Chapter 143: The Arlong Pirates

Two days passed in a hurry.

Orange Town is not large, but the Buggy Pirates and Luffy did not encounter each other.

Both sides intentionally avoided one another, not wanting the other to interfere with their plans to complete their Contract Tasks.

On the sea, in the shallow waters very close to Orange Town.

Several pirate ships collided with each other, as the Contract Tasks had made the others their targets.

A fierce battle broke out.

"Eat this, Silver Light Falling Blade!"

A pirate with muscles bulging all over his body leaped high into the air, holding a Novice Iron Sword that looked like a toothpick, and descended toward the pirate ship opposite him.

Bang.

The vibrating shockwave shattered the deck of the pirate ship directly, and countless pirates fell into the hold.

Inside the hold were self-destructing robots flashing with red light.

After obtaining the Contract Fruit, the captain of the Blood Axe Pirates had already thrown away that heavy, giant axe and become an expert in controlling machinery.

The self-destructing robot was the ability he gained after completing his Contract Task.

Boom.

The Blood Axe pirate ship exploded, sinking into the sea along with his former crew members.

He leaped over to the pirate ship of the Swordsman who had just performed the Silver Light Falling Blade, his gaze cold as he said, "From now on, I am the captain of this ship. You have no objections, right?"

"Captain!"

The Swordsman captain had been blown to death, so they naturally obeyed obediently; no one thought of avenging the captain.

More and more pirates began to touch the power of the Samsara Game and began to pursue Contract Tasks, seeking to clear the tasks and become permanent Reincarnation Game Players.

At this moment,

A massive warship slowly sailed over.

"Who is it?"

The Blood Axe captain, who had just obtained a new ship, looked at the somewhat familiar saw-toothed bow.

A tall figure with purple skin and a sharp, saw-like nose stood at the bow, looking at the Blood Axe captain with a ferocious grin on his face.

"They are... the Arlong Pirates?"

Pirates who lived by the blade naturally knew the names of some pirates in the East Blue.

When they saw the skull flag of the pirate crew clearly and confirmed it was the Arlong Pirates, everyone could not help but chatter their teeth.

"Arlong... it's the fish-man Arlong!"

"Help, wasn't it said that the Arlong Pirates were all in the Oikot Kingdom and wouldn't easily go out to sea? How could they..."

"It must also be because of the Contract Fruit!"

The human pirates were filled with terror, as if they had already been scared out of their wits by the Arlong Pirates.

In the entire East Blue,

Not counting the East Blue Rear Admiral who had already reached the Grand Line, the Golden Armor Krieg, the one with the most resounding reputation was likely the Arlong Pirates.

Every member was a fish-man, possessing immense strength far beyond ordinary humans, as well as the ability to breathe and fight underwater; the captain, Arlong, was even a great pirate with a bounty of twenty million.

The Arlong Pirates did not often go out to sea, yet they maintained a fearsome reputation precisely because of their cruel combat methods.

Usually, when pirates or Elites were defeated, their lives could be spared, and the losers would be absorbed into the victorious pirate crew.

But the Arlong Pirates did not follow this pirate rule; as long as they were human, they killed them all, leaving no survivors at all.

That is why the nearby pirates were so terrified.

"The Arlong Pirates, is it?"

A bead of cold sweat slid down Blood Axe's forehead, but he quickly adjusted his mindset and said, "Even if they are fish-men, they absolutely cannot withstand my self-destructing chasers."

His heart gradually calmed, and a cold sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth.

His Contract Task had been completed to the final step, and the 【RX-78 Zhuijizhe】 had already been upgraded to Lv. 3, capable of blowing up a small pirate ship in an instant.

Fish-men?

With skin that didn't even dare to be exposed to the sun for too long, they simply could not withstand the scorching of explosive flames.

The two ships gradually approached, and the hearts of the human pirates rose to their throats; they lowered their heads in fear, not daring to look directly at the Arlong Pirates.

"Inferior humans!"

Arlong glanced at the Blood Axe captain with disdain and let out a sneer.

The Blood Axe captain's expression was icy; when the two ships were at their closest, he jumped onto the railing of the Arlong pirate ship and released his skill directly.

A robot with a rotating red spring appeared, its fuse burning like a candle on its head, and it lunged toward the fish-man Arlong standing at the very front.

Boom.

A violent explosion sounded.

But there were no flames; the explosive flames were completely pinched by Arlong's hands, and his purple palms were only slightly charred, with no other injuries.

"How is that possible!?"

"How is it impossible?"

Arlong grinned ferociously, suddenly charging over like a torpedo, grabbing the Blood Axe captain by the neck, and mocking, "Stupid human, did you really think you were the only one who obtained the reward for a Contract Task?"

His arm was gradually covered in a grayish-black color, looking like hard granite.

【Rock Skin】.

It could provide extremely strong defensive capabilities, even stronger than the iron teeth Arlong prided himself on.

At the beginning,

The Arlong Pirates hadn't noticed these contracts that resembled Devil Fruits; it was only after several riots occurred in succession in the villages under their control that the Contract Fruits were noticed by them.

Following the guidance of the Contract Task, he arrived at Orange Town in the Fengqin Qundao.

【Task completed, rewards have been distributed】

As Captain Blood Axe's throat was crushed, Arlong also received the reward for the Contract Task.

The arm covered in rock skin grew increasingly lustrous in color.

"Only one last task remains; as long as I can become a player of the Samsara Game, in the future, even all the humans of the East Blue will have to submit to the rule of the Fish-men!"

Splash.

The Fish-man officers jumped into the sea one after another, and after clearing out the Pirates who hadn't managed to escape, they continued toward the next task location, Orange Town.

"So strong!"

With the sword hilt in his teeth, Zoro spat out a blurred, indistinct sound.

The massive Sea King, the Lord of the Coast, had its raised fish head crash down onto the sea surface, splashing up a salty, bloody rain of seawater.

Behind Zoro,

was a hazy, indistinct black Shadow that looked like smoke.

One could vaguely discern the outline of the black Shadow; it had a ferocious face and looked like a ghost god that had crawled out of the Underworld.

This was the skill effect of 【Ghost Qi Affinity】.

To have affinity with Ghost Qi means to be close to ghost gods and to control the power of ghost gods.

This was the fourth Sea King he had hacked to death; Ghost Qi Affinity had already upgraded to Lv. 4, and it only needed a little more experience and proficiency to break through the bottleneck, allowing Ghost Qi Affinity to summon a solid ghost god instead of just a Shadow.

Zoro's spirit, will, and soul were all leaning toward the power of the ghost god.

This power originated from some Swordsmen on the Arad Continent who actively summoned ghost gods, not suppressing them, but accepting and controlling them to the greatest extent.

"What a powerful ghost god."

As the smoky Shadow behind him dissipated, Zoro swam back to the shore, panting.

His physical exertion was not great, but after summoning the ghost god Shadow, that wave of crazy and tyrannical mental impact nearly caused him, who had never trained his mental power, to lose himself in it and be unable to pull away.

He could feel that,

that mass of Shadow was an extremely powerful ghost god, and it was willing to respond to the summons only because it regarded him as prey.

Zoro felt no fear, but instead revealed a smile full of oppressive force, muttering to himself: "That's perfect, let me see exactly who will be Dan!"

(End of this chapter)