Chapter 279: Get Out of the Way! Jinbe! The Mad Escape and the Wings of Susanoo
Hody Jones, who had been arrogantly shouting only a second ago, found himself facing a power that in no way belonged to a mortal.
His bloodshot pupils suddenly contracted violently.
Deep within his brain, severely eroded and controlled by the Energy Steroids, a rare surge of primal trembling and fear welled up from the very depths of his biological instincts.
Hody realized in despair that in front of this man, the so-called deep-sea power he had just been so proud of was as laughable as an infant waving a wooden stick.
But arrogance and hatred had long since twisted him.
In order to survive, and even more to fulfill his twisted ambition of publicly executing the "Worst Generation" before the whole world and thereby declaring Fishman rule over humanity,
Hody made the most insane move in his desperate situation.
With trembling hands, he pulled out all the "Energy Steroids" he was carrying.
Without even looking, he shoved them all into his mouth and swallowed in one go a lethal dose that would instantly kill an ordinary person.
As the overdose of steroids entered his stomach, the terrifying effects took hold instantly.
Hody's muscles deformed amidst the sound of bones grinding, and his body size swelled again without restraint.
His bulging eyes even began to ooze blood because they could not withstand the pressure.
"Damn human! Don't get too carried away!"
Hody let out a bestial roar that did not sound human.
Using the surging power gained by overdrawing his life, he swung his thick arms and slammed them into the receding seawater beneath him.
"BOOM!!!"
The violent power injected into the water instantly triggered an unprecedentedly massive "water explosion" in the plaza.
The towering water columns and the sky-filling white spray, mixed with collapsed rubble and coral reefs, instantly formed a massive barrier that completely obscured everyone's vision.
Taking advantage of this brief visual blind spot, Hody grabbed the unconscious Luffy and roared frantically at his equally terrified subordinates behind him:
"Stop them for me! Even if you have to die, stop them!"
Afterwards, he turned around without hesitation and mounted the startled sea beast.
Following the backflowing current retreating out of Ryugu Palace, Hody, like a stray dog, fled the magnificent deep-sea palace frantically without looking back.
"Splash—"
The moment the water spray shattered and fell in mid-air, Tatsuya had already pierced through the heavy mist and locked onto the aura of Hody, who was fleeing for his life.
His gaze remained fixed on the distant sea, but he left one sentence in a low voice for the swordsman behind him:
"Zoro, the small fry here are left to you."
Zoro stepped forward, his sharp, single eye flashing with a cold edge, and a bloodthirsty smile slowly curled at the corners of his mouth:
"Yeah, red-eyed bastard. Leave it to us, don't worry."
Zoro flourished his sword, his eyes locked on the members of the New Fish-Man Pirates who were preparing to pounce.
"You hurry up and bring back that idiot Captain who is always making people worry."
As soon as he finished speaking, the ground beneath Tatsuya's feet emitted a dull explosion, and the hard coral slabs cracked inch by inch.
His figure instantly transformed into a streak of black lightning tearing through the air, heading straight in the direction Hody had fled.
Deep within Tatsuya's profound eyes, an unprecedented fire of rage was surging.
As the cool deep-sea current brushed against his cheeks, at this moment, an image from back in Loguetown in the East Sea involuntarily flashed through Tatsuya's mind.
That was the first time Luffy had faced a true life-and-death crisis, held down tightly by Buggy the Clown on the execution platform where the Pirate King had once been executed, with a cold blade raised high, nearly being beheaded on the spot.
At that time, when Tatsuya intervened, he had silently made a vow in his heart:
He would absolutely never let his Captain be placed in such a helpless, precarious situation by anyone.
And today, this arrogant Fishman actually dared to try and threaten them using Luffy's life.
Just as Tatsuya was about to rush out of the bubble perimeter of Ryugu Palace like a black meteor,
"Splash!"
A sturdy blue figure suddenly leaped high from the seawater to the side, carrying a force as steady as a mountain, and with a "bang," forcefully blocked Tatsuya's path.
The person wore a traditional kimono, was shod in wooden clogs, and his brows exuded an air of chivalry.
It was none other than the former Seven Warlords of the Sea—Knight of the Sea Jinbe.
Jinbe spread his broad arms, his expression extremely anxious as he stopped the murderous Tatsuya:
"Brother Tatsuya, please stop for a moment!"
"You absolutely cannot kill him directly in the palace or in front of the public!"
Facing Tatsuya's cold gaze, Jinbe painfully and quickly explained his concerns.
He knew well that Hody was guilty of heinous crimes, but if the Straw Hat crew, as humans, killed this Fishman leader right here or in the plaza,
then in the eyes of the one hundred thousand civilians on Fish-Man Island who had long been blinded by hatred, humans would be firmly established as "invaders and oppressors."
By then, the peace efforts that the late Queen Otohime had traded her life for, and which countless people had painstakingly maintained for years, would all go down the drain.
The rift between Fishmen and humans would never be bridged again.
"So, please be patient!" Jinbe urged earnestly. "We must let Hody take Luffy away."
"Let him be completely exposed in front of those one hundred thousand civilians at Gyoncorde Plaza for his cruel, ruthless true colors and his attempt to destroy Fish-Man Island!"
"Then, you Straw Hat crew can make a shining entrance as the 'heroes' who saved this country and defeat him in front of everyone."
"Only in this way can we truly sever that long-standing chain of hatred on Fish-Man Island."
After hearing Jinbe's "hero script" filled with visions of peace,
Tatsuya's momentum, which was rushing forward like thunder, did not weaken in the slightest.
His heterochromatic eyes stared coldly at Jinbe blocking his path, his tone extremely icy:
"I don't care about those bullshit chains!"
"Get out of the way, Jinbe!"
Accompanied by Tatsuya's angry shout.
"BOOM!!!"
A tangible, scarlet and purple intertwined Chakra surged from within Tatsuya's body, instantly evaporating the surrounding seawater into a large expanse of white mist.
In the blink of an eye, a massive Susanoo, resembling an ancient demon god, rose from the ground in the seawater, completely enveloping Tatsuya's figure within it.
The massive scarlet skeleton condensed and formed in an instant, followed immediately by countless complex Chakra meridians rapidly clinging to it.
Within a single breath, solid, thick Tengu armor covered the giant's entire body, emitting a chilling metallic luster and supreme pressure.
That was not all.
"Hum!"
Behind the fully-formed Susanoo, a pair of massive Chakra wings that blotted out the sky suddenly unfurled.
That pair of giant wings flapped forcefully in the deep sea.
The violent kinetic energy instantly whipped up terrifying sea currents and whirlpools that tore everything apart in the water.
Utilizing this immense thrust, Tatsuya ignored Jinbe's obstruction entirely and domineeringly vaulted right over his head.
His massive form transformed into a red meteor traveling against the current in the deep sea, continuing to pursue Hody in the direction of his escape without mercy.
Jinbe hovered in the churning seawater, letting the turbulence stirred up by the Susanoo whip against his clothes.
He blankly felt the terrifying pressure that had just brushed past him, watching the gradually receding back of the demon god with complex eyes.
He finally understood how pale and powerless his well-laid, far-sighted plan was in front of this man.
In this man's eyes, what did the survival of a race or the great cause of peace, or the chains of hatred to be severed, matter?
All of that combined did not compare to his Captain.
Jinbe closed his eyes and sighed helplessly and long:
"What a... domineering and completely unreasonable man."