"Tsk," Takuro let out a sharp clicking sound. A flicker of genuine surprise crossed his face. "I didn't expect you to have such a backbone, Long Nose. You're broken and bleeding in the dirt, yet you still have the nerve to bark at me?"
He didn't care for Arlong's ideology, but his Saiyan instincts gave him a grudging respect for a 'hard-boned' fighter. In the universe he came from, it was common for the weak to cower and tremble before a superior power. To see a Tier 1 fighter refuse to bow, even while staring death in the face, sparked a tiny, insignificant bit of interest in him.
"However," Takuro's voice turned icy again, "having a backbone doesn't change the laws of nature. A mantis trying to stop a chariot will only end up crushed into the mud."
Just as he was about to end the tedious conversation—and perhaps end the noisy "mantis" as well—a booming, anxious voice rang out from the end of the street.
"Stop! Lord Takuro, please wait!"
The sound of heavy, rapid footsteps followed. Fisher Tiger hurried toward them, flanked by several Ryugu Palace Guards. His face was a mask of urgency. The moment he saw the wreckage of the cafe and Arlong lying mangled in a pit, he realized he had arrived just in time to witness a disaster. Arlong looked half-dead, but his eyes still held that stubborn, fanatical glint. Nearby, Shyarly stood pale and trembling, her face stained with tears.
"Tiger... Big Brother..." Arlong wheezed. His pupils flickered with recognition, but his obsessive hatred remained as strong as ever.
Tiger didn't look at Arlong immediately. Instead, he rushed to Takuro's side and bowed low, his posture incredibly humble. "Lord Takuro! Please, accept my deepest apologies! It was my poor judgment that allowed this reckless fool to offend you. I beg you, show mercy and spare his life!"
Tiger had known the moment he heard Arlong was heading for the cafe that something terrible would happen. He knew the gap between a local thug like Arlong and a Tier 5 powerhouse like Takuro was wider than the ocean itself.
"Whatever," Takuro said, waving his hand dismissively. He didn't have the patience for formal apologies.
Tiger immediately signaled the doctors he brought along. They scrambled into the pit to provide emergency treatment, working feverishly to stabilize Arlong's vitals. As the medicine and first aid took hold, Arlong's consciousness cleared just enough for him to see the scene before him.
What he saw was more painful than his broken bones. His hero, the legendary Fisher Tiger—the man who had climbed the Red Line and stood as the backbone of the Fish-Man race—was standing respectfully beside the Saiyan. Tiger's head was bowed, and his voice held a tone of... submission.
This sight was like a poisonous thorn in Arlong's heart. He struggled against the doctors, his wounds reopening and making him grimace in agony. He let out a hoarse, desperate roar.
"Big Brother Tiger! Why?! Why are you acting like a servant to this... this monster?! Have you forgotten the cruelty of the humans? Have you forgotten the years of suffering our people endured? You are betraying us! You are betraying the Fish-Man race!"
Tiger's body went rigid. He turned toward his younger brother, his expression pained and complex. He stepped toward the edge of the pit and spoke in a deep, resonant voice. "Arlong, you're wrong. It is precisely for the future of Fish-Man Island—for the sake of every one of our compatriots—that I chose to follow Boss Takuro!"
"The future? You're following him for a future?" Arlong coughed, blood spraying from his lips as he laughed mockingly. "What kind of future is built on being a human's dog?!"
"You simply don't understand the level of power Boss Takuro possesses!" Tiger's voice rose with a sense of reverence, like a man describing a god. "I have traveled the world. I have seen countless strong individuals on the Grand Line... but their power, compared to Boss Takuro, is like a tiny firefly trying to outshine the moon!"
Tiger stared directly into Arlong's bloodshot eyes. "Our island is trapped between monsters. Queen Otohime's dreams are too soft, and your hatred will bring nothing but a buster call to our shores. We need someone who can break the old world. We need a shield. Boss Takuro is that shield! Under his banner, Fish-Man Island will see a level of protection we've never dreamed of!"
"Protection?" Arlong spat blood into the dust. "In the end, it's just bowing to humans and crawling before the World Government. If the 'future' means playing nice with the people who enslaved us, then I'd rather die right here!"
He bared his teeth, his unyielding spirit leaving Tiger feeling both heartbroken and helpless.
Suddenly, Takuro, who had been ignoring their bickering, cut in with a tone of impatient sarcasm. "Hey, Long Nose. Are you actually stupid, or just deaf?"
Takuro turned around slowly. His dark eyes glinted with a wild, predatory light, and a dangerous smile spread across his face.
"Who the hell told you I wanted to 'coexist' with those trash Celestial Dragons? And since when did I say I was going to submit to some pathetic World Government?"
Arlong froze. For a moment, he forgot the agony in his chest. "Then... then what is it you want?"
Takuro looked at him as if he were an idiot. In a casual, matter-of-fact tone—as if he were merely discussing the weather—he gave his answer.
"We're going to attack, obviously."
He raised his hand and pointed straight up, as if his finger could pierce through ten thousand meters of ocean and reach the very top of the Red Line.
"We are going to drag those self-righteous Celestial Dragons in Mary Geoise down from their thrones and crush them into the dirt. We're going to uproot the World Government and burn it to the ground. This ocean needs a new order, and I am the one who is going to build it."
Those words hit Arlong like a hurricane. His entire mind went blank as the implications sank in.
Attack Mary Geoise? Crush the Celestial Dragons? Overthrow the entire World Government?
This was the ultimate revenge. It was the dream Arlong had buried deep in his heart, the one he didn't even dare to voice because it seemed so impossible. He hated all humans, but the source of that hate was the 'Gods' in the Holy Land who treated his kind like animals.
Arlong was dumbfounded. The anger and stubbornness on his face melted away, replaced by a look of sheer shock... and then, a rapidly growing, fanatical light. He had assumed Tiger was surrendering to the status quo. Instead, he realized Tiger had found a "God of Vengeance"—someone crazier, more powerful, and more ruthless than Arlong had ever imagined.
"You... are you serious?" Arlong's voice trembled with a desperate hope.
Takuro snorted. "I don't waste my time lying to a nobody like you."
In that instant, Arlong's resistance shattered. If this Saiyan's goal was to burn the Holy Land to the ground, then what was a little humiliation? Following a man like this wasn't a surrender; it was a shortcut to the revenge he craved.
A ferocious, blood-soaked smile broke across Arlong's disfigured face. He used the last of his strength to shout.
"Boss! Take me with you! I want to be there when Mary Geoise burns! I want to be the one to tear those Celestial Dragon scumbags apart with my own teeth!"
The transition was sudden, but logical. His extreme hatred had finally found a weapon big enough to wield. Tiger watched his brother's sudden change of heart with mixed feelings, but he let out a long sigh of relief. Arlong's life was saved, and more importantly, his fire was finally pointed in the right direction.
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