Chapter 2: Exposed
What level of strength does Nami have?
After spending a full month with Nami, Harut naturally understood her capabilities very well.
Her physical combat skills were nowhere near the level of Luffy or Zoro—in fact, they were pretty much entry-level. Compared to ordinary people, she wasn't much better either; at best, she had slightly superior agility.
So, could she handle six people at the same time?
Highly doubtful!
Harut's mind went into chaos. In that instant of distraction, he got cut several more times. Fortunately, the original owner of this body had an excellent foundation, and his physical instincts were still sharp, allowing the current Harut to barely hold on.
"Hurry up and finish him already! Otherwise I'm sailing off without you!"
Nami shrieked when she saw the situation.
Harut's mouth twitched. He knew Nami was just talking tough—if she really meant it, she would have left already.
Still, the situation was far from optimistic.
"Grab her!"
The six men boarded the boat. Three of them charged straight at Nami to restrain her, while the other three ran toward the porcelain vase.
Seeing this, Nami immediately panicked.
That vase was her "hope"!
She didn't try to fight head-on. Instead, she moved nimbly, darting between the three attackers, trying to block the ones heading for the vase.
"Calm down!"
Harut gritted his teeth, forcing himself to overcome the fear. After all, just a month ago he was a law-abiding citizen, and now he was facing actual blades.
The past month had only involved ordinary people chasing them—bodyguards at most, and none of them carried weapons like swords. He never expected to run into real trouble this time.
"Rely on the body's instincts."
Harut muttered to himself. He slowly relaxed his conscious control over his body, letting pure instinct take over to deal with the danger.
"Hm?"
The burly man suddenly sensed something off and immediately intensified his attacks.
But now, Harut was dodging with far greater ease. His agility had jumped to a completely different level compared to before. The body's instincts were proving far more powerful than any conscious control.
"Fish-Man Karate—Upper Palm Blast!"
Suddenly, after dodging, Harut's left palm shot out like a whip. His skin rapidly turned blue, his entire body grew ten centimeters taller in an instant, and faint electric sparks flickered across his surface for a split second.
BANG!
The strike was so fast the burly man couldn't react at all. It smashed directly into the left side of his face. The tremendous force sent him flying a full meter before he crashed to the ground, unconscious.
"Captain!"
The sight shocked the six men so badly their jaws nearly dropped. Just moments ago he'd been dominating—how had he been taken down in the blink of an eye?
"What is this…?"
Nami didn't celebrate. Instead, her expression darkened. Several tall, imposing figures flashed through her mind.
"Fish-Man…"
"Ha!"
Completely unaware that he had just exposed himself, Harut pressed the advantage while the sensation was still fresh. He charged straight at the six remaining men.
"Ah!"
"This guy…"
The six bodyguards immediately panicked.
With his power surging, he was now roughly five times stronger than an ordinary person. These guys weren't even on the level of the burly man he'd just knocked out. Using his overwhelming strength, he swept them aside one after another and quickly dealt with all of them.
"Nami, we—"
Harut turned around with a smile, but the word "go" died in his throat when he saw Nami's grim expression. The smile vanished from his face instantly.
As if realizing something, he instinctively looked down at his arm.
Sure enough, the skin had changed color.
"Fish-Man!"
Harut immediately understood the reason.
Nami's hometown had been occupied and oppressed by fish-men. Now that he had revealed fish-man traits and even used Fish-Man Karate, it must have triggered terrible memories for her.
"What's wrong with your skin?"
Sure enough, Nami asked, her voice cold.
This is bad! Bad! BAD!
Harut screamed internally.
Gulp
Swallowing hard, Harut forced out: "You've heard of fish-men, right? Actually… I'm a hybrid—human and fish-man mixed blood."
"Fish-Man!!!"
Nami lowered her head slightly, her tone icy. Anyone could hear the deep-seated hatred in her voice. As for the "mixed blood" part—she completely ignored it.
"Actually, fish-men really do exist—"
"Enough!"
Nami suddenly shouted, cutting him off. She pointed at Harut as he approached. "Don't come near me! Get off!"
Harut knew exactly why, but he couldn't just say, "I'm a transmigrator, I know everything about you." So he obediently stepped off the boat and dragged the unconscious bodyguards down with him.
Watching the boat sail away into the distance, Harut's heart was filled with complicated emotions.
He had originally planned to stick with Nami, and maybe join the Straw Hats later. He never expected her reaction to fish-men to be this extreme—even treating him, a mere half-blood, as part of Arlong's gang.
As for Nami, her heart was even more turbulent. She had thought she'd finally found a partner to help her make money faster. Turns out he was a fish-man!
Damn it!
He hid it from her all this time!
Sure enough, fish-men are never good people!
"Well then… looks like I'll have to go solo from now on."
Harut muttered to himself. Fortunately, he had already familiarized himself with this world; otherwise the coming days would be miserable.
Harut decided to head back to their original hideout first. As for whether Nami would be there—he doubted it.
After all, the current Nami wasn't the one who would be saved by Luffy two years from now. When it came to fish-men, she probably had zero tolerance.
As for him going to take down Arlong?
Don't joke around. With his current level, he hadn't even fully mastered the body's original techniques, let alone face Arlong, whose strength was at least ten times that of a normal person.
He'd be instantly killed!
Harut had zero doubt about that.
A few hours later, he returned to the small house. Opening the door confirmed it—Nami wasn't there.
This house was an abandoned place that Harut had discovered and claimed. After a week of cleaning, it had become their shared base.
But now…
Only he remained.
Sitting down, Harut began to assess his situation.
Current strength:
Base power: three times that of an ordinary person (once emotions surge, fish-man bloodline activates → power rises to five times) Electricity generation! When fish-man bloodline is active, can discharge up to 500 volts. Fish-Man Karate (only has memories and body instincts; not proficient yet) Knowledge (still learning)
"So right now I'm basically a battle-five trash…"
Harut couldn't help but roast himself. Thinking about it, that burly man's strength was far below his own, yet he had almost been suppressed earlier. He had completely wasted his body's potential.
After some thought, Harut took out all his assets.
"Only 200,000 berries…"
Under Nami's relentless squeezing, having this much actually made him feel satisfied.
But if he started serious training now, this amount definitely wouldn't be enough…
Suddenly, Harut remembered a nearby area with quite a few shipwrecks.
"Eh!"
Harut grinned. "This might actually work."
"Then… what about this?"
Harut took off his shirt and turned his back to the mirror.
There, on his back, was a hoof-shaped brand.
Celestial Dragon slave mark!
The original owner of this body had been a slave!
Although the current Harut didn't feel much toward the mark, he still couldn't help but think:
"According to 'my' memories, 'I' escaped when the explosive collar was removed. I didn't harm any Celestial Dragon."
"But having the identity of a Celestial Dragon slave probably completely closes the door to ever joining the Marines."
Are the Six Powers of the Marines strong?
Of course they're strong!
Harut drooled at the thought of them, but unfortunately, with his slave background, if it ever got exposed, the Marines would probably be the first to capture him.
What, no grudge against Celestial Dragons?
Who would believe that~?
Thus, Harut could only rely on himself to become self-sufficient. He had no chance of obtaining the official Six Powers training method, but achieving similar effects was still possible.