Jinbe Retreats, Garp Arrives Late

"Big Brother Jinbe."

Violent shockwaves blew the ship of the Sun Pirates away, and the Fishmen on board cried out in terror at the horrific scene.

Above the sea by the beach, a fire tornado collided with the seawater below, causing massive amounts of white steam to spread.

The swirling flames rotated within the steam, dyeing the white mist a vibrant orange-red.

The rotating air carried the white mist, spreading it toward the surroundings.

Dunn, engulfed in flames, gripped the similarly flame-wreathed Yan while his eyes watched the scene created by Taimatsu.

His Observation Haki could clearly see the situation inside.

"As I thought!"

Dunn whispered to himself.

He had already realized earlier that the Flame-Flame Fruit did not hold much of an advantage when fighting on the open sea.

After all, seawater countered fire.

This was not because seawater countered the ability user, but because water itself countered fire.

Unless he could develop his flames in the future to the point where seawater would be evaporated and dried up before it could even get close, or perhaps ignite the seawater itself.

But this planet was an ocean planet; to achieve such a feat, his stamina might not be enough.

"Water Heart: Ocean Current Shoulder Throw!"

A roar erupted from within the flames, and then a massive volume of seawater was pulled up as if by an invisible giant hand.

The lifted seawater smashed through the fire tornado and surged toward Dunn.

The massive torrent of water rushed forward with astonishing momentum.

Dunn raised his hand, and his flame-wrapped blade slashed down fiercely, releasing a fiery sword aura that cleaved the incoming seawater in two.

The split seawater parted, and its momentum collapsed due to that single strike, crashing onto the ground on both sides, shattering into spray and splashing everywhere.

Jinbe, with half his body exposed above the water, stared intently at Dunn, his expression grave.

"A Devil Fruit user?"

Controlling fire to this extent, Jinbe's first reaction was naturally that he was an ability user.

It was very likely a Logia type.

Jinbe did not dare to step onto the shore now.

If he remained in the seawater, he could use it to counter the flames.

Once he stepped onto land and left the water, he had no confidence in facing someone who could control fire and was likely a Logia user.

Especially since he had sensed during their brief clash that his opponent was also a formidable Swordsman.

Not far away, cheers erupted from the pirate ship.

Dunn, who had been confronting Jinbe, turned his head toward the pirate ship from which the cheers originated, slightly raising the Yan in his hand.

Jinbe naturally noticed the shift in Dunn's attention.

His heart tightened, but the next moment, Dunn had already moved.

Swish!

A plain, unadorned slash cut through the air, heading toward the pirate ship floating on the sea.

Jinbe's expression tightened; he slapped the surface of the water, his body cutting through the waves as he rushed out to intercept the slash, crossing his arms with Armament Haki coating them.

"Plum Blossom Skin!"

He adopted a defensive bridge-hand stance, colliding with the slash Dunn had unleashed.

Bang!

Jinbe was sent flying backward by the slash, crashing into the water beside the pirate ship.

The cheers on the pirate ship came to an abrupt halt.

"You all, leave now!"

Jinbe surfaced from the water again and immediately ordered the Fishman pirates on the ship.

"Boss Jinbe."

Upon hearing this, the Fishmen wanted to continue speaking, but the next slash arrived.

Jinbe's expression tightened, and he rushed out once more.

The result was exactly the same as before; Jinbe was slashed down again, crashing into the seawater.

The pirates on the ship finally realized what was happening: this person was clearly using them as tools to attack Big Brother Jinbe.

The pirates on the ship were instantly enraged, but they had no other choice; they could only follow orders and sail the ship away to avoid becoming a tool to attack Jinbe.

As the pirate ship moved away, Dunn looked at Jinbe on the sea, feeling somewhat conflicted.

Should he go into the water and fight this guy?

That is impossible.

Although he had deliberately trained his swimming, his current physique allowed him to stay in the seawater for an hour or two without issue, but to fight a Fishman Shichibukai who had mastered Two-Color Haki while in the water?

Dunn knew Jinbe reasonably well.

Jinbe was currently in his prime, or perhaps had just entered it; with Fishman Karate combined with the ability to manipulate water currents, his combat power would receive a massive boost while fighting in the ocean.

If they were on land, even if Dunn didn't activate Indomitable, he wouldn't necessarily lose to him, relying on his powerful physique and Devil Fruit ability.

But in the ocean, at least until he gained the ability to burn the sea, his Devil Fruit powers would likely fail to exert much force once submerged.

Of course, that was assuming he didn't activate Indomitable.

If he activated Indomitable, that terrifying strength and all-around boost might even allow him to one-shot Jinbe.

But Dunn had no intention of activating Indomitable so casually.

Frankly, it wasn't worth it.

Moreover, there was a certain period of weakness after activating Indomitable.

Dunn on the shore and Jinbe in the seawater stared at each other, then Jinbe did a flip, dove into the water, and his figure vanished.

He left?

Dunn waited for a while, but Jinbe did not reappear.

This encounter could not be considered a formal battle for either Dunn or Jinbe; at most, it was just mutual probing.

Dunn sheathed his blade, retracted the Flame back into his body, and turned to walk back to the village.

The villagers who had been captured were still where they were, and only breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Dunn.

Dunn walked over, glanced at these people, and then headed in a certain direction.

Everyone's eyes followed Dunn as he walked into the village chief's house.

On the floor lay a crushed Den Den Mushi, as well as an old man with a severed arm and a deep, diagonal slash across his chest, though he was already breathless.

Dunn lowered his head slightly, stood in place for a moment, and then turned around to look at the tall figure in a Marine uniform standing at the doorway.

"Come to think of it, are the Marines always a step behind?"

Looking at this man, Dunn asked directly, his tone quite unfriendly.

Unexpectedly, the somewhat hot-tempered old Marine outside the door didn't get angry; looking at the dead man in the room, he sighed.

"It can't be helped, the ocean is too vast. Even the Marines cannot control everything, and besides, some Marine soldiers..."

Garp wanted to say something, but stopped himself.

He looked at Dunn.

"You fought Jinbe?"

"You saw that?"

Dunn was stunned; he was certain that when he fought Jinbe earlier, Garp definitely hadn't been there.

Or rather, Garp had been outside the range of his Observation Haki at the time.

"I received news that Jinbe came to the East Blue to find a group of fishmen—the ones dead outside, right? He couldn't take these corpses away, and there are signs of battle on the beach, traces of being scorched by flames."

Garp looked at Dunn.

Dunn raised his hand to shoulder Flame and walked past Garp.

"Yeah, I didn't want to fight that guy in the water. If it were in the sea, I'd be at a disadvantage."

Garp looked at the straight back carrying the sword, then looked again at the dead man in the room.

"Did you know this person?"

"No, we just exchanged a few words earlier."

Dunn paused his steps, then turned his head to look at Garp.

"Frankly, I don't like Pirates, and of course, I don't like you Marines either, so stop bothering me from now on, okay?"

Garp's expression stiffened.

Dunn's words left Garp not knowing how to respond.

"I'll borrow your ship to head back. Also, help me convert these Pirate fishmen into bounties, and use half of it to help this village rebuild."

As Dunn spoke, he lifted his feet and headed toward the shore.

On the sea surface there, Marine warships were docked, and small boats filled with Marines were heading toward the island.