Novel Chapter
Arlong opened his mouth to continue, but Kai cut him off.
"Misunderstanding?" Kai's tone was light, almost amused. "Sorry, but when a Marine kills pirates, where's the room for misunderstanding?" His smile didn't reach his eyes. "That's just called justice."
Damn it.
Arlong's stomach dropped. Kai had no intention of letting him walk away.
Fine. If talking wouldn't work—
Arlong's hand shot down, grabbing the massive saw-blade sword at his feet. He lunged, swinging with everything he had.
Not to win. He wasn't that stupid.
Just to create an opening. Catch Kai off-guard for half a second. Then run.
If he could reach the water, he'd have the advantage. Fishmen were born for the ocean. Once he dove deep enough, even an Admiral couldn't touch him.
The blade screamed through the air, aimed straight for Kai's throat—
Kai raised one hand.
Thumb and forefinger came together in a casual pinch.
The saw-blade stopped. Mid-swing. Inches from Kai's face.
Arlong's eyes went wide.
"Really?" Kai's voice was flat with disappointment. "This is the best you've got?" He tilted his head. "Pathetic."
Then he flicked his wrist.
Arlong's entire body—sword and all—went flying backward like a ragdoll.
But instead of panic, Arlong felt a surge of triumph.
The direction Kai threw him—it was toward the ocean.
Yes!
He was airborne, spinning, the salt spray already hitting his face. The water rushed up to meet him, dark and welcoming.
Just a little closer—
Once he hit the water, it was over. Fishmen were five times faster underwater than on land. And Arlong wasn't just any fishman—he was a saw-shark, one of the elite breeds. Ten times faster. Maybe more.
Three minutes? He could dive to a thousand meters in three minutes.
Ahahaha! So what if you're an Admiral!? You can't do a damn thing once I'm in the sea! Fishmen are the superior race! We—
The ocean was right there. His saw-toothed nose brushed the spray from the waves. Victory blazed in his eyes.
He'd escaped.
From Hakuryū. The strongest Admiral alive.
Pirates in the New World would kill for a story like this—
Then he stopped.
Mid-air.
Frozen.
The ocean—less than an inch from his face—might as well have been on another planet.
"So that was your plan."
Kai's voice drifted across the water, laced with dark amusement.
"You thought jumping in the ocean would save you?" A pause. "How adorable."
Arlong's blood turned to ice.
"Tell you what," Kai continued, voice light and conversational. "I'll give you a sporting chance. Three minutes. If you can get away in three minutes..." He shrugged. "Well. We'll see."
The invisible force holding Arlong released.
SPLASH.
He hit the water hard, plunging deep. For a heartbeat, he just floated there, stunned.
Then realization hit.
He let me go. He actually—
Move. MOVE!
Arlong's body exploded into motion. Three fins burst from his waist and back, cutting through the water like knives. He dove hard, faster than he'd ever moved in his life, adrenaline and terror driving him deeper, deeper, deeper—
One minute.
Two minutes.
Three minutes.
Six thousand meters down.
The water here was black. Lightless. Cold enough to kill a human in seconds.
Arlong finally stopped, lungs heaving, and looked around at the endless dark.
Safe.
"Hmph." He allowed himself a shaky grin. "Arrogant bastard. Let's see you find me here." His smile faded. "But... I can't stay in the East Blue anymore. I'll have to go back to Fish-Man Island. Damn it."
Then a voice spoke.
Right beside him.
In the water.
"Three minutes are up."
Arlong's heart stopped.
"Looks like you didn't get very far, Arlong." Kai's voice was everywhere and nowhere, echoing through the black water like a ghost. "I gave you a chance. You just didn't take it." A soft, disappointed sigh. "Can't blame me for what happens next."
"No." Arlong's voice came out strangled. "That's—that's impossible. I'm six thousand meters down! There's no way—I must be hearing things—"
His body locked up.
The same invisible force from before, clamping down like a vice.
No. No, no, NO—
Then pain.
Searing, white-hot agony as something yanked him upward with the force of a cannon shot. The water tore past him, faster and faster, the pressure change making his ears scream—
Even fishman skin—designed to glide through water—couldn't handle this. The friction was too much, too fast, too violent.
His skin peeled.
Layers of it, shredding away like paper, leaving raw red flesh exposed to the salt water.
Arlong's scream was lost in the roar of his ascent.
Then—
CRASH.
He exploded out of the surface, water spraying in all directions, and slammed down onto the reef in a broken, bleeding heap.
His vision swam. Everything hurt. He could barely breathe.
Slowly, agonizingly, he lifted his head.
Kai stood over him, expression calm and unbothered, like he'd just taken a leisurely stroll.
Arlong stared up at him, eyes wide with primal, animal terror.
"What are you!?" His voice cracked. "You're not—you can't be human!"
Meanwhile, on the shore...
Nami had been frozen in shock the moment Kai caught Arlong's blade with two fingers.
But when Kai threw him toward the ocean, her brain short-circuited.
"What are you doing!?" She practically shrieked, rushing forward. "You just—you let him go! He's going to escape! You have to—"
Kai glanced back at her, completely unbothered. "What, you don't think I can beat him anymore?"
"That's not—!" Nami's hands flew up in frustration. "Obviously you can beat him! But he's in the ocean now! Fishmen are—they're unstoppable in the water! You have to catch him right now before—"
"Relax." Kai's voice was maddeningly calm. "As long as he stays in the East Blue, I can grab him whenever I want."
Nami opened her mouth to argue—
Then stopped.
Something in his tone. The absolute, unshakable confidence.
She didn't understand how. But somehow... she believed him.
Her hands slowly lowered. She bit her lip and nodded, silent.
Kai's sensory range—enhanced by both Kagura Mind's Eye and Observation Haki—stretched for two thousand kilometers in every direction. A four-thousand-kilometer diameter sphere of perfect awareness.
Arlong could swim to the ocean floor and hide in a trench for a year.
Kai would still know exactly where he was.
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