Of course, there is always a price to pay for gaining great power.
Devil Fruit users are formidable, that is true—but they must give up the ability to swim in the ocean forever.
For anyone who makes their living on the seas, losing the freedom to dive into the water is nothing short of a curse.
Just as Devil Fruits demand a cost, so does forcing one's body to unleash its full potential and multiply its combat strength in a short time.
El was not particularly interested in the power Hody Jones had gained from the drug.
What truly intrigued him was what changes the substance would bring to the Fish‑Man—and more importantly, what price he would have to pay for that strength.
He already had more than enough power of his own. What he wanted to observe was the exchange itself: power gained, but at what cost?
"Stand back," El commanded, stopping his officers who were ready to step in and finish the fight.
"Leave this one to me."
El rarely intervened personally unless he found something worthy of his attention.
At this point, there were almost no enemies strong enough to force him into action—save perhaps the legendary Four Emperors, but such figures were far too rare to encounter casually.
Normally, Hody Jones would not even qualify to face him directly. But today, things were different.
He had swallowed an untested, forbidden drug, and even El did not know exactly how it worked. Curiosity was what drove him to step forward.
"Understood."
With the captain's decision made, the rest of the crew fell back, content to watch from the sidelines. None of them worried; Hody Jones was simply not worth their concern.
And indeed, even after the drug had boosted his strength dramatically, Hody still paled in comparison.
Only now, with his power multiplied, did he finally begin to grasp just how vast the gap between them truly was.
Before, he had only sensed that El was strong, and seen his officers defeat his own men with ease.
But now, with his own abilities pushed to their limit, he realized how little he had understood.
Hody felt a bitter weight settle in his chest. He had paid such a heavy price for this power, only to realize just how far he still stood from his enemy. The irony was almost unbearable.
Before crossing paths with El and his crew, his only goal had been to overthrow the royal family and seize control of Fish‑Man Island.
Now, simply surviving this battle and escaping the disaster unfolding before him seemed like a challenge beyond his reach.
"Water Strike!"
Though he now understood the difference in strength was insurmountable, Hody had already gone too far to retreat.
It was clear El had no intention of letting him walk away, so he had no choice but to fight with everything he had, clinging to the faintest glimmer of hope.
Fish‑Man Karate was the ultimate martial art of his people, designed to reach its full potential beneath the waves.
By drawing upon their natural bond with the ocean, Fish‑Men and Merfolk could turn even a single drop of water into a projectile as powerful as a musket or cannonball.
The strongest among them could even command the currents themselves—a natural advantage that should have made them nearly unbeatable in a world mostly covered by sea.
Yet despite this gift, history had not favored them. Their numbers were few, and they could never stray far from water.
This limitation had kept them from expanding their territory or resources, forcing them into the depths of the ocean, and for a long time leaving them vulnerable to enslavement and exploitation by humans.
Times had changed, and Hody believed the moment had come to reverse that fate—to ride the rising tide of change and crown himself the new ruler of all Fish‑Men.
But now, standing before the El Pirates, all his ambitions were on the brink of being buried.
"Shark Arrows!"
Even his most powerful techniques barely fazed El. Just how strong was this human pirate? If such a force existed on the surface, how could Fish‑Man Island have received no warning?
The answer lay in Hody's own narrow‑mindedness.
His hatred for humanity was so absolute that he forbade anyone in his territory from speaking of the outside world, cutting himself off from all information.
To make matters worse, while the El Pirates were undeniably among the most powerful crews in existence, they were still considered new arrivals on the grand stage of the sea.
"Hmm… Not bad."
El moved effortlessly, dodging every strike Hody threw with what looked like all his might.
Even after having his power multiplied many times over, the Fish‑Man was still no match for him.
For the moment, El was holding back—simply waiting. He wanted to see when the drug's effects would begin to fade, and what kind of toll it would take on the body.
He was determined to find out exactly what price one must pay for such a sudden surge of strength.
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