"What was that sound?"
"Why did it sound like Moo Moo?"
"It came from the sea! Let me see!"
The sudden roar of a beast immediately drew everyone's attention.
The Fish-Men and Nami alike instinctively looked toward the direction the sound had come from.
Some of the Fish-Men leaped onto the surrounding walls and peered toward the sea outside Arlong Park.
"So many ships!!"
The Fish-Man who had jumped onto the wall widened his eyes in shock.
Looking out over the sea, he saw that at some point a massive fleet had appeared in the distance.
And floating on the water in front of that fleet was the corpse of a giant sea beast that resembled a cow.
It was none other than Moo Moo, the sea beast raised by the Arlong Pirates.
But now, it was dead.
A huge hole pierced straight through its body.
"Brother Arlong! There are a lot of ships outside!"
"What?"
"Let me see!"
"What's going on? Could Marine be coming after us?"
"That's impossible. Haven't we already made a deal with that Marine rat? He doesn't have the guts to make trouble for us."
The Fish-Men standing on the wall hurriedly shouted the news.
The others immediately began discussing the situation among themselves.
"What are you all panicking for?"
Arlong snorted coldly as he stood up from his beach chair.
"Even Marines are nothing more than lowly humans."
"We Fish-Men are the strongest race in the world."
"As long as anyone dares to offend us…"
"We'll kill them all!"
As he spoke, Arlong casually reached out toward the stone pillar beside him.
Crack!
His fingers dug effortlessly into the solid stone, leaving five deep holes behind.
The display of strength instantly restored everyone's confidence.
"That's right!"
"We Fish-Men are the strongest!"
"Brother Arlong, let me go! I'll sink every ship out there!"
"Hahaha! It's been a while since I've used my Fish-Man Karate. I'm getting rusty."
With Kuroobi and Chew, Arlong's two right-hand men, taking the lead, the Fish-Men who had been nervous moments ago suddenly grinned savagely again.
Nami stood silently nearby.
Who could it be?
Could Marine really be coming after these guys?
Her heart began to beat faster.
She kept glancing at the Fish-Men, then toward the sea outside the walls.
She desperately wanted to know who had arrived.
Arlong Park's swimming pool was directly connected to the sea outside.
When the iron gate was opened, seawater poured in.
Following Arlong's orders, the Fish-Men jumped into the pool one after another and swam out toward the open sea.
"There really are a lot of ships."
"But they don't look like Marine ships."
"They're pirate ships."
"I've never seen this skull emblem before."
"They're definitely heading toward us."
"Don't be afraid!"
"Even if they have a lot of ships, we can destroy them easily."
"Come on!"
"Let's sink all of them from beneath the sea!"
After swimming out of Arlong Park, the Fish-Men immediately saw the enormous fleet approaching from the distance.
Some were shocked by the sheer number of ships.
Others were curious about the unfamiliar skull insignia on the sails.
But most of them didn't care at all.
With savage grins, they dove beneath the sea and headed straight for the fleet.
Nami didn't jump into the water.
Instead, she climbed onto the wall and stared out at the sea.
The moment she saw the huge fleet in the distance, joy flashed across her face.
But the joy quickly faded.
Because the sails carried pirate emblems.
Pirates...
Although the fleet looked incredibly powerful, if they were pirates, then things might not improve at all.
Even if they defeated Arlong…
Would they really be any better?
Nami had traveled across East Blue for years.
She knew very well—
Most pirates were no better than Arlong.
"It seems killing that sea beast earlier alerted the Arlong Pirates."
On the deck of the lead ship, Lafayette looked toward the approaching Arlong Park.
"So it seems."
"But I really didn't expect there would be so many Fish-Men here in East Blue."
Robin looked at the Fish-Men diving into the sea one after another and spoke in surprise.
"This is my first time seeing Fish-Men."
"Are they planning to attack us from underwater?"
Neferpitou, who possessed especially keen Observation Haki, tilted her head slightly.
A red glimmer flashed across her eyes.
"I can sense them."
"They're moving very quickly underwater."
The others immediately looked at her.
Fish-Men truly had a natural advantage in the sea.
Underwater combat was their domain.
Not only were they extremely fast, but they could also avoid most attacks.
Even artillery fire was ineffective.
Once shells entered the sea, their power dropped sharply due to the resistance of the water.
As long as the Fish-Men dived deep enough, they could almost ignore bombardment altogether.
"So…"
Kaito crossed his arms and looked at his cadres.
"Can you handle them?"
"No problem."
"Leave it to me."
"Perfect timing."
"I've been wanting to test my newly developed abilities anyway."
Robin and the others answered without hesitation.
Their confidence was obvious.
And they acted immediately.
Whoosh!!
Lafayette was the first to move.
White paper spread from his back and instantly formed a pair of paper wings.
He soared into the air.
Observation Haki spread out beneath him, instantly locking onto the positions of the Fish-Men hidden underwater.
At the same time, countless sheets of paper gathered in his right hand.
A pure white spear rapidly took shape.
But unlike ordinary spears—
This one spiraled like a drill.
Its body was formed from countless sheets of tightly compressed paper.
"Paper-Paper Style…"
"Spiral Lance!"
Buzz!!
The white lance began spinning at an incredible speed.
The rotation grew faster and faster.
Then—
Lafayette threw it.
Whoosh!!
The spiral spear shot downward.
The moment it touched the sea, it drilled straight through the surface.
Instead of being slowed by the water, the rapidly spinning spear created a whirlpool around itself.
Like a drill boring through solid rock—
It tore through the ocean at terrifying speed.
Deep underwater, one of the Fish-Men was swimming quickly toward the fleet.
He hadn't even realized what was happening.
Then—
Boom!!
The spinning lance pierced directly through his chest.
Blood exploded outward.
The tremendous rotational force didn't stop at merely piercing him.
His body was violently torn apart.
Flesh and blood exploded in all directions.
The Fish-Man was killed instantly.
One strike.
One kill.
Floating in the sky above the battlefield, Lafayette slowly lowered his hand.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"Fish-Men…"
"They don't seem that impressive after all."
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