**Chapter 5: The Sea, Our Home Turf**
"You bastard, are you the leader of these Fish-Men? Do you know that you ruined everything I had! My identity, status, wealth, everything was destroyed because of you..."
*Whoosh!*
The response was the sound of air being sliced through. The war hammer in Sebastian's hand was hurled toward Treba Bruchi. The immense force it carried made Treba dare not meet it head-on; he hurriedly dodged to the side.
Treba could dodge, but the ship beneath his feet could not. Under the war hammer's attack, the already sinking ship became even more dilapidated.
"How many people's everything have you slave traders destroyed? How do you have the face to question me like that?
It seems you don't just misunderstand our combat style; you haven't even investigated our situation. No wonder you're so unafraid of death."
Sebastian picked his ear as if he had heard something filthy. Before Treba could retort, several splashing sounds emerged from the deep sea.
Three giant Sea Beasts revealed themselves. Although their bodies resembled fish-like marine creatures, they had the heads of a giraffe, a rhinoceros, and a chimpanzee, respectively.
Counting the underwater portions, the body length of these three Sea Beasts was around fifty meters each.
This was a basic characteristic of Sea Beasts; they belonged neither to Sea Kings nor to fish, but were special marine mammals.
Babel was currently standing on the Sea Giraffe's head, holding a war hammer in his hand—the very same one Sebastian had thrown.
"Sebastian! You bastard, did you aim that hammer at me when you threw it!!"
"Yeah, otherwise I'd have to go down and pick it up myself. Didn't you bring it back for me?"
"You!"
Seeing Sebastian admit it openly without denial, Babel's anger flared a bit more, but he quickly calmed down.
"Hmph, so that's how it is. Then I'll hold onto your hammer for you. There's about one minute left. Let's see how you fulfill your promise to Big Brother.
If you beg me now, I don't mind helping you out."
"No need. I'm not some hammer-man who must hold a hammer to fight. I think you're just trying to stall my time with this method."
The two seemed to be bickering, but their hands didn't stop moving. Sebastian assumed an attacking stance, and Babel blew the conch shell at an attack frequency.
Receiving the command, the three Sea Beasts immediately charged toward the ship ahead. Never mind that the ship was already snapped in half; even a complete warship facing an attack from Sea Beasts would end up sinking to the bottom.
Treba knew this well, but he had no time to worry about those Sea Beasts. Sebastian's attack had already arrived.
"Fish-Man Karate: Tile Breaker Fist!"
Thick Armament Haki wrapped around the front of his fist. The air seemed to ripple under the swing of his punch.
Treba exerted all his strength, narrowly dodging the center of the attack zone, but his body still flew backward uncontrollably.
This was the essence of Fish-Man Karate attacks. Its principle was to cause damage by striking moisture; the moisture in the air became an extension of the attack, making the range far larger than what the naked eye could see.
Blood surged within his body, muscles and bones trembling helplessly, but Treba saw something even more terrifying out of the corner of his eye.
He dodged part of the attack, but the wreckage of the ship beneath his feet could not.
Coupled with the Sea Beasts under Babel's command arriving beside the ship, relying on the advantage of their massive size, they effortlessly reduced the ship to fragments through ramming and biting.
The crew on board suffered heavy casualties under such attacks. Blood mixed with seawater and ship fragments drifted away with the currents to parts unknown.
"Help... help... spare me..."
"Captain... save me..."
A few cries for help could be heard but were quickly swallowed by the waves. Treba had no mind to pay attention to them. Although there were only three Sea Beasts, their division of labor was extremely clear. At this moment, there was no foothold left for him on the sea surface.
This was the most common tactic used by Nereus's subordinates at sea, and also the most practical one: approach from the deep sea to near the ship, sink the enemy vessel first, and then use the ocean as their home turf for combat.
The main purpose of training those Sea Beasts was also to attack enemy ships.
As long as executives like Sebastian could entangle the strong individuals on the enemy ship, preventing them from distracting themselves to attack the Sea Beasts, the Sea Beasts could withstand the damage from cannons and muskets to destroy the ship in a short time.
Once the ship sank, unless the enemy's strong fighters possessed means of flight or staying airborne, it was difficult to compete with Fish-Men, especially for Devil Fruit users.
Ace could fight Jinbe on land for seven days and seven nights, but lasting seven minutes in the water would be considered tenacious vitality.
From the moment the ship was destroyed—more accurately, from the moment Treba stepped onto this path and was discovered by the Fish-Men before landing—his defeat was already sealed.
Treba realized this, but it was too late. As he fell under the influence of gravity, Sebastian had already shot out, arriving beside him.
"You should be grateful. I promised Big Brother I'd finish you in five minutes. Letting trash like you die so quickly is already the greatest mercy.
Fish-Man Jujutsu: Shoulder Throw!"
Treba, unable to find leverage in mid-air, was grabbed by Sebastian and thrown into the sea with immense brute force supplemented by Fish-Man Jujutsu techniques.
The icy seawater mixed with the smell of blood brought a sliver of clarity to Treba's swollen brain, finally making him realize just how dangerous his situation was.
"These bastard Fish-Men..."
Treba struggled, wanting to swim to the surface, but his limbs felt as if filled with lead, refusing to obey.
Although water could cushion impact, it depended on how one fell.
Even diving from a high platform into a pool could cause physical injury with incorrect posture, let alone Treba being thrown in by Sebastian.
To him, the sea surface was no different from hard concrete. He didn't know how many bones in his body had broken.
The essence of Fish-Man Karate was striking water, while the essence of Fish-Man Jujutsu was throwing water.
Because of the moisture existing within the body, Treba, thrown by Sebastian's shoulder throw, suffered internal blood surging simultaneously with external damage.
Although the seawater constantly washed over him, a closer look revealed that his skin was seeping blood almost constantly—the result of tiny capillaries on his body surface bursting.
But none of this was the most fatal part. Driven by the will to survive, Treba stubbornly floated toward the surface, but a massive force suddenly came from his lower body.
"Just die obediently, and there'll be less pain. It seems you didn't understand my words enough."
Sebastian had also entered the water. Compared to Treba's struggle, he appeared leisurely and at ease.
For the Fish-Man race with two respiratory systems, the sea was no different from land, perhaps even freer.
Under the influence of the seawater, Sebastian's voice became muffled, sounding like a death knell from hell in Treba's ears.
*Gurgle gurgle...*
Countless bubbles floated from Treba's mouth toward the surface. He looked like he wanted to beg for mercy, but he couldn't speak at all.
Fish-Man Karate and Fish-Man Jujutsu could utilize air and the moisture within the opponent's body, but those were far less convenient than using the actual ocean.
The surrounding seawater became Sebastian's aid at this moment, squeezing Treba's body.
The distance to the surface wasn't far; sunlight could still penetrate here. However, Treba could no longer touch that warm sunlight. Accompanied by a wave of despair, his vision soon plunged into darkness...
Under Babel's command, the Sea Beasts also cleared the sea surface. This group hadn't even stirred up a single wave before being annihilated in the ocean.
When Sebastian surfaced with the corpse, only a few surviving slave traffickers remained around.
"Babel! You bastard, didn't you know to wait for me!"
Sebastian ignored the remaining few, instead cursing loudly at Babel, who was already riding the Sea Beast away.
"Hahahaha! Swim back yourself! I strictly followed the time according to your promise! Five minutes were up, so return immediately!"
Babel's laughter was laced with smugness. Just like Sebastian throwing the hammer, this was their way of communicating—both comrades and rivals.
"Did we... survive?"
A slave trafficker clinging to a broken barrel floated on the sea, muttering to himself as he watched the departing Fish-Men.
It was the relief of surviving a disaster, yet this feeling lasted for an extremely short time.
Accompanied by the howling sea breeze, another sound of conch horns gradually approached. Following that, a sharp horn pierced through his body.
In the deep sea, a school of large fish—horned, mouths full of sharp teeth, as strong as calves—began the final cleanup work.
These were Fighting Fish living in the New World, equally ferocious marine fish. Like those large Sea Beasts, they were merely part of the legion.
"If we let you go, where would the people you sold go to cry? Hope you get reincarnated well in your next life... No, people like you should rot in hell forever."
On the Sea Giraffe's head, Babel blew another conch shell and murmured something like a spell—whether a curse or a prayer for the dead was unclear.
Then he patted the Sea Giraffe's head.
"Swim faster. Don't let that guy catch up. I'll add two hundred pounds of seaweed for you tonight!"