Chapter 6: Fishman Karate

A Dragon looked at Chu Yang’s bloodshot eyes, wanting to beg for mercy, but fear of death left him speechless.

A Dragon opened his mouth, trembling all over.

Chu Yang stared at the blood gushing from A Dragon’s body and suddenly remembered the agony of the Dragon People’s branding iron searing his chest.

The fury of being slaughtered by fish-men due to his weakness ignited Chu Yang’s inner killing intent.

He would never again allow others to trample on him!

“W-what are Itachi going to do?!”

Nearly fainting, A Dragon was jolted awake by the chilling aura radiating from Chu Yang.

“If Itachi kill me, Itachi won’t be able to stay on the ship—Tagg won’t allow anyone who kills a crewmate to remain!”

A Dragon screamed hysterically, trying to snap Chu Yang back to his senses.

“Just now…” Chu Yang said coldly, “if I hadn’t agreed to Itachi, would Itachi have spared me? Would Itachi have spared a mere human?”

A Dragon fell silent, just as Chu Yang had expected—he never intended to spare Chu Yang; even if he didn’t kill him, he’d have thrown him into the sea to die.

Afterwards, A Dragon could simply claim Chu Yang had left on his own—though he might not fool Tagg, Tagg couldn’t punish him either.

A Dragon was certain Tagg wouldn’t turn against his own kind over a mere human.

“Itachi’re no different from the humans Itachi despise…” Chu Yang sneered, abandoning the idea of killing A Dragon and beginning to loosen the vines binding him.

It wasn’t that Chu Yang had softened—killing A Dragon here would indeed prevent him from staying on the ship.

More importantly, someone was coming…

A bulky blue giant stood behind Chu Yang, his arms coated in Busoshoku Haki, ready to rescue A Dragon at any moment.

Chu Yang released the Wood Release and turned to face Jinbe, calmly asking, “When did Itachi arrive?”

Jinbe glanced at A Dragon, drenched in blood, his eyes flickering with shock.

He lowered his voice as much as possible to sound composed: “When Itachi said Itachi were taking him to rest, I sensed something was off—it wasn’t like him. So I followed Itachi just in case.”

Jinbe let out a bitter laugh: “I feared he’d do something foolish—and I was right. But I never expected…”

Chu Yang exhaled deeply, as if expelling all the bitterness inside him: “Itachi didn’t expect I’d almost kill him?”

Jinbe nodded, speaking with understanding: “No wonder Tagg said Itachi saved him—Itachi’re a Devil Fruit user.”

Frequent use of the Wood Release had drained Chu Yang’s chakra; he was utterly exhausted, his eyelids drooping as he weakly said, “If Itachi’re not going to kick me off the ship, take me to rest.”

“I just want to lie down and sleep.”

Before leaving the storage hold, Jinbe glanced helplessly at A Dragon, slumped unconscious against the door, and sighed with a complex expression.

A Dragon’s hatred for humans ran deeper than most fish-men on the ship; if his mindset isn’t corrected soon, he’ll suffer greatly at Chu Yang’s hands again.

Out of concern for Chu Yang, Jinbe specially arranged for him to stay in a private cabin, then slipped away quietly.

After settling Chu Yang, Jinbe hurriedly summoned the ship’s doctor to treat A Dragon—and soon, news spread that A Dragon had been severely injured by Chu Yang.

At first, Jinbe considered covering it up, but he eventually abandoned the idea.

Because there were many fish-men on board who shared A Dragon’s views.

To prevent them from doing something reckless, a necessary show of force was required—so Jinbe decided it was better to let the news out.

Unaware of what was happening, Chu Yang slept soundly on his bed, oblivious that A Dragon had become the laughingstock of the entire ship.

The next day, Chu Yang emerged on deck at noon under the blazing sun and noticed the fish-men’s gazes had changed dramatically from yesterday.

The hatred had diminished, replaced by shock and fear.

A clear distance now separated them.

“Looks like they’ve found out,” Chu Yang murmured, glancing around with a faint smile—finally, the constant noise in his ears would quiet down.

Chu Yang never intended to befriend these fish-men; the Sun Pirates were merely a temporary stopover.

“What happened yesterday is my fault,” Tagg said, walking up from the bow, looking exhausted as he apologized to Chu Yang.

“I’m the one who didn’t get hurt—no need to apologize,” Chu Yang replied coolly. “But that A Dragon guy won’t be getting out of bed for at least ten days.”

“Good,” Tagg groaned, clearly annoyed. “At least he won’t be causing trouble anymore.” Though a fish-man himself, he disliked A Dragon’s violent, impulsive nature.

“If Itachi need anything, just let me know,” Tagg said, treating Chu Yang with unusual courtesy—even though the Sun Pirates had officially formed, he clearly didn’t see Chu Yang as an ordinary crewmember.

They were companions sharing a stretch of the journey, destined to part ways before the end—and both understood this silently.

After a moment’s thought, Chu Yang spoke: “I want to learn combat techniques from Jinbe. Can Itachi ask him to teach me?”

“Jinbe?” Tagg blinked, then laughed. “Of course. Itachi’ve got good taste—that kid’s strength and potential are extraordinary. In a few years, he’ll be one of the top fish-men in his race.”

Chu Yang smiled.

Obviously!

That’s Jinbe—the “mere” Four Emperor! His title as a Warlord wasn’t earned by accident!

What Chu Yang wanted to learn from Jinbe wasn’t just Fish-Man Karate—he also wanted to master the crucial Haki; he’d already witnessed Jinbe’s Busoshoku Haki yesterday.

Soon after, Tagg brought Jinbe over and explained Chu Yang’s request to train under him.

At the time, Jinbe still harbored deep suspicion toward humans, but because Chu Yang had saved Tagg, he treated him with special consideration.

Jinbe reluctantly agreed to Chu Yang’s request.

That very day, Jinbe began subjecting Chu Yang to brutal, hellish training.

Whether out of revenge or simply wanting to finish the task quickly, his teaching style was savage and wild.

Almost every training session ended with Chu Yang being carried back to his room.

Despite the suffering, Chu Yang mastered the basics of Fish-Man Karate in just three days, his proficiency skyrocketing.

The speed of his progress stunned Jinbe—he’d never seen a fish-man learn so fast.

But Chu Yang was a pure human…

If not for knowing Tagg would never allow it, Jinbe would’ve cut him open to see if he had fish-man organs inside.

“This is insane!”

Determined to prove it wasn’t real, Jinbe intensified his “torture,” but Chu Yang now acted like an endless sponge, greedily absorbing everything beneficial to him.

(End of Chapter)