The Arrowfish came with fierce momentum, one of them piercing through the side of the Lawlie, nearly capsizing the already unbalanced ship.
The hull shook violently. Hearing the commotion, Biscuit and Tonpa rushed to the deck and immediately saw the school of Arrowfish descending from the sky.
Tonpa's Nen Techniques were still half-baked, and his combat experience was pitifully weak. His only strength was detecting danger. Upon seeing the Arrowfish charging toward them, he immediately retreated into the cabin.
Seeing Tonpa flee, Law didn't comment. It was for the best, as Tonpa would only be a hindrance if he stayed.
"Biscuit, take care of the stern."
Law spoke without turning around, his gaze fixed on the Arrowfish plummeting toward them.
With Biscuit's assistance, his pressure would be significantly reduced. As for the Arrowfish that had pierced the left side of the ship, there was no time to deal with it now.
Biscuit didn't respond but quickly moved into position at the stern.
Unlike Law, she couldn't halt the Arrowfish's momentum from a distance. However, using only her fists and feet, she altered the trajectory of every Arrowfish aimed at the deck, knocking them into the sea.
Within moments, Law had stopped seven Arrowfish mid-air. He realized these fish were already lifeless, and their attack was involuntary.
It could be said that the Lawlie's safe landing was fortunate, while being caught in the Arrowfish formation was sheer misfortune.
Luck and misfortune came in succession, but the Lawlie narrowly escaped the Arrowfish formation.
Law tossed the twenty or so Arrowfish he had stopped onto the deck and immediately set about repairing the breached section. He assigned Tonpa to tidy up the chaotic cabin.
As the turmoil gradually subsided, Law finally had a chance to catch his breath. He lay on the deck, physically and mentally exhausted, wanting nothing more than to sleep.
Biscuit approached him and summoned Cookie.
"Hey."
Law turned his head and greeted Cookie.
Cookie smiled gently, knelt beside Law, and slowly raised her delicate hands to massage him, easing his fatigue.
Law closed his eyes, enjoying Cookie's unparalleled massage skills, clearly feeling his exhaustion being drawn away.
Whether it was Tonpa's detection ability or Biscuit's Cookie, both were crucial for this journey.
Biscuit also sat down, gazing at the sea ahead, and sighed, "So this is the Dark Waters."
Riding the Sky-Reaching Tide straight to the cloud layer, witnessing the giant flying creatures dominating the sky up close, being slapped back to the sea by a giant bird, and then encountering the Arrowfish formation falling from the sky… each of these experiences was enough to bury even a veteran Sea Hunter beneath the waves.
Yet, Law and the others had faced such challenges in a short time and survived, with their ship still intact.
Was it luck or skill?
In hindsight, luck might have played a part, but if not for misfortune, would they have encountered the sudden storm?
Ultimately, skill was the key.
"Yeah, we're still far from the threshold." Law remarked with a sigh.
"Were you scared in that situation just now?" Biscuit suddenly asked with curiosity.
Law fell silent for a moment before replying, "Yes."
Biscuit glanced at him in surprise. She had asked jokingly, not expecting Law to admit fear, especially since he had remained remarkably calm.
Law slightly raised his head, meeting Biscuit's surprised gaze, and said frankly, "I was afraid you might die before me."
"You brat."
Biscuit slapped Law on the head.
Both wore had faint smiles on their faces, understanding that this journey was fraught with danger. Death could come at any moment, and it wouldn't be surprising.
Hunter is inherently a high-risk profession, and death was a constant reality.
They had mentally prepared themselves before embarking on this journey.
They wouldn't arrogantly claim to embrace death, but they weren't afraid of it either. The only thing they feared and resisted was witnessing a close companion die before their eyes.
"I'm going to nap for a bit."
Law murmured wearily, and as soon as the words left his mouth, he fell asleep.
After so many twists and turns, he was utterly exhausted, not even having the energy to examine the Arrowfish scattered across the deck.
Biscuit nodded to Cookie, signaling her to stay and look after Law, then headed to the cabin to tidy up the disarrayed items.
An hour later, Law suddenly opened his eyes, his mental and physical fatigue completely gone.
Seeing Law awake, Cookie withdrew her hands and gave him a sweet smile.
"Thank you."
Law sat up and thanked Cookie.
Cookie shook her head, slowly stood up, and gradually faded until she disappeared.
The instructions she received were to massage Law until he woke up. Since he was now awake, there was no need to maintain her physical form and burden Biscuit further.
Law watched Cookie vanish, then walked over to the Arrowfish's corpses. He placed a hand on one of the fish's heads, and the White Smoke Font immediately provided identification information.
"B-grade."
Law withdrew his hand and looked at the twenty or so arrowfish around him, recalling the earlier school, 'There had to be at least three to four hundred, if not five or six hundred.'
In other words, it was equivalent to hundreds of B-grade ingredients flying through the sky. And a single B-grade ingredient could fetch a starting price of nearly ten million Jenny… it was practically money flying everywhere.
'Salt-cure them and use them as food reserves for the rest of the journey.'
Law thought to himself. They had lost most of their supplies in the storm, so they might have to rely on local resources from now on. These Arrowfish would be enough for at least a week's worth of meals.
'Using the fish bones as material to patch up the ship… I wonder if that would work.'
Law stroked his chin, pondering how to repair the severely damaged Lawlie, their only means of reaching the Dark Continent.
With the power of God Hand, repairing the ship wouldn't be difficult, but the material couldn't be replaced with ordinary wood or plastic, as it needed hardness and toughness.
Suddenly, he remembered he needed to record the recent events and conjured a book and a white quill pen.
He opened the pitch-black pages and began writing with the goose feather pen, detailing the Sky-Reaching Tide and the numerous strange creatures they had encountered.
The quill pen was a Nen Object Law had developed months after conceiving the idea. It was originally meant solely for writing in the book, hence why he devised it.
The choice of a quill pen held no special meaning… it was simply that, excluding ink, the structure of a quill pen was the simplest and easiest to conjure.
Initially, in Law's conception, the goose feather pen possessed no special abilities. However, despite this straightforward approach, he couldn't conjure it successfully. Eventually, he added a Nen Function to the pen, and only then did he succeed.
Scratch, scratch...
Law wrote quickly, soon recording everything they had just experienced before withdrawing the book and pen.
"Law, there's a fleet!"
Tonpa rushed out of the cabin, his expression excited.
Law was taken aback, 'A fleet in the Dark Waters?'
"Where?" He asked.
"Over there."
Tonpa ran to the right side, circled around the railing to the midsection of the ship, and pointed at the sea ahead.
Law focused his gaze and faintly made out over a dozen ship-like shadows.
"They really are ships."
Law raised an eyebrow, surprised.
Just then, Biscuit also came up, and then, upon seeing the distant ship-like shadows, she was equally astonished.
Unlike Tonpa, they knew exactly where they were. Encountering a fleet here was nearly impossible, let alone a single ship.
"Tonpa, tell Kuro to slow down." Law said, glancing at Tonpa.
Tonpa nodded and hurried off.
The Lawrie was getting closer and closer to the fleet.
About ten minutes later, Law and Biscuit got a clear view of the fleet's true appearance.
Insect ships!