Number Zero crossed his arms, looking thoroughly annoyed. He glanced down at Zodd and Yugdon below, his voice full of displeasure.
"Hey, hey, hey. What's going on? Why'd you have to wake me up?"
Number Zero frowned, then looked up toward the sea's surface. "Who's fighting up there? The fluctuations feel intense."
"The World Government is taking advantage of the Captain's absence to attack Dragon Fruit Island! If you don't do something, it's really going to be a disaster!" Yugdon yelled frantically.
"Well, that won't do." Number Zero's expression finally turned serious. "If the Captain finds out Dragon Fruit Island was destroyed, I'll be in for it too."
His gaze locked onto the CP0 vice-leader. He tilted his head. "You're one of the invaders, right?"
"That's him! He's the one! He nearly killed us!" Yugdon shouted.
A cold, sharp light flashed in Number Zero's blood-red eyes. A savage, ferocious aura exploded from him, churning the surrounding seawater.
This bestial aura made the CP0 vice-leader's brow furrow slightly.
"If you're an enemy... then I just have to kill you." A brutal smile spread across Number Zero's face as he shot through the water, blasting toward the vice-leader.
Number Zero's speed was incredible, especially underwater. In the sea, his speed was double what it was on land. He crossed several dozen meters in an instant, appearing before the CP0 vice-leader like a bolt of lightning, his red, muscular fist punching through the seawater to smash into the agent's head.
But the CP0 vice-leader's reaction was just as fast. He tilted his head, dodging the punch. His hand shot out, grabbing Number Zero's attacking arm. He slammed it down, pinning Zero's wrist to his own shoulder, and used his immense strength to lock the entire arm. He immediately followed up with a kick.
Number Zero's body twisted unnaturally to avoid the kick. The rotation caused his restrained arm to contort at an unnatural angle, but he didn't seem to notice, kicking back with his other leg.
The CP0 vice-leader instantly raised his own leg to block the massive foot.
BAM!
The two kicks collided violently in the water.
A massive shockwave erupted from the point of impact, instantly vaporizing the surrounding water and creating a vacuum. The next second, the sea rushed back in to fill the void.
Number Zero's pure strength sent the CP0 vice-leader flying backward.
Zero grabbed his twisted arm and, as if feeling no pain at all, forcefully snapped it back into place.
"You've got some skills. No wonder you dared to invade our territory."
His face was savage, his crimson eyes glowing red. A ferocious, bestial aura poured from him, like the most vicious predator in nature hunting its prey.
"You talk too much!"
The CP0 vice-leader's eyes were ice-cold. A terrifying power rippled from his body as he kicked off the water, transforming into a streak of light and shooting toward Number Zero.
"So fast!" Number Zero was stunned by the vice-leader's burst of speed.
He threw a punch at the incoming streak of light. A fist emerged from that light, colliding with his own.
BOOM!
The sound of the impact echoed again, like muffled thunder rumbling through the sea. The water within dozens of meters was blasted away, and the water for hundreds of meters roiled. Number Zero was sent flying back several dozen meters by the force of that single punch.
"Damn, that really hurt." Number Zero's eyes grew even colder. He shook his hand and then "ran" through the water, closing the distance with the vice-leader at extreme speed once more.
The two moved at super-high speeds, colliding again and again. The surrounding sea constantly exploded outward from their blows, creating an undersea tsunami.
"Your martial arts technique is sloppy," the CP0 vice-leader said, launching another punch.
Number Zero ducked instantly. The powerful punch flew over his head, blasting the water apart and sending a shockwave into the distance, missing him completely.
Grinning, Number Zero threw his own punch at the vice-leader.
The vice-leader's body shifted with an unnatural movement, dodging the fist.
BOOM!
The force of the punch howled through the water. Number Zero's blow blasted the sea in front of him for dozens of meters, creating an even more stunning undersea storm.
Their figures flickered, and after a single breath, they clashed again.
The CP0 vice-leader went all out, unleashing his full power. Every punch and every kick was thrown with maximum effort, creating devastating shockwaves as he tried to finish Number Zero quickly.
But the longer he fought, the more serious his expression became. Although Number Zero's technique was garbage, his power, reaction speed, and reflexes were astonishing.
In the sea, Number Zero's strength was on par with his own. Combined with that incredible speed, the CP0 vice-leader, despite having power close to an Admiral's, couldn't shake him.
Number Zero was stuck to him like glue.
The two battled relentlessly, stirring up storm after storm in the deep, sending massive currents rolling and even disturbing the sea's surface hundreds of meters above. The entire thousand-meter sea region was in violent turmoil.
"Get off me!" The CP0 vice-leader knew he couldn't let Zero trap him in the sea any longer. He exploded with power, the muscles on his right arm bulging as he threw a punch that pierced the water and shot at Zero like lightning.
Number Zero's expression changed. He crossed his arms in front of him, coating them in Armament Haki.
With a deafening boom, Number Zero was shot backward like a cannonball, flying over a hundred meters.
The CP0 vice-leader immediately shot toward the surface. Number Zero's face was twisted in rage; there were visible cracks on his arm bones. That last punch had nearly shattered them.
"You think you can run after wounding me?!" Number Zero roared, chasing after the vice-leader. His speed was even faster.
"Sea Current Shoulder Throw!"
Number Zero grabbed the current with both hands and violently hurled a massive section of the sea. The CP0 vice-leader's expression changed, and he instantly punched... but the current sailed right past him, smashing into a different area entirely. It hadn't even come close.
Number Zero himself froze, stunned. He hadn't expected to miss by that much.
"You idiot! I told you to practice your Fish-Man Karate, but you wouldn't listen! All you do is sleep! Now you've embarrassed yourself!" Down below, Yugdon's forehead bulged with veins as he roared in anger.
Number Zero was a fusion based on a Fish-Man, but his Fish-Man Karate and Fish-Man Jujutsu were truly awful.
Bege had even ordered Yugdon to teach him, but Number Zero was too lazy, preferring to sleep rather than train. Yugdon had tried to teach him, but after getting woken up and subsequently beaten down by Zero a few times, he'd given up completely.
As a result, Number Zero's Fish-Man martial arts were absolute trash.
"Shut up!" Number Zero snarled, baring his teeth at Yugdon.
Yugdon immediately clamped his mouth shut, his face dark, not daring to say another word.
The CP0 vice-leader seized the opportunity to burst from the surface, with Number Zero right behind him.
The vice-leader leaped into the air, taking a deep breath as he looked down at Number Zero, who had just surfaced. Just as Zero was about to yell something, the vice-leader moved.
"Rankyaku: Dragon Sever!"
He kicked down with both legs, unleashing a massive Rankyaku slash that tore the ocean's surface apart, the blade continuing dozens of meters down into the sea.
He kicked again and again, sending giant slashes raining down, carving massive trenches in the ocean.
The floating Sea Patroller corpses were sliced in two by the massive blades. It was a terrifying sight.