The Arlong Pirates, Destroyed!
As soon as he finished speaking, a burly figure charged at Ivan, bringing a foul gust with him, and roared:
"Lowly human, die-Shark on Tooth!"
His whole body charged at Ivan like a truck, his sharp teeth gnashing as though he meant to tear Ivan apart with them.
In response, a brilliant blue light appeared on Ivan's palm.
Rather than dodge, he rose to meet the attack.
The next moment, Ivan planted all five fingers on Arlong's face and grinned fiercely.
"Hahaha, then I'll return the favor with a move of my own. Blue: Shark Brake!"
Boom!
A terrifying force bore down on Arlong's face. Before he could react, his body was easily flipped over, and his head slammed into the ground.
Arlong's teeth, as hard as refined steel, shattered piece by piece and fell from his mouth in a shower of blood.
His vision went black, and the searing pain nearly knocked the Fish-Man unconscious!
At the same time, a sound suddenly rang out as something cut through the air!
A bone-chilling cold shot up Arlong's spine. He struggled with all his might to break free of Ivan's hand and rolled to the side, but he was still a moment too slow!
A cold light flashed past, and a bloody arm flew into the air amid a piercing scream.
Arlong's left arm was gone, severed by a single slash from Ivan!
Ivan casually waved his long blade, shaking off the drops of blood, then tilted his head and looked at the howling Arlong. Feigning confusion, he asked:
"You keep calling humans lowly, but I don't see what makes you so noble.
On the contrary—you're simply too weak!"
"Damn it, damn it! You lowly human, I'll kill you!"
Arlong glared at Ivan, boundless hatred surging in his eyes. Yet even that hatred could not conceal the terror buried deepest within them.
In a daze, he felt as though he had returned to those dark days on the Grand Line.
His Fish-Man brothers had been hunted down and killed by humans, one after another.
Fish-Men were clearly stronger than humans, but that rule meant nothing before those monsters.
They wielded Haki and could smash a large ship apart with a single punch.
No matter how the Fish-Men resisted, it was ultimately futile. They could only watch their brothers fall one by one, and even their boss, Fisher Tiger, had died a miserable death because of human schemes.
Now, after just one exchange with Ivan, Arlong felt as though he had been plunged into an ice cellar.
Arlong realized that the man who had once been no match for him had, at some unknown point, completely surpassed him and become one of those monsters!
He was no match for Ivan, and once he lost, his Fish-Man brothers would be slaughtered to the last.
No, he would never allow that to happen!
A look of resolve came over Arlong's face. He took out his teeth, gripped them in his palm, and roared in grief and fury at the Fish-Men behind him:
"Run, hurry and run! I'm no match for him. Get as far away as you can!"
As he spoke, he charged at Ivan with a tragic resolve, his entire bearing full of it:
"Lowly human, I won't let you hurt my Fish-Man brothers! Shark on Darts: Iron Tooth Technique!"
"A cheap trick!" Facing Arlong's renewed charge, Ivan shook his head, clapped his hands together, and called out, "Wood Release: Violent Spear Tree!"
With a rumble, four sharp tree trunks burst from the ground, piercing Arlong's arm, legs, and abdomen and pinning him firmly in place.
As Arlong screamed, Ivan strode past him and said mockingly, "Watch your Fish-Man brothers die... Come, listen to the soft song of the sword!"
Ivan took a step and vanished from where he stood, reappearing beside a Fish-Man.
The next second, Ivan vanished again, leaving the Fish-Man standing there.
But the Fish-Man never moved again, the terror on his face frozen in place.
A second later, his head slowly slid off his neck, and he died!
Blue: Soru!
It was a Taijutsu technique Ivan had created by combining Soru and Blue.
He used Blue's gravitational pull in place of the explosive thrust Soru generated by repeatedly kicking off the ground. Not only was it far faster than the original, but he could also use it repeatedly without the slightest delay.
To the surviving Fish-Men, Ivan was like an elusive ghost.
His figure flickered through the crowd, and every time he appeared, he claimed one or two lives.
Piercing screams rose and fell as the Fish-Men died one after another, unable to so much as touch the hem of his clothes.
In just a short while, blood had stained the ground red, and only the octopus Hachi remained alive on the battlefield, barely clinging to life.
Ivan walked slowly forward and looked down at Hachi, who lay sprawled on the ground, without the slightest ripple in his eyes.
As a transmigrator, Ivan naturally knew that Hachi had once saved Dark King Rayleigh's life.
If he killed Hachi today, he might make an enemy of that legendary pirate someday.
But so what?
Hachi might have been naive and simple, but he was by no means kind, much less a good person.
He had aided a tyrant in his cruelty, watching with his own eyes as the villagers of Cocoyasi Village suffered under Arlong's rule.
Burning justice could not tolerate the slightest trace of filth!
A cold light flashed in Ivan's eyes as the long blade in his hand sliced through the air.
The blade fell, and Hachi's head flew into the air!
With that, every pirate in the Arlong Pirates was dead except Arlong!
At the sight, Arlong completely broke down.
His body twisted wildly, heedless of the mangled flesh and exposed sinews and bones around the wounds where he had been pierced.
"No, stop! Why are you so cruel?
You'll go to hell! You'll definitely go to hell!"
Specks of blood stained Ivan's handsome face. He approached Arlong, cut off his three remaining limbs, and said with a smile:
"When you tortured and killed those villagers, you should have expected this day to come."
Ivan walked past Arlong again and came before the villagers. Smiling brightly, he said, "Villagers, Arlong is all yours!"
The villagers stared at Ivan, stunned. After a brief, deathly silence, seven years of pent-up fear, grief, rage, and despair finally erupted like a volcano.
They threw down their hoes and sickles and rushed at Arlong, their eyes red as they screamed.
"Aaaaaah!"
It was impossible to tell whether their hoarse cries came from the frenzy of revenge or tears of relief, but they rang out to the heavens.
A little later, the clamor faded into silence, leaving only low sobs.
At some point, the dark clouds hanging over the Conomi Islands had completely dispersed. Brilliant sunlight pierced through the clouds and quietly spilled down, giving the orange trees behind the village a warm golden glow!
News of the Arlong Pirates' destruction quickly spread to every corner of the Conomi Islands.
To thank Ivan, the villagers from the surrounding settlements spontaneously organized a grand feast.
Ivan did not turn down their hospitality, but he did not want the feast to make things even harder for the already impoverished villages.
Before the feast began, Ivan pressed his palms together under everyone's expectant, curious gazes and called out in a deep voice:
"Wood Release: Four-Pillar House Technique!"