Arlong Park (2)

"Boss Arlong, take a break first!" Kuroobi, the loach Fish-Man, said to Arlong. "If you get angry, this place will turn into ruins!"

"Just a few human brats, leave them to us!" In Chew's eyes, although the Straw Hat Pirates could easily take down quite a few of his fellow Fish-Men, he still did not believe they could stand against the three great Fish-Man officers.

"I'll deal with the Straw Hat brat myself!" Arlong rejected Kuroobi's suggestion. Besides, it was now a perfect four-on-four between the Arlong Pirates and the Straw Hat Pirates.

The three Fish-Man officers knew there was no point in trying to dissuade Arlong any further. Besides, everyone now had a target, while the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates naturally had to be left for Boss Arlong.

"Take this! Zero-Degree Vision, Octopus Ink Spray!" Hachi, the octopus Fish-Man, sprayed a stream of black ink from his mouth at the Straw Hat Pirates. But the Straw Hat Crew were not idiots. How could they just stand there foolishly in the face of such an unknown attack?

"That scared me. It was just ink!" After successfully dodging the Octopus Ink Spray, Usopp realized that the liquid Hachi had spat out was merely ordinary ink and quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Octopus skewers and takoyaki are both excellent choices!" Sanji's occupational habit had kicked in, and he was actually considering how to cook octopus. He was completely treating the octopus Fish-Man as an ordinary octopus.

"Doesn't matter. I'll cut him down first, then talk." Zoro did not care whether his opponent was an octopus Fish-Man or anything else. As long as they were enemies, he just had to cut them down with his sword.

"Heh, for humans, you lot have some skill. But it seems you have no idea how formidable the Fish-Man race truly is!" Kuroobi, the loach Fish-Man, said disdainfully.

"Aren't you just a bunch of bastards who know nothing but how to bully women?" In response to Kuroobi's contempt, the rookie Sanji lit a cigarette and looked at him with utter disdain.

Although Sanji was a womanizer, he had never shown disrespect toward any woman. Though he had been raised by pirates, he would rather die than harm a woman. He was a pirate, yet possessed a chivalric spirit unmatched by anyone. He was Sanji, disciple of "Red-Leg" Zeff.

"A pirate talking to me about chivalry? What a complete mismatch!"

"Is that so? Want to experience my chivalry and see whether it's such a mismatch, Fish-Man?" Sanji provoked him. "Don't underestimate me. I was raised by pirates for half my life!"

"Human who doesn't know his place!" Although Kuroobi looked down on Sanji, he still assumed a karate stance, preparing to defeat him with the Fish-Man Karate he excelled at.

Sanji likewise used his only method of combat: the kicking techniques personally taught to him by Zeff. Zeff's teaching for Sanji was simple: a chef's hands were a chef's lifeline, and could only be used in the kitchen. A chef's hands could not be used for fighting—unless they were in the kitchen and the opponent was an ingredient.

"Hey, octopus. They're busy, so I'll play with you." Zoro appeared beside Hachi while he was distracted. Although he had just had a chance to defeat Hachi, Zoro gave it up. He had always disdained sneak attacks, believing they insulted the honor of a swordsman.

"You're the bastard who just cut down so many of my fellow Fish-Men! I'll kill you!" After freezing for half a second, Hachi finally came to his senses and shouted furiously.

"I'm not interested in old history like that. But whatever." Zoro arrogantly pointed Wado Ichimonji at Hachi. "Because right now, it's not you trying to kill us. We're the ones beating you up!"

Although Zoro's strength had greatly diminished due to his serious injuries and the fact that he only had one sword left, after his battle with Hawkeye, his presence had become even sharper and more powerful. Even though he could not use large-scale techniques for fear of reopening his wounds, he still did not think a mere octopus Fish-Man could force him to go all out.

William had told them that Fish-Men excelled in aquatic combat. Once they entered the water, their strength would increase enormously, much like a Zoan user transforming from human form into beast-man form. William had warned everyone in the Straw Hat Crew not to let the Fish-Men enter the water, or they would all be in for a hard fight.

"Hey, long nose, looks like you're mine?" Chew, the long-snouted Fish-Man, noticed that Kuroobi and Hachi, his fellow officers, both already had opponents.

"Eek? No way!" When Usopp realized a Fish-Man had targeted him, and that his opponent seemed to be a Fish-Man officer, he immediately panicked and ran away.

Usopp could handle one or two ordinary Fish-Men, but against a Fish-Man officer, he truly lacked both the courage and the strength.

"Stop! Don't run!" When Chew ran outside the wall, he noticed the fully armed people around him. His face darkened as he said, "You're villagers from Cocoyasi Village, right? Carrying weapons like that, don't tell me you're planning a rebellion? Watch me take care of all of you—"

Special Attack: Fire Star! Before Chew could finish speaking, his entire body was suddenly engulfed in flames. Seeing the Fish-Man officer Chew collapse with his whole body on fire, Usopp, slingshot in hand, said smugly, "Your opponent is the great Usopp, you bastard Fish-Man! Come chase me!"

"Since you want to die so badly, I'll grant your wish right away!" Chew, burned by the flames, got back to his feet and shouted in rage. Although Fish-Men were far stronger than ordinary humans, fire harmed them far more than it did humans. As for the villagers of Cocoyasi Village, he did not even spare them a glance. His eyes were fixed solely on Usopp. Usopp had actually injured him, a Fish-Man. To him, that was simply an insult.

"What is up with that young man?" The villagers of Cocoyasi Village were utterly confused by Usopp, who was brave one moment and fleeing in terror the next. No one could understand why such a strange person had chosen to become a pirate.

"They should be the young people who showed up in the village earlier, right?" Although quite a few villagers had already recognized William and the other two, they did not connect the Straw Hat Pirates coming to cause Arlong trouble with Nami. Of course, Nojiko, who knew about Nami's relationship with the Straw Hat Pirates, was an exception.

Although Usopp ran desperately through the fields, Chew, the long-snouted Fish-Man, stayed close behind him and refused to let up.

"You don't seriously think you can beat us, do you?" Arlong walked up to Luffy and asked arrogantly. It felt like an adult asking a child, "Can you beat me?"

"So what if I do? Take my Rubber Gun!" Luffy likewise did not think they would lose. There was only one thing he wanted to do now: beat the hell out of that bastard Arlong.

"A Devil Fruit user?" Facing Luffy's Rubber Gun at such close range, Arlong casually caught Luffy's fist. Although he was somewhat surprised that Luffy was a Devil Fruit user, he was not shocked. Having come from the Grand Line, he had seen no shortage of ability users. Luffy's power would not intimidate him.

"Let go of me!" Luffy was astonished to find that he could not pull his hand free, shocked by Arlong's skill and strength.

"After making me angry, none of you have any chance of leaving alive!" But to Arlong, whether Luffy was a Devil Fruit user was completely irrelevant. Even if everyone in the Straw Hat Pirates were Devil Fruit users, he did not think there was anything to fear.

In his eyes, since he had personally made a move, no one in the Straw Hat Pirates could possibly survive. Of course, that was only if the other Straw Hat Pirates were not killed by his three great Fish-Man officers first. Otherwise, they would not even have the chance to die by his hand.

"No way! I still have to go to the Grand Line!" Luffy said as he broke free from Arlong's grip.