The wind roared with overwhelming force, driving the Lawlie into a frantic spiral along the seawater, rapidly climbing upward at extreme speeds.
Fortunately, Law had used Divine Script to amplify the range and effectiveness of Shu, enveloping the entire ship. Otherwise, under the tremendous force of the wind, the Lawlie might have disintegrated within a short time.
Even though they had avoided such a catastrophic outcome, the current situation was still far from optimistic.
The Lawlie was like a small sock tossed into a washing machine, utterly at the mercy of the seawater and wind, forced to move helplessly.
Inside the cabin, Tonpa had resigned himself to fate, tightly gripping the reinforced guardrail with his eyes shut. With the support of Aura, he managed to hold on despite the violent shaking.
In the captain's cabin, Law stood as steady as a mountain, but sweat poured down his body.
The amount of Aura he had infused into the Divine Script was immense, nearly draining him completely. Maintaining the ability now was extremely difficult.
Kuro and Biscuit couldn't recklessly assist him and could only hold onto nearby objects to stabilize themselves.
Compared to the churning sea and sky, the Lawlie was as insignificant as a speck of dust. It followed the water tornado, piercing through the clouds and shooting diagonally into the sky.
Above the boundless sea of clouds, hundreds of fountains spread across a radius of hundreds of miles… all were water tornadoes that had pierced through the clouds.
The three humans and one cat looked in different directions at the scene above the sea of clouds, their expressions shifting as they were stunned by what they saw.
Hundreds of never-before-seen giant birds flew around the fountains shooting up from below the clouds. Their beaks, larger than the Lawlie, opened and closed, always snatching marine creatures flung out by the fountains.
There were only nearly a hundred fountains, but the number of giant birds reached into the hundreds.
Thus, in their competition for prey, they could be seen fighting each other, displaying the cruel laws of nature to Law and the others.
As the Lawlie's upward momentum weakened and it began to fall back toward the sea of clouds, one of the giant birds flapped its wings and flew over. Instead of attacking the ship, it swiftly glided past, its massive pale red eyes brushing close to Law and the others.
Tonpa also saw those eyes, so close that his limbs turned cold. He could see the bird's pupils contracting sharply, as if puzzled by this cold, lifeless object.
The next moment, before Law and the others could react, the giant bird suddenly swung its wing, slapping the Lawlie away.
Like a falling spear, the Lawlie plunged diagonally into the clouds, passing through thunder and lightning before descending toward the sea below.
Tonpa's screams echoed, only to be crushed by the surrounding wind and rain.
In the captain's cabin, both Kuro and Biscuit looked grim. The terrifying wind pressure had breached the defense of Law's Shu, shattered the glass, and flooded into the cabin, tossing the secured supplies into chaos.
'We're done for.'
Kuro and Biscuit inwardly groaned.
The weight of the Lawlie, combined with the height and the force of the giant bird's strike, meant that even with Nen Protection, the ship would undoubtedly disintegrate upon hitting the sea.
Since Kuro and Biscuit could foresee this, Law was no exception.
He had nearly drained his body of Aura, his face pale and his mood heavy.
"Kuro, come here and replenish my Aura."
He suddenly turned his head, a faint electric gleam flashing in his eyes, his tone leaving no room for argument.
Kuro was taken aback but, given the critical situation, immediately transformed into smoke and retreated into the back of Law's hand, transferring his stored Aura to Law.
It was faster than a blood transfusion, as the effect was immediate. Law's pale face, drained from overexertion, regained a hint of color as he prepared to layer the Divine Script with an even stronger rule-based power.
Just then, the Lawlie collided with a water tornado.
The powerful impact tore through the seawater, shattering the water tornado and, by sheer luck, providing a cushioning force that allowed the ship to land safely in the sea.
As the entire ship began to sink into the water, it was struck by a massive wave and thrown back to the surface. Though some seawater had flooded the cabin, it didn't affect their navigation.
The rollercoaster of extreme highs and lows had come too suddenly. Before Law and Biscuit could catch their breath, they suddenly realized the Lawlie had already sailed to the edge of the storm.
The giant bird's 'life-saving' wing had inadvertently slapped them into safe waters.
Kuro didn't even have time to negotiate terms. He emerged from the back of Law's hand and immediately took control of the console, steering the Lawlie away from the irrational storm.
Several minutes later, the Lawlie broke through the dark curtain of the sea, reaching the boundary between black and white, as if witnessing the cold clash between eternal night and polar day.
Ahead, the sea is calm.
Behind, there was a raging storm.
Law ceased channeling Aura and withdrew the Divine Script. The black characters covering the Lawlie retracted and eventually vanished without a trace.
Despite the protection of Shu, the Lawlie had still suffered significant damage and was now battered and broken.
"Kuro, keep watch here. Biscuit, come with me."
Law dragged his exhausted body up and rushed out of the captain's cabin, finding Tonpa, who had been knocked unconscious but was fortunate enough not to have been thrown overboard.
He roughly woke Tonpa and tasked him with assessing the extent of the damage to the Lawlie.
For a time, the three of them sprang into action.
The ship's hull was riddled with dents and gouges, the largest of which was a deep concave dent on the right side… a testament to the 'life-saving' slap from the giant bird.
Beyond these damages, which only slightly affected the ship's balance, the most severe issues were the shattered windows, several breaches leaking water, and the loss of over half their stored supplies.
Food was one thing, but fuel was critical.
Law immediately headed to the room dedicated to fuel storage and breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing it remained intact.
After delegating miscellaneous tasks to Tonpa and Biscuit, Law went to the deck to survey their surroundings.
Just then, an unusual sound came from above.
Law looked up, and his expression froze.
Trouble seemed to arrive in relentless waves.
Hundreds of arrow-like shadows shot out from the dark clouds not far away, heading straight for the Lawlie's location.
These shadows were peculiar-looking fish, each as long and large as an adult shark. Their fins resembled the wings of fighter jets, and their heads were saw-toothed structures, nearly half the length of their bodies.
This school of strange fish seemed to have been carried up to the cloud layer by the water tornadoes, then launched through the clouds by the wind generated by the giant bird's wings, now descending like javelins.
"And we've only just begun."
Law sighed softly, mustering his nearly depleted Aura to deploy his Domain.
For now, he called them [Arrowfish]. They descended with considerable force, but Law halted them mid-air before they could reach the Lawlie.
Those that missed the ship plunged into the sea, sending waves several meters high.
Law's Aura was severely depleted, making a complete defense impossible.
A dozen seconds later, one Arrowfish pierced through the left side of the Lawlie...