Before Matsumoto could respond,
a flash of red light burst—Mianjinjian's head exploded instantly.
"Boom!!"
A dull explosion echoed through the sea.
Dark red blood sprayed as his head burst apart.
Inside a wrecked ship...
Vander Decken frowned as he heard the sudden commotion outside.
In a hoarse voice, he asked,
"Poseidon? What's going on out there?"
"What was that noise just now?"
But after his voice echoed—silence.
No one responded.
This eerie quiet made Vander Decken feel a chill down his spine. He shouted again,
"Poseidon?! Answer me!"
This time—
There was finally movement, but not the voice he was expecting.
Instead, it was the sound of steady footsteps.
"Tap… tap… tap…"
Vander Decken's pupils shrank.
He abruptly stood up and shouted,
"Who's there?!"
As his voice echoed,
a figure slowly descended the wooden stairs leading to the deck.
It was Gojo Satoru.
With a calm voice, Gojo spoke,
"So this is where you've been hiding."
Seeing Gojo suddenly appear, Vander Decken was stunned.
He couldn't understand how this man found him.
Instinctively, he stepped back, face darkening.
"Who are you?! What do you want from me?!"
Gojo tilted his head slightly and smiled.
"What do I want? What did you just do? Forget already?"
"You threw that axe with the rose pattern, didn't you?"
Vander Decken's face changed dramatically.
In that moment, he realized—this was the man King Neptune had sent to arrest him!
He's the enemy!
Without hesitation, Decken charged at Gojo, shouting:
"If you've found me—then you can die!!"
But Gojo didn't flinch.
Instead, he smiled coldly.
"I've been waiting for you to make a move."
The moment Decken struck, Gojo vanished.
"Slash!"
A single clean motion—
One of Decken's arms was torn clean off.
Blood splattered.
Decken cried out in pain, collapsing to the ground.
"Thud!"
"Aaaaagh!!"
Gojo tossed the severed arm aside like garbage,
and slowly walked toward the screaming Decken with a cold expression.
"From the moment you attacked our captain… you should've prepared for the consequences."
Decken's eyes widened.
"Captain...? Wait—aren't you working for Neptune?! Is this a misunderstanding?"
Panicked, he waved his remaining hand.
"Wait! There's been a mistake!"
"I never attacked anyone! I never attacked your captain!"
Gojo stared down coldly.
"Oh? You didn't attack anyone?"
"That axe with the rose pattern—wasn't it you who threw it?"
Decken's pupils shrank.
The axe… the one he gave to Shirahoshi?
Wait—does that mean their 'captain' is Shirahoshi?!
Before he could say anything, Gojo had already come to a conclusion.
"Looks like it was you."
"Well, you've still got three arms left. Let's talk—"
"Which hand did you use to throw the axe?"
Meanwhile, on Fishman Street—
Base of the New Fish-Man Pirates
"Boss, what do we do now?"
"The ones who killed Dothan were definitely those damn humans from the Kamui Pirates!"
"We have to avenge him!"
Hearing this, Daruma, the crew member, looked toward Hody Jones, their leader.
Jones responded in a deep voice:
"Don't worry. We will avenge Dothan."
"I'll make those humans pay the price."
"But now isn't the right time. We need to wait for the right opportunity."
He turned toward Jey-O.
"Any news on Icaros?"
Jey shook his head.
"No. Not just Icaros—several others went missing that day."
"We searched all day but couldn't find any traces. Honestly... they're probably dead."
Just then—
"BOOM!!"
A massive explosion echoed.
The room trembled violently.
"BOOM!!!"
Jones, Daruma, and Jey-O froze in shock.
"What the hell is that?!"
Before anyone could answer,
the door burst open violently.
"BANG!!"
A murloc, his body pierced by several black rods, flew backward into the room and crashed into the floor.
"THUD!"
"Aghhh..."
Groaning in pain, the severely injured murloc looked up, tears in his eyes.
"Boss… Boss! There's an intruder!"
"Outside… everyone… they've all been slaughtered…"
"Uwahh…!"
The moment the words left his mouth,
Jones, Daruma, and Jey-O all trembled.
Their pupils shrank in horror.
"What did you say?!"
Jones bellowed in disbelief.
Everyone? Dead?!
That's impossible… isn't it?!
Just then—
"Tap… tap… tap…"
Footsteps echoed from the hallway.
From the shadows appeared a man with piercing purple eyes.
Wearing a long black trench coat embroidered with red cloud patterns—
A member of the Akatsuki.
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