Don't underestimate Arlong just because he's an early-stage minor BOSS; before he became a couch potato, he still had some strength, especially when facing these Marine grunts. His subordinates were no match for him.
Perhaps this comparison makes it easier to understand—
Although the Marine soldiers under Borsalino were all from headquarters, not everyone was very strong. Most were only slightly stronger than Belle-Mere, like the young Marine who was just knocked out with one move.
It could be said that Arlong was currently facing a group of Belle-Meres.
What kind of pressure could there be?
As Arlong charged into the enemy formation, the Sun Pirates' morale instantly soared. The speed of loading gunpowder began to accelerate, and a continuous rain of bullets shot towards the Marine soldiers who were landing on the beach.
In such an environment, even if the bullets' lethality was not high, a few unlucky individuals were hit, falling to the ground and crying out in pain.
It is said that on the battlefield, wounding a soldier is more effective than directly killing one.
The fallen soldier must be carried to a safe location by someone, which is equivalent to taking out at least two enemies simultaneously.
Moreover, the wails and screams of injured soldiers severely affect overall morale.
It's unclear if this conclusion is valid, but from the current battlefield, the Marine seemed to have no good way to deal with the Sun Pirates for a while.
Until—
The tall and thin Stoloberry stood on the warship's deck, arms crossed, watching the battlefield expressionlessly.
After Borsalino landed on the island, Stoloberry, being a Rear Admiral, was the highest-ranking person on this ship.
Logically, he should have stayed on the ship to avoid any accidents that could threaten the warship.
But his brow was slightly furrowed; he couldn't stand it anymore.
His Marine soldiers were almost single-handedly beaten back by that Fishman, which made him very displeased.
"A bunch of bastards!"
He cursed under his breath, both at the Sun Pirates and out of dissatisfaction with his Marine subordinates' performance.
The two strongest ones have already been suppressed by Vice Admiral Borsalino, yet a whole group of you can't even defeat the third-in-command?
Is that all? And you still have the nerve to call yourselves elite Marines from headquarters?
Just as he was hesitating whether to make a move, Arlong punched three Marine soldiers simultaneously, sending them flying. One of them even spat blood and instantly lost consciousness.
Stoloberry finally lost his patience.
He stopped observing, gripped his sword hilt with his right hand, and leaped directly from the high warship deck.
"Get out of the way!"
He roared at the Marine soldiers in front of him, his feet not stopping.
He charged forward like an arrow released from a bowstring, filled with clear anger, heading straight for the rampaging figure in the crowd.
He precisely bypassed the fighting crowd, moving so fast that he created a gust of wind, and in a blink of an eye, he reached Arlong's side.
"Die, pirate!"
Stoloberry shouted sharply, his two swords crossed in his hands, transforming into a fierce, cold cross-shaped light that slashed violently towards Arlong's chest.
Arlong was rampaging through the soldiers and never expected a high-level BOSS to suddenly appear.
Simply put, he was too used to bullying weaker opponents, even getting a bit carried away.
He didn't have time to make an effective defense. With a "whoosh," a burst of blood bloomed on his chest, and he staggered backward, falling heavily to the ground.
However, the current Arlong was not a weakling. He quickly propped himself up with both hands and stood up abruptly.
He looked down at the two cross-shaped wounds on his chest, where his flesh was torn open, and glared fiercely at Stoloberry, who stood with his swords drawn:
"Damn Marine!"
"Despicable human!"
"Do you think you can defeat me with such a sneak attack?!"
Before his words finished, Arlong was already roaring and charging again.
"Fish-Man Karate: Thousand Brick Fist!"
He didn't even know who his opponent was. With his prejudice against humans, he naturally didn't think any human could be his match.
It can be said that Arlong is the most typical kind of idiot in the pirate world.
Despite countless examples before his eyes, whether it was being pursued by the Marine daily or the injuries Fisher Tiger sustained in Mary Geoise, all of them could prove to him that Fishmen are not inherently strong.
But Arlong didn't believe it. He had his own logic; until he personally fought them, he wouldn't believe in the strength of humans, no matter what he heard or saw.
Even after being released from Impel Down later, he still looked down on human strength. It's hard to imagine what this guy was thinking.
However, as mentioned before, in this world, to become a top-tier powerhouse, one truly needs Arlong's mindset of ignoring objective reality.
Unfortunately, the basis for his mindset was racial conflict, which is far too politically incorrect, so he could only be a villain and thus lost the opportunity to become a top-tier powerhouse.
Facing Arlong's furious strike, Stoloberry calmly took half a step back and to the side.
His first sword accurately slashed upwards, deflecting Arlong's rage-filled arm strike.
The second sword was swung almost simultaneously—
"Bang!"
The flat of the blade directly struck Arlong's forehead.
Arlong's forward movement abruptly froze, and his massive body crashed to the ground like a falling mountain, completely losing consciousness.
Even though the current Arlong is much stronger than when he first appeared in the original work, Stoloberry is, after all, a Rear Admiral from headquarters who follows Borsalino, and he has even learned both types of Haki.
The gap between having Haki and not having Haki is truly difficult to bridge, unless one possesses an extremely special physique.
Even Blake, who naturally possessed the Celestial Dragon physique, had to retreat when he first encountered New World pirates with Haki in the System Space.
It wasn't until his body further developed and his combat skills became more refined that he could challenge some minor pirates who had just mastered Haki.
Truly treating them as mere fodder only happened after he himself mastered Haki, which was when he was in his teens.
A Fishman's physical strength clearly couldn't bridge the gap in Haki.
Furthermore, Stoloberry wasn't like the minor pirates Blake dealt with back then. He was a legitimate Rear Admiral from headquarters, and he would later be promoted to Vice Admiral, so his combat experience was also considerable.
Thus, Arlong, who was like a god of war among the Marine soldiers, only lasted three moves against Stoloberry before falling unconscious.
Sheathing his swords, Stoloberry did not continue his attack.
The remaining small pirates were even weaker than Arlong.
His intervention was already demeaning enough; if he had to personally deal with these small pirates, what use were the Marines on the warship?
Stoloberry looked up at the distant battlefield, where explosions continued to echo. Borsalino's battle was also nearing its conclusion.
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