It turned out that Kalifa's estimates had been overly optimistic.
The Emeralda, wrapped in dozens of layers of Gold Bubbles, had indeed avoided the falling debris. Upon hitting the sea surface, the air contained within the bubbles provided cushioning, allowing for a barely 'safe landing'.
However, the real crisis was yet to come.
Crack!
Kalifa had considered many things, but she hadn't anticipated that under the inertia of the impact, the Emeralda could essentially break itself.
Looking at the huge crack that had appeared in the ship's stern, both Kalifa and Naomi's expressions darkened.
Pop!
To make matters worse, at that very moment, the outer layers of Gold Bubbles continued to burst relentlessly.
Ultimately, these Gold Bubbles were merely an imitation. In terms of true resilience, they couldn't compare to the genuine resin bubbles native to the Sabaody Archipelago.
Especially under the seawater's recoil force. The Emeralda had barely touched bottom when it was violently hurled skyward again by the waves.
"Waaaah!"
Naomi's entire snake-woman body was lifted into the air. Fortunately, her tail was tough enough that she managed to wrap it around the mast at the last possible moment, preventing herself from being flung away.
Of course, the unconscious Cavendish wasn't so lucky.
With a 'whoosh', the sleeping Cavendish flew straight past Naomi's eyes, heading directly for the bubbles.
"Geppo!"
The next moment, Kalifa stepped on air, swiftly maneuvering to grab Cavendish just before he became fish food.
She also brought Naomi, whose tail had been painfully stretched, back onto the deck.
Bam!
When the ship hit the sea surface for the second time, it finally didn't bounce back up.
However, correspondingly, the dozen or so layers of Gold Bubbles that had remained were now reduced to just a few thin layers, looking precarious and on the verge of collapse.
"Kalifa! Kalifa! The bubbles! The bubbles are about to burst!"
Naomi, still dizzy and disoriented, had just regained her senses when she saw the outermost bubble finally give way under the dense impact of small falling rocks.
Hearing this, Kalifa immediately turned back and, gritting her teeth, unleashed Gold Bubbles once more.
But this time, the number of bubbles produced was much smaller. Moreover, after casting this technique, Kalifa was completely exhausted. If Naomi hadn't caught her in time, she would have slumped to the deck.
There was no helping it. The Gold Bubbles capable of withstanding impacts were entirely different from her usual Cleansing Bubbles. To create a sufficiently resilient surface, she also had to coat each bubble layer with a thin layer of Haki.
For Kalifa, who had only recently mastered Armament Haki, this was an immense burden in itself.
And releasing dozens or even hundreds of layers of bubbles at once consumed an enormous amount of stamina and mental energy.
"Ah! Are you okay, Kalifa!"
Naomi used her tail to secure Cavendish, preventing him from being thrown about, while supporting Kalifa with her hands, her face full of concern.
During their days together, she had gradually come to accept Kalifa, a fellow companion who, like her, had initially been captured before voluntarily joining Captain Karin's crew.
Compared to Mad Treasure who treat his subordinates' lives like weeds, Karin and Kalifa were clearly far superior when it came to valuing their companions.
"I'm fine... just overexerted..."
In her exhausted state, Kalifa appeared somewhat fragile. Compared to her usual capable and strong-willed demeanor, perhaps this look was even more disarming.
She forced herself to stay alert, standing up with Naomi's support.
Then, Kalifa looked directly into Naomi's eyes and spoke seriously.
"Naomi, the situation is very grim. The Emeralda won't last much longer."
Hearing this, Naomi instinctively wanted to argue that the Emeralda was an ironclad ship with a metal hull, but the screeching sound of the ship tearing apart forced her to face reality.
"Captain is still fighting up there. It's not safe here. We need to get out of this area as quickly as possible."
"I... I understand. I'll go raise the sails right away—"
Naomi nodded somewhat frantically and immediately moved to hoist the sails, but Kalifa grabbed her.
"No, listen to me."
"Don't forget Captain's fighting style... There likely won't be stable winds in this whole area soon. Go start the steam furnace. I'll steer."
Kalifa's judgment was spot on. Not long after she made this call, strong winds began to blow across the sea surface.
Even from a height of over a thousand meters, the intensity of the winds Karin was manipulating inevitably affected the sea below.
Among the surviving pirates who had fled earlier, there were indeed some fortunate ones who had raised their sails trying to escape.
But the chaotic winds directly tugged at their ships, leaving them in a dilemma, unable to advance or retreat.
This was where the advantage of a dual-powered ship became evident.
As the steam engine roared to life, the propulsion wheels installed on both sides of the Emeralda began to turn, propelling the ship towards a safer area.
Kalifa steered with one hand while keeping her eyes fixed on the sky above, ready to respond to any unexpected developments.
Her concerns proved justified.
As the battle above intensified, larger chunks of the island began to fall from the sky.
Of course, calling them 'chunks' was relative to Hachinosu's original diameter of over ten kilometers.
In reality, this seemingly 'insignificant' chunk weighed an astonishing hundred tons.
If it had struck the Emeralda, the Gold Bubbles would have been utterly incapable of stopping it.
Fortunately, Kalifa spotted this massive rock in time, thus avoiding the destruction of the ship and the loss of all aboard.
But just as she breathed a sigh of relief, another unexpected turn occurred.
On the sea surface below Hachinosu, under the dumbfounded gaze of all survivors, a tornado far more terrifying than before made contact with the ocean, violently sucking up hundreds of millions of tons of seawater, forming a terrifying waterspout.
If the falling rocks had been minor skirmishes, this waterspout was the clarion call for total annihilation.
Some surviving pirates, witnessing this scene resembling the apocalypse, simply gave up struggling, collapsing on their decks and letting their ships be swallowed by the vortex.
Others fought desperately, but most efforts were futile.
On the Emeralda, Naomi in the engine room also saw the sky-piercing waterspout through the porthole. Her movements accelerated further as she frantically shoveled coal into the furnace.
To improve efficiency, she even used her tail.
Unfortunately, no matter how efficient she was, the Emeralda's steam engine still had its limits.
"Naomi!!"
Just then, Naomi suddenly heard Kalifa's shout.
Without hesitation, she quickly slithered onto the deck, looking at Kalifa by the helm.
"There's no time—"
Although she hid it well, Naomi could still see a glimmer of fear in Kalifa's eyes.
This was inevitable.
But Kalifa hadn't given up hope. She still refused to surrender.
"Listen to me. When the ship falls into the sea, you must hold on to us."
"I'm a Devil Fruit user. If I fall into the sea, I'll lose all ability to move. That guy is still unconscious, so we can't rely on him either."
"From now on, it's up to you."
Before Naomi could respond, the Emeralda followed the fate of the other pirate ships, drawn into the expanding waterspout.
The raging seawater instantly swallowed the entire Emeralda, drowning out the words Naomi had been about to speak.