Chapter 43: Ah Long, Trampled Underfoot!

"What should we do, Arlong?"

"Yeah, you tell us what to do, and we'll do it!"

Arlong glanced at Hatchan, Chu, Kuroobi, and the others. Pleased by their support, he lowered his voice and gave his orders.

"There are eight of us in total. Hatchan, Chu, Kuroobi—follow me and take on those Marines. Jin, Shio, Ajia, Bishara—split into two groups. Two of you will be responsible for sabotaging the equipment, and two will attack the workers. Remember, move fast, and keep an ear out for my signal. As soon as you hear me shout 'Retreat,' jump into the water and head back to Fish-Man District immediately. Understood?"

In Arlong's view, humans were far too weak; they only occupied most of the world because of their numbers. More importantly, they couldn't breathe underwater. As long as they retreated into the sea, the humans would be powerless.

"Understood!"

Hatchan, Kuroobi, and the other fish-men nodded in unison. They didn't give the danger of this mission a second thought.

It was common knowledge that a fish-man's strength was ten times that of a human, not to mention that these individuals were even stronger than the average fish-man. The only things worth noting were the firearms in the humans' hands and how to evade the Marine pursuit afterward.

Soon, the eight split into two waves. One group silently circled around to the other side of the crowd, preparing for a pincer attack!

At that moment, teams of construction workers were carrying toolboxes and following transport vehicles, moving slowly toward the construction site under the gaze of a large crowd of merfolk and fish-men.

Including the Marines responsible for security, no one expected any accidents. The scene in this mermaid harbor was far too beautiful; some Marine soldiers even inadvertently locked eyes with beautiful mermaid ladies, both sides blushing with embarrassment.

Merfolk were curious about humans, and humans were equally curious about merfolk. As for the fish-men—well, that was more of a sense of morbid curiosity.

"Charge!"

Suddenly, an unexpected turn of events occurred. Four stout black shadows leaped out from the crowds of fish-men on both sides, charging with pure malice toward the vehicles and workers in the center of the road.

"Who goes there!"

"Halt!"

The surrounding Marines were all from Marineford; even if they were slightly relaxed, they weren't incompetent. They immediately raised their rifles or drew their swords in an attempt to intercept the attackers.

Simultaneously, taking advantage of the fact that everyone's attention was focused on Jin and the other three, Arlong, Hatchan, Chu, and Kuroobi struck without hesitation.

*BANG!*

"Aaaah—!"

Almost at the same instant, four Marines were struck heavily. They only had time to let out a single scream before collapsing to the ground—some falling unconscious on the spot, others wailing while clutching their injuries.

"Ah, it's Arlong's crew!"

"Why are they doing this?"

The surrounding merfolk and fish-men cried out in shock. Some who recognized Arlong and his crew showed looks of disgust; these eight had been causing trouble for years and were long regarded as thugs by the citizens of Fish-Man Island.

However, faced with such violent combat, they didn't dare to continue spectating. They quickly scattered; some, fearing they would be caught in the trouble, dove into the water to swim away rapidly.

As a result, the scene became even more chaotic.

In just a single minute, over ten construction workers had been attacked, and an excavator bearing the World Government emblem was overturned by Ajia and Bishara with their bare hands, followed immediately by a punch that shattered its tire.

"Take them down!"

The Marines in the distance noticed the situation and were rushing to provide support. Realizing this, Arlong knocked down four more Marines and let out a roar.

"Retreat!"

The moment the word left his mouth, he turned to make his escape without hesitation, but at that exact moment, the nearby Marines arrived.

A whistling sound rang out.

A stout Marine, roughly 1.8 meters tall, approached. He wore blue trousers like a standard Marine, but his upper body was clad in a tight yellow T-shirt, a white jacket, and a Marine cap.

He closed in on Arlong with high speed, while his right fist, already coiled with power and wearing a cold iron brass knuckle, thrust through the air toward Arlong's face.

"Hmph."

Arlong looked down disdainfully at the small human before him. Although he was only seventeen, his shark species—a sawshark—gave him a height of 2.4 meters, and he was still growing.

Showing no sign of weakness, he swung a fist as large as a bowl directly forward. It collided with the Marine Ensign's brass knuckle mid-air, producing a dull thud. The air at the point of impact rippled as if an explosion had occurred.

"How is this possible!"

Arlong looked in shock at the human Marine, who had only been pushed back four or five meters and appeared largely unchanged after the clash. Since when could human strength rival that of a fish-man?

Ignorant as he was, he had no idea that the claim of fish-men being ten times stronger than humans applied only to the comparison between an average fish-man and an average human. "Average humans" referred to ordinary citizens under 1.8 meters who had received no training.

The Marine before him, though only slightly over 1.8 meters tall, was a genuine Ensign from Headquarters. In the Four Seas, such a person would be a division-level officer. In terms of raw strength alone, he was more than capable of suppressing an ordinary fish-man!

At that moment, the Headquarters Lieutenant twisted his wrist and sneered, "You look pretty big, but your strength is nothing special. Or are you fish-men all starving?"

"You low-class creature, how dare you mock the superior fish-men?"

That single sentence completely enraged Arlong, who charged forward without a second thought.

At this stage of his life, he was at his most impulsive and extreme. Being provoked by someone he considered an inferior being made him think of nothing but how to torture the man to death.

However, he failed to notice that Hatchan, Chu, Kuroobi, and the others were also being tied down by various Headquarters Ensigns and Lieutenants. For a moment, a dozen or more people fought in a blur of afterimages.

Meanwhile, the number of armed Marines surrounding them continued to grow.

Finally, a Marine Major wearing a "Justice" coat arrived. He first glanced at the melee, then inquired about the situation from a soldier.

"Major Hodgson, through speaking with several fish-man citizens, we have identified these eight fish-man thugs as a gang of hooligans from Fish-Man District. They are reportedly extreme racists who view us humans as an inferior race!" the soldier said angrily.

"What? We humans are an inferior race?"

Major Hodgson, a man over two meters tall with reddish-brown hair, found this incredible. He remembered that the fish-man race was once not even considered human, but rather viewed as mere fish.

It was only two hundred years ago that they began to be treated as demi-humans, and even now, many humans had not changed their views.

The Major observed the battle for a few dozen seconds, then shook his head.

While the strength of these commissioned officers was decent, there was almost no chance of capturing these fish-man thugs in a short amount of time. The priority now was to restore order to the construction; if the chaos lasted too long, it would be his failure.

*Whoosh—*

He vanished from his spot instantly. In the next second, he appeared right before Arlong's eyes. Arlong felt his vision go dark, and before he could react, a heavy downward kick slammed into his skull.

With a loud *thud*, Arlong hit the ground face-first. Due to the immense force, he nearly blacked out, feeling dizzy and in intense pain.

Just then, a polished black leather boot stepped onto his head.

"Hey, this is your leader, isn't it?" Major Hodgson said, stepping on Arlong while addressing Hatchan, Kuroobi, and the others.

The others instinctively turned to look, and they stopped fighting in shock.

"Arlong!!"