Lius had done absolutely nothing. He merely stood there.
Yet, the octopus fish-man Hatchan suddenly fell to his knees.
His body trembled under the crushing weight of some invisible force.
"Hey, hey, you octopus. Didn't you just say you wanted to fight? Why did you suddenly drop to your knees? Did you bow down to my sheer charisma?"
Lius looked down at Hatchan and waved his hands in innocence.
He spoke as if this entire situation had absolutely nothing to do with him.
"Damn it... ah!"
Hatchan was already pinned to the ground. Burning anger surged in his chest upon hearing those words. Before he could finish his curse, the invisible pressure violently intensified. His long swords clattered to the ground. He braced his six arms desperately against the floor.
If he relaxed for even a split second, he would be completely flattened.
"What did you do to Hatchan?"
Arlong's expression shifted slightly. He glared at the boy in anger.
"Nothing!"
Lius threw his hands up in a helpless shrug. "He might just be tired. Or maybe my overwhelming charm conquered him."
"Lowly human, you dare play tricks on me?"
The fish-man nearly exploded with rage at the black-haired boy's clumsy acting. "Don't think you can defeat us just because you're a devil fruit user!"
Having sailed the Grand Line, he naturally knew about the legendary powers of devil fruits. There was no way he would fall for such a blatant act.
There could only be one explanation.
This human boy completely looked down on them.
"Tsk, tsk. I was doing my best to play along with your little act. I didn't expect you to see through it."
"If you want to get serious, then hurry up. Let's not waste any more time."
"It seems he really is an ability user. No wonder he dared to attack us!"
Kuroobi narrowed his eyes. "He might be able to target Hatchan, but that doesn't mean he can handle all of us at once."
"That's right. No matter how weird his abilities are, he can't attack everyone simultaneously."
The kissing fish-man agreed.
The surrounding fish-man immediately snapped out of their stupor.
"Damn it, let go of Hatchan!"
"Lowly human! You dare to attack us fish-men? Prepare to die!"
With several officers taking the lead, every fish-man in the park charged at Lius.
Their faces were twisted in hideous expressions. A chilling murderous intent rolled off them.
It was enough to make the villagers outside the gates tremble in terror.
"I say you fish-men have had enough fun. You should know, stepping over an ant without crushing it is a very difficult amount of force to master."
Lius offered a faint smile at the incoming mob. His pupils suddenly contracted.
A second later.
A terrifying presence as vast as the boundless seas erupted. Golden lightning crackled through the air. The overwhelming pressure swept over the charging mob like a tidal wave.
Conqueror's Haki!
After two years of grueling training, he had become incredibly proficient with this power. This went far beyond just Conqueror's Haki coating.
He could even suppress an ant without crushing it to death.
The enemies in Arlong Park were like ants pinned beneath a giant boot. Those with weak wills immediately lost consciousness.
Only fishmen like Hatchan and Kuroobi remained conscious. Even then, it was only because Lius was deliberately holding back.
"I will leave your corpses intact. This isn't out of mercy. It is for the sake of my future crewmate!"
Lius swept his gaze over the fallen bodies before stepping forward. He locked eyes with Arlong. "Any last words?"
"Damn it!"
As the boy's foot struck the ground, the fish-man captain suddenly felt a mountain-like pressure crash down upon his body.
It targeted not just his physical body, but his spirit as well.
Boom!
He couldn't hold on for even a single second.
Arlong slammed onto his knees. The impact cratered the solid ground, sending web-like cracks spreading outward in all directions.
"You... you're going to kill us all?" He fought to raise his head. His bloodshot eyes glared at the teenager.
A soft footstep echoed.
Lius offered no answer. He merely took a second step forward.
The struggling fish-man spat out a mouthful of blood. His entire body completely collapsed flat against the ground.
As for the remaining conscious ones, their vision instantly plunged into absolute darkness.
However.
He did not stop there.
Arlong Park began to violently tremble with every step he took.
Dense, spiderweb-like cracks instantly materialized across the solid stone floor and the nearby main building. They quickly spread in all directions.
"Ahhh..."
Accompanied by Arlong's miserable screams, the entire park seemed to flip upside down.
The massive building collapsed with a deafening boom. Thick clouds of dust soared into the sky.
Yet the villagers standing outside the main gates remained completely unharmed.
"Is this real? Has Arlong Park really been destroyed?"
"Who is that black-haired boy?"
"I don't know, but he came with Nami!"
"Wait, could he be the Captain that Nojiko mentioned before?"
"No way. Someone that young?"
The villagers stood in shock, exchanging frantic whispers as they stared at the collapsed stronghold.
Even Nojiko was shaken to her core. She stood frozen in place like a stone.
A sudden shriek finally snapped everyone back to reality.
"Lius, you idiot! Why didn't you ask where Arlong kept his treasure?"
Nami had returned while supporting the weakened Genzo. She immediately realized something was wrong upon seeing the chaotic mess of unconscious fish-men. Her face puffed up in anger as she yelled at the boy.
"When you clean up, do you actually bother counting the grains of dust?"
An unapologetic voice drifted out from the thick clouds of dust.