"Hopeless fools!"
Jinbei, who had witnessed the entire battle, sighed and directed the other Fish-men who could still move to dive in and retrieve Arlong and the others.
Sakura stepped onto the churning sea surface. The Iron Cloud on her body flowed, snaking out to connect to the pirate ship, forming a staircase made of cloud. She walked on the clouds and returned to the pirate ship.
"Sakura-nee, so cool!"
Kuina rushed over, pestering Sakura to teach her the moves she just used.
"You there, master the Rokushiki first!"
Sakura tapped Kuina's forehead and shook her head playfully.
However, Kuina's words reminded Sakura that she should find time to transfer Chakra to this new companion.
Soon, the Fish-men brought the wounded from below the ship back onto the pirate ship.
Sakura and Aladdin, both acting as ship doctors, worked together to treat them.
"Sorry for causing you trouble."
Leaning against the wooden door of the cabin, Fisher Tiger lowered his gaze, unable to meet the eyes of the girl bandaging him.
"It's fine, really. I quite like the Fish-man Race, especially since you produce lots of pretty mermaid ladies~ Hahahaha!"
Sakura pressed her hands on the parts of Tiger's body injured by her Haki. The green light of the Mystical Palm Technique glowed.
Yang Attribute Chakra gently stimulated the regeneration of Tiger's cells, repairing the mechanical damage to his body tissues.
"As expected, the future between Fish-men and humans relies on bridges like you and Koala... cough cough!"
Fisher Tiger's eyes were bloodshot. He coughed violently while catching his breath.
"B-Big Boss!"
Many of the unwilling Fish-men, after receiving treatment from Aladdin, began to gather around.
"Big Boss, please fight her again! Fish-men cannot lose to humans!"
The Fish-men who held hatred towards humans knelt on both knees, hands on their knees, bowing their heads with tears streaming down their faces.
"You people..."
Sakura let go of her hands treating Fisher Tiger, her fists clenched.
Just as she was about to stand up, Tiger behind her reached out and grabbed her.
The tall, red fish-man walked up to the kneeling Fish-men and raised his hand, throwing a punch downwards.
"A bunch of idiots!"
Fisher Tiger's arm trembled. Blood seeped through the bandages and dripped onto the deck.
"Don't you understand yet? Even with strength far surpassing humans and the ability to breathe underwater, compared to humans, it is the Fish-men who are the weaker ones now!"
"If you cannot even face the fact of your own weakness, clinging to illusory dreams and arrogant pride, the Fish-man Race will one day be led to destruction by fools like you!"
After Tiger laid out the bare truth, all the Fish-men on the Sun Pirates fell into silence.
Forget counter-attacking the World Government, even when so many of them ganged up on one pirate chased around the world by the center, they were still beaten without any ability to fight back.
So what kind of power was hidden within the center? Or how many powerful individuals among the humans, who had occupied the land and survived to this day, could easily destroy them?
"Weakness has never been an obstacle to survival, arrogance is. You'd better think carefully about your actions!"
Sakura stepped forward to help Tiger up, had Kuina open the cabin door, and helped him inside.
She left the group of thoroughly beaten Fish-men on the deck to truly begin pondering whether to choose survival or destruction.
The Sun Pirates' journey continued. Their next destination was Foolshout Island.
Sakura and Kuina hitched a ride on their ship, planning to go with them to that island to replenish supplies.
Of course... it was absolutely not because the Sun Pirates had many martial arts practitioners suitable for being Kuina's sparring partners that they stayed.
They were all buddies. Waking up early every day for a little sparring... you wouldn't mind helping with such a small favor, right?
In such days, Kuina's sword skills and martial arts improved daily.
However, even Jinbei, who had the highest body fat percentage on the ship, recently started showing the contours of his cheekbones.
The wind howled, the waves surged. The pirate ship with the fish-head bow sailed between the black sky and the blue sea for a week.
Passing through a blank stretch of sea in the West Blue, the group finally reached the end of their journey… Foolshout Island.
"Everyone, goodbye! I'll tell everyone in the village that there are many good people among the Fish-men too!"
Koala stood on the land, waving to the Fish-men on the ship who had come to see her off.
Sakura was instructing Kuina's training on the sterncastle when a rainbow gleam suddenly passed through her emerald pupils.
"Not good... How could this be?!"
The girl's face turned grim. Her Observation Haki, capable of extending several kilometers, had detected something bad.
"Sakura-nee, what's wrong?"
Kuina stopped swinging her sword and wiped the sweat from her chin.
"Kuina, a very dangerous big battle is coming. Do you want to leave first?"
Sakura raised her head, her gaze looking towards the southwest side of the island.
"No, I'm coming with you, Sakura-nee! The purpose of my voyage isn't to hide behind you and be a good little baby!"
Kuina put the weights on the ground, her eyes burning as she stared at Sakura.
Sakura smiled and rubbed her head: "Then come along!"
She raised her arm. Water Attribute Chakra condensed into a water ball in her palm.
[Fish-Man Karate: Water Shot!]
The water ball wrapped in Armament Haki exploded multiple Mach cones in the air, turning into a straight white line that physically tore apart the air on the southwest side of the island.
Amidst the sound of shattering, cracks expanded in the void. The gaps widened further, revealing two Battleships hidden beneath.
One had a seagull pattern on its sail, the other had the World Government's circled cross.
"My, how terrifying~. Weren't you saying she wouldn't discover us, Sir Hyena?"
At the bow of the Marine Battleship, on top of a huge mounted cannon, a man in a yellow and white striped suit adjusted his sunglasses nonchalantly.
"It shouldn't be... It's been a week from the Vinson Sea area until now. Why wasn't she discovered then, but is discovered now?"
A man in a white suit and white overcoat, wearing a huge black and white sunflower mask, scratched his head frantically.
"Hmm~ while I don't mind chatting slowly about why we were exposed, if we keep this up, they might go to rescue Fisher Tiger~"
Kizaru raised his hand, pointing at the large number of Fish-men charging onto the land in the distance, his expression still unhurried.
"Not good, stop them!"
Hyena shouted at the CP Agents behind him.
He himself, along with a few squad members, used Geppo to fly towards the coast.
As they approached the shore, Hyena swung his leg, launching a huge Rankyaku that whistled expanded to a range of hundreds of meters, enveloping the entire coastline.
"Is that the Rankyaku of the Rokushiki? How can someone use Rankyaku to create such a massive slash?"
Kuina, who was charging alongside the Fish-men, watched the enormous slash that almost covered the entire sky, her mouth agape in disbelief.
"Not good, scatter! The slash is coming down!"
Jinbei, who had been closely watching the sky, shouted loudly. The surrounding Fish-men, faces filled with terror, fled in all directions.
Just as the entire coastline, along with the fish-men, was about to be severed, a brilliant light surged upwards!
"Ikoku Sovereignty!"