Chapter 327: Sea Kings
"Ugh..."
Vivi's expression darkened.
Her lips moved as she muttered something unintelligible under her breath, while imaginary black lines seemed to gather over her forehead.
Then a thought struck her.
She slowly looked up.
The sail hanging from the mast had gone completely limp.
There was no breeze.
Not even the slightest movement of air.
At first, Vivi had not paid much attention to it. Strange weather was practically normal on the Grand Line.
But after hearing Axel say where they were heading, the lack of wind suddenly became much more ominous.
Her mouth twitched.
"This is already... the Calm Belt, isn't it?"
Her tone made it sound like a question.
It really wasn't.
She was simply hoping Axel might somehow tell her she was wrong.
Axel nodded.
Vivi's last shred of hope shattered.
Her knees gave way.
Thump.
She collapsed face-first onto the deck.
Chopper, who had been keeping his distance from everyone, immediately became curious.
He cautiously approached Vivi, first checking whether she had suddenly fallen ill.
Then he asked,
"What's the Calm Belt?"
His eyes were full of genuine curiosity.
For Chopper, the outside world was still filled with things he had never seen or heard of.
Karoo, meanwhile, was dealing with a more immediate crisis.
He stared at the food Axel had generously passed to him earlier.
Bread.
Seafood.
Somehow combined into something that looked even worse than before.
Karoo tilted his head.
"Quack..."
Was a duck seriously expected to eat this?
While he was still trying to figure out how to approach the culinary disaster, the sea erupted.
BOOOOM!
A massive column of water surged upward beside the ship.
Vivi's voice came at nearly the same moment.
"The Calm Belt is where Sea Kings live..."
A gigantic white creature burst from beneath the surface.
Everyone looked up.
And kept looking.
The Sea King was hundreds of meters long.
Compared to the tiny ship, its size was absurd.
Their vessel looked less like a ship beside it and more like a piece of driftwood.
The creature rose from the sea before crashing back down nearby.
BOOM!
The impact sent an enormous wave outward.
"AAAAAH!"
The small ship was thrown violently upward.
Then down.
Then sideways.
It creaked under the force of the waves, tilting so sharply that it looked ready to capsize at any moment.
Vivi grabbed the railing.
Chopper clung desperately to the cabin.
Karoo wrapped both wings around the nearest fixture.
Even Wapol stumbled across the deck.
For several long minutes, the ship was tossed around like a toy.
Then the sea gradually settled again.
Vivi collapsed onto the deck for the second time that day.
Her face was pale.
Chopper looked even worse.
His fur had somehow taken on a bluish tint, and his lips trembled uncontrollably.
"T-That..."
He pointed toward the direction the enormous creature had disappeared.
"Sea Kings are... those things?"
Vivi weakly nodded.
Chopper's eyes widened.
"And this is where they live?!"
Tears immediately welled up.
Snot ran from his nose.
Despite eating the Human-Human Fruit, Chopper had never been particularly good at hiding his emotions.
"WE'RE GOING TO DIE!"
Karoo stood frozen nearby.
Still shaken.
Then he noticed something.
The horrible food Axel had given him was gone.
Apparently, the waves had swept it overboard.
"Quack!"
At least one good thing had come from this.
Axel, meanwhile, remained exactly where he had been.
He was still lying comfortably on the wax lounge chair.
Everything else on the deck had shifted.
He had not moved an inch.
It was as though the violent waves had never happened.
Wapol was the only person besides Axel who seemed relatively calm.
Although "calm" was not quite the right word.
Axel had placed strict limits on how much Wapol was allowed to eat aboard the ship.
As a result, the former king was constantly hungry.
So when he saw a Sea King several hundred meters long...
His first reaction was not terror.
It was hunger.
Drool ran down the corner of his mouth as he stared toward the sea.
Vivi looked at Chopper.
"Yes."
"There probably isn't a worse place we could be right now."
Her face sank further.
Being hunted by Baroque Works suddenly seemed almost pleasant by comparison.
At least against Baroque Works, there was a chance to fight back.
Here?
A normal vessel entering the Calm Belt without Sea Stone lining its hull might as well announce itself as food.
Sea Kings dominated these waters.
And the only person aboard capable of dealing with them was Axel.
Axel, who was injured.
Axel, who was currently lying down with his eyes closed.
Axel, who had voluntarily brought them here.
Vivi felt another headache coming.
Then Chopper suddenly pointed over the railing.
"Ah!"
His face went white.
"Under the ship!"
Vivi looked at him.
"What about the ship?"
"The sea!"
"The bottom!"
"Something's down there!"
His words barely made sense, but his panic was clear enough.
Vivi hurried over and looked into the water.
The sea was astonishingly clear.
Almost like glass.
Which meant she could see exactly what was beneath them.
Her expression froze.
Shapes moved through the deep blue water.
Huge shapes.
Several Sea Kings were swimming below.
Some were still distant.
Others were slowly drawing closer, apparently attracted by the disturbance created by the previous Sea King.
Vivi said nothing.
Chopper looked at her.
She looked at Chopper.
A second later, they grabbed each other in terror.
"WE'RE GOING TO GET EATEN!"
"I HAVEN'T EVEN MADE IT BACK TO ALABASTA YET!"
"I STILL HAVE TO EXPOSE CROCODILE!"
"I DON'T WANT TO DIE HERE!"
Karoo joined their panic with frantic quacking.
Unfortunately, being terrified did nothing to change the situation.
The Sea Kings had already noticed them.
One after another, enormous silhouettes gathered beneath the ship.
Yet they did not immediately attack.
They circled.
Watching the ship.
Watching one another.
Predators surrounded by other predators.
Then one finally made its move.
BOOM!
A Sea King with a huge red fish-like head burst from the water.
Its mouth opened wide.
Rows of sharp teeth filled a maw large enough to swallow the entire ship in one bite.
Vivi's eyes shot toward Axel.
He did not move.
His eyes remained closed.
He was still resting.
Vivi nearly lost her mind.
What are you doing?!
This is not the time to sleep!
She opened her mouth to shout.
Then another Sea King attacked.
Not the ship.
The red one.
A massive blue Sea King with broad fins erupted from behind and slammed into it.
Crunch!
Its jaws closed around the red Sea King.
Before anyone could react, a third Sea King surged from the water and attacked the blue one.
Then another appeared.
And another.
Within moments, the sea had become chaos.
The predators had turned on each other.
Vivi, Chopper, and Karoo fell completely silent.
They did not even dare scream anymore.
Making noise suddenly seemed like a terrible idea.
The ship was shoved farther away by the waves created by the battle.
Unfortunately, there was still no wind.
The sail remained limp.
They had no proper propulsion.
So all they could do was drift and watch the Sea Kings tear into one another from a distance.
The water turned red.
Blood spread across the surface.
The metallic, fishy smell reached the ship.
That only made things worse.
The scent of blood drove the nearby Sea Kings into a frenzy.
It also attracted more creatures from farther away.
Huge shadows began appearing beneath the water.
One after another.
The battle was growing.
Fast.
Vivi stared at the scene in horror.
"This is bad..."
Chopper shook beside her.
"Too scary..."
Karoo nodded rapidly.
"Quack..."
Then something splattered onto the deck.
Splat.
Vivi slowly looked down.
A chunk of flesh lay near her feet.
Another landed nearby.
Then another.
Pieces of Sea King meat had begun raining onto the ship from the battle in the distance.
Blood and the raw smell of the sea filled the air.
Wapol's head snapped toward the nearest piece.
His eyes widened.
His stomach growled loudly.
Grrrrrrr.
He stared at the meat.
Then at Axel.
Then back at the meat.
Despite the hunger twisting his stomach, Wapol had learned enough not to touch anything without permission.
He swallowed.
"Can I eat that?"
Axel slowly opened one eye.
"Yes."
That was all Wapol needed.
He lunged.
"FOOD!"
He swept up the raw Sea King flesh and shoved it into his mouth.
Crunch!
Gulp!
More pieces followed.
Wapol ate with tears of happiness in his eyes.
After days of restricted meals, raw Sea King meat might as well have been a royal banquet.
Then, once his hunger eased slightly, he finally looked up.
And saw the massive Sea Kings tearing each other apart in the distance.
His face froze.
"AHHHHHHH!"
Wapol screamed.
Then immediately ran behind the cabin and curled up, trembling.
Vivi stared at him.
Chopper stared at him.
Karoo stared at him.
All three shouted at once.
"YOUR REACTION IS WAY TOO SLOW!"
....
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