Chapter 43: Don't You Think That's Very Funny?

"Thank you?"

Hearing these two words, the entire Arlong Pirates crew froze for a moment.

Immediately, they looked at each other and burst into loud laughter.

"Hey! This kid actually thinks we're praising him!"

"No wonder he's so naive; he chopped down a mere few trees and thinks he can block the road!"

A salmon fish-man named Shiokaki stepped forward, impatiently reaching out to yank Siano's arm. "Enough, brat. Get out of our way. We don't have time to play house with you here..."

Hm?

Shiokaki stared blankly down at his own hand. What was going on? He couldn't pull him?

He was the Banquet Minister of the Arlong Pirates, an officer, for heaven's sake! Merely a human; with his strength, how was this possible!

"Get up for Laozi—!"

Refusing to believe it, Shiokaki squeezed a low growl from his throat, increasing his force step by step.

Finally, he used both hands, turned his back, and pushed hard with his shoulder to lift, straining until his eyes were bloodshot and the veins on his forehead bulged, yet the other party remained motionless, as if rooted to the spot.

"What's going on, Shiokaki?"

"With such little strength, you still have the nerve to call yourself an officer?"

"Are you putting on a one-man show?"

The surrounding fish-men mocked him one after another; indeed, this Banquet Minister Shiokaki truly lacked substance, his status on the ship only slightly higher than that of an ordinary fish-man.

"Shut up, all of you!"

Kuroobi suddenly shouted, silencing the crowd instantly. "You fools, can't you see? It's not Shiokaki's problem; this human brat is not simple!"

Within the Arlong Pirates, his prestige was second only to Arlong, his status equivalent to that of a vice-captain.

Hearing him say this, the other fish-men began sizing Siano up from head to toe, their expressions turning wary and uncertain.

"Step back, Shiokaki. You truly have no way to deal with this brat."

Kuroobi cracked his neck, bumped his fists together, and said indifferently, "It seems my luck isn't too bad; even in such a small village, I can still encounter someone qualified to be my opponent. Come on, let me see just how much weight you carry, brat!"

"Is that so? Unfortunately, in my view, you aren't yet qualified."

Siano looked at him, suddenly smiling. "How about this: just let that little purple-skinned shark behind you come up instead."

The little purple-skinned shark?

The fish-men paused, instinctively turning their heads to look back.

Only after noticing Arlong's face suddenly turn gloomy did they wake up to the fact that this guy was audacious enough to be talking about their own boss.

"Sha-ha-ha-ha—" Arlong laughed, his smile not reaching his eyes. "Hey, Kuroobi, you heard what this brat just said, didn't you?"

"Do not show disrespect to my lord Arlong!"

Kuroobi flew into a rage, stomping forward several steps. "Furthermore, you stinking brat, I gave you face, yet you dare look down on me? Stop being so arrogant! I am a master of Fish-Man Karate at the 40th Dan!"

"Karate?"

Siano tilted his head in confusion, as if hearing the term for the first time. "What hand?"

Kuroobi's gaze turned ferocious, and he was about to explode in anger when suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted two bloody severed hands that had appeared on the ground at some point.

A piercing, heart-rending pain suddenly surged through him.

Only then did he realize what had happened; trembling, he raised his arms, discovering in horror that only the parts above his elbows remained...

Wh-when did this happen?

The fish-men around them instantly fell into a deathly silence.

Many fish-men stared wide-eyed; they had been watching the whole time, yet none had seen when this black-haired human had struck.

Standing at the very back, Arlong's pupils contracted sharply, his expression growing even colder.

He, however, had seen clearly; that brat had twisted Kuroobi's hands off in a mere instant.

And he hadn't used any weapon; he had torn them off bare-handed!

This was clearly just the East Blue; how could there be such a troublesome character here?

And at this very moment.

Under Kuroobi's panicked gaze, Siano finally rose slowly, slightly stretched his neck, and calmly walked toward the fish-men step by step.

For every step he took forward, Kuroobi trembled and took a step back.

If he took a slightly larger step, Kuroobi retreated even faster, even stumbling once and nearly falling.

This hardline fish-man officer, who had always called himself a martial artist, had been frightened out of his wits by the previous scene, lacking even the courage to face Siano directly.

"Why are you running?"

Siano asked softly, "Let me ask you, why are you running?"

"Y-you, y-you, y-y-y-you..."

Kuroobi screamed, scrambling backward on the ground, leaving a trail of blood. "Don't come over! Stop, stop! Don't come near me!!!"

"Fish-Man Karate 40th Dan?"

Siano actually stopped in his tracks, shaking his head slightly. "Too many segments; when I eat fish, I never need more than two segments!"

Whoosh!

The instant the words left his mouth, Siano's figure vanished from the spot, and in the next breath, he appeared before Kuroobi, easily lifting him over his head.

Then, looking up at the sturdy fish-man struggling desperately above him, he bared his teeth in a ferocious grin, gripping the opponent's waist and neck with each hand, and forcefully ripped them in opposite directions!

"Kuroobi!"

Arlong's expression changed drastically; he moved his foot, intending to rush over and save him.

But, ultimately, he was one step too late.

Riiip—!

"No!!!"

Arlong's roar exploded simultaneously with the sound of splashing flesh and blood.

Kuroobi's body split in two mid-air, dark blue intestines mixing with gushing fresh blood to splash across this rural dirt road.

Some internal organs flew sideways, landing squarely on the faces of several fish-men; they froze in place, staring at the chunks of meat hanging from their noses, sniffing that familiar yet strange scent of blood—

"Ugh—" In an instant, they all bent over at the waist, vomiting violently.

Siano looked completely unconcerned, casually tossing the head and tail of the corpse to either side as if discarding trash.

Lifting his head again, he gazed calmly at Arlong in the distance.

"... Despicable humans, disgusting humans, clearly the lowest, most garbage species."

Arlong stared fixedly at him, eyes bloodshot, teeth ground together, squeezing the words out from his throat almost one by one, "You dare... you dare kill Laozi's compatriots right before my eyes!"

Zing! Arlong drew his large saw-blade from his waist, swung it fiercely, and roared in anger, "Everyone attack, kill him together with Laozi!"

"Yes, Boss Arlong!"

Kiss the Fish-man Chu nodded, leading the surrounding fish-men to charge forward, while Arlong, face gloomy and gripping his hilt tightly, followed closely behind.

"Hatchi must avenge Kuroobi!"

The Six-Sword Style octopus swordsman threw away his wine gourd, rushing to the very front, tears streaming down his face amidst grief and fury, "Kuroobi was a good person, very good to Hatchi, very good to all us fish-man brothers; you beast, why did you kill him!!!"

Swish swish!

Six extremely heavy blades chopped down from different directions; Siano neither dodged nor avoided, instead grabbing one blade in each hand.

He let the remaining four strike his neck, immediately producing a crisp sound like metal clashing, yet they failed to cut into flesh and skin, leaving only faint white marks.

Not having reached the realm of Sword Master, yet you wish to injure me?

Siano sneered disdainfully, suddenly exerting force with both palms; while gripping Hatchi's two hands, he violently drove a knee and elbow strike, smashing hard into Hatchi's abdomen.

Boom!

Hatchi's body was sent flying high into the air, emitting a miserable cry of pain.

Yet Siano did not miss the chance to pursue; his figure flashed, and stepping on Moon Walk, he appeared in the sky, positioning himself precisely above Hatchi.

"You actually ask me why I killed him?"

"Before you arrogantly stepped onto the land of my hometown, why didn't you consider that you too might die? And now, you ask me this?!"

Siano forcefully clamped his hand around Hatchi's throat; looking at the octopus fish-man struggling desperately against suffocation, he grinned, "Don't you find this hilarious?"

Malice surged in his eyes; ignoring the six tentacles frantically slapping against him, he cared for nothing else, simply pouring strength bit by bit into his right hand that was choking the life out of his opponent.

"Cough, cough..." The octopus fish-man's face changed from flushed red to purple, veins around his temples pulsating like earthworms, while his eyeballs began rolling upward, turning white.

Precisely at the moment of landing, he yanked Hatchi's head out along with the spine; the spurting blood happened to shower the charging Arlong's entire face.

Nor was the headless corpse wasted; Siano grabbed it to use as a massive flail, swinging it in a full circle with tremendous force, violently knocking away the three or four fish-men closest to him, plowing several trenches over ten meters long into the ground.

"... H-Hatchi?!"

Arlong halted his steps, staring blankly at this scene, eyes filled with disbelief, before his entire body began to tremble violently due to rage soaring to its extreme.

"You des..."

Arlong, eyes blood-red, suddenly looked up, only for his pupils to reflect that terrifying, muscle-knotted body rapidly approaching.

After locking eyes, Siano grinned ferociously at him, spread his arms wide to their maximum, and slapped them hard toward his own cheeks from both sides, as if swatting a mosquito in summer!

(End of Chapter)