Sami nodded.
"That explains it. It seems, Your Highness, that you don't have a very clear understanding of how strength is measured in the human world."
"That's true," Neptune admitted frankly. "For a long time, the people we've fought have mostly been slave-catching crews. Most of what we know about the surface world came from them. Our knowledge is indeed rather limited."
The two fell silent for a moment.
Then Neptune looked at Sami with burning determination.
"Captain Sami... would you be willing to let me personally experience the strength of someone worth 300 million Berries?"
Sami smiled faintly.
"I don't mind. Though..."
"Then let me be your opponent."
Neptune answered decisively.
In the quiet bay, he planted his golden trident into a nearby coral reef with a heavy thud.
"Since this is merely a spar, I won't be using my weapon."
The twelve-meter-tall prince lowered his massive body into the opening stance of Fish-Man Karate.
Even empty-handed, his towering frame and broad shoulders radiated enough raw power to shatter reefs.
"Captain Sami, please teach me."
The difference in their physiques was like that between an adult and a child.
Yet standing before Neptune, Sami merely smiled and casually rolled his wrists.
"Your Highness, please."
The instant those words fell—
A sharp gleam flashed through Sami's eyes as an invisible wave of perception spread outward.
Observation Haki.
Activated.
Neptune struck first.
Despite his enormous size, his movements were astonishingly swift.
With a flick of his tail, he shot toward Sami like an arrow.
Fish-Man Karate: Shoulder Wheel!
Using a judo-style throw, Neptune reached out with both hands, intending to seize Sami and use his overwhelming size and strength to slam the much smaller man into the ground.
Yet Sami hardly moved.
He simply shifted his body slightly to the side.
Neptune's hands, carrying enough force to crush mountains, brushed harmlessly past the edge of Sami's clothing.
What?!
A flicker of surprise crossed Neptune's eyes.
To him, Sami had avoided the attack as effortlessly as someone taking a leisurely stroll.
What shocked him even more came next.
The instant Neptune's attack missed, Sami's hand shot out and clamped around his wrist.
Neptune's expression changed.
He immediately tried to pull free.
But his wrist felt as though it had been caught in a pair of steel vise grips.
He couldn't budge it.
What incredible strength!
Sami twisted his waist.
An irresistible force surged through Neptune's body.
The world spun violently.
Splash!
With one clean shoulder throw, Sami hurled the Fish-Man Prince straight into the nearby bay.
"Hahaha!"
Neptune surfaced, laughing loudly.
"Captain Sami! I never expected someone your size to possess such incredible strength!"
"In that case..."
"I won't hold back anymore!"
His previous move had merely been a test.
Given the enormous difference in size, Neptune had worried he might accidentally injure Sami.
But now he understood.
Sami's physical strength was no weaker than his own.
All hesitation vanished.
"Be careful, Captain Sami!"
Fish-Man Karate: Ocean Current Shoulder Throw!
Diving into the water, Neptune plunged both arms into the surrounding current.
Using both his innate ability to manipulate water and his overwhelming physical strength, he seized the invisible current as though it were a tangible object.
Then, performing a perfect shoulder throw—
He hurled the condensed torrent directly at Sami.
The released current expanded instantly into a raging pillar of water several meters across, roaring toward Sami like nature's wrath itself.
Facing such an attack, Sami finally stopped merely dodging.
He lowered his stance.
His right fist clenched.
Jet-black Armament Haki flowed across it like an incoming tide.
Break.
There was no flashy technique name.
Just a straightforward punch combining Armament Haki with overwhelming physical power.
Instead of retreating, Sami stepped forward and punched directly into the raging torrent.
His fist collided head-on with the massive water column.
BOOM!
The seemingly unstoppable torrent exploded apart from a single punch, bursting into countless sprays of water.
Sami walked straight through the falling curtain of water completely unharmed.
He hadn't even taken a single step backward.
Neptune's heart shook violently.
Yet he didn't stop attacking.
After launching several assaults without gaining the slightest advantage, he finally decided to use his strongest technique.
Fish-Man Karate: Super Ocean Current!
This was the most powerful water manipulation technique he currently possessed.
His hands gripped empty space at his waist as though seizing something invisible.
Then he thrust both palms forward with all his might.
A water column far larger and faster than before erupted outward.
It formed almost instantly, like a gigantic sea beast released from the abyss, swallowing everything in its path as it crashed toward Sami on the shore.
Its range was enormous.
There seemed to be nowhere to dodge.
But for Sami, whose Observation Haki remained active the entire time, avoiding it would have been easy.
He simply had no intention of doing so.
If Neptune truly wanted to understand what the strength of a 300 million Berry pirate looked like...
Then Sami had no objection to showing him in the most direct way possible.
Looking up at the towering wall of water blotting out the light overhead, Sami slowly exhaled.
The muscles in his right arm suddenly swelled and twisted.
His arm split into several thick tentacles before rapidly intertwining once more.
A far more monstrous giant fist was formed.
Without retreating, Sami charged directly toward the overwhelming torrent.
Armament Haki: Tentacle Hammer!
"Has he gone mad?!"
Neptune nearly shouted.
What happened next etched itself permanently into his memory.
Instead of being torn apart or swept away, Sami's jet-black hammer-like fist seemed to contain enough force to split mountains and seas.
With utterly unreasonable violence...
It smashed apart Neptune's strongest attack.
"...How... how is that possible?!"
Neptune stared in utter disbelief.
Meanwhile, Sami stood there calmly after destroying the attack.
He hadn't even taken a heavy breath.
The gap...
Was this... the difference in dimensions Father had spoken of?
For the first time, Neptune's pride began to waver before undeniable reality.
It shouldn't be like this...
How could the difference in strength possibly be this great?!
"RAAAAH!"
Gathering every ounce of strength in his body, Neptune burst from the sea.
Violent currents spiraled around his fist as he launched his final—and most desperate—attack at Sami.
"This is the last move, Your Highness."
The instant Neptune's punch reached him—
Sami's figure blurred.
He hadn't disappeared.
His speed had simply increased so dramatically that Neptune's eyes could no longer follow it.
Effortlessly avoiding the devastating punch, Sami immediately seized the massive opening left by Neptune's all-out attack.
His hand locked onto Neptune's wrist.
His waist twisted.
Shoulder Throw!
BOOM—!!
With a thunderous impact, Neptune's enormous body was slammed heavily into the seabed.
The battle ended.
Silence returned to the bay.
Only the gentle sound of seawater washing away the marks in the sand remained.
Sami walked over to Neptune, who still lay on the seafloor staring blankly at the sky above Fish-Man Island.
He extended a hand.
"Your Highness... are you alright?"
Neptune looked at the offered hand.
Then at the fists that, moments earlier, he had been completely powerless against.
Shock.
Reluctance.
Confusion.
The emotions churned within his eyes.
Taking a deep breath, he finally voiced the question that had been weighing on his heart.
"Captain Sami..."
"...Is your bounty really only worth 300 million Berries?"
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