Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 208 The Arlong Pirates Suffer a Massacre

But the dragon soon realized that he could no longer escape.

His ship was already tied to the Musketeer Pirates, and only by seizing the Navy warships according to plan could he leave with his crew.

The Arlong Pirates have no way out.

Following the same tactics used in their attack on the Musketeer Pirates, Arlong's subordinates approached the Navy's warship from underwater.

The dragon hardened its heart, threw Edward's head back, and roared through gritted teeth, "Now! Do it!!"

The medium-sized warship of the 77th Naval Division was suddenly hit and swayed violently from side to side.

It was a sea monster, MooMoo, that charged underwater and struck the keel of the medium-sized warship.

During the violent swing, the cannon, which was originally aimed at the dragon, pointed towards the sky, and then suddenly dropped towards the sea, no longer able to be aimed at the fishman.

The danger of the Arlong Pirates being blown to pieces has been completely resolved.

The warship swayed so violently that the securing ropes to some of the cannons snapped, causing the cannons to slip out of their positions and tumble wildly inside the ship's hold.

The cannon, weighing several tons, rolled with tremendous force, smashing everything in its path to pieces, eventually breaking through the ship's hull and falling into the sea.

Before the naval gunners could recover, a group of fish-man pirates poured into the gun emplacement through the breach, and a battle ensued.

Fortunately, in the past year, the naval officers of the 77th Branch were promoted in rank, and the strength of the naval soldiers was also improved under Xia Zuo's training.

Faced with the ferocious fishmen, the naval soldiers formed five-person combat squads.

The two soldiers in the front row picked up their shields and focused on defending against the fishmen's attacks.

The two soldiers in the middle, holding fire extinguishers or grappling hooks, are using their strength to hold the fishmen back and prevent them from getting close.

The last soldier, wielding a specially made large-caliber musket, fired at the chest of the fishman who was being held down.

At a distance of only 3 meters, with such a huge fish-man target, no one who isn't blind will miss.

The specially made musket has an exaggerated 40mm caliber, and a single load of gunpowder weighs one kilogram, giving it the destructive power of a 1.2-kilogram projectile.

With just one shot, it can blast a fishman ten times stronger than a human to pieces, and even create a fist-sized transparent hole in the ship's cabin.

The formation and weapons of the soldiers of the 77th Detachment originated from the Mandarin Duck Formation invented by Qi Jiguang, a famous general of the Ming Dynasty.

Xia Zuo made significant improvements in response to the rampant superhuman reality in the One Piece world.

He reduced the number of men in one independent formation, focusing on strengthening the defensive capabilities of the weaponry and the firepower of the muskets for the final blow.

In past battles, the power of such muskets was somewhat excessive, and many people suggested reducing the firepower and making it easier to train musketeers.

But Xia Zuo insisted on not changing his mind, and no one could persuade him otherwise, so they had no choice but to accept it.

Now, facing the fishman pirates, Xia Zuo's persistence has shown great value; the firearm's power is sufficient to take down a fishman with a single shot.

Maintaining high killing efficiency is essential to keep up with the speed at which the murlocs rush into the ship's hold, ensuring that the number of murlocs fighting the navy inside the hold remains below ten.

Since the number of fishmen is less than that of the navy combat squads, they cannot force the navy soldiers into a melee and cannot take advantage of their racial advantages.

Under the organized tactical onslaught of the naval soldiers, no fishmen were able to relay the situation. The fishmen clinging to the hull of the warship were unaware of what was happening inside the cabin and could only line up to enter and die.

The fishmen's triumphant flanking maneuver turned into a suicide attack.

The dragon couldn't see the battle inside the ship's cabin, but he did see Brigadier General Pudding's reaction.

When the warship rolled to one side, the commodore was so unsteady that he almost fell into the sea, fully demonstrating his weak capabilities.

The dragon's fear vanished instantly, and he laughed loudly, "Hearing you say you're a commodore gave me quite a fright. I didn't know the navy had such weak officers. It's laughable."

"After I cut off your head, I'm sure no one in the East China Sea will dare to oppose me again."

The dragon drew its serrated sword, leaped towards the warship, and at its highest point suddenly threw the spear from its back, aiming it at Brigadier General Pudding.

The spears came hurtling towards them at incredible speed. The brigadier general, who could barely stand, had no way to block or dodge them and could only watch helplessly as the spears flew toward him.

Xia Zuo suddenly appeared in front of the brigadier general and grabbed the spear.

He twirled the spear in his hand and threw it back with even greater force.

His target wasn't the dragon, but the shipwright Jin Cheng who had jumped down with it. The spear struck the goldfish-man's chest right on the character "金" (gold), pinning him to the cabin.

The dragon never expected that the spear he threw would be returned by the navy, resulting in the loss of one of his brothers.

He let out a blood-curdling roar: "Human, you deserve to die, you deserve to die!"

Arlong, Hachi, Croobi, and other members of the Arlong Pirates, their eyes bloodshot, charged towards Xia Zuo, armed to their strongest.

Xia Zuo pushed Commodore Pudding Pudding behind him, so that the naval soldiers could protect him tightly.

Although this guy isn't very bright and can't distinguish between the big and small kings, he's willing to fight pirates and protect the people, and he's also willing to let Xia Zuo train soldiers.

Compared to Major Rat of the 16th Branch, Commodore Pudding Pudding is indeed a rare good officer in the Navy.

Xia Zuo couldn't possibly let him die in front of him.

Xia Zuo stood at the ship's railing, remaining as steady as a mountain amidst the violent rocking, and couldn't help but burst into laughter as he watched the fish-men swimming wildly towards him.

His laughter enraged the dragon even more, and it plunged into the deep water, beginning its final charge.

Xia Zuo wasn't worried about the fish-men at all. He turned to the marines and said, "The enemy should be members of Fisher Tiger's Sun Pirates. They are of standard Grand Line pirate strength, and there is also a Sea King assisting in the battle underwater."

"Faced with such an enemy, our gunner brothers blocked the murloc attack, and you also quickly stopped the ship from rolling sideways."

"I'm very satisfied with everyone's performance today, so the rest of the battle is up to me."

The naval soldiers and officers shouted excitedly, "Commander Xia Zuo, let's see just how strong you really are!"

Xia Zuo laughed loudly, "You're going to be disappointed."

"These fishmen may be from the Grand Line, but they're just low-level minions; they're not worth my full strength."

.

"Haha, Commander Xia Zuo! The opponent is weak, but that doesn't stop you from showing your true strength, does it?"

"Yeah, sir, you can go all out against the ocean."

"Hey you guys, come back and train with me!"

"Ah? No!"

While Xia Zuo and his subordinates were happily interacting, no one thought about the base commander, Pudding Pudding.

In the moment he lost face in front of the dragon, he lost not only his own dignity, but also his authority as the highest-ranking officer.

Remote naval branches are like independent kingdoms, where the authority of naval rank is less influential than personal strength.

From this moment forward, the supreme leader of the 77th Branch is Shazo, unless he is killed by the evil dragon in the upcoming battle.

That is impossible.

The dragon pounded the water with its legs and burst out of the sea like a torpedo. It raised its head, revealing all its sharp teeth, and spun as it charged toward Xia Zuo.

【Shark ON Gear】

Octopus-man Hachi had somehow climbed onto the naval warship. Its two tentacles gripped the ship's side, and its six tentacles intertwined to form a super thick fist that swung towards Xia Zuo's left side.

Takoyaki Fist

Croobi chose to attack from the right. He took a few steps and closed in on Shazo. He stood firmly with his feet apart and used his strongest fishman karate technique with his right fist.

[Ultimate Move: Thousand-Tile Straight Punch]

Just as the three top fighters of the Arlong Pirates were besieging the enemy, Kissing Fishman Chu suddenly appeared on the Shark.

His belly was bulging, and it was impossible to tell how much seawater it contained. He aimed his long, tubular mouth at Xia Zuo and spat out a clear stream of water.

[Murloc Cannonball Water Column]

Despite being surrounded and attacked by the Fishman Pirates' captain and officers, Xia Zuo was not worried at all.

In his eyes, these guys were slow, too weak, and lacked any variation, posing no threat whatsoever.

To be confident, even if Xia Zuo stood there and let four people attack him, he would only become naked Xia Zuo, and not a single hair would fall out.

Of course, Xia Zuo definitely didn't want to run naked in front of his subordinates, and dealing with these fish-man scum didn't require using Haki, or even the Six Powers of the Navy.

Why would he take a real fight against a mere fishman from the Arlong Pirates?

With the combined physical attributes of the two powerful figures, Xia Zuo, the muscular strength gained from further physical training, and the super speed enhanced by Swift Escape, Xia Zuo attacked all the fishman executives one by one.

First was the evil dragon, because he charged the fastest.

Xia Zuo used a simple straight punch, like a steel hammer, to smash the dragon's mouthful of sharp teeth.

The immense impact stunned the dragon instantly, even breaking its sharp nose. It plummeted back into the sea at a speed even faster than it had charged, creating a huge splash.

Next up is Hachi the Octopus Man.

Xia Zuo stepped to the left and used a backhand hook to break up Xiao Ba's six-handed combined fist. Then, he used a whip kick with ordinary power-generating technique to strike Xiao Ba's supple body.

Xia Zuo's whip kick possesses a technique of restrained yet powerful force, allowing him to transmit the kicking force deep into the octopus-man's body, directly attacking his nine heads and internal organs.

But Xia Zuo immediately discovered that Xiao Ba's smooth and soft body was indeed remarkable. The ripples spread out in circles, not only dissipating most of the force, but also deflecting the direction of the force transmission within the body.

Xia Zuo's whip-like leg force ultimately exploded on the tentacle on the other side of his body, tearing open a small patch of skin, but it didn't touch the octopus man's internal organs or brain at all.

He immediately changed his attack method, circling around the octopus-man Hachi and delivering 36 powerful whip kicks from different angles.

Each whip kick perfectly corresponded to another, and with the two attacks coming at each other, the octopus-man's body was forcibly compressed into a ball of flesh, leaving him no room to deflect the force.

Ultimately, all the power converged on Hachi's mind, swirling and brewing, wringing his body like a towel, creating an unprecedentedly intense tearing sensation.

Hachi stood frozen in place, turned around with difficulty to look at the spot where the dragon had fallen into the water, and finally said, "Captain, Brother Dragon, I'm in so much pain."

Before he could finish speaking, the octopus-man was instantly turned into minced meat.

Xia Zuoke didn't have the habit of leaving his enemies with memories of the past, so after kicking the octopus man to pieces, he pounced directly on the burly, cartilaginous fishman, Croobi, on his right.

Faced with his upright stance and fierce power of Fishman Karate, Xia Zuo countered with Iron Mountain Strike.

Once the attack stance was formed, Xia Zuo, who had mastered martial arts to the core, unconsciously formed a circle, his entire body's power becoming one and manifesting as a sphere.

He transformed himself into a massive cannonball, charging towards the fishman Croobbi with irresistible force.

When the fishman's fist collided with Shazo's shoulder, it was like a mudskipper being crushed by a shot put; the fishman's strong blue arm bones broke inch by inch.

The only intact fist slammed into Croobi's chest like a cannonball.

The fist, imbued with Xia Zuo's power, not only shattered the fishman's cartilaginous ribcage but also pierced through tough skin and strong muscles, smashing the beating heart inside into a pulp.

Fishmen do have a strong vitality, and those who have mastered Fishman Karate are even stronger.

Croobi's heart was smashed flat, yet he still swayed precariously and refused to fall.

Without hesitation, Xia Zuo turned around and launched a vicious elbow strike at Croobi's head.

The power originates from the feet, passes through the legs, waist, chest, and shoulders, and is amplified layer by layer, eventually transforming into a tremendous force like a volcanic eruption.

Centered on the head struck by the elbow, the impact reverberated throughout Croobbi's entire body, turning all the cartilage in his body into dust.

Croobi didn't even have time to say a last word before she lost her life, falling softly backwards onto the sea.

At this moment, the water jets sprayed by the Kissing Fishman arrived.

Xia Zuo looked at the glistening water column and, thinking that this was water that the fishman had drunk and then vomited out, felt extremely disgusted.

Actually, it was because the Kissing Fishman Chuo's appearance was so disgusting that it affected Xia Zuo's judgment of the water quality.

If the dark-skinned, mature woman Nico Robin spat on him, Shazo would not feel disgusted at all.

Xia Zuo stretched out his hand, spread his five fingers, and unleashed his power.

【Water Release: Water Tornado】

The seawater rose up, swirling to form a terrifying behemoth like a dragon, which swallowed the small jet of water spewed by the Kissing Fishman in one gulp, and then pounced on the Shark.

The kissing merman screamed as it was swallowed by the dragon, churned up in the violently spinning water dragon, adding a more vibrant blue-purple hue to the dragon.

The dragon, who had fallen into a coma, was jolted awake by the cold seawater and swam towards the surface using both his hands and feet.

As soon as it emerged from the sea, the dragon saw Hachi turn into minced meat, saw Croo fall like noodles, and saw the Shark being hit by a waterspout, with splinters of wood and fish-man corpses flying everywhere.

He even noticed that the seawater around him had turned a distinct purple and appeared quite viscous.

How much fishman blood must that be?

The dragon was dumbfounded.