Chapter 66: Even When Heavily Wounded! The Weight of "Comrades"
Inside Arlong Park, the air was filled with a pungent smell of burning and a thick scent of blood.
The nearly hundred elite Fishman who had been densely packed and clamoring to tear humans apart just a moment ago had now mostly turned into a ground full of corpses.
Under the rampage of that lightning, they didn't even have a chance to resist before they were slaughtered by that black-clothed youth like chickens and dogs.
"Is... is he a devil..."
The three surviving officers—Six-Sword Style Hatchan, Fishman Karate Kuroobi, and the Kissing Fishman Chew.
They looked at the corpses of their compatriots strewn across the ground, and a chill that seeped into their very bones made the hands holding their weapons tremble.
Fear.
This was the first time this group of Fishman, who prided themselves as a superior race, felt an emotion called "fear" toward humans.
"Are you kidding me... Are you kidding me!!"
High on the platform, Arlong watched this scene, his eyes blood-red.
Veins bulged on his hideous shark face, looking as if they were about to burst.
"What are you doing! Are you not all dead yet!!"
Arlong let out a deafening roar, his voice filled with tyrannical killing intent:
"Officers! Attack! Even if you die, kill all of these inferior races! Whoever dares to take a step back, I'll slaughter him myself!!"
Accompanied by their leader's roar, the three officers, despite their fear, had no choice but to charge toward their respective opponents.
...
On one side of the battlefield.
"Nyuh~ Even if my comrades are dead, as long as I kill you, I'll have my revenge!"
The Octopus Fishman Hatchan brandished the six heavy longswords in his hands, each weighing hundreds of pounds, looking teasingly at the wobbling Zoro in front of him.
"Hey, hey, swordsman kid, I see you can't even stand steadily anymore, can you?"
At this moment, Zoro's condition was indeed absolutely terrible.
The terrifying wound Hawkeye had slashed into him at the Sea Restaurant a few days ago had split open again due to the intense movement and impact just now.
Blood dyed the thick bandages red, dripping onto the ground from his waist.
The high fever made his vision blurry and doubled, and every breath was accompanied by a tearing pain.
"You still want to fight in this state? That's just hilarious!"
Hatchan brandished his six swords, suppressing Zoro like a meat grinder while constantly taunting him:
"A useless person like you who could collapse at any moment, who can you protect? You'd better just let me mince you into meat paste! Six-Sword Style: Takotsubo!!"
Clang! Clang!
Zoro had only one sword, the Wado Ichimonji, and had to focus on resisting that overwhelming offensive; his footsteps faltered as he retreated step by step.
"Protect... who?"
Zoro's consciousness was a bit dazed.
In that blurry vision, he seemed to see that short-haired girl holding a bamboo sword again, and heard that vow under the moonlight.
—[One day, one of us will become the Worlds Greatest Swordsman!]
"Huff... huff..."
Zoro suddenly bit the tip of his tongue, using the sharp pain to force his consciousness back to clarity.
In his eyes, the previously unfocused gaze instantly sharpened, erupting with a demonic aura that seemed to freeze the very air.
"Shut up, octopus."
Zoro forcibly steadied himself; though he let his wounds split and blood spray, his posture remained as upright as a pine tree.
"Before this wound heals... before that promise is fulfilled..."
Zoro reached out his hands and shouted to Johnny and Yosaku in the distance:
"Hey! Lend me your swords!!"
"Big... Big Brother! Catch!!" Johnny and Yosaku threw two swords over with tears in their eyes.
Zoro caught the twin swords in mid-air, holding one in each hand while biting the Wado Ichimonji in his mouth.
Three Sword Style, in place.
"I... will never lose again!!!"
The next second, Zoro's figure vanished.
Despite his fever and heavy injuries, he turned into a green whirlwind, meeting Hatchan's airtight Six-Sword Style sword array head-on.
"Three Sword Style Secret Technique—"
The moment the two sword auras collided.
"Dragon Twister!!!"
BOOM—!!!
A terrifying storm of sword aura rose from the ground; it was a slashing storm that could cut even through steel!
"Nyuwaaaaaa!!"
The several-hundred-pound Hatchan was like a withered leaf before this unrivaled power, instantly swept dozens of meters into the air.
Countless sword auras instantly tore through his defense, and blood splattered in the air.
Subsequently, the giant octopus crashed heavily into the seawater ahead, kicking up a massive spray, and no longer made a sound.
"Hmph."
Zoro maintained his sword-swinging posture, blood trickling down his forehead, but an arrogant smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
Then, Zoro lay powerlessly on the ground, panting heavily.
Before long, snoring could be heard...
...
"Splash!"
On the other side, in the pool.
"Glug glug..."
Sanji's ankle was gripped tightly by Kuroobi, who forcibly dragged him into the deep-water zone.
In the water, a Fishman's speed and strength were doubled, while humans became incredibly fragile due to oxygen deficiency and resistance.
"This is the terror of Fishman Karate! In the water, you're just trash!"
Kuroobi grinned in the water, punching Sanji's abdomen one blow after another.
Sanji painfully exhaled a string of bubbles, his consciousness beginning to blur.
'Am I going to die here...'
'No... that old geezer said... a chef's hands are for cooking, but his brain is for thinking...'
In this moment of life and death, Sanji calmed down.
He aimed for the gills Kuroobi had opened while laughing, lunged forward, and blew all his air into the Fishman's gills!
"Guwah?!"
Kuroobi, whose gills were filled with air, instantly began to suffocate and had to let go.
Sanji seized the opportunity, his legs exploding like thrusters as he instantly broke the water's surface and returned to the shore.
"Cough, cough... huff..." Sanji gasped for air, straightening his soaked suit.
"Don't think you can run!!"
Kuroobi angrily jumped onto the shore, assuming a Fishman Karate stance:
"Thousand Tile True Punch!!"
This punch gathered all his strength, enough to shatter a thousand tiles, and whistled through the air toward Sanji's face.
"Perfect."
Sanji didn't dodge.
He spun on one foot, his body drawing an elegant yet lethal arc in the air, his right leg seemingly burning with fury.
"This kick... is for the tears that lady shed!!"
Sanji roared, focusing all his power into a single point to clash head-on with Kuroobi's fist.
"Pre-Diable Jambe—Mutton Shoot!!!"
"Crack!!"
The crisp sound of bone fracturing rang out.
Kuroobi's proud fist instantly shattered, followed by his arm and ribs.
"Pwah!!"
The Fishman screamed as he was sent flying back like a cannonball, smashing hard into the solid wall of Arlong Park's main building.
With a "boom," the wall cracked, and Kuroobi was embedded inside, passed out with his eyes rolled back.
...
"Sure-Kill! Fire Star!!"
"Boom!!"
At the edge of the woods, Usopp's face was covered in soot and his legs were still shaking, but the slingshot in his hand was never lowered.
Opposite him, the Kissing Fishman Chew, his face blackened, was hit hard on the forehead by an "Usopp Hammer," and he rolled his eyes and collapsed to the ground.
"Huff... huff..."
Usopp sat down on the ground, looking at his fallen enemy; although he was scared to death, he laughed toward the sky:
"Did you see that!! This great me... is the Brave Warrior of the Sea, Usopp!!"
Even if he was afraid, for his comrades and for Nami, he would never run away.
...
Within just a few minutes.
The officers were all defeated.
The foot soldiers were all dead.
Inside the entire Arlong Park, only that lone leader remained.
Watching his compatriots fall one by one, and seeing that black-clothed, red-eyed man casually slay the last few Fishman trying to escape.
Arlong's sanity snapped completely.
"Unforgivable... Unforgivable!!"
"You damned inferior races!! How dare you kill all my compatriots!!"
Arlong went completely berserk, blood-tears streaming from his shark eyes.
He suddenly jumped down from his throne, but he didn't charge at Luffy, who had been provoking him.
Instead, carrying that giant saw-toothed blade, 'Kiribachi', he rushed like a rabid dog toward Tatsuya, who had killed the most.
"I'll kill you first!! Red-eyed kid!!"
Terrifying killing intent locked onto Tatsuya.
Tatsuya, however, just stood in place, flicking the blood off his sword, not even turning around.
Because he knew someone would be there to block him.
Just as Arlong was about to reach Tatsuya.
A red figure descended from the sky.
"Gomu Gomu no Battle Axe!!!"
Luffy's large foot fell from high above with tremendous force, stepping hard onto Arlong's haughty shark face.
"Bang!!!"
The ground shattered, and dust rose everywhere.
Arlong's massive body was forcibly stomped into the ground by this kick, landing face-first with a dull thud.
Luffy stepped on Arlong's head, his eyes wide open; that face that was usually carefree now showed only endless coldness and Haki.
He lowered his head and roared at the shark struggling beneath his foot:
"Hey, shark bastard."
"Where are you looking?"
"Your opponent... is me!!!"
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