Neptune swung his massive fishtail, swatting away a fish-man who attempted to approach from behind. With his left hand, he swept his trident across, smashing four pirate fish-men against the wall along with their weapons as they tried to flank him.
Kuroobi did not take advantage of the chaos to strike. The technique that had just sent Arlong flying was one he recognized well.
The eagle ray fish-man knew that even if he used the same Fish-Man Karate technique, it would be impossible for him to send Brother Arlong crashing onto the deck, unable to rise for half a day. He was well accustomed to using Fish-Man Karate: Hundred Tile True Punch, but even his most powerful, long-charged strike was far inferior to his opponent's.
However, that was no reason for him to back down. Facing Neptune directly, Kuroobi raised his voice and assumed the stance of Fish-Man Karate:
"Your Majesty, please grant me this lesson!"
The Grand Knight of the Sea looked at the fish-man pirate in front of him, who was still gathering strength, but he did not interrupt him. He intended to defeat these so-called avengers of the Fish-Man race in a fair and honorable manner.
"State your name."
"Kuroobi!" The eagle ray fish-man shouted his name, launching his most powerful strike:
"Fish-Man Karate: Thousand Tile True Punch!"
Neptune nodded, responding to his opponent with his own name:
"Neptune."
As a knight, even in a life-or-death battle, one should uphold the proper etiquette. He brought his right hand to his waist and abdomen, showing no sign of charging power, then gently pushed forward with his palm:
"A commendable fighting spirit—
Fish-Man Karate: Four Thousand Tile True Punch!"
A muffled boom sounded from within Kuroobi's body. The immense impact not only shattered his punch with ease but also traveled through his body, following the path of Neptune's outstretched hand.
The usually taciturn eagle ray fish-man struggled to speak, but before he could make a sound, blood gushed from his throat.
In his final moments of consciousness, he sincerely marveled:
"So strong..."
While Neptune allowed Kuroobi to gather power, the archerfish fish-man, Chu, stealthily maneuvered behind him, finding a blind spot.
Just as the eagle ray fish-man failed in his frontal attack, the archerfish fish-man's ambush followed immediately after.
Seizing this opening, his chest swelled dramatically, and from his mouth erupted a powerful jet of water, capable of shattering stone pillars and cutting through trees, aimed straight at the back of Neptune's head.
However, His Sea God Majesty reacted even faster. His massive body twisted with astonishing agility.
With a swift turn of his right wrist, he intercepted the fierce water jet before it even reached his palm, effortlessly controlling it with the force of Fish-Man Karate.
"Water is not meant to be used like this," Neptune sneered coldly. He had the patience to let his opponent unleash their strongest strike from the front, but his knightly code could never forgive a coward who attacked from behind.
The coelacanth fish-man glanced at the small handful of seawater in his palm. Stretching his right arm back, he hurled it forward like a spear:
"Fish-Man Karate: Ocean Current Spear!"
Neptune did not even glance at his opponent's fate. He slowly swam past the unconscious Kuroobi and turned his gaze toward the true mastermind.
Arlong, worthy of being a figure who once dominated a part of Fish-Man Street, had managed to stand up again despite being sent flying by Neptune's Fish-Man Karate.
He wiped the blood constantly seeping from his mouth. The massive saw-bladed sword, "Shark Cleaver," had been shattered by the previous shockwave, leaving only a lonely hilt lying on the deck.
With a violent swing of his bloodied palm, the sawtooth shark fish-man sent droplets of blood flying like scattershot toward the Grand Knight of the Sea.
"Tricks of the weak!" Neptune reversed his grip on the trident and drove it into the deck. With both hands free, he forcefully swept them to the sides in midair.
Arlong's blood droplets left countless small holes on the deck, while Neptune flicked his fishtail, hooking up his trident and advancing toward Arlong once more.
Arlong roared with all his might:
"Come on! You coward!"
"..." Neptune remained silent, simply waiting for his opponent's next words.
"It's because of you and your alliance with those inferior humans that Fish-Man Island can never lift its head high!" Veins bulged on Arlong's forehead as he bellowed out the words he had long kept hidden in his heart.
"If I were the leader of Fish-Man Island, if I were the one to unite our people, the humans would witness true terror! They would witness the power of the noble Fish-Men!"
"Are you finished?" Neptune gazed at the fish-man pirate leader, who was panting by the ship's railing. He took a deep breath, and unlike Arlong's hoarse, weakened roar, Neptune's voice was like the deep call of a whale—low, heavy, and resounding:
"You selfish! Cruel! Arrogant, vain little brat!"
"What Fish-Man wrath? What right do you have to represent an entire race? You have no idea what it truly means to be a leader!" His deep-sea voice was deafening.
"This is our Holy War!" Arlong's eyes were bloodshot, and he spread his arms wide, exposing his muscular chest.
Neptune's fury only grew:
"This is only your war! You imposed your anger and hatred upon innocent people, forcing your fellow fish-men to sacrifice their lives for your own ambition and resentment!"
"Where were you when Fish-Man Island was ravaged by war? Where were you when the humans captured our brothers and sisters? I'll tell you—
You, a pirate, were greedily waiting for the kingdom to feed you!"
"I—!" Arlong tried to argue, but Neptune's words left him speechless.
"You are nothing but a scoundrel who tramples on your own people, using them as pawns under the banner of hatred and so-called holy war!" The King of Ryugu Kingdom gazed coldly at this selfish pirate.
Arlong trembled with rage:
"And you, a traitor who sides with the humans, dare to lecture me?!"
Neptune looked at this pathetic fool, suddenly feeling a sense of boredom:
"Do you realize something? If you and your crew had appeared before Sakazuki today, helping him take down the human traffickers and those scum who enslave our people—
At the very least, it would have shown that you had a shred of conscience, that you understood righteousness.
If that were the case, I would have done everything in my power to protect you from Sakazuki's wrath."
(Sakazuki, you were right. The only way to deal with a festering wound is to cut it open, squeeze out the poison, and cleanse it. Only then can Fish-Man Island begin to heal...) Neptune sighed internally.
Arlong's expression became even more frenzied. Neptune had exposed the ugliest, darkest part of his heart. Even though he did have genuine feelings for his people, at his core, he still clung to a dream of kingship. He needed the fish-men to serve him, to wage war for him.
"Die!" Overcome with shame and rage, Arlong stomped the deck, rapidly closing the distance between himself and Neptune, aiming to sink his shark-like teeth into the old fool's throat!
"Let's put an end to this! Let this twisted hatred be concluded on Fish-Man Island!" Neptune spun his trident overhead, creating a massive vortex.
Guided by the unique techniques of Fish-Man Karate, the moisture in the air rapidly condensed into a colossal spear of water, descending from the sky like a divine lance.
Neptune raised his trident high, like a deity ruling over the seas:
"Trident of the Abyss!"
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