When Jinbe emerged from the pirate ship, the entire atmosphere froze.
Once one of the Shichibukai and universally recognized as the strongest in the sea, the whale shark fish-man Jinbe possessed a stout, massive body that carried suffocating intimidation. Just seeing his two terrifying fangs was enough to make the people aboard the merchant ship's legs go weak.
Uchiha Hikaru remained unmoved. Other than his gaze no longer being as cold as before, no one could detect any reaction from him to Jinbe's arrival.
"Jinbe! Take him down!" Bege said furiously. "Save Tamago! That bastard must be a Devil Fruit ability user!"
Illusionary and mental-control abilities were uncommon in the pirate world—extremely rare, even. Thus, when Uchiha Hikaru used mental control to restrain Tamago, Bege mistakenly assumed that Hikaru was a Devil Fruit ability user.
Jinbe did not respond to Bege. With calm sincerity in his eyes, he slowly stepped from the pirate ship onto the merchant vessel. Then, beneath everyone's watchful gazes, he walked up to Hikaru.
Hikaru, whose build had been considered fairly outstanding in Konoha, looked like a little dwarf in the pirate world. Anyone could casually stand one or two meters taller than him. The bodily proportions of this world's creatures were truly incomprehensible.
Yet even when Jinbe faced Hikaru with a body several times broader than his, he could not exert any psychological pressure on him... and Jinbe had not released any oppressive aura either.
Then, Jinbe bowed deeply.
Everyone was astonished.
No one understood why Jinbe had not attacked Uchiha Hikaru, but had instead made such an unusual gesture. As a seasoned pirate, why would he bow to a newcomer who had only recently emerged in the New World?
"Jinbe!?" Bege was utterly shocked. "Have you been controlled too?"
Jinbe's eyes beneath his bowed