At Whale Island Harbor, the Sea God had already raised anchor and set sail, cutting across the deep-blue ocean.
On the ship's deck, a spiky-haired boy in green was holding a fishing rod and staring intently at the sea.
Gon had started fishing the moment he boarded.
Just then, the rod twitched. Gon immediately yanked it up.
As he pulled, the catch finally broke the surface—an elongated fish with a pair of wings. A flying fish revealed itself.
"A flying fish! I'm so lucky! Even on Whale Island, these are rare!"
The other Whale Island applicants watched Gon grinning to himself and all shook their heads with disdain.
Clearly, Gon's sunny, carefree personality didn't fit the slightly tense, heavy atmosphere on the ship.
Gon's little stunt drew plenty of attention—both from the applicants and from the Red-Nose Captain.
"This kid's pretty good. He actually reeled in a fish that big—and a flying fish, too. Those rarely bite." The Red-Nose Captain was always interested in anything related to the sea.
"Awk—awk—awk!"
No one knew when it started, but a swarm of seagulls began circling the Sea God at low altitude. Their cries were mournful, as if they were trying to say something.
"A storm's coming." Seeing the seagulls acting strange, Gon sniffed, then took a deep breath of the damp air.
"How is that possible? It's calm as can be. Gon, can you understand bird language now?" Leorio leaned over and asked.
"Just a little. And the air's really salty. The wind's warm, too," Gon said.
"Then you've gotta teach me later." Leorio looked genuinely interested.
At the same time, he was already calculating how he could make money with that skill once he learned it.
"Kid, you're from Whale Island, right? Who's your father?" The Red-Nose Captain had been watching Gon the whole time. He had a guess, so he spoke up to confirm it.
"Yes. He's a Hunter. I've only seen his photo, but I really respect him," Gon answered innocently.
Hearing that—and looking at Gon's somewhat similar features—the Red-Nose Captain was already certain.
"Kid, how long until the storm gets here?" the Red-Nose Captain asked. He wanted to test Gon's judgment.
"About two hours," Gon estimated.
The Red-Nose Captain nodded. That matched what he expected.
Crack—crackle!
A bolt of lightning tore across the sky. On the Sea God's main mast, violet points of light appeared—enough to make anyone who saw them feel a chill of fear.
"St. Elmo's fire." The Red-Nose Captain frowned.
The moment those words fell, it was like some switch had been flipped.
The pitch-black sky kept getting ripped open by blinding lightning. The wind began to howl. The once-calm sea answered the sky's passionate summons and started to move.
Whoooosh!
As the wind and waves intensified, the Sea God began to sway left and right. Standing on deck became a staggering struggle—anyone with weak balance was already rolling across the floor.
"St. Elmo's fire—people who see it are said to die at sea!" someone in the crowd suddenly shouted.
That single sentence was like tossing a red-hot stone into still water.
Sure, anyone who had boarded the Sea God to take the Hunter Exam had some ability—but St. Elmo's fire was simply too famous.
And with the Sea God pitching up and down in the huge waves, people grew even more panicked.
Panic spreads. In an instant, no one stayed calm. It turned into a vicious cycle—Leorio and Kurapika's expressions tightened, too. The morale was shaking.
Only Roy and Android 18 remained steady in the storm, calmly enjoying the ship's swaying.
"Seriously—it's just a storm. These people won't stop yapping. It's annoying as hell!"
Roy opened his eyes—then saw Android 18 turning her head to the side, her eyes full of rapture, murmuring:
"So beautiful…"
"?" Roy followed her gaze.
In the distance, the violet glow along the horizon was dazzling. With the stars scattered overhead, it really was breathtaking.
"Yeah… it really is beautiful."
"Beautiful, my ass! That's St. Elmo's fire! We could all die, you know?!" One sailor felt ice-cold all over as he weakly complained.
"So, being uneducated is truly scary."
Roy stretched, then stood up.
"The real cause of St. Elmo's fire is a kind of cold, glowing corona discharge—also called electrical luminescence. During thunderstorms, a powerful electric field ionizes the air. Even though the name includes the word 'fire,' it isn't hot at all. It's plasma at a relatively low temperature. Because the potential difference around it becomes so large that it exceeds the breakdown strength of air—currently about three million volts per meter—the air becomes conductive. As it conducts, it emits a bright glow. This is extremely common in severe thunderstorm weather."
After all, before getting isekai'd, Roy had graduated from a top-tier university. He'd learned this kind of basic seafaring science in general education classes.
Finally, Roy snapped his fingers and concluded:
"In short—this is just a perfectly normal natural phenomenon caused by thunderstorms at sea."
(End of Chapter)
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