Vikengam: I'm Fighting Catfish Wrestler?

Shiki and the others had come to this island for supplies. There was nothing especially valuable on the island, and they had just looted a pile of treasure. On top of that, they still had not sorted out whether they were splitting up or continuing their partnership.

So they did not plunder the island.

But now that the Roger Pirates had arrived, the two sides faced off, and the atmosphere on the island suddenly turned tense.

"Are you going to start fighting just because of a disagreement? You pirates really have an exciting way of doing things." Vikengam stood behind Jaba and Rayleigh and spoke softly.

"You're a pirate now too. Don't get your position mixed up," Rayleigh reminded him.

"Hahaha, he's still just a kid, and he's a scholar too. It's only natural for him to have reservations when facing people like Shiki and the others. But don't worry, Vikengam. You'll get used to it soon enough," Jaba said with a laugh.

Clearly, whether it was Rayleigh, Jaba, or the rest of the Roger Pirates, all of them looked eager to fight. It was obvious they had not gotten enough fun out of God Valley.

Across from them, Shiki carefully observed Roger and spotted some bandages exposed beneath his collar.

After noticing that, Shiki raised a brow, a sinister smile curling across his lips. "Your wounds haven't even healed yet, and you want to fight me, Roger?"

Roger grabbed his collar and tore it open, exposing the bandages beneath. Without yielding in the slightest, he said, "I'm a little injured, but it's more than enough to deal with you."

The moment he said that, Shiki's gaze darkened. Being looked down on so blatantly clearly displeased him greatly.

After a brief silence, a vicious glint flashed through Shiki's eyes. Kogarashi in his left hand left its sheath with a clang, carrying a slash as it flew straight toward Roger. "Slashing Wave!"

Roger had been waiting all along. Without the slightest hesitation, Ace flashed from his waist in a streak of cold light as he swung at Shiki. "Wild Spirit!"

The two slashes collided at high speed, erupting in a violent shockwave.

At the same time, it was as though a signal had been given. Both sides moved at once!

As one of the sea's renowned Big Axe Heroes, Jaba naturally set his sights on Silver Axe. He grinned. "I'll take this one!"

As soon as he spoke, he gripped his axes in both hands, spinning them in a flourish as he charged forward.

Rayleigh also drew the sword at his waist. "That fish-man is yours. You know Roger's injuries too. It might not go well if he fights Shiki alone. I need to help him!"

"Huh? Me?" Vikengam froze and pointed at his own nose.

I'm fighting Babel?

He had thought it would be enough to take on Shiki's ordinary underlings. How had he suddenly ended up facing one of the Rocks Pirates' top officers?

If he remembered correctly, Babel's bounty was over four hundred million Beli!

This was not the Straw Hat era, where bounties had inflated to absurd levels. These days, anyone with a bounty over one hundred million was undeniably a major pirate, let alone someone worth four hundred million Beli.

A scholar who just turned eighteen, fighting a top officer on Rocks's crew with a bounty over four hundred million Beli?

But before he could think any further, Rayleigh had already rushed out, joining Roger in facing Shiki.

Jaba had also quickly clashed with Silver Axe. Their battle axes howled through the air as furious gusts rapidly swept across the entire harbor.

At the same time, Shiki's pirate underlings and the Roger Pirates' combatants all began roaring.

"What are you standing around for?! Get in there!" Doringer, a combatant carrying a large axe himself, shouted as he rushed past Vikengam.

"Take them down! Those bastards must have looted plenty of treasure from God Valley too!" Don Chino roared, wielding a heavy ship anchor.

Things had come to this. Might as well fight first!

Vikengam quickly gathered his thoughts. The chain around his arm loosened, and the one-handed axe called "Merciless" slid down a length of chain into his grasp. After a simple windup, he hurled it straight at Babel.

"You small fry..." Babel bellowed, raising a hand and sending Doringer, along with his battle axe, flying with a Haki-infused palm strike.

Doringer had clearly seen his share of big battles. The small demon wings on his back flapped rapidly a few times, steadying him in midair.

"A fish-man calling others small fry is a bit too gray-humor, isn't it?" Don Chino said as he viciously swung his anchor, which looked even larger than he was, at Babel.

"Fish-Man Karate: Shark Tile True Punch!" Babel did not bother responding and threw a straight punch from where he stood.

The powerful punch collided with the anchor. As a legitimate top officer of Rocks's crew, Babel's strength was fully displayed at that moment. Don Chino could not withstand that force at all. His feet slipped, and he was sent flying along with his anchor.

At that moment, Vikengam's chained axe smashed into the arm Babel had used to throw the straight punch. Vikengam then gave it a hard tug, and the chain snapped upward like a leaping serpent, swiftly coiling around Babel's arm.

"I'll fucking make you fly!" Vikengam roared as he wrapped Babel up, pulling hard on the chain with both arms.

After eating a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit, his strength had increased tremendously. Judging from his contest of strength with Bartholomew Kuma, he was roughly as strong as an ordinary giant.

But compared to Babel, he was still far too weak. After all, this man was known on Rocks's crew as the "Catfish Wrestler."

Although Babel had been caught off guard and pulled off balance by Vikengam, stumbling back two steps, that was all it took. He quickly steadied himself, forcefully drawing back the arm bound by the chain as he roared, "For a small fry, your strength is pretty good. But this is as far as you go. Get over here!"

The surging force left Vikengam with no room to resist. He was directly yanked toward Babel.

"Nozdon!" Vikengam shouted as he flew forward.

Then, a muscular giant over ten meters tall, no smaller than Babel in stature, punched away a Shiki underling who had been tangling with him. He grinned. "I'm coming!"

The next second, Vikengam reached Babel. Babel's other hand had already gathered power, ready to deliver a crushing midair blow.

But clearly, because of insufficient intelligence, he had no idea Vikengam was a Devil Fruit user.

"Frost Breath!" Before Babel could throw his punch, Vikengam opened his mouth and unleashed a blast of freezing breath.

The distance between them was extremely short, and Babel had not guarded against anything like this. The frost breath struck him squarely in the face.

Biting cold erupted at once, almost instantly freezing his huge body solid.

At the same time, the hulking Nozdon arrived. He clenched Armament Haki around one hand, coating his fist, and without a word, threw a heavy punch at Babel's frozen body!

The ferocious blow shattered the ice in a single strike, but immediately afterward, Babel was revealed beneath it, protected by Armament Haki like a suit of armor.

Sure enough, even though the attack had come suddenly, Babel's combat experience was still incredibly rich. Before he had been fully frozen, he had covered himself in a suit of Haki armor!

Nozdon's Armament Haki-coated fist slammed viciously into Babel's chest, colliding with his Haki and unleashing a wave of force.

Babel was undoubtedly far stronger than Nozdon. Even with the advantage of striking first, Nozdon's heavy punch did not achieve much.

In the blink of an eye, Vikengam landed beside Babel. The instant his feet touched the ground, he let out a low roar as his body rapidly transformed. His already three-meter-tall frame expanded further and became more beastly, turning in moments into a towering tiger-leopard beastman covered in white fur and radiating biting cold.

Without any hesitation, Vikengam yanked hard on the chain, then clamped both hands around Babel's arm and forced it forward.

Seeing this, Nozdon did not hesitate either. He seized Babel's other arm and locked it down tightly. With a roar, he unleashed all his strength and forced it forward as well.

One on each side, Vikengam and Nozdon each pinned one of Babel's arms. For a moment, they truly left the Catfish Wrestler's chest wide open.

The Roger Pirates' combatants might not have possessed exceptional individual strength, but they had all seen major battles and possessed immense combat experience.

As Vikengam and Nozdon restrained Babel's arms and exposed an opening, Eye Dragon, who had competed in the World Fighting Tournament and earned the title of champion, stomped off the ground and arrived before Babel at once.

"Champion's Strike!" Eye Dragon roared, throwing a fierce hook into Babel's left abdomen. He was clearly aiming to give Babel's kidney a good massage.

The punch landed solidly. Even with Haki protecting him, Babel felt awful. Pain twisted his expression as he staggered backward.

But in the next instant, he steadied himself again. Then, like a furious beast, he let out a roar. The muscles across his body bulged and surged as his arms erupted with overwhelming power, dragging Vikengam and Nozdon into a savage bear hug!

Damn, Vikengam, Nozdon, and Eye Dragon were instantly crushed together, nearly squeezing the breath out of all three of them.