The rest of the crew's officers could barely contain their laughter. Hody Jones's arrogant boasting was simply too ridiculous to watch.
But Hody paid no attention to what these humans thought. They were standing in his domain—his territory!
With a casual wave of his hand, countless Fish‑Men swarmed in from every direction, surrounding El and his group in the blink of an eye.
The slums of Fish‑Man District were packed with destitute, rootless outcasts.
Hody had long exploited their sheer numbers to do his bidding and seize whatever he wanted.
They had no status or backing, so losing a few here and there meant nothing to him.
It was not just Hody; his inner circle also viewed the rank‑and‑file members of his so‑called New Fish‑Man Pirates as nothing more than disposable cannon fodder.
That was right—on top of lording over the district, Hody had even founded his own crew, which he named the New Fish‑Man Pirates.
Where there is a "new," there must be an "old."
The original Fish‑Man Pirates had been a legendary crew, founded by Fisher Tiger—the hero of the Fish‑Man race—and made up entirely of powerful Fish‑Men and Merfolk.
In its prime, it had shaken the seas and counted among its members Jinbe, now one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, as well as the infamous Arlong.
By naming his crew the "New" Fish‑Man Pirates, Hody's intentions were obvious: he wanted to claim Fisher Tiger's legacy and surpass him.
Fisher Tiger had earned his title by climbing the Red Line with his bare hands, infiltrating the Celestial Dragons' holy land of Mariejois, and freeing his enslaved people.
That was what made him a true hero.
But what right did Hody Jones have to use that name?
To compare himself to such a figure was nothing but a cheap attempt to ride on Tiger's fame.
Setting aside strength for a moment—the original crew's officers were all respected, capable fighters with real power.
Now, with Fisher Tiger gone, Hody's so‑called "new" crew had nothing going for it except its size.
To be honest, El could see nothing "new" about it except the name; everything else was utterly worthless.
At Hody's command, the crowd of Fish‑Men and Merfolk swelled to a terrifying number—thousands, by rough estimate.
And given enough time, Hody could have mustered tens of thousands more.
The very idea made El want to laugh. Numbers? Did anyone truly believe that raw numbers alone were enough to stand firm in the Grand Line?
"Enough," El said, pointing directly at Hody. "I've had enough of his foolish posturing. Deal with him."
Though only a handful of people stood against thousands, even tens of thousands, the top officers of the El Pirates showed not the slightest sign of nervousness or concern.
In the New World, numbers meant very little—most of the time, they meant nothing at all.
While users of Conqueror's Haki were rare in most parts of the world, those born with the quality of a king were far from uncommon in the New World.
Within the El Pirates alone, three possessed this power: El himself, Boa Hancock the Pirate Empress, and Donquixote Doflamingo.
Before such strength, ordinary numbers were useless.
Unless facing elite forces trained by the World Government or the Marines, even so‑called "strong" fighters could not stand in the presence of a Conqueror's user.
And that was exactly the situation Hody Jones now faced.
Of course, there were still differences in strength among those who wielded Conqueror's Haki.
El was undoubtedly the strongest of them all, but Hancock and Doflamingo were more than capable.
When they unleashed their aura, it was enough to strike fear into the hearts of lesser beings, shatter their will to fight, and even knock them unconscious.
The moment El gave the order, his officers moved.
Hancock and Doflamingo released their Conqueror's Haki, sweeping through the crowd like a tidal wave.
No ordinary Fish‑Man could get within arm's reach.
True masters, those born with the nature of a king, would never allow weaklings to draw near, let alone threaten them.
If El had stepped in personally, the effect would have been far greater.
But he had decided to let his officers handle this one—let them stretch their legs a little.
Besides, Hody Jones was not worth his effort; he was nothing more than a petty tyrant ruling a slum.
The reason King Neptune had never acted against Hody or the entire Fish‑Man District was not because he feared their strength.
As ruler of the kingdom, he had far more to consider. As the saying goes: Building a nation is hard, but maintaining it is even harder.
Hody wanted to overthrow the kingdom and establish his own brutal dictatorship. Neptune, on the other hand, sought only to preserve stability and peace.
Their goals were completely different.
Trapped by responsibility and afraid of causing unnecessary bloodshed, Neptune could do little.
But what held Neptune back did not apply to pirates like El.
They had no obligation to be gentle with troublemakers.
Hody had been plotting for years, gathering power specifically to overthrow the royal family—and now he had picked the wrong people to provoke.
He never expected that a group of pirates trespassing into his territory would force him to lay all his cards on the table.
Hody Jones was far from willing to back down.
He would stop these intruders at all costs—even if it meant sacrificing many of his own men.
After all, they were nothing more than disposable pawns in his eyes.
Those thousands of Fish‑Men under his command, and even the human slaves among them, were completely expendable and held no real value to him.
His reason for gathering them was simple: he wanted to prove that he had widespread support and loyalty, and to show that King Neptune's approach was deeply unpopular, misguided, and wrong.
In his view, trying to reach out to humans, seek friendship with them, and build a future for the Fish‑Man race with their help was nothing but a foolish fantasy.
Hody was determined to prove this.
He wanted all Fish‑Men and Merfolk to understand that the only true path was to follow him, completely overthrow human rule and tyranny, and create a world where Fish‑Men could live freely and in power.
This was the purpose behind his army of thousands—even tens of thousands—of ordinary Fish‑Men.
It was more for show and influence than for actual combat strength.
That said, Hody did have a small group of what he considered "capable and reliable" officers under his command…
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