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On the ground, covered in dirt and jagged rock chips, Nami sat like a broken doll. Her hair was disheveled, her clothes stained from being pressed into the dust by the Marines, looking more frail and pitiful than she ever had in eight years.
Goku… he knows? He said he wants to avenge me?
Upon hearing Goku's words, her mouth hung slightly agape, and she froze. The warm afternoon sunlight streamed down, bestowing its golden heat upon her without reservation, yet she felt not a shred of warmth. Instead, a bone-chilling cold swept through her body.
"No… Goku can't be Arlong's opponent, it's impossible… No… He absolutely cannot die here for my sake..." The thought of Arlong's cruel, unblinking face when he murdered Belle-Mere filled her heart with a paralyzing terror.
She scrambled to find her voice, screaming with a face full of panic: "Goku! Run! Don't say such foolish things about avenging me! Just run!"
She desperately hoped he would leave so he could survive. She would stay and stall Arlong; after all, she had nowhere left to go. Goku's serious expression was momentarily stunned by her outburst, and he asked in genuine confusion: "Run? Why should I run?"
"Don't ask questions! I told you to run, so run!" Nami screamed hoarsely. She struggled to stand, intending to physically push him away, but a voice like grinding stones echoed from the park entrance.
"Hahahaha! Trying to run? Too late!"
Arlong emerged from the park, flanked by a large group of Fishmen. He glanced at the Marines lying unconscious in various humiliating poses beneath the wall, a sneer playing on his lips. "Inferior humans are indeed inferior humans—truly, pitifully weak."
He turned his gaze toward Nami and Goku, chuckling mockingly. "I never thought Nami would have a helper. A human child with a tail? Hahahaha! He's certainly not ordinary, no wonder he could take down those useless Marines."
At the sight of the monster who had toyed with her for eight years, Nami's eyes turned bloodshot. The anger in her heart momentarily suppressed her fear. She snatched up her fallen staff and marched toward him. "Arlong! You bastard! How dare you deceive me!"
For eight years, she had held onto a single shred of hope, enduring every hardship to buy her freedom. To realize she was merely a grasshopper he intended to toy with until she died broke something inside her. "Get out of my sight! Get out!" she screamed, pushing Goku hard as she passed him.
But Goku was like a stone pillar rooted to the earth; he didn't budge an inch.
"Nami, don't you believe me?" Goku looked up, his gaze filled with a terrifyingly calm determination. "I said I would avenge you, and I will."
Nami's fury instantly evaporated, her strength failing her. Her nose twitched, and tears spilled over again. "Can… can you really do it, Goku?" she whispered, her voice choked with sobs.
"Leave it to me!" Goku nodded gravely. He strode toward the group of Fishmen, glaring at Arlong. "Hey! You're Arlong, right? How dare you do such a thing to Nami! I'm going to teach you a lesson you'll never forget! I'm avenging Nami!"
Arlong twisted his neck, his mouth full of serrated teeth curving into a grin. "Hahahaha! How interesting. It's been a long time since anyone dared to speak to me like that. You might be special, boy, but you're still just an inferior being compared to a Fishman."
"Enough talk! I'm starting now!" Goku took a martial arts stance, his voice vibrating with anger.
"Brother Arlong, let me handle this punk," a regular Fishman sneered, cracking his knuckles. He stepped forward, eager to see what it felt like to crush a child with a tail. Arlong crossed his arms, waiting for the inevitable—
Bang!
A figure streaked over Arlong's head, smashing heavily into the outer wall and joining the pile of unconscious Marines. Arlong's smile froze. The figure was the Fishman who had just stepped out.
Goku retracted his fist, his voice cold and steady. "He's too weak. All of you come at once!"
Enraged, five or six Fishmen charged forward. "Die, you human brat!"
Goku drew the Ruyi Jingu Bang from his back and lunged into their midst. He was a wolf among sheep, his staff a blur as he swept them away with overwhelming force. Bang! Bang! Bang! One by one, the Fishmen were sent flying, rolling their eyes into the back of their heads before they even hit the ground.
"How dare you harm my brethren..." Arlong's face darkened, his teeth grinding audibly.
"Stop," a tall, burly Fishman commanded, stepping forward. It was Kuroobi, one of the three main officers. "Brother Arlong, leave him to me. I will let him know the price of his arrogance."
Kuroobi strode in front of Goku, looming over him. As a practitioner of Fishman Karate with a rank of 40 Dan, he was the crew's undisputed master of close-quarters combat.
"You're my opponent now?" Goku asked, retracting his staff and taking a fresh stance.
"I will let you feel the true power of the Fishmen," Kuroobi growled, lowering his center of gravity. "Hundred Tile Punch!!"
Boom!!
A powerful shockwave erupted from his palm. The force impacted Goku, carving two deep grooves into the ground behind him. But when the dust settled, Goku simply lowered his arms.
"Now it's my turn!"
Goku vanished and reappeared in an instant directly in front of Kuroobi. "Ya-ha!"
Bang!!!
Goku's small fist buried itself in Kuroobi's muscular abdomen. The officer's eyes bulged, he spat white foam, and his entire body curled up like a cooked shrimp. "You... how is that possible?!" he wheezed, staggering back.
His shock turned to ferocity. "We Fishmen cannot lose to a human! Thousand Tile Punch!!"
He gathered every ounce of his strength for his ultimate technique. A violent shockwave tore through the air, stirring up a whistling wind. But Goku had already read the pattern. He leaped high into the air as the shockwave passed harmlessly beneath him.
What?!
Kuroobi looked up to see a black sole rapidly expanding in his vision.
"Ha!!"
Bang!!!
The flying kick connected with the side of Kuroobi's head, snapping it back and sending several teeth flying. His body followed, hurtling into the forest like a cannonball. He smashed through several large trees before collapsing into a heap, unconscious.
The scene became eerily silent.