On Fish-Man Island, the figure hovering in mid-air instantly became the center of everyone's attention.
At that moment, the faces of the fish-men in the square turned pale with fear.
Just as everyone felt they could no longer bear the pressure and were about to pass out, the overwhelming aura in the air suddenly vanished.
In an instant, a collective sigh of relief swept through the crowd.
Moments ago, many of them had truly felt like they were on the verge of death—the pressure had been unbearable!
"Who is that guy? He looks so unfamiliar!"
"He's so far away from us, but that presence... I could barely breathe!"
"He must be incredibly strong. Is he here to save the king and the others?"
With the aura gone, the fish-men in the area began whispering among themselves.
The distance made it hard for them to make out the figure's appearance, let alone identify who it was.
Meanwhile, King Neptune gazed at the silhouette in the sky, pondering uncertainly: "Could that be... him?"
As for Vander Decken IX, his face was ashen, and he slumped to the ground in terror, regretting his involvement deeply.
If he'd known, he never would have joined this mess—he'd clearly provoked someone he shouldn't have!
Beside him, Hody Jones's expression darkened to the extreme.
He could sense that the person in the air was extraordinarily powerful!
He wasn't sure if he could even match up against him.
But Hody Jones knew one thing: the intruder was human, and judging by his aggressive approach, he was here to ruin his plans!
"I've schemed for so long—there's no way I'll let it all go to waste!" A murderous glint flashed in Hody Jones's eyes.
In the next moment, Hody Jones roared and charged toward Lin Xuan, thrusting his crimson trident straight at him.
"Boom!"
In the blink of an eye, Hody Jones's attack struck Lin Xuan's body.
But immediately after, his eyes widened in disbelief, his face twisted in shock, because he realized his trident had been caught in a single grip by the opponent.
"You're too weak. Why not pop some pills and try again?" Lin Xuan sneered.
"You actually..."
Hody Jones was stunned to hear that Lin Xuan even knew about the drugs, his mind reeling in confusion.
"Who the hell are you?!"
Lin Xuan couldn't help but laugh at the question. "I can't believe someone doesn't recognize me. Fish-Man Island is even more isolated than I thought!"
As he spoke, his gaze shifted away from Hody Jones and fixed directly on the bound Neptune family. He strode toward them without hesitation.
Seeing this, Hody Jones was taken aback, then exploded in rage.
"You won't ruin my plans!"
He bellowed, then shouted orders to his subordinates around him: "What are you all standing around for? Get up there and stop him!"
The members of the New Fish-Man Pirates, who had been frozen in shock, snapped back to reality and charged at Lin Xuan, weapons swinging.
Unfortunately, these small fry couldn't even touch Luffy in the original story—how could they possibly handle Lin Xuan?
That said, Lin Xuan didn't plan to knock them out with Conqueror's Haki like Luffy had, though he could have. Instead, he wanted to test out a different ability.
Time deceleration!
He focused his will on a 500-meter radius around him, activating time deceleration on all the New Fish-Man Pirates in the area!
In an instant, the distant onlookers from Fish-Man Island, along with the Neptune family, watched in horror as the New Fish-Man Pirates suddenly became bizarrely unnatural.
Their movements slowed to a crawl; they looked like they were running, but in a full minute, they hadn't even covered a single meter.
Even more terrifying, not only their movements but even their breathing had slowed down.
"What on earth is happening?"
"What's wrong with them?"
"This is so eerie!"
"Could that human have done something?"
As the crowd buzzed with speculation, Lin Xuan moved at normal speed, ignoring them completely, and reached the Neptune family's side!
In that very instant, he released the time deceleration.
Suddenly, the New Fish-Man Pirates who had been lunging at him returned to normal speed, crashing into each other in a heap and letting out pained screams.
In the chaos, some quickly scrambled to their feet, scanning the area frantically.
"That's weird—where did that guy go?"
"Yeah, how did he vanish?"
"Look! He's over by Neptune and the others!"
"Damn it, when did he get there?"
Shouts of shock and fury erupted across the square.
When Hody Jones saw Lin Xuan suddenly appear in front of the Neptune family, his face contorted in ugly rage.
"Bastard!"
Hody Jones roared in fury, and at that moment, he made a firm decision.
Since Lin Xuan had taunted him about taking drugs, he'd do just that—and show Lin Xuan the terror of his enhanced state!
The Neptune family was utterly stunned by Lin Xuan's sudden appearance.
As Lin Xuan approached them, Neptune snapped out of it, ready to question his identity.
But just then, he noticed Hody Jones stuffing something into his mouth, and his expression changed drastically.
He immediately shouted a warning to Lin Xuan: "Watch out! Hody Jones just took Evil Drugs!"
"Oh?"
Lin Xuan paused, but his face showed no trace of panic.
He simply turned toward Hody Jones, a playful smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Couldn't resist popping those pills after all?"
The Neptune family was baffled by his tone.
It sounded like Lin Xuan had known about the Evil Drugs all along—and was just waiting for Hody Jones to take them!
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T/N:
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