"You b*stard, are you the leader of these Fish-Men? Do you have any idea that you ruined everything I had! My identity, my status, my wealth, all destroyed because of you..."
Whoosh!
What answered him was the sound of something slicing through the air. Sebastian hurled his mace toward Tribar Brucci with such overwhelming force that Tribar didn't dare try to take the blow. He quickly dodged to the side.
But while Tribar could dodge, the ship beneath his feet could not. Under the mace's assault, the already sinking vessel became even more broken.
"How many people's lives have slave traders like you destroyed? And yet you have the nerve to question me with that kind of talk?
Looks like you don't just misunderstand our fighting style, you haven't even done your homework about us. No wonder you're so fearless."
Sebastian scratched his ear, as if he'd just heard some dirty words. Before Tribar could retort, several splashing sounds came from the depths of the sea.
Three gigantic sea beasts surfaced, their bodies like fish, but each with the head of a different animal: a giraffe, a rhinoceros, and a gorilla.
Counting the part still underwater, each of these sea beasts measured about fifty meters long.
This was the basic characteristic of these creatures. They were not Sea Kings, nor were they fish, but rather a special kind of marine mammal.
At this moment, Barbell stood atop the head of the Sea Giraffe, holding a mace in his hand. It looked to be the very same mace Sebastian had just thrown.
"Sebastian, you b*stard! Did you throw that mace at me on purpose?!"
"Yeah, otherwise I'd have to go get it myself. Didn't you just bring it back for me?"
"You—!"
Sebastian didn't deny it, admitting it openly, which only fueled Barbell's anger, though he quickly calmed himself.
"Hmph, so that's how it is. Then I'll just look after your mace for you. There's about one minute left. Let's see how you fulfill your promise to the boss.
If you beg me now, I might not mind helping you."
"No need. I'm not some 'mace guy' who needs a mace to fight. I think you're just trying to stall me."
The two of them seemed to be bickering, but their hands never stopped moving. Sebastian took a fighting stance while Barbell used a conch shell to send out a signal for attack.
The three sea beasts, following the order, charged at the ship ahead. Never mind that the ship had already been broken in half, even a fully intact warship would have stood no chance against this onslaught. It could only end up at the bottom of the sea.
Tribar knew this, but he had no time to worry about the sea beasts. Sebastian's attack was already upon him.
"Fish-Man Karate: Demon Brick Fist!"
Thick Armament Haki coiled around his fist, and as he swung, even the air seemed to ripple.
Tribar mustered all his strength and barely dodged the heart of the attack, but his body was still knocked uncontrollably through the air.
That's the essence of Fish-Man Karate: its principle is to deal damage by striking at the water molecules, and the moisture in the air extends the attack's range far beyond what the naked eye can see.
Blood churned inside his body; his muscles and bones trembled helplessly. But out of the corner of his eye, Tribar saw something even more terrifying.
He'd dodged part of the attack, but the wreckage of the ship beneath his feet had not.
And now the sea beasts, following Barbell's orders, had reached the side of the vessel. Taking advantage of their massive bodies, they crashed and tore into the ship, reducing it to splinters in an instant.
The crew suffered heavy casualties under this assault. Blood mingled with seawater and ship debris were swept away by the sea currents, destination unknown.
"Help... Help... Please spare me..."
"Captain... Save me..."
A few cries for help rang out, but were quickly swallowed by the waves. Tribar paid no mind to these pleas. Although there were only three sea beasts, their division of labor was precise, and by now, there was not a single foothold left for him on the surface of the sea.
This was Nereus's subordinates' most common and effective tactic at sea: approach the enemy ship from underwater, sink it first, then use the ocean as their home ground.
The main reason for taming these sea beasts was to attack enemy ships.
As long as officers like Sebastian could hold off the strong fighters on the enemy ships, leaving them no time to spare to attack the sea beasts, the sea beasts could easily withstand cannon and musket fire and destroy the ship in a short time.
Once the ship sank, unless the enemy's strong fighters had the ability to fly or hover in the sky, it was nearly impossible for them to defeat the Fish-Men, especially if they were Devil Fruit users.
Ace could fight Jinbe on land for seven days and seven nights, but in the water, lasting even seven minutes would be a testament to his tenacious vitality.
From the moment the ship was destroyed, or more accurately, from the moment Tribar set foot on this path and was spotted by the Fish-Men before he even landed, his defeat was already sealed.
Tribar realized this, but it was too late. As he fell under the force of gravity, Sebastian had already shot toward him, arriving at his side.
"You should be grateful. I promised the boss I'd take care of you in just five minutes. Letting someone like you die so quickly is already my greatest mercy.
Fish-Man Jujutsu: Piggyback!"
While Tribar was suspended in midair with nothing to grab onto, Sebastian seized him and, using his monstrous strength together with the techniques of Fish-Man Jujutsu, hurled him into the sea.
The icy seawater, tinged with the scent of blood, gave Tribar's swelling brain a moment of clarity. He finally realized just how dangerous his situation was.
"These damned Fish-Men..."
Tribar struggled to swim to the surface, but his limbs felt like they were filled with lead, completely unresponsive.
While water can cushion an impact, it depends on how you fall.
Even in a swimming pool, a dive with wrong posture from a high platform can cause injury, not to mention being thrown in by Sebastian.
For him, the surface of the sea was no different from hard concrete. He didn't know how many of his bones had broken.
The essence of Fish-Man Karate is striking water, while the essence of Fish-Man Jujutsu is throwing water.
Because there is water inside the body, when Tribar was hurled with the Piggyback, his blood churned inside him even as he was injured by the outside impact.
Though the seawater kept washing over him, if you looked closely, you'd see his skin constantly oozing blood, evidence of capillaries bursting at the surface.
But this wasn't the most fatal part. Driven by his will to survive, Tribar stubbornly tried to rise toward the surface, but suddenly a tremendous force came from below.
"If you'd just die quietly, it'd spare you a lot of pain. Looks like you still don't get it."
Sebastian had also entered the water. Compared to Tribar's frantic struggle, he was completely at ease.
For the Fish-Men, who possessed two sets of respiratory systems, there was no difference between the ocean and the land; in fact, they were even freer underwater.
Underwater, Sebastian's voice sounded more muffled, like a death knell ringing in Tribar's ears.
Blub, blub, blub...
Countless bubbles streamed from Tribar's mouth to the surface. He looked like he wanted to beg for mercy, but he couldn't utter a word.
Both Fish-Man Karate and Fish-Man Jujutsu could manipulate air and the water within an opponent's body, but none of that compared to the sheer convenience of using the vast sea itself.
At this moment, the surrounding seawater became Sebastian's ally, squeezing Tribar's body.
They weren't far from the surface, and sunlight still managed to filter through, but Tribar had no way of touching that warm sunlight again. With a wave of despair, his vision quickly faded into darkness...
The sea beasts, under Barbell's command, were also mopping up the surface. This group was wiped out by the sea without even making a splash.
When Sebastian surfaced with the corpse, only a few slave traders were left alive.
"Barbell! You b*stard, couldn't you wait for me?!"
Sebastian paid no attention to the survivors, and instead cursed at Barbell, who was already riding a sea beast away.
"Hahaha! You can swim back by yourself. I strictly stuck to the time limit that you promised! The five minutes are up, so I'm returning immediately!"
Barbell's laughter was full of smugness. Like the mace Sebastian threw, this was their way of communicating; they were as much rivals as they were comrades.
"We... did we survive?"
A slave trader clung to a broken barrel floating on the surface, mumbling as he watched the Fish-Men depart.
It was the relief of a narrow escape, but that feeling didn't last long.
With the howl of the sea wind, the sound of another conch shell gradually arrived, and with it came a sharp horn that pierced his body.
In the deep sea, a school of enormous fish, each with twin horns on their heads, mouths full of sharp teeth, and as burly as calves, began their final sweep.
These were Fighting Fish native to the New World. They are also fierce marine fishes, but just like those massive sea beasts, they were merely part of the army.
"If we let you go, then who can those you sold turn to for justice? I hope you're reborn into better lives... No, scum like you deserve to burn in hell forever."
Barbell, atop the Sea Giraffe, blew another conch and chanted something that sounded like a curse or a prayer. It was hard to tell if he was cursing or giving last rites.
He then patted the Sea Giraffe on the head.
"Swim faster, don't let that guy catch up. I'll give you two hundred extra pounds of seaweed tonight!"