"We should stick closely together, Janet; otherwise, we'll probably end up lost." Said Grand lightly as he walked through the interior of the ship called Noah, following behind Janet, who enthusiastically led the way.
"It's fine, don't worry, Grand; knowing my luck, we'll probably end up getting lost… But only for a few hours." Stated Janet with a faint smile as she walked down the halls of the Noah, looking out the window before winking at Grand, who was behind her, causing him to sigh.
We continued to explore the interior of the massive ship, though with how large it was, I had no doubt we were missing a whole bunch of places, but we were mainly taking a straight path, so we'd be less likely to get lost. However, that wasn't proving to be that helpful, as I had already forgotten the path we initially took, so at this point, it didn't really matter anymore.
'If we can't find a way out, I'll just carve a path. I mean, the ship is massive, but how strong could it be?' Thought Grand lightly as he punched the ship, though, to his surprise, he hadn't damaged it in the slightest.
"Eh, how sturdy is this ship?" Muttered Grand with a slight frown as he rubbed the inside of the ship's hull.
Clenching my fist, I firmly positioned my feet on the floor and lowered my stance slightly before twisting my body, directing all of my strength toward my arm as I punched the ship; however, rather than my hand going right through it, I only managed to leave behind a deep imprint of my fist on the hull.
"Well, carving a path out isn't off the table, but it'll sure take quite a long time." Said Grand lightly with a faint frown as he stood upright and lowered his fist, only to shift his focus to Janet, who was nowhere to be seen.
Furrowing my brows at Janet's disappearance, I called her name a few times while walking forward down the same hallway, yet even after a few minutes passed, I didn't get a response, which began to worry me as we were in Fishman territory; and while Janet had means to protect herself if she was taken by surprise, she'd be easily defeated by your average Fishman.
"JANET!?" Yelled Grand loudly in concern as his heavy feet thumped through the halls of Noah, only for him to suddenly come to a halt.
Squatting down, I grabbed a few pictures from off the ground, which were of me seemingly holding the massive ship we were inside; clenching my fist, I crumpled the photo in the processes, yet before I could allow my anger to take hold of me, I faintly heard Janet's voice.
"GRAND!!" Yelled Janet, her faint, distant voice barely entering Grand's ear.
"JANET!!" Yelled Grand furiously as he charged toward Janet's distant voice.
Although I had heard Jane'ts voice, this ship was simply too big, and I wouldn't have been able to reach her in time, but thankfully, she was an intelligent woman who could keep calm during stressful situations and left behind a trail of photos for me to follow. After taking a few turns, I eventually arrived before a pair of large doors, which were being guarded by two Fishman, who attempted to stop me, but I saw a photo on the ground in front of the double doors, causing me to grunt as I reached forth and grab the heads of the two Fishman before slamming them against the doors, opening them in the process.
"JANET!!" Stated Grand loudly as he looked at Janet, who was being dragged towards a small throne by two Fishman.
The room I had entered was a large one, and it was filled with tens of Fishman on either side, with a larger Fishman sitting on the small throne; however, I wasn't worried about any of them, as my sole focus was on Janet.
"Grand!" Said Janet happily with a large smile as she turned and glanced at Grand while all the present Fishman did the same.
"Tsk, so two inferior humans were snooping about within the base of the New Fishman Pirates?" Said Hody angrily as he clenched his fist while eyeing Grand, who was holding two dead Fishman.
"What are you fools waiting for!? Kill him!" Stated Hody furiously as he slammed his fist upon the small throne, causing the armrest to crumble beneath his might.
"You heard the boss!" "Kill that pathetic Human!" "Show them us Fishman are the superior race!" Yelled the tens of Fishman as they aggressively charged at Grand, who hardened his gaze.
Dropping the two Fishman out of my hands, I charged towards the incoming group of Fishman, and while Fishmen, on average, were much stronger than humans, I was far from an average human; after all, I was Atlas of the Frenzy Pirates!
Raising my arm, I powerfully punched the group of Fishmen, breaking the man's nose while flinging him into everyone behind him; spreading my arms, I reached down and scooped up the other group of Fishmen in a bear hug, only to tightly squeeze, causing them to scream in pain before I dropped them on the ground, all unable to move.
With the two groups of Fishmen having been taken care of, the only ones remaining were the one sitting on the throne and the two holding Janet down; however, they promptly lunged towards me, which was stupid on their part as I simply raised my arms before slamming their heads like nails, breaking their bodies.
"Janet, are you okay!?" Exclaimed Grand as he ran towards her before kneeling and helping her up.
"Yeap, I'm fine; though my wrists hurt, they were squeezing quite -BEHIND YOU!" Replied Janet lightly as she slowly stood up, only to widen her eyes while pointing behind Grand.
I didn't have any time to react to Janet's warning, given my current stance, and almost immediately after, I was stabbed by eight different swords in my back, causing me to grunt in pain.
"H-ic, e-everything, has been hic, t-taken care of, Boss." Said Hyouzou, an octopus Fishman, as he sat on Grand's back and stabbed him with eight swords.
While grunting in pain, I promptly stood up before grabbing one of the Fishman's tentacles as I brought him before me; the swords he stabbed me with were painful, but they might as well be needles, given the difference in our size. Holding him in my hands, I noticed they were covered in a thin layer of a slimy green substance, causing me to frown. However, when my back started to feel numb, I finally realized what that green liquid was.
'Poison.' Thought Grand with a deep frown as he stared at the Fishman in his hands before slamming him down onto the ground.
Raising my other hand, I powerfully punched him, and although he used his eight tentacles to protect himself, it wasn't enough to stop my powerful punch as I knocked him unconscious.
"Grand, are you okay!?" Asked Janet in concern as she nearly held Grand's hand, only for him to suddenly stand in front of her, protecting her from a barrage of tiny water projectiles.
"First, it was that group of insignificant humans, and now it's you two! Stupid fucking, humans! Always ruining things! I'm going to kill you two!" Yelled Hody furiously as he stared at Grand and Janet with a bloodthirsty expression.
"Janet, stay behind me." Stated Grand solemnly as he raised his arms and flexed his muscles, causing his shirt to suddenly explode off his body, revealing his incredibly muscular physique.
"B-Be careful, Grand." Said Janet softly as she backed away and watched Hody lunge at Grand, the two engaging in a heated battle.
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With Grand facing Hody Jones, Captain of the New Fishman Pirates, while Chala and Trenza were fighting several different beasts within the Sea Forest, the fights happening within the Ryugu Palace had just mostly finished.
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Spitting blood onto the ground, I looked down at Tamago, who I was pinning to the ground by the neck with my foot; we had fought for quite a long time as it was pretty challenging to defeat him without any haki, though, in the end, I emerged victorious.
"Hehe, that was rather fun." Said Diddy lightly with a feral grin as he looked down at the injured Tamago, who was having trouble breathing.
"Tamago!" Yelled Pekoms angrily as he glanced at Tamago while ferociously attacking Scar, who was barely holding on as is.
"You know, your haki could be improved upon; you've got decent observation haki, but your armament haki is lacking." Said Diddy with a smirk as he clenched his fist, coating it in a layer of black hue, causing Tamago's eyes to widen.
"Hehe, though it wouldn't have mattered in the end, not when I can see slightly into the future." Added Diddy with a feral smile, his words causing Tamago's eyes to be filled with shock at the sudden revelation.
"F-Future s-sight? J-Just like Big Brother K-Katakuri." Muttered Tamago in shock as he looked at Diddy, who raised his eyebrows.
"Katakuri? Heh, he sounds strong. I'll make sure to defeat him later." Remarked Diddy with a smirk as he eyed Tamago, who tried to respond.
Just when he was about to open his mouth, I clenched my foot around his neck, digging my nails into his neck before yanking my foot back, ripping his neck to shreds as he bled profusely onto the ground; it didn't take long before the light in his eyes to vanish as he motionlessly laid there.
"Finally got bored of toying with him?" Asked Mael lightly as he folded his arms and approached Diddy, who glanced at him before looking at the unconscious King.
"Hehe, it was fun." Replied Diddy with a smirk, his words causing Mael to roll his eyes as they both shifted their focus to Scar and Pekoms.