"I don't think brute force will defeat him."
He slowly got back up, feeling a bit of pain—something he hadn't experienced since obtaining the talent that made him more tolerant to it.
He kept his breathing under control while thinking about how to defeat him.
"You're pretty strong, but brute strength isn't everything," Oliver said, relaxing his arms and legs.
The Fishman heard him and started laughing.
"Don't make me laugh, human! That's the only thing that matters in a fight!"
With impressive speed, the Fishman propelled himself forward, throwing a straight punch with monstrous power. Oliver didn't fall behind and prepared himself. He moved his body, dodging the punch by mere centimeters and counterattacking with a knee strike to the ribs while having Electro active.
The Fishman grunted, but his tough skin absorbed most of the impact, and the Electro had little effect. However, Oliver didn't give him time to retaliate, immediately chaining a series of attacks.
He landed an uppercut to the chin, a low kick to the knee that made him stagger, and an elbow strike to the stomach.
"Damn human!"
The Fishman attempted to land a right punch, but Oliver dodged and delivered a powerful right hook that made him stumble. Then, he unleashed a barrage of punches to his head, forcing him to retreat further and further. He switched his target from his face to his ribs, alternating hands with each strike.
Desperate to counterattack, the Fishman tried to grab him, but Oliver evaded it and landed another blow to his face.
'Two hits to the stomach, an uppercut to the jaw, two consecutive hits to the face, dodge, two more hits to the face, keep going.'
Slowly, Oliver began to see the pattern in the Fishman's attacks and started laughing.
'This guy... doesn't know how to fight.'
He kept hitting him over and over, not allowing the Fishman to react.
Dodging another punch from the Fishman, Oliver resumed his relentless barrage, increasing the speed of his strikes.
In a desperate attempt to break free, the Fishman electrified his entire body, forcing Oliver to stop his attack and back away.
"I'm a Fishman! I'm superior to a pathetic human!"
The Fishman launched himself with all his might to try and strike Oliver. In contrast, Oliver took a deep breath and exhaled completely. He leaned back, twisted his hips, and clenched his fist, positioning his knuckles forward.
"I'm not a human, you stupid fish with legs."
At that moment, a strange red aura appeared around Oliver's hand, and he struck the Fishman with the most devastating attack he had ever unleashed.
"Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist!"
Oliver's punch landed directly on the Fishman's torso, causing his skin to dent from the sheer pressure of the impact. The wind pressure from the strike also sliced off the Fishman's arm. He was sent flying backward, crashing through the wall surrounding Arlong Park and continuing until he slammed into several trees.
The Fishman was left covered in cuts and completely unconscious.
"Funny enough, I actually had fun," Oliver said, exhausted, as he sat on the ground. 'Luffy can handle the rest. He didn't drown, so he should have the advantage.'
The eel Fishman, Hatchan, and Kuroobi had all been defeated by the Straw Hats, leaving Arlong absolutely furious.
"Don't you think you're getting carried away?!" Arlong roared in rage upon seeing all his crew defeated.
Just as he was about to attack everyone for what they had done to his nakamas, Nami arrived.
"Arlong!" Nami shouted, drawing his attention.
"Nami-Aneki!" the two swordsmen said happily.
"Nami!" Luffy exclaimed.
"Just in time, Nami. I was thinking of killing every human here—except for you, who will be our cartographer forever! You can't escape from me!" Arlong yelled, slightly scaring Nami, but Usopp quickly interfered.
"Tamago Boshi!" He threw an egg that Arlong caught. "I'll cover you, Luffy!"
"Usopp!" Nami said, relieved to see him unharmed.
"Oh, Nami! I took down one of the bosses! I defeated one of the bosses!" Usopp said proudly.
"Hehe, you're next!" Luffy said to Arlong.
"I'm next? How dare you?! How dare you?! How dare you?! How dare you?! How dare you?!"
Furious over the defeat of his entire crew, Arlong tried to punch Luffy, but he dodged effortlessly. Arlong then attempted to bite him, forcing Luffy to retreat until he reached a pillar, which Arlong grabbed onto.
He tried to bite again, but Luffy held his head, avoiding the bite.
"That was close!" Luffy said while holding onto his head.
The pillar shattered from Arlong's bite, but Luffy managed to escape the falling debris.
"This is the power of the Fishmen! I'm completely different from you!" Arlong shouted.
Luffy picked up a rock and crushed it just by clenching his fist.
"I can break rocks without biting them," Luffy said.
"What nonsense! The human race is weak and stupid! What do you think you can do?!" Arlong said as he charged toward Luffy.
"If there's something I can't do, I always have someone to help me!" Luffy grabbed two swords and attempted to attack Arlong.
The others were a bit confused, since most of them knew he didn't use swords.
Luffy started swinging the swords wildly at Arlong, who easily dodged them.
"I don't want to join in on your little jokes!"
Arlong effortlessly shattered the swords Luffy was holding.
"Take this!"
Luffy punched Arlong in the jaw, breaking his teeth.
"I'm not a swordsman, you idiot!" Luffy shouted.
Everyone was slightly confused about what he was talking about.
"I can't navigate! I can't cook! I can't lie!"
The last statement felt somewhat insulting to Usopp.
"Oi," Usopp said.
"I'm sure I can't live without their help!" Luffy continued shouting.
"Shahaha! Someone who takes pride in not knowing how to do things is fit to be a captain?! What the hell can you even do?" Arlong said mockingly.
"I can beat you!" Luffy said with a grin.
The villagers began cheering for Luffy to defeat Arlong.
"Keep barking all you want, inferior race!"
Arlong's broken teeth fell out, but they quickly grew back.
"His teeth grew back!" Luffy said, surprised.
"I'm a shark! They can regrow as many times as necessary—and each time, they're even stronger!" Arlong said as he pulled out two pairs of teeth to hold in his hands.
Arlong charged at Luffy, attempting to bite him. Since Luffy was made of rubber, his teeth could pierce through him easily.
Luffy grabbed one of Arlong's hands that held the teeth, preventing him from biting. However, Arlong attacked with his other hand.
Everyone grew concerned for Luffy, but instead of attacking him, Arlong used one of his nakamas as a shield.
"Arlong-san, it hurts," the Fishman he used as a shield muttered.
"You rubber bastard!" Arlong shouted angrily.
"Shishishi, I think I have a great idea," Luffy said with a grin.
--
--
I want to let you know that the couple voting is now closed since I've finished writing Whiskey Peak.
And I have to announce that the result is… A TIE!!!
…Or at least, that's what I'd like to say.
I had to reread the votes three times to make sure, and I found some issues.
First, the initial votes were:
-Vivi: 35
-Scathach: 35
-Thorn: 13
-YoRHa 2B: 15
-Elegg: 3
However, I noticed that one person had voted for every option, so I had to check carefully. In the end, their first vote was for Vivi.
-Vivi: 35
-Scathach: 34
-Thorn: 12
-YoRHa 2B: 14
-Elegg: 3
I checked again and saw that there were more votes than expected for all options except Elegg. I'm not sure if it was a Webnovel issue, but some votes were duplicated.
I had to verify through the app and ended up subtracting votes:
Vivi: -4
Scathach: -4
Thorn: -2
YoRHa 2B: -2
Elegg remained the same.
So the final tally is:
-Nefertari Vivi: 31
-Scathach: 30
-Thorn: 10
-YoRHa 2B: 12
-Elegg: 3
That means Oliver's partner is Nefertari Vivi!!!
Also, just so you know, I had already prepared a scenario for each possible outcome. I also created a plan to ensure that Vivi doesn't leave with the Straw Hats and to decide on a possible Devil Fruit for her.