"He's actually heading towards me."
Bellamy's Observation Haki was in no way weaker than Onigumo's, perhaps even a fraction stronger. This entire sea area was currently completely enveloped by his Observation Haki. The every move of all living creatures could not escape his notice. The moment Arlong made a move on the seabed, Bellamy immediately sensed the abnormality.
"Such strong malice. Is he planning to kill me?" As expected of Fish-Man trash, not a shred of gratitude for his savior. However, this suited Bellamy's intentions perfectly; he had been worried this idiot would get himself killed by one of Onigumo's sword strikes. In that case, he would have had to resort to learning Fish-Man Karate from Hatchan. And what the hell would Hatchan, an Eight-Sword Style small fry swordsman, know about Fish-Man Karate?
Still, a Fish-Man attacking from underwater was genuinely difficult for Bellamy to handle. He was a Devil Fruit user; he couldn't possibly dive into the sea to catch Arlong. He needed to come up with a plan. After a moment of thought, Bellamy had an idea. Just to deal with Arlong, this move should be enough.
Bellamy approached one of the smallest masts, then flew up and kicked it. Crack! The mast toppled over under Drake's astonished gaze.
"What is the Captain doing?" They were desperately navigating this stormy sea; every extra sail was crucial for propulsion. Bellamy's actions were incomprehensible to Drake, but he still chose to trust his captain completely. The Captain must have his reasons for doing this.
"If that's the case…" Losing one sail meant a significant reduction in the ship's forward momentum. Then he might as well set the other sails to their maximum. The gale currently sweeping across the sea was strong enough to uproot a large tree. Setting the sails to maximum in such winds was an extremely dangerous act. The slightest miscalculation, and the ship would be capsized by the wind. But it seemed they had no other choice; being caught by the Marines or being capsized by the wind led to the same outcome.
"Mia, Muret, go help on deck! Lower all the sails for me!" After finishing Bellamy's surgery, the ship's doctor and cook had been on standby in the wheelhouse. Now, with the first mate's order, they immediately sprang into action.
"Yikes, this is really risky."
Bellamy saw Drake's actions, but he didn't interfere with his first mate's decision. Since he had entrusted the ship to him, he should completely trust his companion. Bellamy believed Drake could handle all of this. And he, Bellamy, had more important things to do.
Bellamy found a thick rope and tied it securely to the base of the broken mast. Just then, Arlong sped to the bottom of the cargo ship and unleashed an upward strike: "Fish-Man Karate: One Thousand Tile True Punch!" A shockwave of water capable of shattering a thousand tiles churned up a massive torrent on the seabed. If this fist's power struck, Bellamy's cargo ship would undoubtedly have a large hole punched through it. In Arlong's view, Bellamy, a Devil Fruit user, was utterly helpless before him.
But reality was not so.
Bellamy gripped the base of the mast tightly and, with a great leap, launched himself into the air. The muscles in his right arm transformed into a hyperbolic spring structure, the power within instantly tensing to its limit.
The mast, over ten meters long, was hurled by Bellamy like a javelin, speeding into the sea. Under Bellamy's immense strength, more terrifying than a Tyrannosaurus Rex's, the seawater around the mast was forcibly pushed aside, creating a vacuum. Carrying countless air bubbles, this giant javelin plunged straight into the deep sea, piercing Arlong's abdomen with incredible precision, pinning him firmly to the mast. Concurrently, the underwater torrent Arlong had just unleashed was dispersed by an even more explosive impact.
"Argh!!" The moment the mast impaled him, Arlong let out an astonishing, bloodcurdling scream. A thick wooden pole driven through his abdomen – even a large saw-shark Fish-Man was nearly torn in half at the waist. This terrifying pain caused Arlong to lose consciousness on the spot. But then, an immense pulling force came from the other end of the mast. Arlong was instantly jolted awake by the pain. "What is this! What in the world is happening!"
Even now, this Fish-Man racist hadn't figured out where this mast had come from, or why he was skewered on it like a dead fish. It wasn't until Bellamy, pulling the rope, dragged him out of the sea that Arlong was shocked to realize he had been impaled by this human.
"Despicable human! Let me go!" Evidently, in Arlong's worldview, humans were incapable of such a feat. Therefore, Bellamy must have used some contemptible trick to injure him. It was hard to explain where Arlong's sense of superiority over humans came from.
However, Bellamy was not an easygoing fellow. The moment Arlong finished speaking, Bellamy ripped out his tongue. "You Fish-Man trash, did I give you permission to speak?"
With a casual slap, shattering all of Arlong's teeth, Bellamy grabbed his head and, as if carrying a dead fish, dragged him off the mast. A large amount of foul-smelling fish blood instantly flooded the entire deck. Fish-Men bled an extraordinary amount.
Bellamy frowned in disgust, then broke Arlong's limbs and tied him to the deck. Now wasn't the time to deal with this garbage; they hadn't escaped the crisis yet. Given a Fish-Man's physique, such injuries wouldn't kill him for a while.
The storm grew fiercer, and their sailboat's speed increased. In a storm, the wind direction changed constantly. As long as they maintained this speed, the pursuing Marines would only be left further and further behind. Clearly, Drake's plan was to rely on speed to completely shake off these Marines. But this plan was accompanied by immense risk. Sailing with full canvas in a storm was an incredibly reckless act; their ship was in constant danger of capsizing.
"Even the storms in the Four Blues are this terrifying. They say in the New World, the sky rains fire, hailstones, lightning, and giant rocks." Bellamy couldn't imagine what such a scene would be like. He only knew that with the current Bellamy Pirates, if they encountered such a terrifying natural disaster, they would be wiped out in minutes.
"If we can't even conquer a storm in the Four Blues, on what basis can we enter the New World?" Storms and pirates were tribulations that no seafarer could escape.
"Go all out, Drake."
"A mere storm, how could it possibly stop our advance!" Bellamy strode to the bow of the ship and, with a casual movement, shattered an oncoming monstrous wave. As long as he stood here, no wave could crash onto their vessel.