The streets of Borg Town were empty.
Windows shuttered, doors barred. Even the air itself seemed to hold its breath.
Shun Kaien and Douglas Bullet stepped from the tavern, their boots clicking against the cobblestones, echoing like gunshots in the deathly silence.
Ahead, the fishmen had formed a blockade.
They lined the street like soldiers, spears, swords, and crude firearms trained at the two men.
Behind them, the Arlong Pirates' ship loomed at the dock, its flag fluttering in the sea breeze.
Shun observed them quietly, his face betraying no emotion.
"Sealing the town?" Bullet sneered. "They think they're important enough for theatrics."
Shun's lips barely moved.
"Let's go."
They walked forward, ignoring the shouted warnings from the fishmen.
"Stop!" The sharp-beaked fishman who had confronted them inside now stood trembling at the head of the mob. "Another step and you—"
He never finished the sentence.
Bullet moved.
There was no fanfare. No challenge. No speech.
Just the sickening crunch of bone as the fishman crumpled like wet paper.
The rest stood frozen, staring at the corpse of the one they thought invincible among them.
Bullet dusted off his hands, not even glancing back at the watching villagers.
To them, Arlong had always been the devil.
But now, they understood.
There were things in the world far worse than devils.
At the port, the Arlong Pirates' flagship bobbed in the shallows.
Dozens of fishmen jumped down from its deck, weapons in hand, faces twisted in bravado.
At their head stood Arlong himself.
Tall, muscular, skin the color of death, and bearing the jagged nose of his kind like a weapon. He wore an open shirt, the scars of the Sun Pirates' brand still etched into his flesh.
On his right stood Hatchan, the six-armed octopus fishman.On his left, Kuroobi, his cold-eyed enforcer.
They had ruled this sea without challenge for years.
But now, staring at the two figures calmly approaching the dock, Arlong felt something alien creeping into his gut.
Dread.
"Who the hell are you two?" Arlong barked, masking his unease beneath a layer of forced fury. "You think you can spill my crew's blood and walk away?"
Bullet stepped forward.
"Douglas Bullet," he said flatly.
Arlong blinked.
His pupils shrank.
The name hit him like a hammer to the skull.
He had seen the headlines.
Morgans' front page. Douglas Bullet. The Demon of the Roger Pirates. Escaped from Impel Down alongside an unknown monster.
And now, that demon stood before him.
His bravado shattered like cheap glass.
Kuroobi and Hatchan, oblivious to the news, still sneered confidently.
"Boss, want me to crush them?" Kuroobi's voice dripped contempt.
Arlong swallowed hard, sweat running down his spine.
"Shut up," he hissed under his breath, his voice shaking.
But his officers didn't notice.
Shun remained still, arms crossed.
"We were just passing through," he said, his tone quiet, like a surgeon explaining a procedure to a patient. "Your lackeys decided to entertain us. Now they're fertilizer."
Arlong forced a smile.
"Misunderstanding, right? Let's not fight over small matters. You two can leave."
Cowardice seeped through his words.
Bullet chuckled.
"You think you still get to set the terms?"
Arlong gritted his teeth, his pride bleeding out into the dirt. But facing two monsters, he knew the truth.
He couldn't win.
But before he could grovel further, Kuroobi, still oblivious to the stakes, exploded forward.
"I'll kill you first, you arrogant human!"
Shun didn't move.
He simply watched, his gaze locked on Kuroobi like a lion studying an insect.
Kuroobi's fist rocketed toward Shun's face.
It never reached him.
In the space between moments, Shun shifted.
There was no wasted movement, no roar, no display.
Just a flash of his hand.
Kuroobi froze mid-strike.
His eyes widened.
A trickle of blood escaped his lips.
He looked down.
Shun's fist was embedded deep in his gut.
Kuroobi tried to speak.
No words came.
He collapsed, his body folding like broken metal.
Silence swallowed the port.
Even the sea seemed afraid to make a sound.
Shun exhaled softly.
"Pathetic."
Arlong trembled visibly now, his instincts screaming at him.
This wasn't a fight.
This was an execution.
He fell to his knees.
"I... I made a mistake," he stammered, his forehead pressed to the ground.
"I didn't recognize... please spare us."
His crew stared in horror.
Their proud captain, their invincible leader, now groveling like a worm.
Shun crouched in front of him, his voice a low whisper only Arlong could hear.
"You rule these people with terror. But the world is full of bigger monsters. Remember that."
Arlong didn't dare raise his head.
His pride shattered beyond repair.
Shun rose.
Bullet chuckled.
"That's enough. They're not even worth the dirt under our boots."
They turned.
The Arlong Pirates parted like a broken tide, allowing them to board their stolen vessel.
As they drifted away from the shore, the villagers crept from hiding.
They stared at the crumbling Arlong Pirates, their faces filled with disbelief.
They had lived in fear for years.
But in one afternoon, two strangers had shattered that nightmare.
Shun stood at the helm, watching the shrinking island.
Bullet leaned against the mast.
"You didn't kill him," Bullet remarked.
Shun's eyes never left the sea.
"Some things are worse than death."
And as they sailed into the dying sun, the world behind them shuddered.
The predators had entered new waters.
And the hunt was far from over.