Decapitation

Beneath the sea, Arlong adjusted his breathing with his gills, staring intently at the scene above the surface.

He let go of the spot where he had been clutching his side after Li Mingyuan's knee strike, then lowered his head to look. A deep indentation had formed beneath his ribs, and the wound was unnaturally swollen. He could even make out the strange, twisted shapes of his muscles.

At least several ribs were broken, and his organs had taken a tremendous impact.

No wonder he had immediately spat blood after that one blow, then dropped to the ground as if all strength had left him, unable to move.

"Ha... ha..."

"That strange movement—it definitely means something. There can be no doubt."

Arlong muttered with a grim expression.

Just as Li Mingyuan had guessed, Arlong had dived underwater not only to hide himself but also because he really suspected Li Mingyuan was a Devil Fruit user.

He could not only copy Kuroobi's Thousand Brick Fist and use it at will, but also seemed to see through Arlong's movements, striking his vital points with every blow. Arlong had used Shark Darts only twice, yet by the second shot, it had already become completely ineffective.

It was unlike the Observation Haki he had heard about in the Grand Line. This was an ability of an entirely different nature.

Arlong had noticed that the man's actions were less like "instinctive" danger prediction and more like he had already completely grasped Arlong's every move before acting.

He was actively observing him!

Arlong had no idea what kind of Devil Fruit could create a situation like this, but his instincts told him the man was using some special ability. That spine-chilling insight could no longer be explained as mere talent.

"Even the strongest Devil Fruit user loses his powers underwater and becomes completely weak."

"He can't possibly jump into the water and fight me."

"Even if I'm completely wrong and he isn't a Devil Fruit user, the underwater world is still the territory of us fish-men. There's no reason I should lose!"

Arlong wiped the dried blood from the corner of his mouth, gradually revealing a sinister smile.

That was the answer he had come to after racking his brains over how to beat his opponent. He wouldn't have thought of it otherwise, but he had the man himself to blame for revealing an opening. When the man had wounded him again, that strange movement had immediately made Arlong think of a Devil Fruit user, which in turn had reminded him of the brilliant tactic of fighting underwater.

After floating underwater for a while, Arlong felt his condition improving. His long-neglected ability to move through the sea had returned, and even the injuries from the fight seemed to hurt less.

Victory would belong to the fish-men in the end!

Arlong swam to a spot beneath the surface near the entrance to the sea and began secretly watching Li Mingyuan's position.

As he waited, Arlong not only readied himself to use Shark Darts again, but also pulled out all his sharp teeth and gripped them in his palm as weapons. Like Hachi, he had an innate trait of his race: his teeth continually regrew, quickly replacing any that fell out. His fangs were as hard as steel, and with his terrifying bite, he could even crush cannonballs.

Arlong was certain he had made all the necessary preparations. He did not know how his opponent would react next, but whatever happened, the instant the man showed an opening, Arlong would pierce straight through his body.

Meanwhile, at Arlong Park, in the main building.

Li Mingyuan walked back to the gaping hole where he had first faced the entrance to the sea. Bathed in the refreshing sea breeze blowing from afar, he looked down at the darkness beneath the entrance, impossible to see through.

"What a refreshing sea breeze."

Li Mingyuan spoke softly.

"Well, it's about time to wrap things up."

His clear eyes reflected everything before him.

By this point, Li Mingyuan had seen almost all of Arlong's abilities from the original story. He had neutralized every one of them without suffering so much as a scratch.

Yet after Arlong had been badly wounded, the final tactic he came up with was to hide in the sea, hoping to gain some advantage that might not even exist. Li Mingyuan could more or less tell that the fish-man really had no other tricks left.

If he could no longer resist, then it was only natural for his enemy to finish him off.

Li Mingyuan slowly drew the sword in his hand.

Now that Arlong had given up fighting on land, Li Mingyuan was free to take any weapon in Arlong Park.

Naturally, he had no intention of entering the sea and foolishly fighting a fish-man on his own turf. But if Arlong really thought he was a Devil Fruit user, then he certainly wouldn't give up on winning. He would try to counterattack immediately, desperately hoping to turn the tide while he had the "advantage."

No matter what, that meant his next move would be predictable.

"If you can still catch me off guard in this situation, then I wouldn't mind using my first Kamui in this world right here."

"But if you can't..."

Holding the long sword in one hand, Li Mingyuan spread his arms.

He took a light step forward, and his body naturally began to fall toward the ground below.

He was headed straight for the entrance to the sea at Arlong Park.

The wind rushed past his ears.

"He's coming!!"

Beneath the surface, Arlong's bloodshot eyes widened. He stared at the sight before him in delight, never expecting the human to fall straight toward the entrance to the sea.

Was he really planning to enter the water and challenge a fish-man?

If he was looking for death, Arlong would grant his wish!

"Shark ON Darts—!"

Underwater, Arlong accelerated at a terrifying rate, spinning rapidly as he shot forward. Currents swirled around his hands, forming a waterspout-like vortex that he controlled in his palms. At the same time, he opened his huge, blood-filled mouth, aiming his fangs, serrated teeth, and arrow-shaped nose at Li Mingyuan, who was still in midair.

If the man was a Devil Fruit user, the seawater streaming from Arlong's hands would leave him powerless. Even if he wasn't, a human could never withstand an attack bolstered by a fish-man's abilities underwater.

Arlong planned to unleash every one of his abilities in this attack, giving his opponent no chance to fight back!

At that very moment, Li Mingyuan, falling from the building, was already right above the entrance to the sea.

Like a torpedo.

With a thunderous burst, Arlong spun out of the sea and lunged at Li Mingyuan!

"Too bad."

As Arlong's figure suddenly filled his field of vision, Li Mingyuan murmured.

"Looks like you never exceeded my expectations."

Arlong was just about to pierce through Li Mingyuan's body, yet Li Mingyuan showed no sign of panic. Instead, his gaze grew even calmer, reflecting the scene before him like a deep, unfathomable spring.

At the instant they made contact.

Li Mingyuan suddenly swung the long sword in his right hand, silently sweeping it across his front.

Boom!!

A deafening explosion rang out.

Then the impact of a heavy object hitting the water sent waves surging throughout the entrance to the sea.

Li Mingyuan and Arlong both disappeared beneath the water, leaving no trace. A moment later, a crimson hue began to rise from below with the bubbles, lending an even more somber air to the entrance already drenched in blood.

"Ha!!"

Suddenly, a figure burst up from beneath the water.

The seawater soaked him, and his black hair clung to his cheeks, making him look rather disheveled and wild.

Li Mingyuan leaned against the shore by the entrance to the sea and looked behind him.

After he swam up from underwater, another body floated to the surface.

It was a headless corpse with lifeless eyes.

Its head and body bobbed separately on the churning water. The cut at the neck was clean and precise, and a great deal of blood poured from the severed body, clouding the surrounding water.

Li Mingyuan watched the scene with an impassive expression. His gaze did not waver in the slightest.

If this had turned into a drawn-out battle, or if Arlong had used some unexpected hidden trick, it would have been troublesome for Li Mingyuan.

After all, if he had to stand guard here around the clock, staying alert for more than twenty-four hours would inevitably leave him vulnerable to the body's need for sleep. With no one else here capable of dealing with Arlong, Arlong would have had endless chances to strike back.

Even just considering dirty tricks, Li Mingyuan could think of plenty of possibilities.

This was Arlong Park, the fish-men's lair. The world beneath the sea was another realm that Li Mingyuan could neither see into nor predict. In theory, anything could happen.

And yet, when faced with Li Mingyuan about to enter the water, Arlong had charged straight at him.

In the end, Li Mingyuan had cut him in two with a single stroke, knocking his head clean off.

"So this was all you amounted to."

Li Mingyuan thought.

Arlong had been a somewhat capable enemy, but he had not even managed to bring out Li Mingyuan's true strength before the battle ended. In the end, that was just how things were in the East Blue.

Perhaps Li Mingyuan was the one at fault for overestimating this East Blue Overlord.

Unwilling to remain in a pool full of blood, Li Mingyuan hauled himself up and climbed back onto shore, carrying Arlong's head.

Just then, Carina and Nami, who had been hiding somewhere nearby, reappeared in the wreckage of Arlong Park. When they saw Li Mingyuan carrying Arlong's head, they froze in utter shock.

"You're out."

"Sorry, I'm not up to talking just yet. I'm a little tired, so I'll go rest over there. We can talk about anything you need after I wake up."

Li Mingyuan casually tossed Arlong's head to the two women. Ignoring Nami as she scrambled to catch it, he dragged his exhausted body toward a ruined wall in the main building.

Leaning back against the wall, Li Mingyuan let out a long breath and closed his eyes to compose himself.

He had spent a considerable amount of chakra again. Although he had not used Kamui in the end, in a sense, he had used too many small techniques to deal with the enemy precisely because he had not used Kamui, which had cost him even more chakra.

Especially that final Flash Slash.

It had not consumed as much as the one he had used on the cargo ship, but under normal circumstances, he could have used his right eye's Kamui many times with that much chakra. Even his left eye's Kamui would have been usable once.

Now that the battle had suddenly ended, the exhaustion he had been keeping at bay washed over Li Mingyuan like a tide. For a while, he could not summon the energy to think or talk.

Watching Li Mingyuan, Nami and Carina exchanged glances and gave each other a subtle nod.

Not daring to disturb Li Mingyuan after the battle, when he looked so exhausted, Nami picked up Arlong's head and led Carina into the main building of Arlong Park, to the hall where the banquet had been held not long ago.

"We shouldn't disturb him if we talk here."

Nami took a deep breath.

She turned around and looked at Carina with a serious expression. "Carina, what exactly is going on? Don't you think you should explain it to me now?"

"Who is that man? Why did you come here with him to fight the Arlong Pirates?"

"And how is he so strong?"

Nami lowered her eyes to the head of Arlong in her hands. Her expression seemed on the verge of tears one moment, then almost like she was about to laugh the next. In the end, all those tangled emotions gave way to a determined look.

"There's no one in the East Blue who can help us. I know that better than anyone."

"I stopped believing in things like good luck suddenly falling from the sky a long time ago."

Nami's words rang out with conviction.

Carina could only smile wryly.

"To be honest, I don't really know who that man is either."

"But if I had to guess, he's probably a bounty hunter. At least, he's not a pirate."

Carina hesitated, then shook her head and continued, "As for why I'm here with him now, you heard me when I tried to stop him from attacking you earlier, didn't you? There's nothing to hide. It's just like that—I tried to step in, and he caught me."

"I owe him twenty million Beli for sparing my life. That's why he brought me along to Arlong Park."

"I'm probably going to disappoint you, Nami. I'd like to say I already knew about your situation and deliberately led him here, but the truth is, I didn't realize just how complicated things were until we got here. I was the one who got dragged here against my will."

"As for why that man came here, he must have been aiming for this place from the start. Maybe he was after the Arlong Pirates' heads. The total bounty on all these fish-men is pretty high."

After hearing Carina's explanation, Nami shuddered.

She never expected the truth to be so different from what she had assumed.

"You were caught stealing!?"

"That man isn't someone you hired?"

Nami broke into a slight sweat, unable to believe it. "That man even beat fish-man Arlong. Why would you steal from him?"

"Wait, wait, wait!"

"If that's the case, doesn't that mean you're in a really bad situation now, Carina?"