Hyozou could feel everyone's eyes on him, as though all were piercing into his back, questioning him silently.
Weren't you the one who always dismissed Hatchan as nothing?
So why are you in such a sorry state now?
Lifting his gaze, Hyozou met only Hatchan's wide-eyed, clueless expression. Shame and fury twisted into envy, which ignited into madness. He lunged like a demon.
"Die already!"
His Seven-Sword Style, hair turned white, had lost its form—but its ferocity remained terrifying.
Yet Hatchan, calmer than before, blocked the onslaught cleanly and struck back when the chance arose, severing two more of Hyozou's tentacles.
But Hyozou was lost to frenzy, heedless of pain, hacking away wildly.
Steel clashed again and again, until finally, when he swung once more—no sound followed.
Startled, he glanced down.
Unknowingly, every one of his tentacles had already been cut away, his entire body drenched in blood like a man-shaped wound.
"Never thought I'd see the day I could beat you."
Hatchan muttered softly, then drove his crimson blade into Hyozou's chest and gave it a twist.
Hyozou's eyes bulged as blood spurted from his torso.
When Hatchan pulled the blade free, Hyozou floated belly-up, lifeless.
The onlookers—both the New Fishman Pirates and the citizens of Fishman Island—were dumbstruck.
None of them had imagined such an outcome: Hyozou, defeated.
Since when had Hatchan grown so strong?
Hody, more than anyone, was shaken. He had given Hyozou the Energy Steroid. Hyozou had taken it. And still—he lost. Why?
Neither Captain Arlong nor the East Blue should have been enough to sharpen Hatchan to this degree…
Could it be… Davy Jones's doing?
Hody felt things slipping from his grasp, but with every eye fixed on him, retreat was impossible. If he backed down now, his image of strength would never recover. Everyone would remember his weakness.
No—at any cost, they had to seize this fortress and slaughter the Davy Jones Pirates!
His resolve hardened, Hody raised his crimson trident and roared:
"Attack! Leave no one alive!"
The officers of the New Fishman Pirates understood immediately. One after another, they nodded, reached into their robes, and tossed Energy Steroid pills into their mouths.
Vander Decken was still reeling from Hyozou's death when he noticed the strange behavior around him.
He frowned—then heard their battle cries, feverish with zeal:
"Down with Davy Jones! Down with the villain! Avenge the princes!"
Their eyes gleamed savagely. Their very frames seemed to swell with power.
Spurring their sea beasts, the officers led tens of thousands of fishmen in a ferocious charge, like wolves and tigers unleashed!
Even Hatchan sensed something amiss. He scrambled back onto his sea cow, wheeled around, and hurried back into the Fang Fortress of the Waterless Zone.
"You didn't persuade them to stop?" Kuro adjusted his glasses with a faint smile. "Or are you saying they're here to surrender to us?"
"They're not here to surrender—they want to kill us!" Hatchan, oblivious to the sarcasm, said urgently. "I couldn't talk them down, and I killed Babanuki—now it's a fight to the death."
"So not only did you fail to reconcile, you managed to earn us even greater hatred?"
"Uh… I guess so."
Kuro shook his head. Facing the horde pouring through the shattered barrier, he showed no fear—only amusement.
Nearby, Alvida hefted down her spiked club from her shoulder and said:
"Captain Davy Jones's words were, 'Get rid of them.' Which means we can do whatever we want—as long as they don't disturb him."
The New Fishman Pirates galloped forward, slowed only slightly by the waterless terrain, still driving hard at their enemies.
The officers led the charge, blades and weapons flashing, aiming for the Davy Jones crew.
And yet—their foes, mostly humans, did not panic. They simply waited.
Why? Were they not afraid?
Dosun raised his great hammer, intent on smashing the delicate-looking black-haired beauty before him into pulp.
But Alvida's iron club met the blow, stopping it cold.
Dosun blinked, stunned—just in time to see her other hand clamp around his hammer.
The massive weapon seemed to melt under her grip, warping inward. His hands slipped uselessly from the handle as though it were a wriggling eel.
"What—?!"
Before the hammer even struck the ground, Alvida's club crashed into Dosun's face, caving it into a bloody, inverted triangle.
Dosun tumbled from his sea beast, lifeless.
"Dosun!"
Daruma, small and furious, leapt from his mount, jaws gaping wide.
But before he could act, a blade flashed—and his head rolled to the ground.
His eyes still blinked in bewilderment as the surgeon in the spotted hat, Law, walked past.
What happened? Daruma couldn't grasp it.
Didn't we take the Energy Steroid? Shouldn't we be faster, stronger? Humans shouldn't be able to fight us! They should be wiped out in an instant!
Sideways, he glimpsed more and more of his comrades falling.
Dosun's head shattered. Ikaros bled from dozens of holes, all eight arms severed. Hammond lay mangled, his spine broken, his face unrecognizable.
One after another, his companions stared wide-eyed in terror as they collapsed, their blood soaking the sand.
Then Crocodile's boot pressed down on Daruma's head, and with a crunch, it burst.
A golden hook lashed out casually, dragging the camouflaged Zeo into view.
"Weak enemies…" Crocodile murmured around his cigar. Without giving Zeo a chance to speak or strike, he drained him dry, leaving the body shriveled on the ground.
By the time Hody and Vander Decken entered the Waterless Zone, the New Fishman Pirates had already collapsed in front of the Davy Jones crew.
In less time than it had taken Hyozou to die, every officer lay defeated.
The remaining fishmen and sea beasts fared no better—slain, or pierced by drifting white phantoms until they slumped to the ground, will to fight extinguished. Their army was all but annihilated.
What had happened?
Hody could not understand. His carefully raised New Fishman Pirates, his officers empowered by Energy Steroids—why had they fallen to this group of humans without even striking back?
The crushing defeat tore his pride to shreds. He dared not even turn to see the faces of Fishman Island's citizens. Just imagining it contorted his features with rage.
"Back to the sea!" Vander Decken urged. "Several of them are Devil Fruit users—here we can't beat them! Retreat, now!"
He had Wadatsumi scoop him into a bubble and bounded into the ocean.
Hody knew it was true—the sea was the fishmen's greatest advantage.
The Energy Steroids had deceived him into believing fishmen could still dominate even on land. Now he knew how wrong he had been.
He plunged into the cold embrace of the sea, regaining a shred of pride. But to admit that fishmen were weaker than humans on land—that was worse than death.
Snarling, he reached into his robes, grabbed a fistful of pills, and swallowed them all.
"What is that drug…?" Vander Decken began to ask—only to recoil as Hody snapped his head around, his pupils now vertical slits, his gaze blood-red.
"You—you—you—!"
Hody's arm shot out like lightning, clamping Vander Decken's skull in his grip. His voice was low and menacing:
"Vander Decken, you and Wadatsumi behave, or I'll crush your head."
Vander Decken, convinced he would, nodded frantically.
"You've touched Davy Jones before. Your left hand—besides your severed right arm—has it touched him?"
"Y-yes…" Vander Decken stammered, recalling. "When he broke my right arm, I touched him with my left."
"Good." Hody yanked him closer so he could hear every word. "Then throw me to him."
"What?!"
"Your power can do it, can't it? Don't tell me that just because your left hand touched your right, you locked the target onto yourself?"
"N-no, the target is indeed Davy Jones, but you—"
"Do it!"
Before Vander Decken's eyes, Hody's hair blanched white, his gaze burned scarlet.
"Tonight, the only way to turn this around is to kill their captain. Otherwise I'll lose everything—my name, my power, all of it!"
His fingers tightened.
Terrified of the madman before him, Vander Decken dared not refuse. He nodded quickly.
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