The warships sailed at full speed for a short time before spotting the battlefield in the distance. It was a combination of artillery bombardment and boarding maneuvering on the open sea, with no islands or reefs nearby.
There was one pirate ship, and the pirate flag was already the Sun Pirates ' flag, but there were several warships. It is estimated that some of them had been sunk by the Fish-Man, and another one was sinking. Given this disparity in troop strength, they were still being beaten so badly that they couldn't even raise their heads.
The Sun Pirates are quite powerful, with Jinbe, a future Shichibukai, and Fisher Tiger, who climbed Mary Geoise with his bare hands, set it on fire to save people, and escaped unscathed. Both of them are strong.
Jinbe was even trained by Tiger in Fishman Town. If Strawberry hadn't threatened Tiger with Koala's slave status, Tiger wouldn't have stood still and taken so many bullets.
On the surface, Fisher Tiger's strength is inferior to Jinbe's, but in reality, both of them are very strong. If Fisher Tiger weren't strong, he wouldn't have been able to escape from a place like Mary Geoise.
Of course, luck certainly played a part, since the Holy Knights were still there, but strength was definitely a factor. As for Fisher Tiger's claim that he was captured and enslaved shortly after going on a trip, there was no specific information about that, and it's unknown who captured him, so it's not considered relevant.
" Rebecca! Go help that Rear Admiral, he looks like he can't hold on much longer."
Vic said to Rebecca beside him, "The one fighting the Rear Admiral who is struggling is Fisher Tiger. Fisher Tiger's Fish-Man Karate is very strong, and his attack methods are equivalent to some of the effects of Armament Haki."
Moreover, Fish-Man are already ten times stronger than humans, and Fisher Tiger is no ordinary Fish-Man, so the power gap is even greater. The unknown Rear Admiral is already powerless to fight back, and this is the perfect opportunity to intervene.
" Rebecca! Don't go all out, just pretend. At the end, you have to act like you're outmatched and get knocked away, understand? Remember to make it look convincing, don't let anyone see through your act."
As Rebecca flew towards the battlefield on her flying sword, Vic transmitted a message to Rebecca, causing Rebecca to pause briefly in her smooth flight. However, Rebecca neither replied nor turned around. Vic's arrangement was naturally reasonable; Rebecca always did whatever she was told.
Both sides in the battle saw the reinforcements arriving. The Fish-Man felt the navy was going on and on, while the navy was thrilled.
Vic hasn't intervened yet because his reasoning is that Fish-Man like to destroy warships from the sea, and he needs to use his Devil Fruit ability to stop the Fish-Man from getting close to the warships, which is perfectly reasonable.
Vic had previously used this same electric shock technique to subdue a large sea monster that was trying to attack a warship. The navy personnel on the warship all felt that Vic's arrangements were too reliable and that he had considered things too far ahead. He truly lived up to his reputation as Vice Admiral Dark Dragon.
Vic then selected Frodeku to fight Arlong. Arlong is considered the fourth-ranking member of the Sun Pirates, though he's not quite as strong as the ship's doctor Aladdin, but he's still not someone an ordinary Marine could defeat. Arlong is currently like a bulldozer on the warship, with no rivals. With Frodeku, a Haki and Future Sight individual, joining the fray, Arlong will likely be thoroughly outmatched.
At this moment, although Onigumo had several swords, they were all blocked from a distance by Jinbe's Fish-Man Karate. What Onigumo failed to block was the Fish-Man Karate that struck him squarely.
Onigumo's Armament Haki wasn't very strong to begin with; he preferred to use Iron Body. If he encountered Jinbe's Fish-Man Karate, he would be injured after taking just one punch. Jinbe, the future Shichibukai Knight of the Sea, is no pushover; he's not someone an ordinary Vice Admiral could handle.
Jinbe is still relatively unknown, having just come from Fish-Man Island, so no one knows his true strength. Otherwise, they wouldn't have sent a Vice Admiral like Onigumo to lead the team. They probably learned their lesson this time and that's why they later sent Kizaru to lead the team.
Since Rebecca was acting, her moves were particularly flashy and powerful, though that was only how it appeared.
Fisher Tiger felt that the girl in front of him was just a pretty face, because Rebecca didn't use much power or strength at all; she used the rest for special effects.
To the sailors aboard Vic's warship, Captain Rebecca remained as stable and powerful as ever, while the opposing Fish-Man was no weakling either, managing to fight Captain Rebecca to a standstill. Vic couldn't help but marvel at this; women truly are natural actresses, and they acted so well.
While Vic didn't make a move, he wasn't idle either, because the Fish-Man also saw the reinforcement warship, and their first thought was naturally to go into the water and sink it.
However, as soon as they approached the warship, they were stunned by the lightning released by Vic and sank to the bottom of the sea. Vic's actions were witnessed by everyone. He had indeed anticipated the enemy's prediction. He was truly prescient and a good general who could protect his subordinates.
In any case, the battle on the scene had reached a balance, and it wasn't necessary for Vic to take action. No one could tell that Vic was acting, not even Barnett.
Because Vic hadn't made a move when encountering pirates who weren't particularly strong, he had basically left the battle to them. Vic said this was valuable practical experience, and after experiencing it a few times, they realized Vic was right—that's just how people think.
Seeing that Onigumo wouldn't last much longer, Vic quickly sent a telepathic message to Rebecca that they had lost. Rebecca was quite the actress; before she could react, she was sent flying by Fisher Tiger's Fish-Man Karate: Shark Tile Fist.
To make her performance more convincing, Rebecca genuinely didn't defend herself at all. She was punched so hard that she coughed up blood and flew more than ten meters away. Her face was ashen and she looked completely exhausted. No one could tell that she was acting. This actress really put in a lot of effort to complete the task Vic gave her!
" Rebecca! Fish-Man! You're asking for it!"
Vic had been waiting for this moment. A huge roar rang out, and everyone present heard it. All eyes turned to this, even Jinbe and Onigumo, who were fighting the most fiercely, were distracted and looked over.
Because Vic's roar was imbued with his powerful aura, an aura that everyone could feel and which brought a great sense of crisis!
After drawing everyone's attention, Vic vanished from his spot in a flash, reappearing in front of a somewhat bewildered Fisher Tiger. Vic raised his right hand and pointed his index finger at Fisher Tiger's forehead.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, a deep blue, zigzagging arc of electricity shot from Vic's index fingertip, reaching Fisher Tiger's forehead and then flying out from the back of his head.
In the blink of an eye, Fisher Tiger's fur was completely singed, thick black smoke billowed from his head, and he collapsed to the ground, motionless, his eyes still open with only the whites showing.
Are you alright?
After doing all this, Vic flashed to the side of Rebecca who had fallen to the ground, knelt down, and hugged Rebecca in his arms.
Vic was genuinely heartbroken. His original intention was for Rebecca to pretend to be injured, but she took it seriously. After picking Rebecca up, Vic immediately used bioelectricity to invade her body to treat her internal injuries. The damage from Fish-Man Karate was quite similar to that from Armament Haki.
"Big brother's big brother!"
"Big brother!"
It wasn't until Vic held Rebecca in his arms that the others realized that the incredibly strong Fisher Tiger had been defeated in a single move.
Arlong and Jinbe were the most incredulous. The worried shout just now came from Arlong. Then he abandoned his opponent Frodeku, who was toying with him, and ran towards the fallen Fisher Tiger. Frodeku seemed to see the future and did not chase after him, letting Arlong go.