsessed with controlling villages in the East Blue and acting like local tyrants. Did they think that squeezing a dozen or so human villages would build up enough resources to fight the World Government? Instead, they'd wasted ten years, making no progress and even growing weaker.

If Sig remembered correctly, when Sanji sent Kuroobi flying over a decade later, Kuroobi was only at the level of a fourth dan. His progress was practically a textbook case of a prodigy who'd peaked too soon.

The Two-Headed Wolf was definitely no match for the Sun Pirates. If Kalle knew about the "carnage" in the port town, he would probably have fled long ago.

But now, Sig and Kalle were evenly matched!

Your wrist blades cut through my scales; my karate leaves your chest aching. Both men excelled at Martial Arts, and soon they were locked in a close-quarters brawl, trading blows.

However, just then, Kalle seemed to have no desire to waste any more time with the Fish-Man in front of him. Or perhaps the fact that a mere Fish-Man had held him up this long had already worn out his patience.

With a cold laugh, Kalle moved suddenly, dodging Sig and charging toward a child nearby...

Sig's pupils contracted. He sensed Kalle's malice!

Sig was slower, both in speed and agility, and in the end, he was a step too late. Right in front of him, Kalle slipped behind a boy who looked dazed. As Sig rushed forward, the boy was lifted off the ground, a cold iron claw jutting out from his chest. Warm blood splattered across Sig's face.

His time in Mary Geoise had already left Sig with little empathy. His experience as a slave had made him numb to other people's suffering, and he couldn't bring himself to imagine himself as some kind of savior.

He'd rushed out earlier mostly out of hatred for the slaver crew, not because he wanted to save anyone.

If Kalle had tried to use the children as hostages, Sig wouldn't have given in.

But in that moment, the boy's dazed expression, as if he couldn't believe what was happening, remained etched in Sig's mind.

"Dim little kids like this are the worst. They don't sell for much, and they eat a lot... Who's next?" Kalle tossed the boy's corpse aside and brushed the blood from his wrist blade.

Then he looked toward the other children. Those who had been hiding fell into a panic, and Sig shouted, "Run as far as you can!"

"Think you can get away?" Kalle sneered. He moved suddenly, darted past Sig, and chased after the other children.

Sig had already figured out that Kalle wasn't trying to kill the children. He wanted to force Sig into making a mistake. Kalle had killed one of them so decisively only to prove he meant it!

But in that moment, Sig heard his own furious heartbeat...

Rather than calming down, Sig deliberately fell for the trick. When Kalle went to strike again, Sig finally caught up and blocked his path.

Sig had already noticed that Kalle had deliberately paused, waiting for him...

Thud—

Kalle's wrist blade sank into Sig's lower abdomen. The sensation of it piercing flesh brought an excited look to Kalle's face, and he cruelly twisted his wrist.

"We don't normally offer after-sales service, but... if the merchandise comes back on its own, we might as well take it back and sell it again." Kalle had already decided Sig was a Fish-Man slave.

For one thing, Sig hated the slaver crew. For another... in Kalle's eyes, weren't Fish-Men supposed to be slaves?

Bellemere had just carried the feverish Nami outside, only to witness the scene. She couldn't help but gasp.

Seeing this, Kalle sneered and tried to pull out his wrist blade so he could deal with the female Marine. However...

To Kalle's astonishment, he couldn't pull his wrist blade out. Even when he realized what was happening and put real force into it instead of casually pulling, it still wouldn't budge!

Sig was gripping Kalle's iron wrist blade with one hand. Blood poured from his left side, but there was no sign of weakness on his face.

In that moment, Sig could feel his "anger" completely merging with his body...

Kalle, meanwhile, sensed the presence of Armament Haki on Sig.

After their exchange, Kalle understood that this Fish-Man, like him, had trained in Martial Arts and focused first on physical conditioning. From what he'd seen, they were about evenly matched. If one of them had Armament Haki...

Sig gripped the iron wrist blade embedded in his body with his left hand, while drawing his right hand back to his waist. A ball of water burst over his fist, enveloping it.

If an expert with Observation Haki had been there, they would have been able to "see" Sig's forearms and hands now covered in a layer of dark red, almost solid-looking coating!

"Fish-Man Karate..."

Kalle desperately tried to pull out his wrist blade. Even when he grabbed his wrist with his other hand and pulled, he still couldn't do it!

"W-wait..." Kalle was drenched in sweat.

"Two Thousand Sheet Tile Fist!"