"Thanks?"
Hearing these two words, the entire Arlong Pirates froze for a moment.
Then, they looked at each other — and burst into loud laughter.
"Oi! This brat really thinks we're praising him!"
"No wonder he's so naive. Chopping down a few trees, and he thinks he can block the road!"
A salmon fishman named Salt-Grill stepped forward, impatiently reaching out to grab Shano's arm.
"Enough, kid, move aside. We don't have time to play house with you..."
Hmm?
Salt-Grill looked down, dumbfounded, at his own hand.
What's going on? He couldn't move him?
He was the banquet minister of the Arlong Pirates, after all! A cadre!
Just a mere human — with his strength, how could it be possible!
"Get the hell out of the way—!"
Unwilling to believe it, Salt-Grill squeezed out a low growl from his throat, step by step increasing his strength.
In the end, he even used both hands, turned his back, and pushed hard with his shoulder.
He pushed until his eyes were bloodshot and veins bulged on his forehead — but the other side still didn't budge, like his feet had taken root in the ground.
"What the hell, Salt-Grill?"
"That little strength, and you still call yourself a cadre?"
"Are you putting on a one-man show?"
The fishmen around laughed and jeered.
In fact, Salt-Grill's banquet minister title wasn't all that prestigious — his position was only slightly above that of an ordinary fishman.
"Shut up, all of you!"
Suddenly, Kuroobi shouted.
The surroundings fell silent instantly.
"You bunch of idiots. Can't you see? It's not Salt-Grill's problem. It's that this human kid isn't simple!"
Within the Arlong Pirates, Kuroobi's authority was second only to Arlong, equal to that of a vice-captain.
Hearing this, the other fishmen started sizing up Shano, their expressions turning wary and uncertain.
"Step back, Salt-Grill. You really can't do anything to this kid."
Kuroobi twisted his neck, slammed his fists together, and said coldly,
"Looks like my luck isn't so bad. In a small village like this, I can still meet a guy qualified to be my opponent. Come, let me see how much you're worth!"
"Is that so? Too bad,"
Shano smiled, looking at him,
"In my eyes, you're not even qualified."
"Why don't you just let that purple-skinned little shark behind you come up instead?"
Purple-skinned little shark?
The fishmen froze, then instinctively looked back.
Noticing that Arlong's face had suddenly turned grim, they quickly realized — this guy was crazy enough to call their boss a little shark.
"Sha ha ha ha—"
Arlong let out a chilling laugh.
"Oi, Kuroobi. You heard what this brat said, right?"
"Don't you dare disrespect Lord Arlong!"
Kuroobi roared with rage, stomping a few steps forward.
"And you! Little bastard! I gave you some respect, and you dare look down on me?! Don't get cocky!
I'm a master of Fishman Karate, 40th Dan!"
"Karate?"
Shano tilted his head in confusion, as if he heard the word for the first time.
"What's that?"
Kuroobi's face twisted in anger, about to explode — when suddenly, he caught sight of something.
Two bloody severed hands had somehow appeared on the ground.
A sharp pain immediately shot through his nerves.
Only then did he realize something was wrong — trembling, he raised his arms —
Only to find that above his elbows, there was nothing left...
W-When did this happen?!
The fishmen around were dead silent.
Many of them had been watching closely — but none of them had seen how that black-haired human made a move.
Standing at the very back, Arlong's pupils suddenly shrank.
His expression grew even darker.
He had seen it clearly — that kid had twisted off Kuroobi's arms in just an instant.
And without using any weapons — purely with his bare hands!
This was the East Blue!
How could there be such a terrifying guy here?!
At that moment —
As Kuroobi stared in horror, Shano finally stood up slowly, stretching his neck a little, and started walking towards the fishmen step by step.
With every step he took forward, Kuroobi trembled and stepped back.
When Shano stepped a little faster, Kuroobi retreated even more frantically — he even stumbled and nearly fell.
This so-called martial artist fishman cadre —
was so terrified by what had just happened that he had completely lost the courage to face Shano.
"Why are you running?"
Shano asked softly,
"I'm asking you — why are you running?"
"You, you, you you you..."
Kuroobi screamed, crawling and rolling backward, leaving a trail of blood behind him.
"Stay away! Stop! Don't come any closer!!!"
"Fishman Karate, 40th Dan?"
Shano really did stop walking, slightly shaking his head,
"That's way too many. When I eat fish, I usually only need to cut it into two pieces."
Swoosh!
The moment his voice fell, Shano's figure suddenly disappeared from where he stood.
In the next instant, he appeared right in front of Kuroobi, easily lifting him above his head.
Then, he raised his head, looking up at the muscular fishman struggling frantically — and grinned viciously.
His hands grabbed Kuroobi's waist and neck — and pulled violently in opposite directions!
"Kuroobi!"
Arlong's face changed drastically.
He lifted his foot, trying to rush forward.
But — he was a step too late.
Rip——!
"NO!!!"
Arlong's roar exploded at the same time as the sound of flesh and blood tearing apart.
Kuroobi's body was torn into two halves in midair.
Dark blue intestines, mixed with a huge spray of blood, splattered across the muddy village road.
Some of the internal organs even flew into the faces of nearby fishmen.
They froze in place, staring at the meat chunks hanging from their noses —
smelling that familiar yet alien scent of blood —
"Urgh—!"
One after another, they bent over and vomited madly.
Shano remained expressionless.
As if throwing away trash, he casually tossed Kuroobi's head and torso to both sides.
Then, lifting his head again, he calmly looked toward Arlong in the distance.
"Despicable human... disgusting human..."
Arlong stared at him, bloodshot eyes filled with hatred, squeezing the words out between gritted teeth,
"Trash at the very bottom...
Daring to kill my fellow fishman right in front of me!!"
Clang!
Arlong drew his giant saw-blade sword from his waist with a fierce swing, roaring:
"Everyone!
Charge with me — KILL HIM!!!"
"Yes, Lord Arlong!"
The kissing fishman Chu nodded heavily, rallying the fishmen around him and charging forward.
Arlong also gripped his sword tightly, his face grim, following right behind.
"Choo will avenge Kuroobi!"
The six-sword-style octopus swordsman threw away his sake gourd, rushing at the front.
Tears streaming down his face, he cried out,
"Kuroobi was a good man!
He was good to Choo!
Good to all the fishman brothers!
You beast — why did you kill him?!"
Swoosh swoosh!
Six heavy swords slashed at Shano from different angles.
Shano didn't dodge.
He simply caught two swords with each hand.
The other four swords hacked at his neck — but only produced the sound of metal clanging against metal,
leaving behind faint white marks, unable to cut through his skin.
Without reaching the realm of a Swordmaster, you think you can hurt me?
Shano sneered coldly.
Then, he suddenly exerted force with his palms, gripping the octopus's two arms tightly — and smashed a vicious knee strike into Choo's abdomen!
Boom!
The octopus fishman was sent flying high into the air, letting out a miserable scream of pain.
But Shano didn't let up.
He flashed upward using Geppo (Moonwalk), instantly appearing above the airborne Choo.
"You asked why I killed him?"
"When you stormed onto my homeland with such arrogance —
did you ever think you could die too?
And now you dare ask me that?"
Shano grabbed Choo by the throat, watching him struggle desperately from suffocation.
Grinning, he spoke again:
"Don't you think it's funny?"
A chilling light filled his eyes.
Ignoring the six frantic tentacles whipping at him, Shano kept squeezing tighter.
"Ugh, ugh..."
The octopus fishman's face turned red, then purple, veins bulging at his temples, his eyes rolling back.
At the exact moment they landed —
Shano ripped out Choo's head, spine attached, from his body!
A fountain of blood sprayed out, splattering directly onto Arlong's face as he rushed forward.
The headless corpse wasn't wasted either —
Shano grabbed it and used it like a giant flail, swinging it hard and smashing three or four fishmen nearby flying, carving deep trenches into the ground.
"Ch-Choo...?"
Arlong froze, staring blankly at the scene.
His body trembled violently, the rage inside him reaching its limit.
"You damn—"
Arlong, his eyes blood-red, snapped his head up —
only to see the terrifying muscular figure hurtling toward him at lightning speed.
Their eyes met —
and Shano grinned savagely.
He spread his arms wide — and slammed them inward like swatting a mosquito, aiming straight at Arlong's face!