Even in his depleted state, Tom could barely use his Devil Fruit ability. To quickly learn Arlong's water-throwing technique, he tried to trick Arlong into looking at him.
But when Arlong looked over, Tom encountered an awkward fact: even though Arlong was only a few meters away, his Devil Fruit ability had no effect.
In other words, in Tom's current condition, even a few meters distance put Arlong outside his ability's range.
Left with no choice, Tom could only charge at Arlong and join the fray. If he could still fight using his Devil Fruit power, he would give it his all. That was the best he could do.
Anyone could see that after taking the unknown drug, Arlong's strength was at least several times greater than before, and he had become more ferocious.
Every time Luffy's fist struck Arlong, it felt like hitting rock. The muscles that had swelled by a full size had indeed increased his defense tremendously.
"What is he trying to do?" Usopp saw Tom lift his fishing rod and run toward Arlong. He had just seen Arlong smash the ground apart with a single punch; even from far away, Usopp could feel the slight vibration. Such destructive power was a first for him.
"Everyone, rest while you can. Recover as much as possible. We can't let just him and Luffy fight that Fish-Man. They'll die!" Zoro sat on the ground as he spoke.
"We all know that. Instead of talking nonsense, you should bandage your wounds. Maybe you moss-head won't die so quickly." Sanji touched his left foot, feeling a dull ache.
"I can re-bandage your wounds for you." Nojiko said to Zoro and then skillfully wrapped bandages around him.
"As expected of Nami's sister! My whole body is covered in wounds..." Sanji, upon seeing Nojiko, his perverted habit flared up again. His eyes turned to hearts, and he even started to take off his clothes to show her his injuries.
Wham!
Nami didn't hesitate at all and punched the just-standing-up Sanji, who was unbuttoning his shirt, knocking him flat on the ground. "Do that again, and I'll turn you into a mummy!"
"You're a devil! He's wounded!" Usopp said, seeing the lump on Sanji's head.
"For Nami-san, even if I become a mummy despised by the whole world, I'm willing. That is the proof of love." Sanji, lying on the ground, looked completely willing after being hit by Nami.
"Yeah, you useless perverted cook. Just become a mummy. It'll save us all the trouble." Zoro, who could never stand Sanji's antics, spoke mercilessly.
"What did you say, you tight-lipped swordsman?! Stop with that coffin face all the time! Smile properly in front of these two beautiful ladies!" Sanji grabbed both sides of Zoro's mouth and pulled them upward, forcing a smile uglier than crying.
A moment later, Zoro and Sanji were beaten together.
"What are they doing? Don't they know the situation is really bad?!" Nojiko said furiously, speaking to Nami.
"Forget them. Focus on the main thing." Nami held her forehead with one hand, shifting her attention to Luffy and Tom's battle.
Nojiko wanted to tell Nami that Tom's physical condition was probably no better than Zoro's or Sanji's. But seeing Nami was already troubled enough, she opened her mouth several times but ultimately didn't deliver the bad news.
At least those two over there are fighting seriously. Nojiko thought this, and like Nami, focused her attention on the battle.
"Even with both of you working together, it's useless." Arlong simultaneously blocked the attacks from Luffy and Tom without revealing any openings.
Though Arlong was several times stronger, he seemed not to have fully adapted to the drug-enhanced power. His movements were somewhat sluggish, focusing mainly on defense. This allowed Tom and Luffy to take the initiative in the fight.
Tom couldn't find a chance to observe Arlong's growth experiences and learn the water-throwing move. He could only attack Arlong together with Luffy first.
"Help me pin him down for a second. I've got a good idea." Luffy said to Tom while throwing punches at Arlong.
"If it's just a few seconds, I can do it." Tom said, jumping backward in perfect coordination with Luffy.
"You stinky fish, just wait. We'll finish you off soon." Tom didn't know what Luffy's good idea was, but he had no better plan himself. He would do as Luffy said for now.
Tom took a component resembling a round handle from his belt and attached it to the bottom of his rod. Gripping the handle with his right hand, he raised the rod high and lashed it toward Arlong as he attacked.
"What's with his rod? It looks soft, like a whip." Usopp was so shocked his jaw nearly dropped, seeing Tom's normally rigid rod become like a whip, violently lashing Arlong.
"So it becomes a whip. Your weapon really is strange. But can this deal with me?" Arlong had just finished speaking when his mouth was violently struck by the suddenly extending whip, leaving a clear whip mark on his face.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Tom continuously swung with full force the long whip toward Arlong. "What I hold is the Ruyi Jingu Bang! Nothing is impossible!"
After attaching the round handle component, a type of particle called "Soft Flow" was released from it, making the originally extremely hard rod become like a whip with strong flexibility and elasticity.
"This thing is too fun! Can I borrow it? I'll give you my secret half piece of meat." Luffy's eyes lit up as he looked at Tom's rod.
"Are you talking nonsense? This isn't a toy I can lend to you casually!" Tom said with black lines all over his head. He violently swung the extended whip around Arlong, tightly binding him. "Now! I've got him! Hurry up!"
"You call this pinning me down? Don't dream." Though Arlong's body was tightly bound by the whip, he kicked backward with force, jumping back while yanking Tom over with the whip still in his hand.
"Die!" Arlong opened his huge mouth, revealing sharp shark teeth, aiming to bite Tom's head as he flew toward him.
"Nice! I was waiting for this chance!" Luffy leapt up, landing in front of Arlong and punched heavily into his left cheek.
Thus, Arlong's head was knocked off course, making it naturally impossible for him to bite Tom.
As Arlong flung Tom away, Luffy kept pounding Arlong's face with his fists—left cheek, then right, back and forth for more than a dozen punches. Finally, a heavy kick to Arlong's face sent him flying.
As Arlong was kicked away, a set of teeth fell out from his mouth.
"Great! This is exactly what I wanted!" Luffy happily picked up the teeth and stuffed them into his own mouth, biting up and down with loud clacking sounds. "See? I have sharp teeth now!"
Earlier, seeing Arlong's teeth easily bite through stone pillars, Luffy wished he had such sharp teeth. That was how this idea popped into his head.
As a sawshark Fish-Man with shark traits, Arlong's teeth could regenerate endlessly even if they fell out, with the new ones being sharper and harder to break.
When Luffy previously smashed Arlong's sharp teeth with a punch, everyone had witnessed this regeneration ability. Every time Arlong pulled out a set, a new one would quickly grow back, like a monster.
Though Arlong's mouth already had two holes from Tom earlier—a rotten mouth—he could still bite fiercely, seemingly because the drug increased his tolerance to bodily pain.
"This is his good idea? How does this look like a brilliant plan?" Nojiko saw Luffy's so-called good idea and somewhat understood. With such a captain, no wonder the crew wasn't normal either.
Johnny and the others were so shocked their mouths couldn't close, seeing Luffy with sharp teeth in his mouth.
"Hey Luffy, you idiot bastard!"
"Hey Luffy, you bastard!" Tom shouted angrily, seeming genuinely furious.
"At least one of them is reliable. He..." Nojiko thought Tom would sternly scold Luffy, but before she could finish speaking to Nami, Nami interrupted her, her beautiful eyebrows twitching. "No, I think maybe..."
Nami was just about to tell Nojiko not to judge so quickly, but then heard Tom say to Luffy, "You should have said such a good idea earlier! I want a set of those teeth too!"
Tom thought Luffy's idea was pretty good. Using the enemy's own method against them—that's how it should be.
"He's an idiot, just like your captain!" Nojiko was completely petrified on the spot upon hearing Tom, along with the distant Coco Village villagers, who also froze, mouths wide open.
"I knew it would be like this." Nami wore an unbothered expression. She knew clearly that when Luffy started fooling around, Tom nine times out of ten wouldn't be normal either.
"It took a lot of effort to think of such a good idea. My brain is really sharp today, hahahaha!" Luffy scratched his head and laughed smugly after hearing Tom's praise.
"We can't let them continue like this. It'll lead to trouble." Zoro stood up, saying to Sanji and the others.
"Seriously. At such a critical moment, those two still can't tell how serious things are." Sanji's cigarette had gotten wet when he jumped into the pool. Without a cigarette in his mouth, he seemed more irritable than usual.
"No helping it. Our captain is like that. Tom is also someone who likes to mess around. When the two are together, nothing good ever happens." Usopp helplessly shook his head and shrugged, speaking to Sanji.
Next, Tom converted his rod into nunchaku. With Luffy's help, he viciously smashed Arlong's face more than a dozen times. The final hit came from far away, the extending nunchaku slamming hard into Arlong's right cheek, sending him flying while knocking out another set of teeth.
But shortly after picking up the teeth, Tom knelt to the ground, supporting himself with both hands.
"What's wrong with him? Did his injuries flare up? Can't he hold on anymore?" Nojiko was a little worried.
"Tom big bro... what's wrong?"
"Don't know. He looks very gloomy." Johnny and Yosaku saw Tom looking as if he had taken a blow, a depressed aura drifting nearby.
"What's wrong? Stomach ache? Ate something bad?" Luffy asked.
"The teeth won't fit." Tom looked at the sharp teeth in Luffy's big mouth, pounding the ground with his right hand in frustration. "Because I'm not a rubber man."
Luffy could stuff in a full set of teeth because, as a rubber man, he could easily stretch his mouth. Tom couldn't; he got the teeth but couldn't fit in the set larger than his mouth.
"Kill you!"
"Kick you!"
"Shoot you!"
Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp, seeing Tom suddenly half-kneeling on the ground, thought something was wrong and rushed over urgently. But the situation was completely not what they imagined, shocking them so badly that they all fell over together, baring their teeth and angrily cursing Tom.
"This is an idea only I can use. You can't do it." Luffy clutched his stomach and laughed happily, continuing to mock Tom.
"Can they really defeat Arlong like this? This is nothing but fooling around." Nojiko sincerely felt that Luffy and Tom were two of a kind.
Nami didn't reply, just quietly watched.
"Have you had enough fun?" Arlong arrived in front of Luffy and the others with a gloomy expression.
"You think we're playing? We've been fighting seriously the whole time!" Luffy bit at Arlong. Arlong didn't dodge, directly blocking it with his hand.
After biting Arlong, Luffy saw his hand grab toward him and quickly retreated, leaving the teeth on Arlong's arm.
"Useless. Your jaw is too weak and powerless." Arlong ripped off the teeth. "Shark teeth must have the power to easily crush flesh to be called shark teeth." Saying this, Arlong opened his mouth and swiftly bit toward Tom.
Tom sidestepped to avoid it. Arlong's mouth bit into another stone pillar, and immediately afterward the huge stone pillar shattered.
"See? This is the innate advantage we Fish-Men have! Heaven gave you humans unequal treatment, giving you no power at all! That's why I say you're an inferior race!" Arlong told Luffy and Tom. "From the moment you were born into this world, your status was different from us Fish-Men!"
It was indeed as Arlong said. Normally, no matter how much a human trained their jaw, they could never possess a jaw like Arlong's that could easily bite through a large stone pillar.
"So what? Nothing to be arrogant about!" Luffy smashed the rubble in front of him with a punch. "Even without biting, I can break stones."
"Right. I can shatter stones with a single swing easily. Zoro can split stones with one sword slash too." Tom strongly agreed with Luffy's words.
"Sanji can kick stones apart too." Luffy added.
"As for Usopp..." When Luffy and Tom talked about Usopp, both stroked their chins and fell into silence together. Then there was no follow-up.
"Hey! You two are doing it on purpose, right?!" Usopp was deeply hurt, seeing them mention Zoro and Sanji but having nothing to say about him.
"That's nonsense!" Arlong splashed the seawater in his hand in all directions, forcing back the charging Zoro and the others, along with Tom and Luffy being pushed back as well.
Boom! Crash! Boom! Crash!
All around them, numerous large, deep craters appeared in an instant.
"His move really is troublesome." Luffy, stretching his arm to pull Usopp away, was hit several times by the thrown water droplets. The powerful impact force injured him, tearing open some wounds. The bandages wrapped around his body were quickly stained red.
As a rubber man, Luffy wasn't afraid of ordinary punches or bullets, but massive impact would still injure him.
"I let you hit me so many times without any problem earlier. Now, with just a casual move, you become so miserable." Arlong glanced at the panting Tom and the others as they dodged his attacks. "Humans are a stupid, weak, and foolish race! Someone like you, thrown into the sea, can't even float up on your own—what can you do? Won't you admit Fish-Men are better than humans..."
"It's precisely because I can't do anything that everyone came to help me!" Luffy loudly interrupted Arlong. "Listen! I can't fish! I don't know swordplay! I can't cook! I don't understand navigation! I can't even lie to deceive people!"
"But I can promise this: if others didn't help me, I wouldn't survive at all!" Luffy openly exposed his own shortcomings before an enemy, his words clearly reaching everyone's ears.
"You can be so certain about how useless you are? With an incompetent person like you as captain, your companions must have headaches, right? I really don't understand why your companions risk their lives to help you." Arlong spoke with contempt. "Someone without any self-respect isn't worthy of being captain! What can you actually do?"
"I can defeat you!" The moment Luffy said this, not only did Zoro and the others' eyes regain some spirit, but even Tom felt his heart steady a great deal. A faint smile appeared on Nami's previously stern face.
It had to be said, as captain, Luffy's every word and action truly influenced the team's morale without them realizing it.
Can't delay anymore. I must act as soon as possible, even if injured. Since my Devil Fruit ability only works at close range now, when I approach him, once I learn that water-throwing move, attacking him at close distance, he might not be able to dodge.
Arlong is gradually adapting to the changes in his body. His movements are becoming more agile. This is bad for everyone.
With this thought, Tom decided to go all out and settle things with Arlong, at the very least to injure him. He charged toward Arlong first.
Shink!
Arlong's long serrated nosepierced Tom's right shoulder. He aimed for the heart, but Tom avoided the vital point.
"You're this eager to die!" Arlong's vicious eyes locked onto Tom at close range. Tom gripped tightly with one hand the serrated long nose pierced into his right shoulder, seized the chance, and activated his Devil Fruit ability. The half-circle golden glow around his dark red pupils began spinning rapidly.
So that's it. It's a Fish-Man Karate move called "Water Shot."
Tom only saw the process of Arlong learning Water Shot from a Fish-Man instructor before his eyes throbbed with pain. The ability couldn't continue, so he had to stop.
But Tom's goal was achieved. In an instant, through Arlong's growth experiences, he learned Fish-Man Karate's Water Shot.
Water Shot, simply put, uses powerful force to shoot water droplets. The key is how to most effectively inject force into the water.
There was another problem: human hands don't have webbing like Fish-Men. Water placed on the palm would leak through the gaps between the fingers.
Before taking the drug, Arlong's strength was far from enough to use Water Shot. He was just throwing water.
In Tom's view, Fish-Man Karate's Water Shot should belong to the hard-soft style branch of karate, using softness to control hardness.
Fresh blood continuously flowed from Tom's pierced right shoulder, running down his right arm to his hand, some blood even flowing from his palm, dripping to the ground drop by drop.
If possible, Tom wanted to strip away Arlong's experience of learning Water Shot so he couldn't use it. But he couldn't continue using his Devil Fruit ability at all, and could only give up.
"Let him go!" Luffy, seeing Tom being restrained, immediately pulled both arms back. "Gum-Gum Rocket!"
Boom!
As Arlong was hit by Luffy's Rocket, Tom also smashed Arlong head-on with a heavy punch using his left hand. Struck by both of them, Arlong was knocked flying backward. When his serrated long nose was pulled out from Tom's right shoulder, Tom's shoulder immediately burst with a spray of blood.
Tom endured the pain coming from his right shoulder, extended his left hand to catch the blood droplets, gathering as much force as possible in his left hand. His left hand suddenly swelled, then he threw all the blood droplets from his palm toward the Fish-Man who was flying backward.
Tom wanted to use Water Shot with the blood from his right hand as well, but his right shoulder was severely injured and couldn't exert any strength at all.
Tom didn't have enough strength to properly use Water Shot now, but he could throw water using the principle of Water Shot, just like Arlong earlier, still giving the droplets bullet-like power.
Knowing how tough Arlong's body was, to cause maximum damage, Tom aimed for Arlong's eyes.
"What?!" Arlong, just knocked flying backward, felt something shoot toward him as his nose was pulled free. He saw a flash of red light, then his right eye went dark, followed by unbearable pain spreading throughout his body, nearly driving him mad.
"Gaaaaaah!!!!" Arlong covered his blood-soaked right eye. Not expecting Tom to learn Water Shot, his right eye was actually blinded by Tom's blood droplets.
"Now you stinky fish know how strong this is, right?" Tom wanted to press the advantage, but after taking just a few steps forward, he felt his entire body go weak, and collapsed backward uncontrollably.
"You dare… my eye…" Arlong used his only remaining eye to glare at the fallen Tom, hatred surging violently in his gaze. "I will definitely kill you!"
Seeing Arlong trying to go over and kill Tom, Luffy and the others hurriedly attacked Arlong.
Ugh… body, move! Tom watched Luffy and the others fight the rampaging Arlong. His pupils shifted repeatedly between red and black, finally turning completely jet black. He truly couldn't use any Devil Fruit ability anymore.
Arlong pulled out two sets of teeth from his mouth, holding them—his specialty iron-teeth technique. With the control of his powerful wrists, the teeth in his hands possessed astonishing biting power like his jaw, able to crush large stones in a single bite.
During the fight, Zoro and Sanji were respectively bitten by the sharp teeth in Arlong's hands—arms and right leg—leaving them covered in blood. Usopp, after hitting Arlong's face with Triple Fire Star, angered him by burning the wound on his right eye. Arlong used Water Shot on Usopp in the rear, seriously injuring the Usopp who failed to dodge in time.
However, because of Usopp's cover, Zoro and Sanji landed several brutal hits on Arlong. Now Arlong had numerous blade wounds and dark bruises from heavy kicks.
So far, Luffy's attacks were the most effective. With Zoro and Sanji's assistance, sometimes Arlong didn't want to directly take Luffy's punches—it was too disadvantageous. Once Luffy latched onto him, Zoro and Sanji could always find openings to leave several wounds, even allowing Luffy to sneak in a few more punches.
But now, every time Luffy attacked, he gained another wound.
Arlong grew more and more alarmed as the fight dragged on. Though his strength had increased severalfold, Luffy and the others seemed to grow fiercer the more they fought. Clearly, Zoro and Sanji were already covered in wounds, yet these two were like undying cockroaches, refusing to fall no matter how much they were beaten.
Soon, Arlong changed strategy. He jumped into the seawater pool. At first, Luffy cried out in alarm, thinking there was a shark in the water—but it was actually Arlong.
In the seawater pool, Arlong's strength and speed multiplied. Accelerating through the water, he shot out like a torpedo, attacking Luffy and the others on land.
Zoro and Sanji were pierced one after another by Arlong's "Shark·ON·Dart." The tremendous impact force left them bloodied and collapsed on the ground, unable to get up for the time being.
Arlong, flying out of the water, crashed into the tottering Arlong Park building, smashing out several huge holes.
Luffy stretched out his right hand, spreading all five fingers, imitating a fishing net, successfully intercepting Arlong once. But when Arlong pushed his seawater speed to the limit, Luffy couldn't quite react in time, and was pierced several times by the serrated long nose.
Johnny and Yosaku, who were watching the battle, had long since retreated far away. They watched without daring to even breathe loudly.
I can't just watch! Tom took out the fishing rods mounted on both arms. His left arm had previously been slashed by Arlong's sharp teeth, leaving an extremely deep wound that almost covered the entire arm. His right shoulder had been pierced through. Biting through the pain, every movement made cold sweat drip down his forehead.
Unfortunately, Tom's fishing line launcher wasn't loaded with a net. After the last use, as Usopp had said, fitting such a large net into the small launcher was quite difficult, and he hadn't found a solution yet.
Thus, Tom only had a pure fishing line launcher. Otherwise, a real net might have helped Luffy.
Tom took a sharp spearhead from his belt and attached it to the tip of the fishing rod, merged the two rods, then took another accessory from his belt—a gun grip with something like a trigger.
Good. When that stinky fish flies out again, I'll hit him with a real torpedo.
Tom tried several times to lift the rod with the gun grip, but couldn't. His right shoulder was completely unable to exert force. With his body in an extremely weakened state, even a slight movement left him drenched in sweat and panting heavily.
To rouse himself, Tom bit down hard on the tip of his tongue. The intense pain cleared his foggy consciousness. He finally lifted the fishing rod.
As he did, the front end—the first rod—spun at high speed, emitting a piercing buzzing sound. As the rotation increased, the silver-white spearhead gradually turned dark red.
With only one hand able to apply even a little strength, Tom couldn't firmly grasp the violently shaking fishing rod, let alone aim.
"I'll help you." Nami placed one hand on the rod, helping stabilize the constantly shaking fishing rod.
"Get farther away. The torpedo's power isn't something you can withstand." Tom kindly warned, but his words had no effect. He even saw Nojiko daring to run toward the fierce battle between Luffy and Arlong to check on Zoro and the others.
"You're all fighting. I don't want to stand by like a fool anymore." Nami's hand guided Tom's rod to move, aiming at the seawater pool, ready to pull the trigger when Arlong emerged.
In fact, seeing Tom, Usopp, Zoro, and Sanji fall one after another into pools of blood, with only Luffy holding Arlong back, Nami no longer wanted to stand there stupidly.
"Do as you like. Help me adjust my position." Tom had Nami move him to another angle—an absolute blind spot for the one-eyed Arlong, convenient for a torpedo strike.
"Why did you help recover my money? Why destroy that survey room? Do you know something?" Nami remembered the paper windmill that had fallen from Tom earlier, spinning in the wind in the sky. Biting her lip, she asked softly. As she moved Tom, his still-wet bloodstains smeared onto her; she could clearly feel that Tom's body was burning hot—clearly from a high fever.
"I only know that you'll be able to smile happily very soon." After Tom said this, the two said nothing more, focusing intently on Luffy's movements. Unknowingly, their breathing gradually fell into the same rhythm.
Soon, Arlong charged out of the seawater pool again, stabbing toward Luffy.
"Now!" Tom wanted to tell Nami to get away the moment she pulled the trigger, but there was no time to say so much.
Nami steadied the fishing rod with one hand, and moved the other hand to the trigger. Their hands pressed the trigger together, each taking half the force. Their touching fingertips made them clearly feel the warmth transmitted from the other.
Whoosh! At the instant the rapidly spinning crimson spearhead shot out, it was like igniting blazing flames, radiating dazzling red light, emitting a shrill, ear-splitting whistle through the air. As the torpedo flew over the pool, its speed was so fast that it dragged the seawater below, kicking up towering waves.
Tom and Nami were blasted backward by the tremendous recoil force, both hands left aching and numb, nerves tingling.
Boom! Tom and Nami smashed through a wall, then continued flying dozens of meters before slamming heavily into the ground, leaving a long drag mark.
When they landed, Tom fell on top of Nami.
Before pulling the trigger, Nami had stepped back slightly, crouching behind Tom. So when they were blasted backward, she hit the wall first, and upon landing, she cushioned Tom beneath her.
This torpedo was meant to be used in water. Using it on land, without seawater resistance to offset the recoil, would bring damage that ordinary people couldn't withstand.
In Tom's current physical condition, he originally didn't want to use it, but was forced with no other choice.
Arlong, focused solely on dealing with Luffy, completely failed to notice the movement in his blind spot. In addition, at the final moment, Luffy stretched out his arms, wrapping Arlong tightly like an octopus, rendering him unable to move. He was solidly struck by the whistling torpedo.
Hit in the right abdomen, Arlong's entire body was sent spinning at high speed, flying diagonally upward, then falling from over thirty meters and smashing into the ground with a loud bang, forming a huge crater.
Although Luffy released his grip in time, he was still flung far away by the powerful inertia.
"Is Arlong dead?"
"Don't know. After such an attack, he shouldn't survive, right? His abdomen has a huge hole." Johnny and Yosaku were too far away to see clearly, wanting to step forward but hesitating.
"Nami, are you… okay?" Tom barely mustered some strength, rolled aside, and stopped pressing on Nami.
"I'm fine." Nami's voice was weak, her breathing slightly unsteady, but she was at least alive.
Nearly a minute passed with no movement from Arlong. Johnny and the others thought Arlong was finished. But then, Arlong appeared again. His abdomen had a massive hole, bearing charred, coal-like marks. The high-temperature spearhead had pierced straight through his body, the wound rapidly carbonized, barely bleeding—though the flesh inside was likely completely ruined. Yet he was still standing upright.
"You ant-like, low-class humans, you did quite well. I really thought I was about to die just now." Arlong exhaled heavily, walking slowly toward Tom from the crater.
"He's still alive!"
"It's over! Everyone will be killed!" Johnny and Yosaku, who had just gathered the courage to step forward, saw the blood-covered Arlong, his one-eyed, grotesque face, and were scared out of their wits, clinging together. Even the villagers behind them gradually showed despair on their faces.
"It's not over yet! You dare to hurt my companions!" Luffy leaped into the air, veins bulging in both hands, relentlessly pounding Arlong below. "Gum-Gum Gatling!"
Arlong was knocked down, continuously taking Luffy's punches, his body trembling violently. As Luffy's attacks continued, the ground beneath him gradually shattered, and he slowly sank downward.
Tom could see clearly: as Luffy attacked, his wounds bled even more due to the large, forceful movements.
Arlong had left many new wounds on Luffy—hands, body, legs pierced by the serrated nose—four bloody holes, more than Tom. The bleeding completely soaked his red vest, as if the clothes had been soaked in water for a long time, blood dripping constantly.
Having lost so much blood, fatigue appeared on Luffy's face. After all, no matter how strong one was, excessive blood loss meant they couldn't hold out for long.
After pummeling Arlong with over a hundred punches, Luffy had completely become a man of blood. The ground beneath Arlong completely collapsed, burying him deep inside.
Panting heavily, Luffy landed back on the ground, swayed a few times, then collapsed weakly.
"This time, Arlong is really finished, right?"
"Must be. With that level of attack, there's no way he's still alive." Just as Johnny and yosaku wanted to cheer, a large hand reached out from the shattered ground, followed by Arlong's laughter. "Shahahahahaha!"
Seeing Arlong still alive after suffering such severe injuries, Johnny and the others turned deathly pale.
"Just a little more, and I would've been done for. But the last one standing is the victor!" Arlong glanced at the fallen Luffy and the others, his gloomy face filled with a winner's smile, coughing up several mouthfuls of blood—clearly showing he was also at his limit.
Even so, the residual power within him easily intimidated Johnny and the others who were itching to step forward.
"Stay obediently right there. After I kill them, I'll naturally deal with you." Arlong scattered water droplets, carving a ditch over a meter deep into the ground, frightening Johnny and the others into not daring to move.
"Nami, I really can't bear to kill you after all. You're a genius. Staying with those useless trash is too much of a waste of your talent!" Arlong continued toward Nami. "Nothing in this world is more unfortunate and foolish than wasting one's own talent. You should understand this clearly."
"Shut up, you stinky fish!" Tom propped himself up with his fishing rod and stood, swinging it at Arlong, only for Arlong to catch it with one hand. "It's impressive you can still hold on. Those wounds must have caused you tremendous pain, right? I don't know what you did before, but whatever drained your stamina so quickly must have been something unusual. But this battle's outcome is already decided. You've lost. The fate awaiting you is death!"
When Tom first used the ability to strip others of their growth experiences, it placed a heavy burden on his body and mind, especially with a high fever, greatly increasing the consumption. He was like someone who hadn't slept for days and nights, his foggy mind desperate to close his eyes, compounded by unceasing pain.
Arlong forcefully yanked Tom over by the fishing rod. With the high fever making his head spin excessively, Tom saw multiple afterimages of Arlong. But even as he was sent flying, he still punched Arlong's serrated nose crooked, making him cry out in pain.
"This is the final struggle of a low-class human." Arlong straightened his crooked nose and no longer looked at Tom being thrown toward Luffy.
Tom tried to grab the fishing rod and prop himself up, but his hand couldn't grip firmly; the rod slipped and fell to the ground.
That last attack seemed to have drained the final bit of strength from his body. Now Tom felt he couldn't move even a single finger. He wanted to stop Arlong from approaching Nami, but his body no longer obeyed him.
"Nami, for you, staying by my side and continuing to draw charts is the happiest thing!"
"When I understand the world's oceans through your charts, we Fish-Men will have no more enemies! The entire world will become my empire!"
"You exist for my ambition! And the starting point of that ambition is this island and the entire East Blue! Do you understand now? You will never escape my control! We are mutually dependent partners!" As Arlong closed in on Nami, every word clearly reached Luffy and the others.
Luffy, lying on the ground, slowly clenched his fist. Zoro and Sanji, lying in pools of blood without much reaction, also began to move their fingers, the motion growing larger.
"I won't help you do anything ever again! I'd rather die with them!" Nami, facing the approaching Arlong, quickly calmed down after the initial panic. She pressed down the straw hat on her head, stood firmly in her sandals, and fearlessly stared at Arlong.
"I thought you were a smart woman. Looks like you're just as stupid as the other humans! Let me ask you: Can they use you as efficiently as I can? Can they exploit your talent as thoroughly as I have?!" Arlong's words made the blood-covered Luffy roar angrily.
"You say use! What exactly do you take her for?!"
"You still have the strength to shout? What, you have objections to my words?" Arlong turned toward Luffy.
"Zoro! Sanji! Buy me some time! Just three seconds!" Luffy gasped heavily as he shouted.
"Hear that, curly-brow? Three seconds to hold off that half-fish freak."
"You moss-head are too weak. I can get up in two seconds."
"Then I'll take one second!"
"I can get up right now!"
Under Nojiko's astonished gaze, the barely conscious Zoro and Sanji stood up and charged toward Arlong.
"Don't hold back! Go all out!"
"Of course! Don't talk to me in a commanding tone! He dared treat Nami-san like this—I'll make him pay!" Zoro and Sanji attacked from left and right. One had a blood-mangled sword hand; the other's attacking leg had a fractured shin, torn apart like it had been mauled by a beast, not a single patch of intact flesh left.
Just as Arlong was about to attack, several small pellets flew over—exploding into raging flames, blocking his vision.
"Don't ignore me, the brave warrior of the sea! I am the famous Captain Usopp of the seas!" Usopp, with several broken bones, also stood up and fired Triple Fire Star at Arlong.
With Usopp's cover, Zoro and Sanji successfully struck Arlong.
"Three-Sword Style: Tatsumaki!"
"Mutton SHOT!"
Arlong was blasted into the sky by their combined attack.
"The rest is up to you." After saying this, Zoro and Sanji collapsed once more.
"We haven't lost! Tom, you can still move, right?!" Luffy struggled to stand, calling to Tom lying nearby.
The pain I endured for eight years… will soon end.
No matter how sad, how hard, I could only rely on myself. I never want to see anyone get hurt or die for helping me again.
Images of the blood-stained sea charts flashed through Tom's mind, along with the words behind them. He felt the blood flowing through his body boiling fiercely, his whole body seeming to ignite. He gripped the ground with all his strength. "I'm fine!"
"I want her to come to sea with us happily, Luffy! Let's end this!" Tom rolled over, propped himself up with one hand, and smashed the ground forcefully, cracking it. His pupils remained black—this time not using Devil Fruit power, but pure willpower. The pain made him look haggard, but his eyes gleamed sharply.
"Yeah! Let's go!" Luffy ignored the pain wracking his body, sprinted toward the Arlong Park building, stretched out his arm, grabbed the top, and launched himself upward. "Gum-Gum Rocket!"
Seeing Luffy shoot straight up to over thirty meters, Tom picked up his fishing rod, attached the soft-flow particle accessory, adjusted it, planted it into the ground, and used its elasticity to leap after Luffy.
While airborne, Tom used his fishing line launcher to fire a line, sticking it to the rod, yanking it from the ground into his hand.
Arlong had fallen back into the seawater pool. Seeing Luffy and Tom plummeting rapidly from above, he pulled out two sets of teeth. "You stupid humans, daring to resist me! Die!"
"Shark·ON·Dentures·Triple Wheel!" At the bottom of the pool, Arlong opened his mouth wide, his body spinning at high speed. The sharp teeth in his mouth and the fangs in his hands spun wildly as he charged upward.
Splash! When Arlong burst out, he dragged up three rising water currents behind him—showing just how fast he was spinning.
The rapidly rotating teeth and fangs looked like a continuous meat grinder, tearing toward the descending Luffy and Tom.
"You two have to defeat him!" Usopp lay helpless on the ground, shouting loudly.
"See? They can still move."
"They have to win!" Johnny and Yosaku , who had thought all hope was lost, saw hope again.
"This is the final blow!"
"Finish him!"
Luffy and Tom fell rapidly, making no attempt to dodge Arlong's attack.
"Gum-Gum Battle Axe!" Luffy suddenly extended his right leg upward mid-fall.
"Spear Style: Hundred Cycle Strikes!" Tom took another slightly blunt spearhead from his belt and attached it to the fishing rod tip. Head down, he furiously swung the long spear with both hands, creating hundreds of silver flashes, stabbing toward Arlong.
Luffy's descending kick smashed heavily onto Arlong's head. Tom's long spear left countless wounds across Arlong's body. For a moment, blood and flesh filled the air.
The collision of three forces sent the air into chaos, whipping up violent winds.
After a brief stalemate, Arlong's body finally fell downward.
Luffy and Tom had expended every last ounce of strength they had.
Luffy stomped Arlong down through the building below, continuing downward until he hit the ground.
Tom followed Arlong's descent, smashing through multiple floors, debris striking his face and body, carving dozens of fresh wounds. The final spear thrust drove straight into Arlong's body, pinning him firmly to the ground.
"Look! That building is collapsing!"
"Did they win?" Seeing the five-story magnificent building suffer catastrophic damage and begin to wobble, Johnny and the others swallowed nervously. As they spoke, the building collapsed with a thunderous crash, completely turning into ruins before their stunned eyes.
"But they were still inside! Will they be okay?" Usopp shouted in alarm. Luffy was a rubber man, but Tom had been buried under so much rubble—what if he was crushed to death?
"Luffy! Tom!" Nami rushed forward a few steps, panic written on her face. Just as she called out, she saw two familiar figures stand up from the ruins: one with both fists clenched, fists covered in blood; the other holding a spear with one hand, silver spearhead dripping blood.
The collapsed building allowed sunlight to shine directly onto the two of them.
Clang! As Tom thrust the spear into the ground, he and Luffy spoke different words at the same time.
"Nami, you're our companion!"
"Nami, you super idiot!"
Luffy's words made Nami deeply moved, tears filling her eyes. But Tom's shout left her with mixed feelings she couldn't describe.
"You still dare curse Nami-san?! I'll kick you to death!" Sanji, hearing Tom curse Nami again, kicked straight at him.
"Who told her to play that stupid betrayal game in the first place? Clearly she didn't trust us! If she'd said it earlier, how would things have become so complicated? I just called her—"
Before Tom could finish, his vision went black, and he collapsed forward, completely unconscious. As he fell, he smelled a familiar orange scent.
Sanji rushed in, but missed the kick as Tom fell, tragically flying over him and face-planting into the ruins…
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T/N :
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