"Stop it!!"
Nami covered her mouth with one hand, tears welling in her eyes, and reached out with the other, but it was already too late to stop him.
Seeing the Whitebeard Pirates' flag snap in Allen's hands, she almost fainted.
The royal family had come to receive them with the utmost courtesy, yet Allen had immediately turned around and given them a ruthless show of dominance.
"Ah, I don't even have the face to look at them anymore."
Nami leaned back, throwing her hands up in utter despair.
Sure enough, upon witnessing Allen's provocative act, Fukaboshi and his two brothers instantly turned furious, drawing their weapons and pointing them at him.
"What is the meaning of this!"
"We have no grievances with you, so why would you commit such an act!"
"Even if Pops is no longer with us, Fish-Man Island will never be reduced to a place that can be slaughtered at will!"
With that, Fukaboshi and his brothers sprang into action simultaneously, charging toward Allen atop the Ryugu Palace with their weapons in hand!
Seeing this, Nami had expected as much, but she couldn't help feeling anxious. She quickly turned to look at Robin.
"What do we do now? Are we really going to fight the royal family of Fish-Man Island?"
"I am not sure either. Let's just watch for now. It should be fine," Robin said calmly.
Although Allen was usually arrogant, he was very rational in his actions. At the very least, she had never seen him do anything meaningless.
'Perhaps he has some other plan in mind,' Robin thought to herself.
Off to the side, Gin and Perona did not have much of an opinion on the matter.
They were pirates, after all; doing strange things wasn't out of the ordinary, and they had done far worse in the past.
Moria had stolen thousands of shadows, forcing thousands of people to live their entire lives in darkness, never to see the sun again. In Perona's eyes, this current situation was nothing.
On the other side, Allen raised his hand, bringing two fingers together to slice a cut across his palm. Blood quickly gushed out, gradually condensing into a sphere that he controlled in his grasp.
"Fish-Man Karate!"
Facing the charging trio, Allen's eyes darkened as he swung his arm, violently hurling the blood from his palm!
"Spear Wave・Blood Explosion・Swarm of Rain!!"
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
The sphere of blood suddenly burst apart, transforming into over a dozen two-finger-wide blood streams with sharp, arrow-like tips that shot forward!
"This is...!!"
"Fish-Man Karate! How does he know...!!"
Faced with this dense area-of-effect attack, the pupils of Fukaboshi and his brothers shrank in shock. With nowhere to dodge, they hastily raised their weapons to defend themselves.
However, it was impossible for them to block every strike. They could only prioritize protecting their vitals. The blood arrows grazed or pierced their shoulders, arms, and fish-tail lower bodies, sending blood splattering into the air.
Just as Fukaboshi thought they had blocked the wave of attacks and gritted his teeth to counterattack, a sudden, piercing pain erupted from the various wounds on his body!
"What!!"
Under the terrified gazes of the three brothers, the blood began to boil violently, as if undergoing some kind of chemical reaction!
Accompanied by a series of crackling sounds, the blood exploded continuously across their bodies like firecrackers!
"Aghhh!"
"Uwaaah!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Amidst the chain of blood explosions, a massive cloud of scarlet blood mist burst into the air. The three brothers were sent flying out of the mist, their bodies crashing heavily onto the ground.
Allen raised his hand and glanced at his palm. With a mere thought, the bleeding cut healed rapidly at a visible rate.
"Tch, the power is pretty average. It seems the mixing ratio still needs some adjustment," Allen sighed in dissatisfaction.
This move was a technique where he used the chemical substances secreted by the Explosion Ladybug, mixed with his own blood, to execute the Fish-Man Karate technique, [Spear Wave・Swarm of Rain].
Lately, he had been trying to further combine his abilities with his physical martial arts. Since Haki training could not be accomplished overnight, he had to find ways to develop other aspects of his strength.
It was just like the fatal strike he used to ambush Teach during the Summit War.
Currently, physical martial arts were his most fundamental method of combat, and both Haki and his Devil Fruit abilities perfectly complemented and enhanced them.
In the short term, further integrating these three elements while simultaneously refining his Haki and developing his abilities was his method of raising his power ceiling.
As for how to progress even further in the future, that would depend on what powerful Devil Fruits he could get his hands on when the time came.
On the ground.
Fukaboshi gritted his teeth, pressing one hand against the floor as he struggled to prop up his blood-soaked body, glaring furiously at Allen.
Facing a powerful pirate who held the title of Warlord of the Sea just like Jinbe, he knew that the three of them alone were no match for him, but he never expected the gap in strength to be this massive.
Allen jumped down from the top of the Ryugu Palace. Unfazed by Fukaboshi's angry glare, he simply stepped past the three of them and walked straight toward the palace gates.
"Whitebeard is dead. His territories will soon attract the contention of countless factions, and Fish-Man Island will be no exception."
"You'd better put away that pathetic sense of morality of yours. The Whitebeard Pirates no longer have the power to protect this place. If it wasn't me today, it would be someone else tomorrow."
"You know very well what the relationship between Fish-Man Island and humans is like. You aren't naive enough to think you can defend this place from outside invasions all on your own, are you?"
Saying this, Allen gave a mocking smile and turned his head to ask,
"If Big Mom had come today, would you still resist to the bitter end? Or would you resign yourselves to your fate and offer tribute in exchange for her protection, just to keep Fish-Man Island from being destroyed?"
He didn't need Fukaboshi to answer; Allen already knew the answer to that question.
Of course they would submit to Big Mom. With the future of the entire Fish-Man Island at stake, caught between morality and the greater good, King Neptune had absolutely no choice in the matter as the ruler of a nation.
The only choice they had was deciding who to seek protection from.
But evidently, Allen didn't even plan on giving them that choice.
"Starting today, Fish-Man Island is my territory. If you have the capability, go find someone to deal with me. If not, then obediently accept your fate."
The corners of Allen's mouth curled up as he continued walking toward the gates of Ryugu Palace, speaking without looking back,
"You three aren't qualified to negotiate terms with me. That old man Neptune knows what he has to do."
"Damn it...!"
Bang!
Watching Allen's departing figure, Fukaboshi gritted his teeth and slammed his fist against the floor, his eyes filled with unwillingness.
Nami and the others jumped down from the back of the oarfish they had been riding and quickly stepped forward to follow him.
...
"Wait a minute, Allen. Are you planning to protect Fish-Man Island?"
On the way, Nami couldn't help but ask, her eyes showing a hint of concern as she furrowed her brows.
"Fish-Man Island isn't a place we can just claim and then leave to its own devices. Given the relationship between humans and the Fish-Man Tribe, this place is going to bring us a lot of trouble in the future, isn't it?"
"I know, but Fish-Man Island's location is far too unique. If we can firmly hold onto this place, the benefits will be immense," Allen replied calmly.
In the New World, the status of the Four Emperors was absolute. And below the Four Emperors, the most recognized reputation naturally belonged to the Warlords of the Sea.
Unlike when he had just become a Warlord, he had now gone through several battles and had long since proven his strength to the world.
But even so, his flag could only deter ordinary pirates at best.
To the forces of the Four Emperors, or even some of the renowned great pirates of the New World, he was not yet an entity that needed to be feared.
Even if he planted his flag here now, he would likely still receive plenty of provocations in the short term. Ignoring them wasn't an option, but returning to deal with them would delay their voyage. This problem was definitely unavoidable.
Fortunately, although Allen was advancing into the New World, he had no intention of challenging the Four Emperors anytime soon.
Their strength was still insufficient. This applied not only to Sanji and the others but to Allen himself as well.
Even an idiot like Kid knew to ally with a few others before challenging Kaido. Allen wasn't arrogant enough to think he could go toe-to-toe with the Four Emperors just yet.
Therefore, in the short term, he only planned to roam the first half of the New World, conquering and securing the territories in this vicinity first.
While training to improve his strength, he also needed to go to Punk Hazard to obtain the Pink Dragon Fruit. Then there was Dressrosa, where he had to handle some cooperative matters with Doflamingo.
All in all, within the next year, he would advance as far as Dressrosa at most. Only after his forces had developed sufficiently would he set sail for the middle section of the New World.
That would be the time for him to launch a full-scale assault on the position of the sea's supreme overlord.