An eerie silence fell over Arlong Park, broken only by the continuous steam rising from Luffy's body.
"A rare sight. A Devil Fruit user, I presume?" Arlong spoke suddenly. To be honest, Luffy had startled him. As a pirate who had spent time in the Grand Line, his knowledge far surpassed that of ordinary pirates.
Just how rare were Devil Fruit users?
Well, in all his decades in the East Blue, this was the first time he'd seen one.
"I've changed my mind. I'll let you join us, too."
Arlong stood up, seeming to make a genuine invitation as he spread his arms and laughed. "Just like Nami, become one of us!"
"Nami is my navigator."
Luffy refuted him very seriously. "She has been since she came aboard, and she will be in the future."
"Heh, hahaha..."
Arlong burst into loud laughter, and his officers joined in.
"Did you see the tattoo on her arm? Ten years ago, she was already a member of our Arlong Pirates! Look, this is the mark!"
Chu nearby showed off the tattoo on his own arm.
"What if that kind of thing is something only Nami should have?"
Luffy aimed his hand at Chu's arm, his tone flat.
"Just like this."
With a loud BANG.
Chu let out a heart-rending scream. The arm bearing the tattoo was severed in the blink of an eye.
Nami covered her mouth, unable to make a sound. It felt as if something inside her was being filled.
"You bastard! What did you do to my crewmate?!" Arlong roared. He was an extreme racist; fish-men were superior to everything, and humans were just vile, lowly creatures in his eyes.
"This is just the beginning."
Luffy wasn't in a hurry to attack Arlong directly. His cold gaze remained fixed on the fish-man.
"Gyahahaha! Troublesome human insects like you never learn your lesson!" Arlong pointed at Nami. "You want to save that woman, don't you? Of course! You've also noticed her incredibly enviable talent for navigation, haven't you?"
"Nami's talent is unparalleled! It's a pity I only discovered it after I killed her Marine mother. Otherwise, I would have had even more ways to control her."
"But, as long as the village is under my control, she can never escape my grasp!"
"Gya hahaha! Nami has been trying to save up a hundred million Berries to buy the village back from me, hasn't she? Too bad! If you had arrived a little later, that hundred million would have been mine too. First, give them hope, then bestow despair!"
Luffy looked up, the steam around him bursting forth as his blood flow accelerated.
The fact that even someone as carefree as him could tell Nami was burdened with worries showed just how heavy the chains on her heart were.
"Let me show you, too."
Luffy spoke. "What despair feels like."
"You mere human!"
"Don't get so cocky!"
The fish-men's faces twisted in anger. No one had dared to disrespect them like this since they arrived in the East Blue.
They had never seen anyone so arrogant!
Arlong decided to take action himself. He could see that Luffy was no pushover; otherwise, Chu's arm wouldn't have been torn off so easily. If his underlings attacked, they'd just die for nothing.
"You lot, go grab Nami for me. I'll handle this nobody myself," Arlong said, grinning at Luffy. "I'll let you experience the strength of a great pirate with a 20 million Berry bounty!"
Luffy moved.
But his target wasn't Arlong; it was the surrounding fish-men.
Pay them back in their own coin.
It was a principle Luffy had grasped after reading a lot of books over the past two days. When he didn't read, his head was empty. Stuffing knowledge into it was like opening a door to a new world.
Put simply, he could think seriously about things, unlike his former simple self.
A fish-man's physical strength is ten times that of a normal human?
Too bad they weren't facing a normal human.
Luffy's speed was downright terrifying.
Gomu Gomu no Jet Pistol
Gomu Gomu no Jet Rocket
Gomu Gomu no Jet Whip
...
The upgraded versions of his techniques were so powerful that a single hit could knock out someone using Tekkai, let alone these common fish-men foot soldiers.
Fish-men were said to be fiercer than wild beasts. But even they feel fear when facing an apex predator.
Right now, Luffy was the apex predator.
He had the chance to take down Arlong first, but the agonizing screams erupted around Arlong instead. The fish-men with tattoos on their arms got off lightly, only losing an arm. But officers like Kuroobi had their chests pierced clean through.
Arlong was going insane.
"Fight me head-on if you have the guts, you bastard!"
The once noisy Arlong Park was now deathly still.
Why would an opponent with such overwhelming pressure appear in the East Blue?!
A pirate who had developed his Devil Fruit powers to this extent should have long since headed for the New World!
"No rush." Luffy suddenly grinned. "You're last."
For the first time, Luffy was experiencing the beauty of sheer stats.
Just a few days ago, his fight with Kuroobi hadn't been nearly this easy.
If he had kept the mindset he had when he first set sail, Luffy felt the fight with Arlong would have lasted much longer.
"That training really was beneficial, huh."
Luffy was gradually accepting this training regimen that was even more devilish than his grandfather's.
One hour of sleep, one minute to eat.
His brain, originally a single-core processor, was being forcibly stuffed with all sorts of miscellaneous knowledge, which in turn supported the continuous development of his Devil Fruit abilities.
This was the payoff!
"Your turn."
The only one left moving on the field was Arlon up ahead, wildly swinging his shark-saw sword in a panic.
"Gomu Gomu no Jet... Gatling!"
Arlong's massive body was sent flying through the air and smashed into the large building's wall.
"Die!" A flash of crimson passed through Luffy's pupils. The mark on Arlong's chest, the so-called symbol of the Arlong Pirates, was pierced straight through.
How could this be happening?!
Arlong's eyes widened, unable to believe it.
Fish-men were supposed to be the superior race...
[Additional reward time acquired.]
[Busoshoku Haki proficiency gain will be significantly increased for the next three minutes.]
"Haki proficiency increase?" Luffy was starting to differentiate between the ways Busoshoku Haki and Kenbunshoku Haki proficiency improved.
Simply put, things like the physical training and sparring sessions with Zoro occasionally granted him Busoshoku Haki proficiency.
Studying navigation with Nami, having Usopp teach him some shooting theory, having his mental fortitude crushed... that seemed to improve his Kenbunshoku Haki.
He still didn't really know what Haki was.
But, since it was reward time, he might as well reward himself thoroughly.
"Nami! I never agreed to let you leave the crew."
"Come out to sea with me!"
Luffy grinned at Nami.
Then, he turned to the building before him and began throwing punch after punch. "Gomu Gomu no... Gatling!"
If this was their so-called symbol, then he would destroy it completely