Chapter 12: Despicable? Yes, That's Me!
"Nami, what are you doing!?"
"We're talking to you, damn it!"
"Mere humans! How dare you ignore us!"
Anger flared on the Fish-Men's faces.
Ever since they arrived in the East Blue...
They had never encountered humans this arrogant!
"Get them! Take them down!"
Several nearby Fish-Men charged towards the group with ferocious expressions.
*Zing—!*
A slight smirk touched Zoro's lips as he drew his swords first, lunging towards the charging Fish-Men.
"Small fry like you shouldn't interrupt."
The twin swords in Zoro's hands radiated a chilling light. In the blink of an eye, he was before the Fish-Men, unleashing a flurry of flashing blades.
*Schlick! Schlick! Schlick!*
"Urghh!"
Instantaneously, the leading Fish-Men collapsed into pools of blood.
"Bastard! What did you do!?"
Arlong gritted his teeth, roaring in a low voice, "How dare you harm my brethren!"
He was an extreme racist; in his heart, humans were nothing but lowly, inferior beings, while his fellow Fish-Men were paramount.
"These guys aren't small fry. Don't let the brothers waste their lives needlessly."
"Chew, Kuroobi! You two go!"
"Yes! Boss Arlong!"
Following the order, several officers stepped forward, confronting the intruders.
The Fish-Man called Kuroobi was tall, with long fins on his arms, his hair tied in two buns, and a long braid down his back.
"King Nezha?" Reiner thought, his gaze shifting to the other Fish-Man.
That one was a Kissing Fish-Man, tall and thin, with long lips and a touch of blush on his cheeks.
"Nami, what is the meaning of this?" the Kissing Fish-Man (Chew) glared at Nami.
The Bun-Haired Fish-Man (Kuroobi) snorted contemptuously. "Hmph! I told you long ago this woman couldn't be trusted."
"We came here today to declare war!"
Nami glared furiously at Arlong further back, shouting through gritted teeth, "Arlong! Today, I officially leave your crew and join the Straw Hat Pirates!"
"Oh?"
Arlong stared at Nami with amusement, mocking her, "Meaning, they're the helpers you found? Just them?"
"Hahaha! Don't make me die laughing, Nami! Considering your talent, I'll give you one more chance. As long as you continue drawing sea charts for me, I can let bygones be bygones and spare you."
"Heh... Draw sea charts for *you*?"
Nami lifted her somber face. Recalling how she worked day and night in that small, dark, suffocating measuring room, constantly under the threat of cold steel, her expression gradually twisted into a snarl. She roared at Arlong:
"I wish you dead even in my dreams!"
"ARLONG!!!"
"In that case, you can all just die here!"
Arlong grinned ferociously, stood up, reached down, and ripped the deck chair bolted to the floor right out, roots and all, hurling it towards them.
"Is Boss Arlong going to fight himself?"
"These humans brought this upon themselves."
Reiner had already summoned his three powerful undead minions. The Katana Devil raised its hand and sliced the flying iron chair in two.
Luffy leaped through the gap and charged towards Arlong.
"You think you're worthy of Boss Arlong fighting you personally?"
Just as Kuroobi and Chew were about to intercept, the Chainsaw Devil and the Wolverine summon moved to block them.
"What the hell are these things!?"
"Is this some strange race?"
"No, cyborgs?"
Kuroobi and Chew stared in astonishment at the two suddenly appearing undead. Even having traveled the Grand Line, they were taken aback.
Meanwhile, Luffy had already reached Arlong. He stretched his arm far back, then rapidly contracted it, whipping it towards Arlong.
"Gum-Gum... Pistol!"
Luffy's fist, filled with rage, slammed into Arlong's face unexpectedly. Arlong was sent flying backward instantly, crashing heavily against a wall and sliding down like soft mud.
"Arlong-san!!"
"His arm stretched!"
Arlong stood up, frowning deeply, and wiped a trace of blood from the corner of his mouth. "A Devil Fruit user? Seems I underestimated you."
"However..."
"Don't think having a Devil Fruit makes you invincible!!"
Without another word, Arlong charged at Luffy. He dodged Luffy's punch, ducked low, and aimed a heavy blow at Luffy's abdomen.
However, Luffy didn't dodge, pulling back his fist and punching towards Arlong's face.
"Bazooka!"
The force of the blow contorted Arlong's face, slamming his head hard onto the ground...
Instantly cracking the ground and creating a deep crater.
Simultaneously, Luffy was knocked back by Arlong's punch, but being rubber, blunt attacks had no effect on him.
This was why he chose to trade blows – it had to be said, Luffy's combat instincts were top-tier.
"...Cough... Cough..."
Arlong spat out a mouthful of blood. Seeing Luffy press forward again, he braced one hand on the ground and plunged the other into the swimming pool.
"Water Shot!"
"What!"
Massive water bullets materialized instantly in front of Luffy, hitting the astonished Straw Hat captain and sending him flying back.
At the same time, Arlong, realizing blunt force was ineffective against Luffy, ran towards a room to retrieve his sawtooth sword, Kiribachi.
Cutting back to Reiner's side, Zoro was already engaged with Chew, while Kuroobi was being suppressed by Reiner's Katana Devil.
The remaining Chainsaw Devil and Wolverine summon were steadily cutting down the surrounding Fish-Men grunts who swarmed them.
As for Nami and Usopp...
"Nice one!"
"Go get 'em!"
The two were hiding behind a wall providing moral support, joined, of course, by Reiner.
"If things keep going like this, we'll definitely win!"
Nami couldn't suppress the grin spreading across her face as she watched the battle unfold.
She never expected Luffy alone could fight Arlong so evenly.
"About time," Reiner thought, overjoyed by the performance of his two undead.
He began moving around the battlefield, 'touching corpses' to collect templates.
'Hope Luffy keeps him busy for a while longer. If these Fish-Men scatter and dive into the sea, they'll be hard to catch,' Reiner thought. This was why he wasn't pressing the advantage with all his summons to take down Arlong immediately.
As long as Arlong hadn't fallen, these Fish-Men wouldn't lose their fighting spirit.
And he would have a continuous supply of undead templates to collect.
He even intentionally had the Chainsaw Devil duo hold back slightly; otherwise, these Fish-Men might have lost the nerve to attack after just a few encounters.
He was purely 'fishing' for templates here.
"What are you doing to my comrades!"
A deep, resonant voice sounded from behind him.
'Busted?'
Reiner turned to see an octopus Fish-Man with six arms, carrying a large water pot on his back, staring at him.
"Hatchan?" Reiner blurted out instinctively.
"Eh? You know me?"
"No, wait! What are you doing to my comrades?"
Hatchan demanded angrily, looking at the fallen Fish-Man near Reiner.
He had been sent to pick up a Marine who looked like a rat, but after waiting by the shore for ages, no one showed up.
He went inland to check, only to find the Marine Arlong wanted him to meet already dead.
Seeing this, Hatchan immediately returned to report to Arlong, only to stumble upon this massacre.
'Bodies strewn everywhere' wasn't an exaggeration.
"Hatchan, you're back!"
"Great! Quick, help us!"
Several Fish-Men spotted Hatchan and yelled urgently.
Reiner pointed towards the two undead currently cutting down Fish-Men. "Your comrades? Those two killed them. I don't know them."
"Eh? Is that so? Sorry for misunderstanding you."
"Ah, no problem. Go settle the score with them."
"You two bastards! Taste my Six-Sword Style!"
Hatchan drew his six swords and charged towards the two undead.
'No wonder he helped Zoro get to Cocoyasi Village in the original story despite Zoro cutting down a bunch of Fish-Men.'
"So gullible."
The instant Hatchan turned his back, Reiner raised his rifle and aimed squarely at him.
He didn't want to be associated with his undead abilities for now, so he tried to avoid using them in plain sight whenever possible.
Taking cheap shots from the shadows was definitely the best approach.
'Yes, I'm despicable. I'm underhanded! Correct!'
Reiner pulled the trigger without hesitation.
*BANG—!*
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