""You want to learn Fish-Man Karate?' Lobster was astonished.
Liam nodded. "Don't judge me by how I look, I actually have a pretty good aptitude. I've fought some Fish-Men, including Jinbe, but no matter what I do, I just can't learn their special martial art that manipulates water. It's really strange!"
"Don't judge you by how you look? What do you even look like?'
Liam and Lobster weren't far apart, and the commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates overheard the conversation. They were instantly speechless.
Someone who had learned Ryuo (Flowing Sakura) from Rayleigh in such a short time was just "don't judge me by how I look"?
He had mastered Rokushiki to perfection, his Life Return was unfathomable, he could even freely expel alcohol from his body, and his recovery ability rivaled that of a Zoan Awakening user, and that was only "pretty good aptitude"?
Lobster said, "You know Jinbe… then you must have met their captain, Tiger."
"You don't like them?" Robin noticed something off about the Fish-Man's mood.
Lobster gave a bitter smile. "Do you know? After Tiger caused chaos in Mary Geoise, the price of male Fish-Men in the slave markets skyrocketed, even higher than female mermaids…"
"That was when he was captured by human traffickers," Herman said flatly. "Bought by the Celestial Dragons for an outrageous price as a substitute for Tiger, and subjected to far more abuse than we ever were."
"Tiger is a hero, not just a hero to Fish-Men, but to the whole world. I should admire him," Lobster sighed heavily. "Hating him is wrong and makes no sense. I've told myself that countless times. But whenever I remember… what I went through in the Celestial Dragons' prison… I just can't stop hating him…"
Herman and Rege, who had also once been slaves of the Celestial Dragons, gently patted his trembling body. Only they truly understood what those sufferings were like, it was a living nightmare.
The robust Fish-Man's body trembled, his eyes reddened, and he rasped, "The fact that I've fallen so low that I would hate a hero… makes me unable to forgive such a despicable version of myself…"
In his ideal self, he should admire a hero like Tiger, even follow in his footsteps. But the hellish reality had tormented him, and the root of that nightmare was the fire Tiger had once set in Mary Geoise…
Gritting his teeth through tears, Lobster said, "I can't go back to Fish-Man Island anymore… Of all people, why did I have to be the one captured and made a slave that day? If none of that had happened, I wouldn't hate myself like this…"
Herman's face darkened. Rege bit her lip, her eyes glistening with tears.
The Whitebeard Pirates fell silent. Marco said, "On this ship, everyone's trash with nowhere to go, scum, garbage, complete wrecks. There are even a few who constantly want to kill themselves and disappear from this world…"
Lobster looked up. Marco smiled. "If you're the kind of people with nowhere to go, then joining this pirate crew fits you perfectly, doesn't it?"
The three of them looked at the Whitebeard Pirates on deck. Everyone was smiling; some clapped and shouted, "From now on, we're family! Hehe…"
Whitebeard took a sip of sake, stretched out his hand, and laughed. "Nowhere to go? Gurararara… what nonsense are you talking about? Aren't you already my sons?"
"Old man Whitebeard…"
Lobster, Herman, and Rege burst into tears.
"Before the Mary Geoise incident…" Giorno's voice came from behind. Lobster heard him continue, "…Fisher Tiger was once a slave of the Celestial Dragons as well."
"…?!"
Lobster tried to hold it in several times, but finally broke down, crying uncontrollably, tears and snot streaming down his face…
…
The atmosphere turned somber for a while, but Lobster soon pulled himself together, wiped his face clean, and returned to stand before his two benefactors, eyes still red.
He sniffed and said hoarsely, "Fish-Men naturally have a talent for manipulating water. Fish-Man Karate is also a martial art only Fish-Men can master. It's normal that a human like you can't learn it…"
Vista said, "Rather, a human trying to learn Fish-Man techniques in the first place is what's strange, isn't it?"
Marco crossed his arms. "Just because you think you have high aptitude, you want to learn everything? Isn't that a bit arrogant, Giorno?"
"It's not that bad," Liam said optimistically, scratching his head. "I've heard of swordsmen who can cut out flames, and I've personally seen masters who can create violent winds with Haki… If humans can wield fire and wind, there's no reason they can't wield water too, right?"
Quite a few of the Whitebeard Pirates nodded. "That actually makes a lot of sense…"
"How does that make any sense?!" Others protested, completely unconvinced.
A commander beside Izo asked curiously, "What's wrong with you?"
Izo said, "Ah, I just remembered a former companion. He had a sword technique that could cut down flames… Thinking about it carefully, that was a long time ago."
'I wonder how Kikunojō is doing now?'
…
In any case, although Liam really wanted Lobster to explain how Fish-Man Karate manipulates water, the Fish-Man racked his brains and still couldn't figure out how to explain it… To him, controlling water flow and influencing sea currents was as instinctive as breathing with lungs on land, using gills underwater, speaking human language to humans, or fish language to fish. How do you explain instinct to someone of another race?
After talking for quite a while, the two finally reached a consensus: better not force it.
"Well, if that's the case, there's nothing we can do."
Although Liam hadn't given up, he didn't push it further for now. "Looks like there's nothing else for me to do here… Oh, right, this is our first time in the New World. Can you give us a Log Pose?"
He looked at the Whitebeard Pirates.
The crew immediately grew serious, especially when his gaze landed on Teach, their expressions turning even more unfriendly.
Marco said, "You've done us a favor. Logically, we should repay you…"
"Repay me?" Liam held a slip of paper between his fingers and grinned. "I've already got my payment."
"That's…" Marco was startled and quickly checked himself. "That's Pops' Vivre Card! When did you… "
"You're allowed to touch me, but I'm not allowed to touch you?" Liam cheerfully pocketed Whitebeard's Vivre Card. "With this, I can come find you guys anytime, right?"
The commanders said irritably, "Find us to what, play?"
"Hey! Giorno, and you…" Marco looked at Liam and Robin with an unfriendly gaze. "Next time we meet, if you still haven't given up on killing Teach, then we'll be enemies!"
"We'll talk about it when the time comes." Liam didn't seem to care. He pointed at his own eyes, then at Teach.
Several commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates almost couldn't hold themselves back from drawing their swords and teaching this arrogant guy a lesson.
'We know you hate Teach, but do you have to say it over and over in front of us?
Does this guy even realize whose ship he's standing on?!'
Teach laughed. "Being targeted by someone this strong, how scary!"
"Marco," Whitebeard said at that moment, "give them a Log Pose."
Since Pops had spoken, Marco could only comply. He handed over his own Log Pose to Liam, who immediately passed it to Robin.
Robin looked down and was surprised to find that this Log Pose device actually had three glass spheres arranged in a triangle. Inside each sphere was a Log Pose needle, all swaying due to fluctuating magnetic forces, each one oscillating at a different intensity…
"You brat, threatening my son's life again and again right in front of me…" Whitebeard drank his sake and glanced toward Liam on the deck. "What exactly are you plotting?"
Liam suddenly pointed in a certain direction out at sea. "That's the direction of the first slash you made yesterday evening…"
"Gurararara…" Whitebeard burst out laughing. "I see, you're doing this for the Marines to see?"
Marco had brought this Giorno kid from Sabaody. With the mind of the Marines, especially Sengoku, they had probably already guessed what was going on. This way, in the Marines' eyes, the relationship between Giorno and the Whitebeard Pirates would seem quite unusual…
"The Marines?" Many of the crew only realized at this moment. "There's actually a battleship over there? We can't see it… Hurry, bring a telescope!"
Most of the commanders remained calm. Even if they hadn't noticed the surveillance, they wouldn't lose composure over a single approaching battleship.
"For something that makes you go out of your way to distance yourself from us…" Whitebeard chuckled, "brat, are you trying to become a Shichibukai?"
(End Of This Chapter)
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