A Fierce Battle at Arlong Park

Marco's eyes lit up when he saw the many fish-men inside Arlong Park.

There were too many of them. This time, there were simply too many experience fodder.

When he had killed those three fish-men, the life energy transmitted through his fighting bracers had already confirmed Mark's guess.

Fish-men could also provide him with life energy, and an ordinary fish-man was worth five or six ordinary humans. The officers provided even more life energy.

That news had truly excited Mark for a while.

But what excited him even more was that the Arlong Pirates really had a lot of fish-men.

Especially Arlong.

Even among fish-men, this guy could be considered above average. Just how much life energy could he provide?

When Kuroobi saw the two fish-men lying dead outside the gate, his expression instantly twisted with rage.

"You lowly human, I'll kill you!"

As an officer of the Arlong Pirates and their combat division commander, those fish-men had all been his subordinates.

No matter where these people had come from, anyone who killed his subordinates had to die here.

Kuroobi's arms bore hard fins like curved blades. By using those hard fins in battle and combining them with Fish-Man Karate, he could unleash techniques even sharper than swords.

"Fish-Man Karate: Thousand Brick Fist!"

Against an enemy who had killed his subordinates, Kuroobi used his full strength from the start.

The Thousand Brick Fist smashed toward Mark's head.

"Dark Water!"

But just as he unleashed the Thousand Brick Fist, Mark suddenly used Dark Water, pulling the unprepared Kuroobi toward him.

"What kind of power is this...?"

The instant Kuroobi swung his fist, he felt a tremendous suction force. Losing his footing, he flew toward Mark, and the Thousand Brick Fist was broken in an instant.

"Proud fish-man, let me show you what my martial arts can do!"

Mark did not draw the Mountain-Splitting Axe strapped to his back. Darkness coiled around his right arm as he pressed his five fingers together and stabbed at Kuroobi, who was being pulled in by Dark Water.

"Martial Art: Hand Stab!"

His palm was as hard as stone as it pierced Kuroobi's chest. His bloodstained right hand went straight through Kuroobi's body.

Kuroobi stared at Mark in disbelief.

"M... my body... cough!"

Mark gently shoved Kuroobi away. His bloodied right hand slid out of Kuroobi's chest as he lowered it, blood slowly dripping from his fingertips onto the ground.

"My martial arts aren't inferior to your Fish-Man Karate, are they? Heh!"

He took out a handkerchief, gently wiped the blood from his right hand, then tossed it onto Kuroobi's trembling body.

A furious roar rang out from inside Arlong Park. "Damn inferior human, lowly race, how dare you..."

"Is that really so?" Mark looked at Arlong, whose eyes had turned bloodshot.

"As someone who came from the Grand Line, do you really think fish-men are stronger than humans? Arlong... as someone who came from the Sun Pirates, do you truly believe that?"

Mark's words made Arlong's pupils contract.

This human actually knew his identity, and he had said something like that. Could he be...

"You're a human who came back from the Grand Line?"

Arlong grew cautious. If this human had come from the Grand Line, then it was no surprise that he knew about such things.

Fish-men were nothing special on the Grand Line. They were even often looked down upon.

Mark revealed a trace of mockery and said nothing more.

But Chew flew into a rage. He did not care who the other side was. Even if Mark had guessed their origins, so what? He had killed their companions. That was unforgivable.

"Water Shot!"

Chew was a kissing fish-man of the cannonball fish type and could fire powerful streams of water from his mouth.

A water blast shot out from his long mouth and flew toward Mark.

Mark neither dodged nor evaded. Armament Haki coated his fist, and he struck at the right moment, shattering the water blast with a single punch.

"Water Shotgun!"

Seeing that one shot had failed, Chew's mouth began spitting water blasts nonstop like a machine gun.

Light gleamed in Mark's eyes. He shifted slightly from side to side, darkness covering his right fist.

Seizing the gap between Chew's shots, he flashed forward, and the darkness on his fist made intimate contact with Chew's chest.

Boom!

The water blasts stopped. Blood flowed down Chew's chest. He lowered his head to glance at it, blood spilling from his long mouth before he fell flat onto his back. After twitching for a moment, he went still.

A deep fist mark had been left in his chest.

Two fish-man officers had died at Mark's hands just like that, right in front of Arlong.

Less than thirty seconds had passed from beginning to end. It had taken only two or three moves.

Every fish-man in Arlong Park found the sight impossible to accept.

They had been in the East Blue for over a decade and had never lost a single one of their kind, much less officers of their pirate crew.

Many of the fish-men even thought they were dreaming.

Mark released his killing intent without restraint, and every fish-man present felt a crushing pressure.

"Kill this lowly human! Avenge Kuroobi and Chew!"

Some of the fish-men shouted as they launched an attack on Mark and the others, raising whale harpoons, blades, and swords as they charged at him.

With someone taking the lead, a whole group of fish-men followed behind.

In an instant, every fish-man in Arlong Park attacked Mark and his group together.

"I'm done playing with you! Daisy, take care of yourself. Chuchu, let's go!"

Drawing the Mountain-Splitting Axe from his back, Mark shot toward the fish-men like an arrow loosed from a bow.

Hearing its master give the order, golden arcs of lightning immediately flashed over Chuchu's body as it charged toward the fish-men in a streak of gold.

Daisy drew the ornate flintlock pistol from her waist and pulled the trigger at several fish-men.

In the blink of an eye, several fish-men were killed by Mark's group.

Mark's axe was especially terrifying. The already heavy weapon, wielded with Mark's precise axe techniques, cut through fish-men as easily as paper, splitting them in two with a single blow.

The massive Mountain-Splitting Axe stirred up a bloody storm among the fish-men.

He raised the axe, bent forward, and chopped downward. Two halves of a body flew apart.

Just as Mark was killing with wild abandon, a serrated blade blocked his descending giant axe.

"All of you, step back. Leave this man to me."

Arlong gripped his serrated blade with bloodshot eyes and stared coldly at Mark.

All the fish-men took a step back in unison. Mark's aura was simply too terrifying; even the weapons in their hands could not give them any sense of security.

"Step back? How could I let you have your way!"

Feeling his body growing stronger and stronger, Mark was glad he had come here. If he slaughtered all the fish-men before him, his physique might advance another step.

But seeing the fish-men retreat, how could he let them get what they wanted?

He pressed the Mountain-Splitting Axe down hard, forcing Arlong's serrated blade downward. Then darkness surged over his right hand, and he slammed it heavily against the ground!

Black Hole!