Chapter 9 Reference

Previously, in order to obtain important intelligence, Mord had casually assumed the identity of a Marine.

His initial intention was simply to add a bit of persuasiveness, and without much thought at the time, he had used the name Wolf Rat.

Normally, this wouldn't have mattered, or at least Mord wouldn't have cared about such trivial matters.

However, after experiencing firsthand the villagers' expectations and overflowing excitement, Mord shed the disguise of a Marine without a moment's hesitation.

As for the reason...

A mere Arlong Pirates had been able to run amok and commit atrocities here for over six whole years.

Had it not been for him passing by and dropping in to harvest a wave of experience, the Arlong Pirates' tyrannical rule would have continued all the way until the Straw Hat Pirates arrived two years later.

In other words, a Fish-man pirate crew that regarded human beings as livestock to be penned and raised had ruled here for a full eight years.

Throughout all this, the Marines had done absolutely nothing.

Let alone that Captain Nezumi of the 16th Branch, who was hand in glove with the Arlong Pirates.

Furthermore, the East Blue was known as the weakest of the seas, and there were only a handful of pirates with relatively high bounties.

Ranked from high to low, they were Arlong, Don Krieg, and Buggy the Clown.

Even though Arlong was the pirate with the highest bounty among them, it was merely twenty million berries.

Was he really that difficult to eliminate?

For the Hero of the Marines, who occasionally took vacations back to the East Blue, wasn't it just a matter of a single punch?

Yet the Arlong Pirates had stood tall here for six years without falling—or more accurately, eight years.

Therefore, whether it was the expectations of the villagers or their deep gratitude after he effortlessly wiped out the Arlong Pirates, Mord could never accept it under the banner of the Marines.

Because,

Did the Marines deserve it?

Not at all.

That was why Mord discarded his disguise.

Ignoring Nojiko's questions, Mord strode toward the Arlong Park domain.

Now that the intelligence gathering was complete, he was unwilling to waste even a second answering Nojiko's inquiries.

His mind was entirely consumed by one thought: quickly gathering the experience points of Arlong and the other fish-men into his pocket.

Because, with eight months of grueling training as a baseline reference, the gains he had just reaped from killing a fish-man on the village path made Mord acutely aware once again of the supreme importance of hunting.

Eight months of bitter cultivation couldn't even compare to the rewards of a single fish-man dungeon run.

Such was the reality.

If he wanted to establish himself in an unshakeable position in the shortest possible time, relentless hunting was his only path.

In this world where the weak fell prey to the strong, the one thing never in short supply was suitable prey.

All along the road from Cocoyasi Village to the Arlong domain, Mord's thoughts churned ceaselessly.

The high-handed, oppressive rule enforced by the Arlong Pirates.

The villagers, utterly powerless to resist.

The absolute dominance of the strong over the weak struck Mord deeply once again.

Soon, Mord arrived before the towering outer wall of the Arlong domain.

The main gate of the Arlong domain faced the open sea, while the rest of the perimeter was enclosed by towering walls, leaving only a single water route wide enough for their fish-men to pass through normally.

This design not only mirrored the amusement parks of the Sabaody Archipelago but also reflected Arlong's twisted psychology.

Naturally, Mord had no intention of taking a detour to use the front entrance; with a light leap, he vaulted directly onto the top of the wall.

Beneath a tower-like structure, Arlong, tall of stature with a nose shaped like a jagged saw, was lounging lazily in a chair.

Directly in front of Arlong was a seawater pool connecting to the open ocean, and beyond that lay the grand main gate of the Arlong domain.

scattered around the ground surrounding the pool were roughly sixty fish-men, some drinking, others eating, looking thoroughly relaxed and leisurely.

Mord's arrival quickly drew the attention of the fish-men within the compound.

Arlong naturally noticed him as well.

He cast a sidelong glance at Mord standing atop the wall, his eyes filled with cold malice.

In his eyes, humans were an utterly inferior race.

Therefore, the sight of Mord treading upon his walls greatly displeased Arlong.

He would have preferred it if Mord had smashed down the wall and walked in, rather than seeing him stand up high and look down upon them from above.

A fierce, baleful aura bled into Arlong's eyes.

Without even bothering to ask the intruder's purpose, he picked up a bottle of wine and poured the liquid into his palm.

Then, flexing his arm with a burst of strength, he flicked the wine from his palm straight toward Mord on the wall.

Driven by immense power, the liquid that should have scattered everywhere instead condensed into several small droplets, hurtling toward Mord like a volley of buckshot.

The water bullets traveled at terrifying speed, even producing a sharp piercing sound in the air.

Yet Mord simply sidestepped with ease, dodging them completely.

The destructive power of those water bullets was not to be underestimated.

From this display, it was clear that Arlong's tier was simply incomparable to the other ordinary fish-men.

If regular fish-men were white common mobs, and fish-men officers were blue elite mobs,

Then Arlong was a purple boss.

Not a mob, but a raid boss.

At this thought, a passionate gleam lit up Mord's eyes. He looked at Arlong as if gazing at a plump, prime fish resting upon a cutting board.

Arlong didn't care much that his water bullet had missed; after all, there were countless ways to kill a human.

However, the undisguised, predatory hunger in Mord's gaze instantly ignited Arlong's fury.

Ever since he had arrived in the East Blue, it had always been he who looked upon humans with such condescending disdain—when was it ever a human's turn to look at him this way?

"Companions, slaughter this insolent, inferior human for me!"

Arlong's murderous command echoed throughout the entire domain.

Hearing the order, the fish-men in the courtyard surged toward Mord with murder in their eyes.

Most of them were bare-handed, while a small handful carried swords and rifles.

Bang!

A fish-man raised his firearm and continuously fired three shots at Mord.

It was a three-round flintlock pistol, somewhat lacking in raw power.

Activating his Observation Haki instantly, Mord tracked the trajectory of the lead bullets.

Then, his right hand, completely coated in Armament Haki, made a swift upward and downward motion, precisely catching all three lead bullets.

"Oh, I actually managed to catch one intact."

Mord opened his right hand, revealing a single intact lead bullet alongside the crushed fragments of the other two.

He had merely acted on a sudden flash of inspiration to apply the technique of "flowing" Haki, never expecting to actually catch a live bullet barehanded.

The so-called flowing principle, explained through the mechanics of Haki, meant channeling and enveloping Haki around a weapon to enhance its hardness and destructive force.

Just then, Mord had preemptively coated his right hand in Haki before barehandedly intercepting the bullets.

Under normal circumstances, upon striking a palm covered in Armament Haki, a lead bullet would shatter instantly as if slamming into solid steel.

The reason one of them hadn't shattered this time was because Mord, after using his hand to absorb the kinetic impact of the bullet, had instantly split off a wisp of Armament Haki to envelop the lead pellet, thereby preventing its destruction.

This maneuver required utterly fanatical timing.

A fraction of a second too fast wouldn't work, and a fraction too slow wouldn't work either.

It had to be executed with absolute, split-second precision.

Mord had only wanted to test it out, yet he had actually succeeded on one.

To the surrounding fish-men, however, this feat was utterly baffling.

"How did he do that?"

Doubt flashed through the fish-men's minds.

Mord couldn't care less about their confusion; with a flick of his finger, he shot the intact lead bullet back out.

The projectile instantly pierced straight through and killed a fish-man.

Following that, Mord drew his blade, Chidori, and plunged directly into the sea of fish-men to begin a ruthless massacre.

With every single slash of his blade, another fish-man fell.

In less than ten short seconds, over a dozen fish-man corpses littered the ground.

Then, Mord suddenly burst into laughter.

"Haha, it's finally here..."

The fourth star frame of his physique had finally condensed and formed.

His hearty, deeply satisfied laughter sent a chilling shudder through the hearts of the surrounding fish-men.

Mord slowly reined in his laughter and cast his gaze upon the remaining fish-men.

That look, as if he were appraising cuts of fresh meat, made the fish-men feel as though they were facing a mortal enemy.

Were they... being treated as mere food?

In that fleeting instant, the exact same terrifying thought flashed through every fish-man's mind.

An invisible chill steadily gnawed at their souls.

As for Arlong, he had already risen to his feet, the gaze he fixed upon Mord now tinged with a hint of wariness.