"Shahahaha…"
A grating laugh sounded as Arlong strode forward, his cruel eyes fixed on Ryoma.
"So, a Devil-Fruit user. No wonder you're so cocky standing alone—foolish confidence."
He thought he'd seen through Ryoma, only a rare Devil Fruit could explain such a power.
"But so what if you're a devil fruit user?" Arlong bared his razor teeth in a savage grin.
"Before a fish-man's strength that is ten times that of a human, every trick is useless."
"I'll let a lowly human like you witness the true might of the superior Fish-Men!"
Before the words left his mouth, he exploded forward. His jagged, saw-like nose carved a lethal arc through the air as he shot straight for Ryoma's heart.
Shark on Darts!
It was his proudest move, combining a Fish-Man's explosive power with the unique traits of his race—strong enough to punch through a warship's steel armor.
Clang!
A metallic boom rang out.
Arlong's unstoppable nose struck the empty air in front of Ryoma and simply stopped dead. A rebound far more terrifying than his own charge surged back through his nose and into his body.
Arlong felt as though a giant hammer had smashed his skull. Stars burst across his vision, and he was hurled backward, tumbling across the ground before sprawling to a stop.
"Arlong!"
Every Fish-Man cried out in horror.
If the first time was an accident and the second a fluke, then seeing Arlong flicked aside so easily could only mean one thing. This human possessed a strength they could not even begin to understand.
A chill spread from the depths of every Fish-Man's heart as the air around them began to plunge in temperature at an unnatural rate. Moisture in the air condensed into visible ice crystals, and a film of frost raced across the solid ground of the harbor.
"That's enough, time to finish this."
Ryoma's calm words sounded like the sentence of death in every Fish-Man's ears.
The instant he spoke, countless glittering ice spikes burst from the thin frost, growing in savage profusion and turning the entire port into a jagged forest of ice.
Chew and Kuroobi, who had just scrambled back to their feet, roared in fury at the sight of Arlong sent flying and charged again. Ryoma didn't even glance their way.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Two of the thickest ice spears shot up like living things, faster than sound, leaving twin white shockwaves in their wake.
"Kuroobi! Chew!"
Arlong, still rising from the ground, saw this and screamed until his eyes bled crimson.
He lunged to save them but he was a heartbeat too late.
Thud! Thud!
The sound of blades piercing flesh rang out in quick succession.
Chew and Kuroobi froze mid-charge. They stared in disbelief at the crystal-clear ice spears skewering their chests, still steaming with warm blood.
Freezing cold poured through the wounds. Frost veiled their faces, and life drained away in seconds.
The next instant, the spears exploded outward into countless smaller spikes that whipped and tore through their bodies.
With a ghastly crunch, the two officers of the Arlong Pirates were frozen, shredded, and scattered across the ground as blood-spattered chunks of ice.
"Aaaaargh!"
Arlong threw his head back in a bestial howl, his bloodshot eyes locked on Ryoma, filled with bottomless hatred—and a fear he himself barely recognized.
"Filthy human... scum of the earth... and you're a Logia user!"
He ground out every word through clenched teeth.
"How dare you... how dare you kill my brothers!"
Survival instinct and searing hatred combined to give him a single, clear order.
"Everyone—into the sea! We're invincible in the water!"
He barked the command, ready to lead the survivors into their home element, counting on the ocean to counter this troublesome Devil-Fruit user.
The surviving Fish-Men, jolted awake, spun and sprinted for the harbor's surface in a frenzy of terror and rage. But the moment they turned, every one of them skidded to a halt.
Including Arlong, every face twisted into an expression of absurdity, shock and final despair.
The blue bay behind them had vanished. In its place stretched an endless plain of ice.
The giant pirate ship, Shark Superb, stood frozen fast within the thick glacier, locked and lifeless.
As far as the eye could see, the sea had become a glittering, jagged sheet of ice reaching clear to the horizon.
Their escape route was gone—utterly severed.
Ryoma looked at their stunned faces, his voice clearly reaching every despairing Fish-Man.
"If you'd all jumped into the sea, that would've been a real pain."
That sentence shattered Arlong's last delusion.
His saw-toothed, long-snouted face twisted in rage and unwillingness, yet he hadn't completely given up.
Survival instinct overrode everything. Roaring, he still led his remaining crew toward the harbor-turned-icefield.
Escaping farther was impossible, but the ice beneath them couldn't be bottomless.
A final, frantic thought surfaced: if they could just crack this sheet and dive back into the sea, they could still fight.
Ryoma seemed to read their minds, the corners of his lips lifting in playful amusement, yet he made no move to stop them. He slid his hands back into his pockets and sauntered after them, savoring these self-proclaimed "superior" creatures struggling in the doom he'd crafted.
Only by granting hope before ruthlessly crushing it could the deepest agony and despair be born.
"All of you! Smash this cursed ice open!"
Arlong bellowed, swinging his massive saw-blade down first.
Clang!
Shards scattered, yet the hard sheet showed only a faint white scratch.
The other Fish-Men followed, punching, striking with weapons, pummeling the ice with their prideful brute strength.
For a while the icefield echoed with dull impacts and the Fish-Men's heavy panting. But the ice proved tougher than imagined, every assault merely chipped off splinters.
"Outta my way!"
The last officer, Hatchan, gripped six long blades.
Hatchan channeled all his strength. The six blades struck the exact spot Arlong had hit, at a tricky angle.
This time, the result was obvious.
Crack!
A crisp crack rang out.
The tenacious ice finally yielded, a clear fissure spreading from the impact point.
"It worked! It cracked!"
"Great! A bit more and we're through!"
At the sight of that fracture, every Fish-Man's face lit with wild joy and hope of survival rekindled.
Arlong felt a surge of energy and was about to rally them for a final, combined strike.
Then, right before their ecstatic eyes, the spreading crack sealed itself at visible speed.
In the blink of an eye, the fissure vanished, as if everything had been an illusion.
"H-how…?"
A Fish-Man stammered, his delight freezing into shock.
"The… the ice healed itself?"
Tap... Tap...
Crisp footsteps cut through the dead silence, each tread striking the Fish-Men's taut nerves.
Ryoma strolled over, a lazy smile on his face. He even leaned forward theatrically to inspect the flawless ice.
"Keep at it. You were so close."
He offered the encouragement softly, then tilted his head in feigned puzzlement.
"Aren't you the superior race? Why can't you even break a bit of ice?"
That off-hand mockery ignited the last shred of Arlong's sanity.
Humiliation at being toyed with and hatred for his fallen kin drowned him, hurling him into pure madness.
"Aaaaargh! Human scum!"
Abandoning the ice, Arlong channeled all his fury at the youth who had shamed him.
"Even if I die, I'll drag you to hell with me!"
Shark on Darts!
Arlong shot forward like a gray torpedo, his saw-nose ripping the air, bent on mutual destruction.
The strike, fueled by every ounce of his strength and rage, halted three feet from Ryoma, blocked by a thick sheet of ice that appeared from nowhere.
Clang!
An even harsher clang sounded.
Arlong's prized saw-nose snapped. Broken teeth mixed with blood flew out, only to regrow instantly through his power.
Ryoma clapped lightly, bored by the frantic display. "Amusing. You step into my domain and still try to attack me?"
Before the words faded, the ice beneath Arlong erupted. Countless savage ice-thorns sprouted and interwove into a solid bramble-prison, pinning him in place.
"Human… you lowly creature… why! Why do you wield such power!"
Arlong thrashed and howled within the ice-cage, every muscle straining, unable to budge the thorns.
"Arlong!"
Seeing him trapped and the slaughter of his kin caused Hatchan to snap.
For the first time, ferocious killing intent twisted the simpleton's face. Six arms whirling blades, he charged Ryoma in a whirlwind of steel.
He sought to weave an impenetrable web of blades, carving even a single opening for his captain.