With their exceptional eyesight, Law and Biscuit clearly saw the true form of the fleet. They immediately exchanged glances, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes.
There were thirteen ships in total, arranged in a loose formation. They weren't human ships but insect ships.
As the name suggested, these were sea vessels covered in countless squirming insects. The coverage was nearly 360 degrees without gaps, making it impossible to tell whether the insects were attached to the ships or whether they themselves formed the ship-like structures.
Tonpa, unlike the other two, couldn't see as clearly and was excited, thinking they had encountered a human fleet.
"Should we avoid them?" Biscuit asked.
From a distance, it was hard to gauge the threat level of these insect ships. With the Lawlie damaged and its balance compromised, it wasn't wise to recklessly engage with unknown insect ships.
Law pondered for a moment before saying, "I'll go scout them out. If the situation seems off, we'll avoid them immediately."
Boldness backed by skill… this approach was fitting for the situation.
Biscuit didn't say anything more, and Law immediately stepped over the railing, walking on air toward the distant fleet.
Watching Law stride through the air, Biscuit couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
With sufficient mastery of Emission-type Nen, this was possible, but she couldn't perform it as fluidly and naturally as Law.
Law quickly approached the fleet and got a close look at the insect ships.
Various pale red soft-bodied creatures squirmed together in clusters… jar-shaped, flat, strip-shaped, star-shaped-
The varieties were numerous and disordered, their density alarming.
Law hovered in the air, looking down at the insect ships.
Just then, the squirming jar-shaped insects bulged and shot streams of gray fluid at him in the air.
Law's eyes narrowed slightly as he deftly avoided the numerous fluid projectiles. He raised a hand, using his Domain to halt one of the gray streams mid-air while retreating to create distance.
The gray fluid stopped several centimeters from his palm, transforming from a liquid state to a solid at a visible rate, much like cement hardening.
"Oh?"
Law chuckled in surprise.
He had been worried about finding material to repair the damage on Lawlie, and now the material had come to him on its own.
He retreated further, but the dozen or so insect ships seemed highly aggressive, chasing after him while the various soft-bodied creatures on their surfaces continuously shot different types of fluid at him.
Gray, pale red, dark green, light blue...
Projectiles of various colors streaked through the air, creating a colorful trail, all of which Law dodged.
"Not much of a threat."
Law glanced in the direction of the Lawlie.
'Among all the fluid projectiles, only the gray ones underwent solidification, and their quality and hardness were sufficient.'
With this in mind, Law weaved through the barrage, using his Domain to collect the gray fluid… all of which would serve as material to repair the ship.
Before long, he had gathered a considerable amount of material. He then quickly created distance and returned to the Lawlie, placing a large gray sphere on the deck.
Seeing Law's actions, Biscuit understood his intention.
Tonpa, however, was still shaken. He had now clearly seen the true form of the insect ships and inwardly lamented what kind of place this was. The series of tumultuous experiences had completely overturned his understanding.
"They're coming."
Biscuit watched as the insect ships gradually picked up speed and timely reminded him.
Law followed her gaze and said, "They seem to hold a grudge. Tell Kuro to steer the ship away for now. I'll go deal with them."
Before the words fully left his mouth, Law was already airborne again, stepping on the air as he actively approached the insect ship fleet.
Biscuit glanced at the still-shaken Tonpa and quickly headed to the captain's cabin to relay Law's orders to Kuro.
At the same time, Law arrived above the nearest insect ship, raised his hands, and condensed an Aura Disc Slash. He hurled it toward the midsection of the insect ship.
The moment the disc left Law's hands, the insect ship reacted violently, as if highly sensitive to Nen. The entire ship suddenly swayed sharply.
However, the disc was fast, striking directly at the ship's cabin and splitting the entire ship in two.
To Law's surprise, the split insect ship revealed a decayed hull structure and did not sink into the sea.
'Are the insect colonies attached to the ship?'
Seeing that the insect ship didn't sink and could still sail, Law frowned deeply.
The countless sea insects seemed to be using sunken human ships as nests, attaching themselves to them. However, they weren't relying on the sunken ships, instead, they were the ones supporting the ships.
From this perspective, their motives were incomprehensible. Similarly, Law's plan to destroy the insect ships with a single strike had failed.
Although sinking thirteen insect ships wasn't particularly difficult, the Aura he had painstakingly recovered would likely be depleted again.
Just as Law was pondering his next move, the insect ship fleet suddenly emitted a piercing screech.
Law's nerves throbbed with sudden pain, his open Aura Nodes uncontrollably opening and closing. The Aura flowing slowly around him flickered intermittently, making it impossible to maintain a stable output.
He wobbled unsteadily, plummeting toward the sea like a crashing plane.
Not far away, Biscuit and Tonpa's expressions changed slightly. They also heard the screech and felt extremely uncomfortable. Perhaps because they were far enough away, their reactions weren't as severe as Law's.
The screech came suddenly, and its impact was quite serious.
Caught off guard, Law remained calm.
He tilted his body, tore off a piece of his clothing, and used it as an earplug to block his ears tightly.
With the screech muffled, the pain persisted, but his Aura Nodes were no longer out of control.
Law quickly stabilized himself, kicked down at the sea surface, and released a burst of Aura. The seawater exploded, and he used the momentum to ascend.
Then, he glanced down and saw that the sea surface was now covered with countless fish floating belly-up. Meanwhile, soft tentacles as thick as a baby's arm emerged from beneath the insect ships, snatching the fish and pulling them back.
In that instant, Law realized he had severely underestimated the bizarre nature of the insect ships. The long-range fluid attacks were likely just probing strikes.
As his thoughts shifted, a new situation arose.
He focused his gaze and saw that the split insect ship was slowly merging back together, seemingly using some kind of soft-bodied insect as an adhesive.
At the same time, unidentified creatures emerged from the cabins of the insect ships, which were covered in squirming insects. These creatures bore some resemblance to humans.
The creatures were similar in size and build to humans. Their heads were covered in squirming, elongated soft-bodied insects, like Medusa's snake-like hair.
Their faces were adorned with numerous colorful shell-like attachments. Their eyes were white without pupils, they had no nose, but they had mouths.
Their upper bodies were bare, with two prominent protrusions. Their waists were also covered in colorful shells, while their lower bodies were purely anemone-like, composed of countless soft tentacles.
They were human-like yet not human, moving out of the cabins by squirming their anemone-like lower bodies. Their open mouths revealed densely packed, crisscrossed sharp teeth.
The screeching had come from them.
Law looked at these creatures, his expression slightly startled.
'Could these be the mermaids of the Dark Waters?'