Nami's grimacing expression immediately silenced the three big men on the spot.
Sakuragi Hanamichi's temperament was just like that, Sakata Gintoki was used to it, but Su Xiaoqi turned his gaze toward Zhu Zhuqing.
As the saying goes, "Without comparison, there's no harm." Nami and Zhu Zhuqing's personalities were completely opposite. If Su Xiaoqi had to choose, he would have no hesitation picking Zhu Zhuqing — Nami's personality was somewhat hard for him to accept.
Seeing the three men settle down, Nami nodded in satisfaction, then turned to Zhu Zhuqing and smiled, "Zhuqing sis, did you see that? Men need to be taught like that. If it weren't for today being our first meeting, my iron fist would've already taught them a lesson."
Zhu Zhuqing said nothing. She occasionally acted a little spoiled, but to be like Nami — with her personality, that was hard.
Nearby, Lu Linglong covered her mouth, smiling, then looked at Sakata Gintoki and asked, "Gin-san, how do you like my outfit today?"
She was still wearing the white teddy bear T-shirt, paired with blue denim shorts.
Upon hearing this, Sakata Gintoki immediately switched to his usual mischievous mode. "Linglong sis, you look exactly like Gin-san's first love — no, I mean there's absolutely no difference. Gin-san feels like he's fallen in love again."
Lu Linglong tried hard not to laugh and continued, "If I'm your first love, then what about Nami-chan? After all, when you joined the group, you said Nami was your favorite."
Sakata Gintoki replied instantly, "Nami-chan was Gin-san's first lover. Young Gin-san was quite amorous."
"Bang!" Nami's iron fist slammed heavily onto Sakata Gintoki's head, furious. "Who's your lover, you bastard?"
"Hahaha, Gin-san, you're too funny."
Lu Linglong couldn't hold back her laughter anymore, while Zhu Zhuqing's lips curled slightly into a smile.
"No way, Gin-san isn't for playing around. If you want to play, Gin-san can join you in some adult games," Sakata Gintoki muttered softly, holding his head.
"Ahem, let's discuss how we're going to deal with that Evil Dragon crew," Su Xiaoqi thought it necessary to remind them. He felt if they kept fooling around, a whole day wouldn't be enough for them to play. Meanwhile, his own hands were already itching.
"Ah, I almost forgot," Nami exclaimed. She had just been distracted by someone, glaring fiercely at Sakata Gintoki and complaining, "It's all your fault, you damn dead-fish-eyed white hair."
Su Xiaoqi twitched his mouth—poor Sakata Gintoki had gained a new nickname.
After some discussion, the group finally decided: Su Xiaoqi and Sakata Gintoki would handle the captain Arlong and his three officers, while Lu Linglong and Zhu Zhuqing would deal with the rest of the crew. The two women also had the task of protecting Nami and Sakuragi Hanamichi.
"Nami, lead the way quickly."
Su Xiaoqi was completely excited now. The previous fight with Zhao Wuji was at most a skirmish — the opponent had never used full strength, and his spar with Zhu Zhuqing was just friendly.
But this battle was different — a true life-and-death fight and the best chance to test his current power.
Led by Nami, they soon arrived at the Evil Dragon Pirates' base — Arlong Park.
Lu Linglong looked at the two unknown fishmen guarding the entrance. "These two are for me and Zhuqing sis to handle. Don't interfere."
Sakuragi Hanamichi, amazed at how easily the two fishmen were taken down, exclaimed, "You two boss ladies are amazing! I'm way weaker than usual."
Su Xiaoqi smiled. "Sakuragi, killing someone is a completely different matter from your usual fights. Besides, their opponents were too weak."
These two guards were just ordinary fishmen with little strength. The fishmen's greatest advantage was underwater combat — on land, they were only slightly stronger than normal humans.
Lu Linglong smiled at Zhu Zhuqing. "Zhuqing sis, your skills are pretty good."
Zhu Zhuqing shook her head humbly. "Still far behind compared to you."
Su Xiaoqi and Sakata Gintoki approached the large wooden door, glanced at each other, then kicked it open simultaneously.
The loud noise startled the Evil Dragon Pirates inside, who were holding a banquet. Their eyes burned with uncontrollable rage at the six intruders.
Seated in a rattan chair, a sawtooth shark fishman with a long pointed nose laughed, "Sahaha! I wondered who it was — turns out it's Nami. Haven't seen you for a while; seems you've forgotten the rules here."
"Gin-san, the three officers are yours. Perform well," Su Xiaoqi said and charged directly at Arlong, unwilling to waste words.
Sakata Gintoki, reacting late, cursed, "Damn, you cheated and started early. Get back here, you bastard!"
None of the Evil Dragon Pirates, including Arlong, expected the sudden attack. By the time they reacted, Su Xiaoqi was already in front of Arlong.
Su Xiaoqi threw a punch directly at the still-sitting Arlong, knocking him flying.
"Brother Arlong!"
All the Evil Dragon Pirates grabbed their weapons and charged at Su Xiaoqi.
Sakata Gintoki drew his wooden sword engraved with "Lake Toya," blocking the fishmen with a displeased face, "Hey, don't ignore Gin-san when counting points!"
Lu Linglong approached and smiled, "Gin-san, don't hog it all. Your opponents are the three officers. The rest are for me and Zhuqing sis."
On the other side, the Evil Dragon Pirates, being divided like prey, were furious. One of the officers, Kuroobi, said:
"Leave that man to Brother Arlong. Let's handle this white-haired guy first — he doesn't look like a good person."
"Damn, why's Gin-san not a good guy?" Sakata Gintoki was angry. Being teased by a few girls in the chat was one thing — they were all pretty. But now being despised by a stinky fish? The "White Night Fork" couldn't stand it.
His playful expression vanished; his face turned serious.
"Gin-san has decided — first, we deal with this fish."
Meanwhile, Su Xiaoqi's fight with Arlong was becoming more intense.
Not because Arlong was especially strong — on the contrary, Su Xiaoqi thought Arlong seemed weak.
His attacks appeared to slow down several times, and Su Xiaoqi could see countless openings in his moves.
With a loud bang, Arlong's body flew backward again, crashing into the wall.
Su Xiaoqi looked at the dent on the wall and the fallen Arlong and realized — it wasn't that Arlong was weak, but that Su Xiaoqi had grown stronger.
Arlong wiped the blood from his mouth, his eyes bloodshot. "Human, no matter what your purpose is, now you have thoroughly angered me."
Fishmen had multiple times the physical qualities of humans. Although Su Xiaoqi's punch hurt him, it was nothing serious — it only stirred his brutal bloodlust.
Facing Arlong's rapid charge, Su Xiaoqi smiled faintly, leapt lightly to dodge the attack, and launched a fierce counterattack.
His movement and fighting style imitated Kakarot's completely — the fastest way to improve without a teacher.
He also used the skills of the Flying Technique and Ki Blast in combat to gain experience.
Poor Arlong hadn't realized he was just a training dummy for Su Xiaoqi's power-up. He couldn't understand how a lowly human had such strength, and was even using moves he hadn't seen before in the Grand Line.
"Who exactly are you?"
Arlong panted heavily, his proud nose bent by a punch and his body covered in fist marks.
Su Xiaoqi smiled at Arlong, "As you see, I'm just an ordinary human. My name is Sakata Gintoki."