Arlong, sprawled on the ground, made no attempt to resist.
He couldn't even summon the thought of struggling.
Because no one understood better than he did that in front of this man, any resistance was meaningless—nothing more than a way to die faster, and more disgracefully…
So Arlong lay there as if resigned to his fate, stretched out in the shallow crater his own body had smashed into.
Staring up at the vast blue sky of the East Blue, he burst into laughter—hoarse, desperate, and unhinged.
"Gyo-gyo-gyo… hahahahaha!!"
At the same time, the Fish-Men of the Arlong Pirates—who moments ago had looked so ferocious—stood frozen in place. Not a single one dared to move. None of them even dared to breathe too loudly.
Because the man before them was "Heaven-Shaker" Gern.
The absolute existence whose very name and banner alone were enough to make all of Fish-Man Island tremble and submit.
Gern paid no attention to their stares. He stepped forward, one pace at a time, until he stood before the collapsed Arlong. Lowering his gaze, he looked down at him with cold indifference.
"You wanted to kill me long ago, didn't you?"Arlong stopped laughing. His bloodshot eyes stared up at Gern from below, his tone thick with mockery.
"Back on Fish-Man Island. In front of Big Brother Tiger's grave.Your eyes… they already told me everything back then."
"Yes."Gern's expression didn't change. His voice was flat, emotionless."So what?"
"So what? Hahaha!"Arlong's voice suddenly turned shrill, as if he'd heard the funniest joke in the world.
"So in the end, I, Arlong, am going to die just like Big Brother Tiger—at the hands of you filthy humans! Hahahahaha!!"
In his own mind, Arlong now saw himself as a "martyr" like his brother Tiger, embracing death with a twisted sense of pride.
But in response to this self-styled, tragic "sacrifice," Gern only let out a cold snort.
"Heh."
"You're not worthy of speaking Fisher Tiger's name."
"I told you already.You've disgraced him."
"Not worthy?!"Arlong reacted as if his tail had been stepped on. He roared furiously, the movement tearing at his shattered face and sending more blood spilling out.
"Big Brother Tiger hated humans until his very last breath!He died carrying endless hatred for you! It was all because of you filthy—"
"I won't judge your experiences," Gern cut him off, his voice calm but firm."You have the right to hate humans."
"Because Tiger was gravely wounded due to human betrayal, and he did die because of it.That much, I won't deny."
Those words made Arlong freeze.
"But him—Fisher Tiger—even with all that hatred and pain in his heart…"Gern's voice hardened.
"His blade, his fists of rebellion, were always aimed at the strong.At the oppressors.At the twisted rules of this world itself!"
Gern's gaze swept across the trembling villagers.
Across Bellemere's blood-soaked hand.
Across the terrified, tear-streaked faces of Nami and Nojiko.
Then it returned to Arlong—filled with undisguised contempt.
"Not like you—pouring your so-called hatred and cruelty onto innocent civilians weaker than yourself!
Bullying the powerless to satisfy your pathetic vanity and warped sense of revenge!"
"This isn't inheriting Tiger's will.This is defiling his soul!"
"You, Arlong, aren't fit to even be mentioned in the same breath as him!"
"I'm not fit—then you—"Arlong opened his mouth, broken teeth grinding together amid blood foam.
He wanted to retort.To curse this man who had utterly denied everything he believed in with the vilest words he could muster.
But Gern gave him no chance.
"Then climb!!"
Gern looked down at him from above.
"Climb like Fisher Tiger did—with nothing but flesh and blood, barehanded, scaling the ten-thousand-meter Red Line!
Launch your attack against those who sit above the clouds, who call themselves gods—the supreme rulers of this world!!"
"And you?! What are you doing here?!"
"Showing off your power to East Blue villagers who don't even know what Haki is?Collecting your ridiculous 'head tax'?!"
"Do you really think this is inheriting Tiger's will?!"
"Did Fisher Tiger ever teach you to do this?!When the Sun Pirates sailed the seas, did he ever raise his blade against a single innocent village?Did he ever trample a single powerless civilian like you do now?!"
"That Fisher Tiger—who hated humans to his very core, yet buried that hatred deep inside himself and aimed it only at strength and injustice—
Aside from that final outburst born of betrayal at the very end of his life…"
"Did he ever commit even one act as despicable, as base,as what you're doing right now?!"
"Hahahahaha!!!"
Faced with Gern's relentless barrage—each question tearing apart every lie and excuse he'd used to deceive himself—
Arlong erupted into hysterical laughter, filled with a warped, obsessive madness.
"The brother I respected the most…died right in front of me!!"
"And before he died, he abandoned everything he had believed in, everything he had fought for—and refused human blood!!"
"How do you expect me to accept that?!How do you expect me to think about that?!"
Arlong roared, veins bulging.
"I believe I did nothing wrong!!Since Big Brother Tiger's path of 'coexistence' didn't work—then we'll use fear and blood to show humans their place!!"
"That is the path we Fish-Men should walk!!!"
As he spoke, Arlong's pupils suddenly constricted. Summoning the last of his strength, he reached out and seized the corner of Gern's Justice cloak.
Gritting his teeth, he forced his mangled head up closer to Gern's face.
In a voice meant for only the two of them—laced with bone-deep hatred and a cold, knowing sneer—he hissed:
"And one more thing…I'll never accept your bullshit."
"I just did what Big Brother Tiger wanted to do…but didn't dare to do!"
"Don't stand there pretending to be righteous!Right now, aren't you just putting on a show for my men?"
"Letting them watch how 'justly' you judge me, how 'reasonably' you execute me…Those idiots probably already believe every word you said!"
"When they go back to Fish-Man Island, they'll spread stories everywhere—about your 'brilliance,' Admiral Gern, and about how I 'deserved to die'!"
Arlong coughed up a mouthful of blood, his eyes turning resolute.
"So… do it.Give me a clean death.Complete your little performance of 'justice.'"
Hearing this, Gern's eyes narrowed slightly.
"A dying mad dog…you've got a bit more brains than I expected."
With a casual flick of his left hand, he shook Arlong's fingers loose from his cloak.
Then he looked down at him again—no anger on his face.
Only absolute, icy indifference.
"As you wish," Gern said flatly.
In the next instant, his left fist clenched.
Countless high-frequency, pure-white particles surged together, compressing wildly around it—
Forming a dazzling, blinding white ring of vibrating light, humming with pure destruction!
Without sparing Arlong another glance, Gern brought his left fist down—
Slamming it mercilessly into Arlong's body beneath his feet!
BOOOOOOM!!!!!!
The moment the vibrating ring made contact, Arlong's powerful Fish-Man body was like glass tossed into an industrial crusher—
He didn't even have time to scream.
From the cellular level, his body began to fracture, collapse, and disintegrate piece by piece.
Flesh.Bones.Scales.
Everything—reduced to fragments under the ultimate high-frequency vibration—
Exploded into a mist of blood and debris, blasted outward in all directions by the shockwave.