"Wow, so this is what the ocean floor looks like. It's beautiful," Adara said, her voice brimming with emotion.
Since they had only just submerged beneath the surface, they could still see sunlight piercing through the water—beam after beam of light shining down around them, an absolutely breathtaking sight.
"It really is stunning. If we hadn't come here, we probably would never have seen anything like this in our lives."
Yuristin voiced his agreement. The moment they'd entered the water, they'd all been transfixed by the exquisite scenery.
"If only we could build a home down here."
Adara spoke a little fancifully. After all, young girls had no resistance to sights like these.
"Heh. If you're that eager for an early death, be my guest."
Her mother, Lisa, wasted no time in crushing her beautiful dream.
At that moment, before their eyes swam countless schools of fish—all kinds of fish, ones they'd seen and ones they hadn't.
Salar seemed particularly interested in these fish. For a chef, unknown ingredients held the greatest allure, after all.
"But can this ship really hold up all the way down to ten thousand meters?"
Joella asked with a trace of worry.
"Relax. This ship was built from the Treasure Tree Adam."
William replied. Having spent five years at Tom's shipyard, he'd come to understand just how highly Adam wood ranked among all shipbuilding materials.
"Add to that our outstanding navigator, and reaching Fish-Man Island should be well within reach."
"Mm. Mm." Hearing William's praise, Mol nodded. That's right—he was, in fact, an exceptionally excellent navigator.
By now, he could say with complete confidence that in the field of navigation, if he claimed second place, no one would dare claim first.
"But descending ten thousand meters is going to take quite a while, isn't it?"
Joella asked. At their current speed, things were moving rather slowly.
"Of course. You have to remember, this is the ocean floor. There could be hidden reefs at any moment, so a pirate ship can't just move straight up or down. We have to ride the currents."
Mol explained to Joella, though whether Joella actually understood was anyone's guess.
"I've got an idea."
After a moment of silence, Joella suddenly clapped his hands together, his eyes instantly lighting up.
"I've got a way to reach Fish-Man Island fast."
Joella repeated himself.
"Oh? What is it?" Everyone turned their attention to Joella—even Shirakawa. By all logic, Joella wasn't exactly the thinking type.
"We could catch a Sea King and have it pull our ship. Wouldn't that boost our speed by a lot?"
"Hmm, that does sound like a good idea."
Mol nodded. "But Sea Kings aren't exactly easy to tame, are they?"
"Hey, did you forget? We've got two people on this ship with Conqueror's Haki."
"Oh, right!"
At those words, the crew all turned to look at Shirakawa and Kurokam.
The expressions on their faces seemed to say: Go on, go on—tame a Sea King so we can watch.
Seeing them like that, Shirakawa gave a helpless smile.
"Fine. Once we spot a Sea King, I'll give it a try."
Shirakawa responded. As for why he wasn't having Kurokam do it—Kurokam had just finished fighting Akainu, and his injuries hadn't fully healed yet.
As the ship slowly, slowly descended, the sunlight vanished completely, and the temperature aboard suddenly turned cold.
"Brr—what's going on? It's freezing."
Adara and Lisa had already put on thick winter coats, but they still felt a biting chill.
"Well, we're at the bottom of the sea. Without sunlight, the temperature drops drastically."
Mol explained.
As the ship sank deeper and deeper, nearly everyone except Shirakawa bundled up in heavy clothing.
"Aren't we going to freeze to death by the time we reach Fish-Man Island?"
"I wouldn't know—I've never been there. But it probably won't be that bad. Plenty of pirate crews pass through Fish-Man Island on their way to the New World every year, after all."
There were only two ways to reach the New World: one was to dive ten thousand meters deep to Fish-Man Island, and the other was to apply to the government for passage through the holy land of Mary Geoise.
But for pirates, the only path to the New World was the first one.
The Silver Pirate Crew, however, had a third option—Shirakawa could simply control the ship to fly straight to the New World.
Yet no one brought the idea up. Not because they hadn't thought of it, but because skipping Fish-Man Island would leave the voyage feeling incomplete, as if something essential were missing.
Just then, the crew suddenly felt something flash past alongside the ship.
"What the hell was that?!" Adara shrieked, diving behind Salar.
"Probably some kind of Sea King."
Salar explained. In a place like this, besides Sea Kings, he couldn't imagine anything else capable of withstanding the pressure of the deep sea.
"Finally. If it hadn't shown up soon, we'd have reached Fish-Man Island already."
"Captain, are you going to make your move?"
"Yeah." Shirakawa had found the deep-sea voyage rather boring too—surrounded by nothing but darkness, there was nothing to see.
When they'd been at shallower depths, they could at least enjoy the scenery to ease their minds. But in the deep sea, their vision was pitch black, and the only thing they could feel was unease.
"Are you sure, Captain?"
Joella asked uncertainly. At this depth, wouldn't stepping outside get you instantly crushed to the seafloor by the pressure?
"Who do you think I am?"
With those words, Shirakawa stepped straight out of the bubble membrane and immediately deployed his Sanctuary, isolating the surrounding seawater.
"Seriously, is the Captain's power really a Devil Fruit ability? How is he not affected by the sea?"
Joella asked, baffled.
"Who knows?"
Yuristin shrugged. One had to admit, Shirakawa's abilities were truly an anomaly in their eyes.
Floating in the deep sea, Shirakawa instantly made his body emit white light—using himself as a floodlight.
At once, the other crew members could see their surroundings clearly.
Hiss—
Then, nearly everyone sucked in a sharp breath.
"Have we... wandered into a Sea King nest?"
Adara said, her voice trembling with lingering fear. Within their line of sight, there were at least seven or eight Sea Kings, no fewer.
"You're the one."
Shirakawa picked a serpentine Sea King that happened to catch his eye and instantly stunned it with Conqueror's Haki.
As for what happened next, there's no need to describe it in detail—those Sea Kings that tried to attack Shirakawa were simply beaten into submission.
Witnessing that, combined with the intimidation of Conqueror's Haki, the serpentine Sea King immediately became obedient, and dutifully set to pulling their ship.
Instantly, everyone felt the ship's speed undergo a qualitative leap.
"Now that's what I call a Sea King."
Joella marveled.
/-\
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