Explosions ripped through the southern district of Coral Hill, one after another.
Carina stood inside the indestructible pale-green barrier. The Eye of God in her hands spat high-explosive blue lasers without pause. Every time her finger squeezed the trigger, another blood-mist firework bloomed among the fishmen thugs trying to charge her.
"Monster… that woman's gun is a monster!"
"We can't crack that glass! Run!"
After leaving dozens of mangled bodies on the street, the two hundred plus radical thugs from the Fishman District finally had their morale shattered by the one-sided slaughter. They threw down their swords in terror and scrambled to flee the area.
"Caw! Running already? Weren't you going to pluck this lord's feathers a minute ago?"
Perched on Carina's shoulder, Beli kept the barrier up while letting loose an obnoxious, piercing laugh.
Just as the fishmen rabble turned to bolt like dogs with their tails between their legs, the sunlight overhead went dark.
A massive, suffocating bank of storm clouds gathered directly above the street without any warning.
"Crackle!"
Sizzling static filled the air.
"Running so fast. Is that how little you regard a god?"
An arrogant, freezing voice boomed inside every fishman thug's skull.
Before any of them could look up and register the sky.
"God's Judgment: Twenty Million Volts!"
BOOM!!!
A column of violent blue lightning, thick as a barrel, speared down from the clouds with apocalyptic force.
The bolt didn't concentrate on a single target. The instant it touched the ground, it shattered into countless twisting serpents of lightning. They slithered across the coral-paved street, flooding a radius of several hundred meters in a heartbeat.
"Gyaaaaaah!"
Agonized screams rose into the deep-sea sky.
Baptized by twenty million volts, the two hundred fleeing thugs never took another step. Convulsing, foaming at the mouth, their bodies charred black, they dropped like dumplings into a pot, collapsing neatly all across the ground.
A pungent odor of grilled fish smothered the street.
The light faded.
Enel sat cross-legged in midair, bare-chested, his Thunder God Staff in hand. Arcing electricity still danced around him. He looked down at the scattered, smoking small fry and curled his lip.
"This level of trash dared to provoke us?" Enel turned toward Carina inside the barrier. "Carina, your garbage disposal speed is pathetic. If a god had arrived a step later, these vermin would've scurried back into whatever sewer they crawled out of."
"I was just playing with them. Even if they ran, I could track their heartbeats straight to their nest." Carina stowed her rifle and signaled Beli to drop the barrier.
Just as Enel touched down on the street.
"Stop! Please, stop!"
In the distance, a giant whale carrying King Neptune and Jinbe, along with several hundred fully armed Ryugu Palace soldiers, rushed onto the scene in frantic haste.
Taking in the charred fishmen strewn everywhere and the street blasted beyond recognition, King Neptune felt cold sweat pour down his forehead like a waterfall. He didn't even wait for the whale to land. He jumped off and hurried straight to Enel.
"My lord, please calm yourself! This is absolutely a misunderstanding!"
Neptune gripped his trident with both hands, his voice trembling. "Those lying on the ground are radicals from the Fishman District. They are fishmen of this island, but they are completely outside Ryugu Palace's jurisdiction! Their provocation of your crew in no way represents the will of Fishman Island!"
"I can vouch for that."
Jinbe stepped forward with a heavy expression. He glanced at the tattoos on the downed fishmen, a flash of pain in his eyes, but mostly resignation.
"Those men, deceived by Hody Jones, harbor a twisted hatred toward humans. If they have offended you, I, Jinbe, am willing to offer an apology on their behalf. Please do not let your anger fall on the innocent citizens of this island."
"An apology?"
Enel sneered. His godly, arrogant gaze swept down over the two highest rulers of Fishman Island.
"A king and a Warlord of the Sea who can't even leash a few punks. What kind of worthless trash are you? If you can't handle that so-called Fishman District…"
Enel slammed the butt of his Thunder God Staff against the ground. Blinding lightning erupted again.
"Then this god will go to that cesspool now. I will rain down ten thousand thunderbolts and wipe them and their street from the depths of this ocean forever!"
"You absolutely must not!" King Neptune threw himself in Enel's path.
Jinbe immediately dropped into a Fishman Karate ready stance. He knew this lightning-wreathed man's power was unfathomable, but he could not stand by and watch thousands of his countrymen in the Fishman District be massacred.
"Enough, Enel."
Just as the tension reached a breaking point and Jinbe steeled himself for a desperate fight, Carina spoke.
"They provoked the Eclipse Pirates. How to deal with that Fishman District is for the captain to decide when he arrives. If you slaughter them all, Shark will have a problem with it too."
"Tch. Troublesome."
Enel retracted his staff and let the electricity around him dissipate. As a member of the Eclipse Pirates, he was arrogant, but he respected his crew's rules and Ace's decisions completely.
"Then let these inferior creatures breathe for a few more minutes."
As the standoff cooled, rushing sounds began to cut through the surrounding streets.
"Fishman District? Sounds like a place with plenty of sturdy punching bags."
Urouge had arrived, shouldering his newly forged Gravity Lead Pillar. His enormous frame strode into the street like a walking iron fortress.
"Even better if there's a skilled swordsman."
From the air, a lithe figure drifted down. Leona landed softly, her heavy greatsword Meteor strapped to her back and her right hand resting on the hilt of the blade White Night.
"Yohohoho! I just heard some lovely songs at the Mermaid Cafe. I was wondering how to limber up this old bag of bones." Brook walked over with elegant steps, leaning on the Seven Star Sword, a blade that radiated chilling blue frost.
Under King Neptune's increasingly horrified gaze, the Eclipse Pirates' monstrous officers assembled one by one on the devastated street, save for Buggy, who was off treasure hunting.
The crushing, blood-soaked presence each of them exuded was so overwhelming that the elite Ryugu Palace guards couldn't even muster the strength to grip their weapons.
And into that suffocating stillness came a sound.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Steady footsteps approached from the far end of the street.
Enel, Urouge, and the others who had been standing at the front moved wordlessly to the sides, opening a broad path.
Ace walked forward slowly, his dark red coat draped over his shoulders, surrounded by his officers. He stopped before King Neptune and Jinbe.
Behind him came Sabo, Flame Dragon Staff in hand; Jeno, stroking his chin; and Chopper, his medical bag on his back.
And there, beside Ace, Princess Shirahoshi swam with her enormous tail. She shrank back a little at the sight of the charred fishmen on the ground, but she bravely faced her father.
"Father… Boss Jinbe…"
"Shirahoshi, are you all right?" King Neptune rushed forward, his eyes full of concern.
"I'm fine. Lord Ace took me to the Sea Forest. I visited Mother's grave." Shirahoshi shook her head. Her eyes were still a little red, but her emotions had calmed considerably.
Neptune let out a breath and turned to Ace.
"Lord Ace. Those Fishman District radicals assaulted your crew. That was a failure of Ryugu Palace. I am prepared to offer ample compensation. Please, do not…"
"Compensation won't be necessary, Neptune."
Ace cut the king off. He met Neptune and Jinbe's eyes directly, his voice even.
"I already said the Eclipse Pirates only strike those who show us hostility. But since they call themselves the 'New Fishman Pirates' and have declared they'll trample us underfoot, this is a matter between pirates."
Ace stepped aside.
Under the gaze of everyone present, a figure more massive and burly than an ordinary fishman emerged from the rear of the Eclipse crew. His dark blue-gray body moved forward, the bizarre mechanical soft-bodied sea beast sword, Samehada, strapped to his back.
"Shark…" Jinbe's face twisted at the sight of his former comrade.
Shark's eyes were dead calm pools. He stared at the thugs still lying on the ground, the broken sun tattoos still visible on some of them.
He ignored Jinbe's call. He walked directly to a black-backed fishman who still had a breath in his body.
"Your boss. Hody Jones?" Shark's voice was terrifyingly low.
"Cough… that's right! Boss Hody… will slaughter every last one of you human-lover traitors!" the fishman spat blood, still cursing defiantly.
Crack.
Shark stomped down and snapped the thug's arm without another question.
He lifted his head and looked at Jinbe and Neptune.
"The sun brand that Fisher Tiger bought with his life was not meant for garbage like this to hide in the gutter, bully the weak, and peddle pathetic racial hatred."
"This deep-sea tumor. If Ryugu Palace is too afraid to cut it out, I will."
Shark turned to Ace. "Captain!"
"Go."
Ace didn't stop him. He simply nodded.
"Those scum in the Fishman District are yours."
"Yes."
Shark launched himself upward like a heavy deep-water bomb. He plunged into the nearby waterway and transformed into a raging dark-blue current, hurtling straight toward the Fishman District in the lowest depths of Fishman Island.
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