Confrontation

…

A few minutes later, Nami and Eric finally arrived at their destination.

In the distance, the place that Nami loathed more than anything in the world could be seen.

Arlong Park.

They were approximately 1 kilometer (2/3rd of a mile) away from the pirate den, as Nami wanted to avoid being seen alongside Eric by Arlong so that he wouldn't think she had hired the strange guy to kill him or something like that.

She was so close to achieving her goal. The last thing she wanted was to antagonize Arlong at a moment like this.

Plus, it was something that both agreed on when they made their deal a day ago as Eric didn't have a problem with it.

If anything, it amused him. After all, as far as he was concerned, Arlong wouldn't be living past today.

"Ahem!"

So, knowing that this was where both of them parted ways, Eric walked towards the ship's railing, before turning to look at Nami with a smile, who was glancing at him from the second floor of the Going Merry. 

"Thanks for the ride my lady, it was a really enjoyable trip until here… Unfortunately, everything must come to an end at some point" He said while shaking his head with a sorrowful expression, making Nami scoff at him, realizing he was trying to make this more dramatic than needed.

So, shrugging his words aside, she shot him a deadpan, before she began shooing him away with a wave of her hand. "If you are leaving then do it already"

Unfortunately, it seemed like Eric was not quite done yet.

"Not even a farewell kiss? This might be the last time we see each other" He said dramatically as he grabbed his heart with a pained expression.

However, he became unable to hold back his laughter immediately after saying that.

"Hahahahahaja!"

Nami looked at him with a wry expression. "Why did I even agree to that stupid request of yours…?"

However, Eric paid no heed to her comment, and after laughing his fair share, he let out a satisfied sigh and went back to his normal expression.

"Well, that's enough joking around. I've got a bounty to cash"

Once he said that, he let gravity do its job, and threw himself into the ocean. Making Nami raise an eyebrow, not expecting him to just jump out like that.

Once he was gone, Nami frowned, before she walked down the stairs and got to the railing to see if the idiot hadn't hit his head with the ship midway falling, or something similar.

However, when he saw him emerging from the water and then swimming away, Nami let out a sigh of relief.

It seemed like he wasn't so stupid.

However, her opinion changed pretty quickly when she saw how quickly and determinedly he was swimming toward Arlong Park. As if he didn't have an ounce of nervousness or fear inside him.

He was indeed stupid.

As she watched him leave, Nami's face turned conflicted for a few seconds, before she rolled her eyes and yelled at him "Wait!"

"...?"

Hearing her voice call out to him, Eric stopped his swim, before he turned to look back at Nami with a confused expression.

"You know I was just joking about the farewell kiss, right?"

"It's not that!" Nami yelled at him angrily.

However, her expression returned pretty quickly to the worried one from earlier.

"What is… your name?" She asked, looking to the side faintly embarrassed. 

Eric squinted his eyes at her.

"You forgot? Talk about being inconsiderate"

"I wasn't paying attention at that time!" Nami excused herself, remembering that when Eric came out from the sea serpent, she didn't quite internalize what he said at that time due to still being in shock.

"I wonder at what you were paying attention then…" Eric stared at her suspiciously for a moment, before his smile returned. "My name is Eric"

"Just Eric?" Nami asked surprised. After all, it wasn't common to find people with no surname like her.

Eric, however, shook his head. "I have a surname… But it's not important"

"Heh~?" Nami looked at him amusedly.

However, before she was able to prod further into the topic, Eric turned around and began swimming away. "If that's all, I'll be leaving!"

When she saw him leaving so hurriedly as if trying to avoid the topic, Nami chuckled for a bit. 

However, eventually, worry began filling her heart as she watched his departing figure.

The sole thought of him possibly being able to kill Arlong unnerved her.

Of course, not because she cared about Arlong, if anything, she wanted him dead more than anything in this world.

What truly unnerved her was the fact that she couldn't stop her own heart from actually thinking that Eric may have a chance at succeeding.

She wanted to tell herself that she shouldn't have any hopes, and simply expect to see Eric dead the next time she entered Arlong Park. She wanted to convince her heart that, as different as he seemed from all the other people who fought Arlong, he would end up dead just like them in the end.

However, despite that, she could feel how her heart, deep inside, thought that maybe there was a possibility.

And, the more that thought grew, the more she felt pained when she imagined walking into Arlong Park and seeing him dead like all the others.

Fortunately for her, a shout from Eric at that moment shrugged off her concerns pretty quickly. 

"Oh, don't forget to prepare my reward for when I finish with that fish! Put on some cute lingerie for my victorious return!"

When she heard that, Nami facepalmed as she scolded herself. 'Why am I even worrying about that dumbass?' Shaking her head not long after, and focusing on something else to distract herself from the annoying hope that was sprouting on her heart.

She looked at her room "For now, I should grab the money and prepare to dock. The village won't save itself"

After that, Nami turned around and began walking to her room, doing her best to ignore Eric's leaving figure in the distance.

Though, involuntarily, as she was leaving, she couldn't help but give the departing man a last glance.

…

°

°

°

|Back to Eric|

…

As he swam swiftly through the ocean, using the newfound power he gained inside the stomach of those two giant beasts to move faster than any Olympic athlete from his previous world, Eric's eyes suddenly widened when he got halfway, stopping his race toward Arlong park and glancing around worriedly.

 "I didn't think much about swimming to Arlong Park on my own at first but…" He gave the ocean around him a suspicious glance. "... fate won't send another sea creature to eat me now that I'm back on the water, right?"

Though, he then deadpanned at himself.

"Why am I even jinxing it even more…? -Sigh…- Let's just get out of here while I still can" 

After clicking his tongue and cursing at himself, Eric gave his surroundings one last quick and tense glance, before he continued swimming in the direction of Arlong Park, although this time a bit more hurriedly than before.

Fortunately, the trip after that was uneventful for the most part.

Emphasis on "for the most part".

When Eric arrived at the outer wall of Arlong Park, which enclosed the entrance to the pirate den, he was surprised to realize that someone was there, sitting on the border of the wall looking at him strangely.

Eric remembered him. A strange-looking Fishman with six arms filled with suction cups, and a star-like hairstyle. It was Hatchan, one of Arlong's crewmates, and later on a future ally of Luffy and his crew after his redemption.

"..."

"..."

When both of them met gazes, they stared at each other for quite a while. None of them said anything and simply let their gazes speak for them.

It wasn't until an entire minute finally passed, that Hachi finally stood up and looked at Eric with a shocked expression.

"Eh? Who are you?!" He shouted in alarm, pointing with his finger at the immortal man as he dropped the fishing rods and stood up in caution as if he hadn't noticed him until then.

Eric sweatdropped a bit. "I'm—"

Unfortunately, he didn't even get to say his name before Hachi smiled and pointed at himself with his thumb. "Eh, you are asking my name? Nothing I can do then, my name is Hatchan, nice to meet you"

Eric didn't quite know what to say.

Fortunately, he didn't have to say anything, as Hachi was the first to ask something. "Then? Why are you here? Are you a marine, a pirate, or are you maybe a guest of Arlong?"

"I'm a guest" Eric lied without hesitation before he pointed with his finger at the gate a few meters away from them that gave way to the interior of Arlong Park. "I'm on my way to meet Arlong"

When he heard that, Hachi smiled happily and pointed at a giant pot floating in the water a few meters away from them. "It's that so? Then get on the octopus pot, I'll bring you to him!"

Upon hearing the request, Eric contemplated if he should go along with him. After all, arriving from the front might not be such a bright idea.

But eventually, he shrugged and got into the pot.

The more time he spent in the water, the more paranoid he felt of another sea creature trying to eat him. So, he was quick to accept Hachin's offer.

And besides, he couldn't care less about how he would approach Arlong. After all, even if doing it this way put him at a disadvantage, what could the Fishman do? Kill him?

Hah!

"Alright, grab on tight"

After getting on, Hachi smiled happily, before he began pushing the jar in the direction of Arlong Park.

With Hachi, a Fishman, being the one pushing the pot, it took a lot less time for them to arrive at the gate than it would have for Eric to arrive on his own.

-Creeaaaak...-

And, after Hachi opened the gates, they finally entered the fishman base.

"Damn..."

However, upon entering, Eric was quick to notice how all the gazes of the dozens of fishmen around were directed at them instantly, making him sweatdrop a bit as the thought that maybe this wouldn't be so easy began to set in.

'Maybe I should have gone for a surprise attack rather than this…' He thought as he pursed his lips. Feeling that the difference in numbers was a bit unfair.

Unfortunately, he had no chance of reformulating his plan, as in a matter of seconds, he and Hachi arrived in front of Arlong, an incredibly tall blue-skinned Fishman with shark features, who was seated on a distinctive chair looking at him with a strange and faintly haughty look in his eyes.

"Who is this, Hachi?" As both the octopus fishman and immortal man sprang out of the water and walked towards Arlong, this one looked at his crewmate with a confused gaze, wondering why he had brought an unknown human to him.

Hachi, however, became even more confused when he heard that question. "Eh?! You don't know him Arlong-san? He told me he was your guest, though?"

Arlong's eyes turned to look at Eric with faint amusement.

"My guest? Isn't that interesting?" Arlong then stood up and walked until he found himself face to face with Eric, towering over him intimidatingly. "So, "dear guest"... Why is it that you've come to meet me?"

Eric gave Arlong a glance for a moment before his gaze swept over the dozens of fishmen standing around him with weapons in their hands.

His gaze then returned to Arlong. "I've come to propose you a deal" He said, smiling faintly, as if not intimidated in the slightest by Arlong's towering figure.

"Hoh~?"

When hearing the word "deal", Arlong's eyes sparkled with interest. After all, if there was something that could make him forget his hatred for humans for a while, it was money.

However, the man in front of him didn't look like much in his eyes, and what was more, Arlong didn't think he recognized him from anywhere. Which meant that he was most likely not a famous figure either.

Realizing that the guy was probably a nobody, Arlong raised an eyebrow as he shot the man in front of him a condescending smile. Still, he allowed the little human to speak, deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt for now.

Either way, If he offered something useless he could simply kill him.

"Ahem..."

However, unlike what Arlong expected, Eric's next words erased the smirk from his face.

"... The deal is… You die, and I receive your bounty. How does that sound?"

The second he said that Eric smiled sinisterly before he twisted his body and sent a powerful punch at Arlong's liver.

-Thud!-

When the blow connected, a painful sound of bones creaking echoed around, making Eric grin in satisfaction.

The punch had been effective.

However, his smile disappeared when he looked at Arlong's face.

"A bounty hunter, huh?" Somehow, the smirk had returned to Arlong's face, who was looking at Eric with contempt evident in his eyes. "That hurt a little bit, I admit"

However, his smirk disappeared and was quickly replaced with flaring rage in his face. "I guess I'll have to make a demonstration of why Fishmen are the superior species again!"

In the blink of an eye, and before Eric could even react, Arlong's hand shot forward at an incredible speed and grabbed tightly the arm Eric had used to punch him, preventing him from retreating.

"...!"

When Eric realized his mistake, he immediately tried to escape Arlong's grasp. However, no matter how much he tried, Arlong's grip on his arm didn't budge in the slightest.

And before Eric could even think of a way to free himself, Arlong chucked viciously, before he raised his foot.

"Fools who don't understand their place in the hierarchy... are destined to die!"

Then, like a rifle, Arlong's foot slammed against Eric's chest. 

-Bang!-

-Boom!-

After that, Eric was sent flying away at an unprecedented speed, and crashed into a nearby wall not long after, getting buried down in rubble when it began crumbling upon him after his harsh landing.

However, the matter of Eric being sent flying away was the least shocking thing of that attack, as from Eric's defeated body buried under the debris, a long trail of blood could be seen spread through the floor, leading to Arlong.

And as for where that blood had come from…

Eric's arm had been ripped off.

"SHAHAHAHA!" As he gave the amputated arm on his hand a look, Arlong let out a loud laugh that echoed all around Arlong Park. "SO WEAK AND SO FRAIL, LOOK AT THIS, JUST A SINGLE KICK AND HIS ARM IS OFF!" He waved the bloodied limb up and down as if making fun of the bloodied figure of Eric, who was still buried under the wall he had crashed into.

His arm, as mentioned before, was completely ripped apart. The only thing that remained was his shoulder and a faintly cracked bone that could be seen popping out from the injury. 

Furthermore, his chest was also gruesomely bent in the shape of Arlong's foot, most likely because the ribs had collapsed under the force of his kick.

-Laughter…-

When the fishmen saw him in that state, a burst of loud laughter soon filled the area. Most looking at the defeated Eric with ridicule and contempt.

The only one who wasn't laughing was Hachi. However, rather than not liking the spectacle, he was simply indifferent to it.

"What, so it was just another dumb bounty hunter? I carried him on the octopus pot for nothing…" He muttered annoyedly, before jumping back into the water and swimming away while carrying the pot on top of his head, heading back to his post outside of Arlong Park where he had been before Eric appeared.

As Hachi left, Arlong's laugh soon started diminishing upon seeing that Eric wasn't getting up.

"Tsk, how boring. He was carrying himself with so much pride for being a human, that I thought he might be good enough to entertain us for a while… But he is already dead" He said as he eyed Eric's unmoving body.

It was normal for him to think like that, after all, with a limb missing, and his chest carved out, there was almost no living being that could survive such injuries.

Be it due to blood loss, the damage in the lungs or heart, spine, etc…

As such, thinking that the battle was over, Arlong sneered as he shot Eric's body a look of disgust, before throwing the amputated arm in his hand back towards the dead guy as he turned around and walked back to his chair.

-Schk!-

However, the moment he turned around, a sharp pain struck Arlong on his back.

"A–ack! What in the—?!" When Arlong turned his head, he was surprised to see Eric standing behind him with a wide grin on his face.

However, he was even more surprised, when he glanced down and saw what had caused him such pain.

"You… Are you crazy?!" Arlong's eyes couldn't help but widen.

Eric had stabbed him with the bone that was popping out from his shoulder.

Not only was he moving in that condition, but the madman had actually used what remained of his arm's bone as a damn sword.

No sane person could do such a thing.

"Blame yourself, you were the one who gave me something to stab you with" Eric said, as he moved away and took out his bone from Arlong's bleeding back.

The next instant, however, a heavy blow struck Eric's head and sent him flying away once again.

"Huff… Crazy bastard…" Arlong cursed.

He touched the wound on his back, feeling the wet feeling of blood, before looking at his hand and widening his eyes.

"A damn human… dares to injure me?!" Arlong's eyes turned bloodshot.

However, his expression froze when he heard a voice come from the direction where he had sent the strange man flying away.

"You tore my arm apart, don't be such a pussy"

And, as he turned to look there, Arlong frowned when he saw Eric standing up from the rubble and then walking with an amused gaze in his direction.

His eyes widened in shock, however, when he saw something beyond common sense happening in front of his eyes.

Eric's arm, which he had ripped apart earlier… Was somehow back.

No, that was not all… all the injuries he had made on him, were gone… He had not a single wound on his body, as if he had never even kicked him or punched him in the first place.

"You—you are not a human… What are you?" Arlong asked in disbelief, wariness filling each fiber of his being as he watched the man who had come to claim his head approach slowly.

Eric let out a short laugh at that.

"A selfish guy, that's all"

…

-To be Continued…-

°

(A/N: Arlong could canonically flip entire houses upside down with his strength, so while I do consider him fodder, for the Grand Line, Eric is still fodder himself. So no, he is not overpowering someone like Arlong yet... Though that might be because he did not prepare much for this fight.

That might change in the future)