Fights on land—he'd had plenty of those.
But fighting at sea, in the crushing depths of thousands of meters beneath the surface—
This was a first for Magnus.
"This time, Dean's in charge. Rocks and Newgate, you assist. Linlin, you're on standby. Everyone else, be ready to support at a moment's notice."
Magnus, Ripley, and Toki were all Devil Fruit users.
Toki's lack of combat ability went without saying, and though Magnus could take down a giant Sea King with ease on land, in the deep sea his power couldn't be fully unleashed. That meant the fishman Dean would lead, with the non-Devil Fruit users Rocks and Newgate backing him up.
"Eh? Even Linlin has to be ready?" Toki asked.
"Only as a backup," Magnus replied, ruffling Linlin's head. After all this training, she was slimmer but her appetite hadn't shrunk one bit—and in terms of Haki reserves, she was second only to Magnus himself.
Even the giant Ripley couldn't match her.
"Linlin, we're going to catch a big fish and make sashimi out of it. Can you help your big brother Rocks?"
"Fish sashimi?"
Just the words made Linlin's mouth water.
"Mhm."
When Magnus saw her full attention lock onto the idea, he gave Toki a discreet thumbs-up, earning a roll of her eyes.
"Magnus, you're tricking her again!"
"I'm only telling the truth—how is that tricking her?"
They spoke in low voices until Toki realized Magnus' breath was brushing her cheek.
"C-Captain Magnus, go on with the plans!"
Her heart pounded—she couldn't shake the feeling that her relationship with Magnus was getting… closer, without boundaries. And where would that lead?
"Captain, you're making a move on Toki, aren't you?" Ripley slid in as soon as Toki left.
"You've got me, Lily, and even Stussy—she's got her eye on you too!"
"Ahem… Ripley, you can't just say things like that."
Some things didn't need to be spoken aloud. Magnus wasn't about to broadcast them.
"Right now, the priority is catching the lantern fish—it's at least a kilometer long. Even if we knock it out, can your Mini Mini no Mi shrink it enough?"
"Hmph, always changing the subject!"
Ripley didn't press further. Men were all like this—if Magnus was strong enough and still willing to entertain romance, that already made him a good man in her eyes.
"Underwater, I'm not sure, but I should be able to shrink it tenfold."
On the surface, even a kilometer-long Sea King could be reduced to a meter by her powers.
But touching the fish underwater meant touching seawater, which would sap her strength—so it was uncertain.
"Do your best."
If they could capture it alive, they could keep it in a tank.
If not—
They'd have to kill it.
"If my intel's correct, there are still two living people inside its stomach—one of them the scientist who once extracted Pure Gold."
Compared to the limited Pure Gold inside the fish, the method of making it was far more valuable. Magnus didn't even want to imagine how the world would change if it were mass-produced.
But perhaps that was the sea's curse—
A scientist had created Pure Gold to save his daughter, only to be swallowed with her by a Sea King that could devour islands.
They'd been inside for over 150 years.
"Still alive in its belly? So it's the Pure Gold that's kept them that way?" Ripley asked in wonder.
"After swallowing it, the lantern fish stores Pure Gold in its glowing lure. The light grants the same effects as wearing the gold itself."
Two days after leaving Fishman Island, the Thousand-Year Falcon had traveled far, dragged by sea beasts gifted by the locals.
"We must be close to the Calm Belt now," Magnus said.
The lantern fish wouldn't stay in one place forever—if it returned to the Calm Belt, catching it would be far harder.
"Captain, there's light ahead!" Newgate called from the crow's nest.
Magnus' Observation Haki swept ahead—
And his lip twitched.
"Newgate, get down. And keep your voice down."
They'd reached the edge of the Calm Belt. He found the light source—it was indeed their target.
But surrounding it… was a gathering of giants.
The deep ocean here was like an abyss. No natural light—any glow could only mean a predator.
Magnus had ordered Rocks and Newgate to navigate by Observation Haki to avoid the giant shoals, keeping their ship dark.
Now, just in their vicinity, he sensed over a dozen Sea Kings—each over a kilometer long.
To put that in perspective—a kilometer was like stacking over a dozen 400-meter running tracks.
And that wasn't even the limit.
Here in the Calm Belt—
Magnus spotted ones over five kilometers long.
When his Observation Haki brushed them, those colossal monsters turned their gazes on him.
'Someone's watching us.'
'It's far.'
'Can he hear us?'
…
The voices rang in his head, and Magnus' body went tense.
"Troublesome."
If they riled these behemoths during the hunt, even he couldn't promise the Thousand-Year Falcon would escape intact.
The Sea Kings' reputation as one of the Three Ancient Weapons' equals was well-earned—these five-kilometer monsters were like countless great pirates in one.
One-on-one, a true great pirate might beat a Sea King of that size—
But the danger lay in numbers.
In a world where the seas covered over 90% of the surface, there were likely more supergiant Sea Kings than great pirates.
"Too bad…" Magnus thought. "The real 'Sea King' won't be born for another 30 years."
And he certainly wasn't going to wait that long.
"If fate had its way, the world wouldn't rebel against the Celestial Dragons for over fifty years.
"But fifty years is too long.
"I've got a cheat—if you make me wait fifty years, what's the point of the cheat?"
His system panel appeared before his eyes:
[Sea Calendar 1483, February — You met Golden Lion Shiki at Fishman Island. After a fierce battle, you defeated him and forced him to submit.]
[Special ability gained: Voice of All Things!]
[Cell activity enhanced!]
That was how he could hear the Sea Kings' voices now. He'd never even fought Shiki—Shiki had been too afraid to try.
The Voice of All Things wasn't especially powerful, but its rarity made it valuable—few in the world could awaken it.
His strength now exceeded the average Admiral, and with boosted cell activity, he wasn't far from withstanding two Admirals at once.
Even if he couldn't win, unless he fought to the death, two Admirals couldn't corner him.
That was his confidence for daring to go to Mariejois.
Unless the Marines and World Government gathered every Admiral-level fighter in ambush—
And even then, his Observation Haki wasn't for show.
Especially now, enhanced by the Voice of All Things—
He could see four seconds into the future, perhaps the best Observation Haki user alive in this era—save for whoever lurked behind the Celestial Dragons.
"I see it," Rocks whispered.
Ten minutes earlier, they'd spotted a faint light.
Now it blazed larger and larger ahead.
The sea beasts towing them balked.
"Dean, have them wait outside."
No point forcing them forward.
"Rocks, Newgate!"
"Got it."
"Understood."
The two were sealed in full-body air-coating bubbles, letting them breathe underwater.
"Go!"
(Splash — Coating Strike)
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For +20 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!][[email protected]/euridome]
[Thank You For Your Support!]