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"I, I got up because I wanted to wait for my boatmen to recover before leading you the way. I was afraid that when I took you to Yerug Island, if you suddenly regretted killing me, I would have no ability to resist at all."
Rebecca wasn't particularly foolish. He hid his true intention of waiting for Kaido to regain strength to resist Larson and the others and twisted his resistance into an act of self-protection.
He feared telling the truth. If Larson and the others got angry, they could easily throw him into the sea to feed the sharks.
Just to be safe, let's lie.
"Your boatmen?"
Larson recalled the people he had sensed in the cabin, already having a rough idea in mind.
He knew Rebecca wasn't being completely truthful, but he didn't care.
Their goal had remained the same from the start: to reach Yerug Island. As long as Rebecca led them honestly, Larson and the others were not easily deceived, nor would he have even been invited aboard.
Larson wasn't here to investigate Rebecca's motives. He just wanted Rebecca to guide them. Beyond that, whatever Rebecca hid, whether he lied or not, didn't matter.
The giant dragon doesn't care about the ants, nor does it mind the little thoughts in their hearts.
"Larson, what's going on?"
At this moment, Whitebeard, having finished his game, finally noticed the situation.
Larson grinned, throwing his arm around Rebecca's shoulders: "Nothing much, just inviting this friend who's leading us to come and have some fun, right?"
The last words were aimed at Rebecca.
A smile, uglier than a cry, appeared on Rebecca's face: "Yes, yes, we're just having fun."
If it weren't for the mark on Rebecca's face, Whitebeard might've actually believed it.
Roger stretched and stood up: "How much further?"
"We'll need to ask our friend here."
Larson turned to Rebecca: "How long until we arrive?"
"Very soon, very soon, we'll be there in two hours."
How could Rebecca dare say otherwise? He parroted whatever Larson wanted to hear. Compared to earlier, he was being very obedient now.
Sure enough, a little suffering made him compliant.
Larson didn't press Rebecca and Jim further. After scaring them sufficiently, he had Gangplank send them back.
After this ordeal, Larson was confident they would lead the way properly from now on.
The rest of the journey was smooth. With Jim and Rebecca's fleet guiding them, Larson's earlier hunch proved correct.
That meant Rebecca and the others truly did know the location of Yerug Island.
An hour passed, and with each moment, Larson and the crew drew closer to Yerug Island.
...
A Sea King leaped from the water, its massive form drifting lifelessly on the sea.
This was no ordinary fish. Its size dwarfed the typical Sea Kings found in the East Blue. It belonged to a species not native to these waters.
This Sea King floated on the surface, showing no signs of life. It was dead.
A long gash marred its pale belly, and it was this wound that had caused its death.
Rayleigh surfaced from the water and leapt onto the boat, shaking off the water from his head.
"How many?"
He glanced at Larson.
Larson's face was grim: "This is the seventh one."
This marked the seventh time they had been attacked by a Sea King.
While it wasn't unusual to be attacked by Sea Kings on the open sea, what struck Larson was that all seven Sea Kings were larger than those found in the East Blue. They seemed to come from waters beyond the East Blue.
What's going on?
Could it be that these Sea Kings were migrating collectively?
Larson stroked his chin. Or was the pull of Yerug Island reaching far beyond the East Blue, influencing these creatures?
"Did you notice anything?"
Rayleigh asked as he approached Larson.
Larson responded, "I'm just wondering why we haven't encountered a single Sea King from the East Blue so far."
"What do you mean?" Rayleigh asked.
"Think about it, we are in the East Blue now. Logically speaking, even if the Yerug Island pair can attract the Sea Kings from other areas, it would still take time for those Sea Kings to swim over. And by now, there should be a large number of them—the East Blue has the highest number of Sea Kings, yet we haven't seen a single one."
You know, while the East Blue is often called the weakest sea, that's only in reference to its pirates. The Sea Kings here are far from weak!
The name of the Lord of the Coast will become quite well-known in the future!
While the Sea Kings in the East Blue aren't as powerful as those in the second half of the Grand Line or the New World, they're not far behind the ones in the South Blue.
Yet despite all that, it's like these Sea Kings have vanished into thin air.
"It's very strange," Roger's voice echoed near Larson's ear.
Larson turned around to see Roger approaching slowly.
"Strictly speaking, these Sea Kings don't belong to the New World," Roger said, gazing at the massive corpse of one of the creatures before him, a look of puzzlement on his face. "There aren't any Sea Kings this small in the New World."
Larson chuckled, "If the Sea Kings in the East Blue could hear what you just said, they'd be pretty shocked."
After all, even at this size, the creature was already larger than the biggest Sea Kings found in the East Blue.
"But you're saying this Sea King-like creature isn't from the New World either?"
Roger nodded.
"So, is it from the South Blue?"
"I don't know, but it's probably not," Roger replied. "The Sea Kings in the South Blue shouldn't be this strong yet."
Larson looked bewildered. Roger's words were confusing. These creatures were stronger than those in the East Blue but weaker than those in the New World.
A type of Sea King that didn't belong to any known region of the world's oceans… so where had they come from?
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