A Rubber Man Can Beat Fish-Men Without Going into the Sea

The seawater rose past Nojiko's knees.

Chew stood behind her, the muzzle pressed hard against the back of her knee.

Several dark figures lurked beneath the water near the reefs. The moment Su Hang stepped into the sea, they would swarm him.

Nami rushed to the shore, then forcibly stopped herself.

"Chew, you want food. Why take her hostage?"

"You led outsiders here. Brother Arlong is very unhappy."

Chew tapped Nojiko's shoulder with the barrel of his gun.

"Move the Dawnbringer's food onto our ship. Ninety percent. Not one bag less."

Nojiko endured the pain in her shoulder.

"Don't give it to them! The village has paid them for years, and they'll still keep robbing us!"

Chew raised the butt of his gun.

Su Hang grabbed a sack of food and tossed it to the end of the gangplank.

"Stop."

Nami whipped around.

"You're really giving it to them?"

"Unload it first."

Chew laughed.

"This would've been much easier if you'd done that from the start. At the seaside, Devil Fruit users are weaker than human children."

Su Hang did not respond. He merely looked at Qi Hai.

"How long is the spare anchor chain at the stern?"

"Forty-six meters."

"Enough. Fix the left end to the crooked tree on shore, run the right end around the Dawnbringer's mainmast, then fasten it to the big tree outside the Orange Grove."

Qi Hai immediately understood what he intended.

"How tight?"

"Stop when the mainmast creaks one more time."

Two sailors dragged the anchor chain off the ship.

Qi Hai personally wrapped it around the tree and secured it, then wound three layers of thick rope around the chain clasp to keep the iron ring from snapping apart.

When Chew saw this, his gun barrel lifted slightly.

"What are you doing?"

"Securing the ship."

Su Hang tossed down another sack of food.

"The tide is rising over the shallows. The Dawnbringer can't be swept away."

Chew scanned the water but found nothing unusual.

"Keep unloading."

Sack after sack of food piled up on the shore.

But Nojiko did not relax.

She could see Nami's hand hidden behind her back, lightly tapping the cloth pouch at her waist.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

It was the signal they had used as children while hiding from patrols in the Orange Grove.

Close your eyes.

Nojiko suddenly lowered her head.

Nami turned and rushed into the Orange Grove.

Two fish-men tried to pursue her, but Chew raised a hand to stop them.

"Forget her. No one in the village can get away."

After securing the anchor chain, Qi Hai returned to Su Hang's side.

"The left end is locked in place. The right end can take one rebound. A second one might break the tree."

"One is enough."

"Your right shoulder hasn't healed yet."

"Then don't tie it crooked."

Qi Hai looped the anchor chain around Su Hang's waist, deliberately avoiding the old injury, then placed thick canvas beneath the metal where it touched his body.

"Don't loosen the chain until I give the signal."

"Who's commanding the ship?"

"I am."

"And the shore?"

"Also me."

Qi Hai tightened the final knot.

"You just focus on bringing her back."

Chew impatiently waved his gun.

"Twenty sacks left! Keep dragging this out, and I'll cripple one of her legs first!"

Su Hang bent down, grabbed a sack of food, and stepped forward half a pace.

His toe was less than a foot from the seawater.

Beneath the reefs, three fish-men tightened their grips on their hook lines.

Chew's attention was completely fixed on Su Hang's feet as well.

At that moment, a swollen leather ball suddenly flew out from behind the Orange Grove.

The ball landed atop the reefs.

Pop!

Its outer layer burst apart, scattering fine salt powder mixed with dry cloud soil into the wind.

White mist instantly covered the reefs. The fish-men's eyes and gills were irritated at once, and they all raised their hands to shield themselves.

Chew snarled.

"What was that?!"

Nami poked her head out from behind a tree.

"A Weather Ball Mia made, with two bags of salt added. Does it work?"

"Nami!"

The instant Chew turned his head, the hand gripping the back of Nojiko's neck loosened slightly.

Su Hang stomped down hard.

The anchor chain snapped taut.

Qi Hai drew his blade and cut through the temporary rope securing it to the mainmast.

The anchor chain dragged Su Hang backward by the waist and abdomen, stretching his rubber body sideways along the shore.

Ten meters.

Twenty meters.

The soles of his shoes kept scraping across dry sand, never entering the seawater.

"Release!"

Qi Hai let go of the chain clasp.

Boom!

Su Hang's rubber body, stretched to its limit, suddenly snapped back.

He shot sideways along the coastline, moving fast enough to kick up a wave of sand.

Chew had just wiped the salt powder from his eyes when a dark figure swept over the reefs.

Su Hang did not throw a punch.

His right arm hooked around Nojiko's waist, his left hand locked onto her arm, and he used the remaining force of the anchor chain's rebound to forcefully change direction.

Chew's five fingers grasped empty air.

Nojiko was yanked away from the reefs.

The two of them flew over the shallows and rolled heavily into the sand by the shore.

Qi Hai had already been waiting there. He tore away the anchor chain and dragged Nojiko behind a tree.

"Can you move your legs?"

"Yes!"

Nojiko rolled over and rose to her feet.

"Don't let them get into the water! There are people underwater too!"

The fish-men beneath the reefs lunged out at the same time.

Chew leaped furiously into the sea, his long mouth swelling sharply.

"Water Iron Cannon!"

A compressed water shot tore through the white mist and flew straight at Su Hang's chest.

Su Hang planted both feet and compressed his body sideways.

The water shot grazed his shoulder and blasted apart an orange tree trunk behind him, spraying wood chips across the beach.

Qi Hai raised his blade and stepped in front.

"Get back on shore!"

"He won't come up."

Su Hang looked at Chew.

"He took a hostage because he knew he couldn't beat me on land."

Chew dove beneath the water, his voice carrying from all around the surface.

"Then come down here if you've got the guts!"

A second water shot fired from the side.

Su Hang flipped away from it, but spray splashed onto the soles of his shoes.

His strength immediately stalled for an instant, as if heavy iron blocks had been strapped to his calves.

He instantly retreated three steps.

Chew emerged from the water and shrieked with laughter.

"You can't even stand steady after touching a little seawater. How are you going to fight fish-men?"

"Why would I need to go into the sea?"

Su Hang raised a hand.

"Qi Hai, the sail!"

Qi Hai cut the securing rope on the Dawnbringer's spare old sail.

Two sailors pulled the cables at once, and the entire heavy sail flew from the deck and spread flat across the water outside the reefs.

The canvas took on water and would sink within moments.

Su Hang was already charging forward.

His first step landed on the edge of the reef, and his second struck the center of the canvas before it had soaked through.

Its brief buoyancy held up his shoe soles as his rubber legs immediately compressed downward.

Chew's pupils shrank.

"You're asking to die!"

Fish-men underwater reached for the canvas.

Su Hang rebounded first.

Bang!

His body launched into the air, vaulting over Chew's head.

A third water shot chased after him. Su Hang grabbed the anchor chain by the shore with his right hand, and his waist twisted sharply half a turn in midair.

The water shot brushed past his shoulder and flew into the sky.

The anchor chain tightened with it, flinging him back toward the reefs.

Chew had no time to dive and could only raise his iron pipe to block.

Su Hang clenched his five fingers into a fist. Armament Haki had not yet formed, but the pure rebound of his rubber body compressed all his momentum into his right arm.

"You threatened the village with food, then threatened me with a hostage."

His fist crashed down.

"Your mouth is only good for spraying water. You don't need it!"

Bang!

The iron pipe bent on the spot.

His fist continued forward, striking Chew squarely in the long mouth.

Two rows of sharp teeth shattered. His nasal bone and elongated mouth twisted left together, and his whole body flew backward across the water, smashing through two shallow reefs in succession.

Seawater flooded Chew's mouth and nose, leaving him in too much pain to make a complete sound.

The other fish-men were just about to surround him when Alan's skiff cut in from the side.

He did not pursue them. He merely used an oar to shove aside the soaked old sail and push Su Hang back toward shore.

"Step on the bow!"

Su Hang landed one foot on the front of the skiff, then grabbed the anchor chain.

Qi Hai and the sailors pulled together, dragging the man back onto the sand.

Their coordination never paused for an instant.

Chew crawled up from between the shattered reefs, blood streaming from the corner of his mouth.

He looked at Qi Hai standing guard onshore, then at Su Hang, who had already tightened the anchor chain. At last, he did not dare approach again.

"Retreat!"

The fish-men dragged their wounded into the deep water.

Nami ran to Nojiko's side, first feeling her knee, then checking her shoulder.

"Nothing broken?"

"No."

Nojiko pulled her into a hug, then immediately grabbed her ear.

"You dared steal someone else's map, and you even dared dive under the ship alone? You're getting bolder and bolder!"

"It hurts! Let go first—everyone in the village is watching!"

The villagers finally emerged from behind the Orange Grove.

No one cheered.

They looked at the sacks of grain on the shore, then at the blood still spreading through the water. Their faces held only exhaustion that had been suppressed for far too long.

Su Hang dried his soaked right foot.

"Distribute the food at the original price."

"The wounded and children get theirs first. No one has to pay even one extra Beli because of today's battle."

An old man asked softly.

"Arlong won't let this place go."

"I know."

"Once you leave, he'll take his anger out on the village."

Su Hang looked up toward Arlong Park.

"So the Dawnbringer won't be leaving for now."

Far out on the water, Chew clutched his broken snout and turned back with venomous hatred in his eyes.

"In three days, Arlong will bring every fish-man from Arlong Park here."