Lashing Out

At Northern Fishman Island's Waterwheel Town, the people hear that "The princes are headed to the plaza...!!" and fear for the country. They ask, "What's going to happen to this country?!" and wonder if the captured princess can be used as a hostage to stop the New Fishman Pirates, since the enemy is trying to execute the king. Another hostage says, "It's no use, Kotsun... Boss Hordy is a cruel man," certain Hody would abandon them and carry on. Nearby, Dosun's energy has fallen all the way to "Kotsun" after the damage from the princes, and he demands, "Quick, pass me a new energy steroid pill...!!"

The hostages explain that Hody has always been driven by pride and ambition. Even before the coup, he hated any fishman who tried to do business with human pirates, and if any fishman dared offer blood donations to an injured human, Hody had them assassinated. They quote his ideology directly: "The blood of humans is tainted, tosun!!!" and "For a fishman to exchange blood with a human is an insult to his proud fishman heritage, dosun!!" Any fishman who sided with "the inferior humans" became an obstacle. The people recognize that Hody is returning to the old Dosun, not recovering into mercy but into militant hatred.

Dosun rises past his weakened speech pattern and roars, "...to our glorious plan, dogan!!!" The steroid power swells through him until he snaps the chains binding him. The crowd cries, "Ahhh!!!! He broke free from the chains!!!" and "He went beyond 'Dosun'!!!" while another asks, "Where is he getting that kind of power...?!!" The hammerhead shark fishman stands introduced as DOSUN, breaking his restraints through raw drug-amplified strength. The page turns the hostages' attempt at hope into another show of the New Fishman Pirates' brutality.

Dosun curses the prince who wounded him, shouting, "Damn you, Fukaboshi...!!! You will pay, bokan!!!" He smashes through the area and vows, "Next time, I will crush you, zugan!!!" Then he turns the crowd toward the execution: "Follow me, men, bagon!! We have an execution to watch at Gyoncord Plaza, gyaban!!!" His followers cheer, "Yeaa aaah hhh!!!" The violence becomes a procession. Dosun is not only recovering from defeat; he is dragging the terrified town toward Hody's public killing of Neptune.

Outside the Seafolk Cultural Hall on Southern Fishman Island, the swordsman Hyouzou lies drunk and barely conscious while people beg him to get hold of himself. Someone says, "C'mon, c'mon! I'll buy you a - hic - drink, uhkaaay?!!" while others warn, "Get a hold of yourself!! You can't fight like this!!" and "It's no use! He's drunker than a sea cucumber!!" A pirate says they are about to battle Fukaboshi and the rest of Neptune's army, and if unlucky they may even face the legendary Jinbe. Hyouzou slurs, "I can sho hol' a shord!" but the men shout that he is a "butchering drunk" and demand that people keep away from him.

Hyouzou's drunken body suddenly becomes a weapon. He thrashes with swords and tentacles, cutting through the people around him while they scream, "AAAA ARGH HHH!!" He is introduced as HYOUZOU, a blue-ringed octopus merman, and mumbles through the chaos, "Hm-hm-h mmmm..." The men nearby can no longer even tell what he is saying. Someone tries to interpret his slurring as "Oh yeah, I know. I should go slice up the Neptune Army," but what matters is the danger: even barely conscious, Hyouzou is still sharp enough to maim anyone too close.

At Eastern Fishman Island's Marine Shopping Mall, Zeo attacks from concealment. Citizens cry, "Stop this!! Please!! We won't resist any more, just don't kill us!!" and ask, "Where are these attacks coming from...?" Zeo's voice mocks them: "Did you common citizens really think you could achieve anything...? Your efforts are meaningless...!!!" People wonder where Zeo went, while one explains that Zeo can camouflage himself like a chameleon and blend perfectly into his surroundings. Then someone spots what looks like a bug and says, "Look! A bug!! Ew, squash it!!" while another asks whether Zeo's voice disappeared.

Zeo lies flattened on the ground after being mistaken for a cockroach. Someone asks, "Is the cockroach dead?" and another answers, "Yeah, I squashed it flat!" The humiliation does not stop Zeo from turning it into rhetoric. He declares, "In other words, there is nowhere for you to run..." and "You cannot escape your fates!!!" while his followers insist that he held on to his dignity and that this is the self-possessed "noble of the Fishman District." Zeo coughs but continues: "Yes, this is a revolution!!!! Today in Gyoncord Plaza... with the death of the line of Neptune... a new king will arise!!! So let us go! To the plaza!!!"

On the route northwest from Waterwheel Town to Gyoncord Plaza, Nami studies the map of Fishman Island while the royal party moves. Asked how long until they reach Gyoncord Plaza, someone answers, "We'll be there in under an hour." The princes know there is no need for Hody to execute the king in such a public place unless it is part of a bigger plan, perhaps also meant to capture Shirahoshi. Fukaboshi refuses to let Hody harm Neptune or close off the hearts of the people after they worked so hard to open themselves to new possibilities. He says, "...Then so be it, let him try...!!!"

As the princes travel, they reflect on the Straw Hats and the island's danger. One says he now understands why Jinbe never once took his eyes off Hody, and another guesses that if no humans have been visiting the island lately, it is probably Hody's fault as well. Someone wonders whether Shirahoshi is still safe inside Shell Tower, noting that it is surprising they have heard no news about her. Asked what he thinks of the Straw Hat crew, Fukaboshi says that aside from Madame Shirley's prophecy that they will destroy the country, he sensed no ill will from them. The mermaids at the cove are good judges of character and did not think they were bad people. Still, Fukaboshi ends the debate: "Gather all the soldiers of the land!!! We will rescue the king, no matter what!!!"

In the northern Gyovelley Hills, a massive sea bear rampages while citizens curse the beast for making them feel powerless. Someone shouts, "Sea Bear!!! That's enough!! These guys are barely breathing any more!!" The sea bear roars, and the pirates around it argue in panic: "Stop now, Sea Bear!!!" "Use fire." "Sea monsters don't like fire!!!" but another immediately warns, "Sea monsters don't like fire!!!" and the plan collapses. The scene shows Hody's forces using controlled monsters against the population, but the control is already strained and dangerous.

The fire throws the giant squid fishman Ikaros Much into terror. He screams, "GUAAA AAAHHHH HHHHH!!!" as his body curls backward, and people cry, "EHHH?!! Ikaros-san's body is curling over backward!! What kind of curse is this?!" They shout, "Put out the fire, you fools!!" and "The fire?! What's wrong with the fire?!!" Ikaros insists, "It's going to turn me into dried squid!! Like heck it will!!!" and apologizes as his fear overtakes him. The page introduces IKAROS MUCH, a giant squid fishman, whose strength is mixed with a ridiculous but dangerous trauma around open flame.

The pirates explain Ikaros Much's fear: long ago, Ikaros had a friend who was a giant squid, but one day that friend got too close to the sun and became a giant dried squid. Since then, the trauma returns whenever he sees a naked flame. When someone snaps, "Nobody was thinking that, idiot!!" Ikaros threatens, "If you were planning on eating me with a nice drink, then I'll tear your head off!!!" A note jokes that this is a mockery of the Daedalus and Icarus legend. Ikaros then attacks with "Daidalos," and the people realize that his dried-squid lances suck all the water out of whatever they strike. He warns, "Be more careful in future-hhi!"

Ikaros batters the sea bear with repeated cries of "Squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid!!!" and a witness says, "Oh, man!! He's actually beating up the guy he just dried out!!!" The sea bear collapses like a dried squid, proving the attack's effect. Ikaros laughs, "Muhhii!! True enough!!" while the others urge him toward the plaza: "Ikaros-san, don't you think that's enough!! We have to get over to the plaza soon, right?!" Then someone points into the sky: "Minister of the Right...!! Look up above, in the sky!" Another asks, "Is that... Hordy?!" as Hody's group appears overhead.

Hody's group rides through the sky on bound sea monsters, carrying King Neptune with them toward Gyoncord Plaza. Citizens cry, "Your Majesty...!!" and "They've got the king on that thing with them!!" Someone identifies them as "the Fishman District gang!!!" and says they are headed for the plaza. When the people call on Neptune as a warrior of the sea to save them, Neptune, still bound, bitterly answers, "Do not call me by that name... What warrior cannot even protect his own people...?!" He tells them, "Bring us one of your great miracles!!" while another citizen asks why Hody refuses to show his face. Neptune sees the truth: Hody should never have relied on the drug that consumes its user's life force.

Hody's subordinates explain that the wound he received from the pirate swordsman has been hurting him badly all day, so he has been consuming tons of energy steroids to make up for it. They admit they tried to stop him, but Hody's body convulses under the strain. He screams, "GUAAAA AAAHHHH HHHH!!!" and falls forward while his men shout, "Captain Hordy!!!" Hody gasps, "I can't... breathe...!!!" The page shows the cost of his borrowed strength: the drugs that made him terrifying are now crushing him from the inside.

Hody's body continues tearing itself apart from the steroid side effects. His men panic, saying, "Muhh!!!! He is suffering from side effects of the steroid?!! Oh, Captain Hordy!!! That drug was dangerous after all!!!" Hody groans, "My body..." and then screams, "NNNN GUUUUA AAAAAAA ARRRRGH HHHHHH HHH!!!" The sea monsters below become agitated as well. Someone says, "Something's really weird about this beam... all of these sea monsters... were brought under control by Captain Hordy himself, but..." Another notices, "I don't think I've ever seen them look so terrified...!!" The chapter ends with the controlled beasts visibly afraid, suggesting a greater force or presence has entered the situation.

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