What are you?

Vander Decken IX finally goes still, and Hody Jones exults, "Finally, he croaks!!" The moment Decken's power disappears, Hody declares, "Decken's ability is no more!!!" Noah is no longer being pulled toward Shirahoshi as a target; it begins to fall directly toward Fishman Island. Hody laughs at the Straw Hats' fate: "Now the Noah will plummet straight into Fishman Island!!! So long, Straw Hat crew!!! You'll stand in the way of my revenge no longer!!!" Luffy, Shirahoshi, and the princes stare at the falling ship as the danger becomes immediate.

Luffy curses, "Damn that Hody!!!" while Shirahoshi and the princes understand what Noah means to the kingdom. If the ship collides with Fishman Island, both the kingdom and the centuries-old role of Noah will be destroyed. Neptune's words echo: "Listen well, my sons. The ark known as 'Noah' is no mere relic of the past!!" Noah has lain on the ocean floor for hundreds of years, waiting for the day when a promise made with a great man might be fulfilled. Until that promised day arrives, Noah must not be harmed. The princes remember their duty: if the ship has begun to move, they must uncover the reason and restore it to its rightful place.

Hody laughs, "Jahaha hahaha haha!!!" and taunts Luffy: "You think you can stop the Noah now?!!" He mocks the promise Luffy made, asking whether the claim that he would "protect them all" was just empty words. Luffy refuses to back down and shouts, "Oh, I'll stop it!!!" His answer is brutal and direct: "I'll smash that whole ship to pieces... ...before it ever reaches the island!!!" Noah continues falling toward Fishman Island while Luffy prepares to destroy it if that is the only way to save everyone below.

Shirahoshi and the princes reject the idea of destroying Noah. A prince cries, "No, Straw Hat!! Even in the unlikely event that such a feat were possible..." and reminds Luffy that Noah bears a distinguished past and a future that must be fulfilled. Luffy answers, "But what other way is there to save the island?! There's no time! I can't think of anything else!!!" Shirahoshi begs Noah to wait and then calls to Decken: "Please, Decken-sama!! If you still live, then please, you must target me alone!!! Do as you wish with me, but you must not harm Fishman Island!!" Someone warns her, "Shirahoshi!!! You mustn't go near the ship!!!" while Hody laughs that falling among themselves is exactly what he wants.

Hody interrupts the desperate plan with fishman karate. He shouts, "Fishman Karate!!" and unleashes "Umidaiko," the "Ocean Drum," striking Manboshi as Shirahoshi cries, "Mamboshi-onisama!!!" The blow sends the prince tumbling while Hody laughs, "Jahahahah..." Shirahoshi, Luffy, and the remaining brothers are forced to watch as Hody knocks another defender aside rather than let anyone guide Noah away from the island.

Hody rushes straight back at Luffy, calling, "Straw Hat!!!" Their eyes meet: Hody's hatred, Shirahoshi's fear, and Luffy's determination all converge in the deep sea. Luffy drives himself forward inside the bubble and slams into Hody, forcing the battle away from Shirahoshi for a moment. The impact is wordless, all speed and force, but it buys a breath of time while Noah keeps falling.

Luffy's attack hammers Hody, but the fight exposes Luffy's limit underwater. Hody is driven back and Noah's hull groans with a "Crack," but Luffy coughs blood and admits the problem: "Armament Haki can protect me from blunt strikes... ...but my Haki isn't strong enough to handle this kind of damage yet...!" His bubble is keeping him alive, yet the ocean pressure and Hody's advantage are wearing him down.

Hody reads Luffy's need clearly. He asks, "So you mean to face me on board the sinking ship?" and then says, "But I know what it is you're after... You just want... ...the air... ...on the deck...!" Luffy tries to reach that air, but Hody tears into the bubble. Luffy realizes, "Ahh!!" and Hody confirms the trap: "I suspected he might do this... Didn't you know, boy? Bubbles can't hold up... ...if you rip a great big hole in 'em...! Jahahah..."

The bubble's air is gone. Luffy shouts, "Oh, man!!! The air's all gone!!!" Hody mocks him: "Hahah... Pathetic human. With your air gone, you're powerless to do a thing!! And you claim that we are the inferior ones!!" He tells Luffy to forget stopping Noah because he will not even be able to take Hody down. Fukaboshi, battered and furious, shouts, "Hody...!!! How dare you stand in our way!!! What kind of monster are you?!!! How many lives do you think stand to be lost if that ship reaches its mark?!!"

Before Hody can press the advantage, a voice calls, "Ultra... Marine!!!" and a projectile slams into him. Hody is knocked away with a stunned "How?!!!" Fukaboshi recognizes what happened and demands, "How are you able to commit these atrocities, Hody?!!!" The attack has come from the air-tank side of the battlefield, buying Luffy a brief opening at the moment he most needed one.

Fukaboshi continues his accusation while Shirahoshi cries, "Fukaboshi-onisama!!!" and Luffy calls, "Bro-hoshi!!" Fukaboshi asks what Hody Jones really is: "...That you can claim to bear the weight of our race's hatred of humanity... ...yet direct that malice at our own Fishman Island...?!!" He cannot understand how Hody can seek to destroy the very island he wanted to rule, or abandon even the comrades he grew up with in the Fishman District.

Fukaboshi's questions cut deeper. He asks, "What happened to you, Hody Jones, to drive you to this?!! What in the world did the humans do to you?!!!" and then, "What manner of loathing could drive you to such abominable lengths?!!! What will remain for you once this crime is accomplished?!!!" Hody does not answer. Luffy, Shirahoshi, and the princes look on as the question hangs over the battlefield: what could make Hody destroy even his own home?

Fukaboshi is knocked away as Shirahoshi cries, "Fukaboshi-onisama aaaaa!!!" A voice from the air tank calls to Luffy: "Straw Hat Luffy-san!! You remember me - we met earlier!! We have reached the air tank!!" The speaker has been informed of everything happening and can see Noah falling straight toward the island. He tells Luffy, "You have business on the deck?! Then I'll wait for you there!" Luffy tells Fukaboshi, "Hey, Bro-hoshi, hurry up and go after him!!!" but Fukaboshi answers that, in the ocean depths, Luffy is their only hope.

The scene shifts to Fishman Island's main entrance, where Fukaboshi's preparations are revealed. Earlier, he ordered his men, "I need you to head to the air tank as quickly as possible!!" because they might need an immense quantity of air. He wanted them ready to use the giant air bubble that supplies the island at a moment's notice. Luffy objects that there will be enough air on Noah's deck and says, "I'll just beat that Hody up there!!" Fukaboshi replies that they must always plan for the worst, even after Hody. He entrusts them with a baby Den-Den Mushi and tells them to keep it safe.

The air-tank plan becomes clear. If they form a bubble using the full supply of the air tank, they should be able to fire it at Noah and enclose the ship completely. A bubble would negate Noah's natural buoyancy, so it would not float back upward; it would do nothing to halt the ship's inevitable fall. Still, the man at the tank tells Luffy, "I'm incredibly sorry, but there's nothing more we can do!! It's up to you!!" Luffy cuts through the complications and answers, "Forget about the complicated stuff... Just shoot that bubble, right now!! As long as I have air, I'll work something out!!!"

The order is accepted: "Very well!!" The massive air bubble begins to move from the main entrance toward Noah, and the cry goes out, "Luffy-san!! Fishman Island is in your hands!!!" Hody sees the plan and sneers, "Straw Hat... Shirahoshi...!! What do you plan to accomplish by pursuing the Noah?!! What can a worthless human and a single mermaid princess achieve?!!!" He attacks with "Kirisame!!!" and the water-shark assault strikes toward them as Shirahoshi screams.

Hody's attack tears through the water and batters Luffy, but Luffy refuses to stop. The force sends him flying, and Hody presses in while someone cries, "Just how tough is that guy?!!" Luffy's endurance shocks even the enemies. He is bleeding, outmatched underwater, and almost out of options, but he keeps moving toward Noah because the island below has no other shield.

Hody screams his hatred at Luffy: "Give it up, human!!! Are you listening to me, human?!! *Pant*... Just looking at the likes of you makes my flesh crawl!!!" He declares, "I don't care if I have to shorten my own life!!! I don't care how many lives I have to sacrifice!!! I'll put you humans in your place no matter what it takes!!!" From the air-tank side, someone calls, "Aim well! We only get one shot!" Luffy hears Fukaboshi's voice through Shirahoshi: "Can you hear me? That's Fukaboshi-onisama's voice!" Fukaboshi, panting and badly wounded, says he has worked it out at last: "...What Hody Jones... really is...!!!"

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