Boom!
Another dull crash, much louder than the last, rocked the merchant ship, and faint cries of pain could be heard.
Gatt listened intently, then waved his hand sharply.
"Stern, starboard, nine o'clock!"
Before he'd finished his roar, the watchtower atop the mast had already shone its searchlight.
Shanu, knocked back by the frantic sailors, finally made his way to the side of the ship when a pale beam of light split the night, revealing the vague outline of the object.
Everyone gasped.
It was a behemoth, tens of meters long, resembling a cross between an eel and a sea serpent. Beneath its aquamarine fins, its iron-gray scales reflected a chilling light.
"What the hell is this thing?!" a young crew member cried in panic.
"It's a sea king, idiot!"
"What the hell! When has a sea king appeared on this route?"
"Fire! Fire quickly, scare this thing away!"
"No! It's right next to our ship, we need to get some distance!"
Amid the clamor, Shanu gripped the railing, suppressing the subconscious fear that crept in his heart, and squinted his eyes downward.
Having grown up in Cocoyashi Village, this was his first time seeing a sea king.
The adrenaline rush seemed to sharpen his vision.
Or perhaps it was the perfect angle, but through the inky darkness, he could clearly see the sea king's features.
Within its bloodshot, crimson eyes, black, vertical pupils were slender like snakes, and ferocious fangs stretched across its neck...
The more he looked, the more wrong it seemed, and the more familiar it looked.
"The Lord of the Coast?"
He paused, frowning, and muttered uncertainly.
I remember this Sea King often roaming around the Goa Kingdom, quite far from here. Could it be that after being scared off by Conqueror's Haki, it simply changed its range?
Or perhaps it wasn't the same creature, just a member of the same species?
Boom!
A dull roar echoed across the sea again, and now many sailors could see clearly that it was the sound of a Sea King actively ramming its belly into the ship's hull.
What was it doing?
Everyone, including old Captain Gatt, was a little confused. If it was hunting, several people on deck would have been devoured by now, and it might even have capsized the entire ship.
But this Sea King didn't seem to have any such intentions.
"Hey, look!" a sharp-eyed sailor exclaimed, pointing somewhere. "There looks to be something in that monster's belly!"
Boom! Boom! Boom! As everyone looked over, the frequency of the Sea King's impacts suddenly increased, one after another. The merchant ship pitched more and more violently, and the screams from beneath the surface intensified.
Each time it arched its back, it briefly revealed the unnatural bulge in its stomach.
The surface of the skin surrounding the bulge was covered with scars and bruises, ranging from blunt injuries to scratches, and numerous pus-filled blisters from festering infections.
It seemed as if something was stuck in its organs, causing it excruciating pain, and it constantly sought hard objects to ram and scrape, trying to force it out.
Ultimately, it had left itself in its current battered state.
Islands, rocks, ships... Judging by the myriad of scars, it had likely targeted them all, but had never been able to resolve them.
"This is really a big problem,"
Gatt said, his face livid.
If this continued, it was only a matter of time before the ship completely disintegrated, its cargo and crew bound for the sea.
The crisp snap of cargo box lashings and the muffled thud of uncontrolled collisions echoed from the hold.
The old captain whipped his head around, glancing at the pale face behind the wheel—the young helmsman practically hanging on to it, only to avoid being thrown off. The veins on the back of his hand bulged with every turn.
"Still can't gain distance?" he roared, as another wave of salty foam crashed onto the deck, drenching everyone.
"No, Captain!"
The helmsman's neck flushed purple, his voice tinged with despair. "This guy's the type to be nimble. We can't match his speed. Even the slightest pull away and he'll be caught again!"
"Damn it!"
Gatt spat, his saliva mixed with blood from his gums, leaving a dark crimson trail on the heaving, tilting deck.
Throwing away his pipe, he abruptly drew his sword from his waist, gripping it tightly. As he looked at the sea king again, a glint of madness crimsoned in the corners of the old man's eyes.
"Fine, fine, you really won't give me a chance to live! You really think I'm a softie! Even if I can't be your scapegoat, I'll still break a few of your teeth before I die! "
Don't be fooled by his kindly face and gentle words to everyone now. In his youth, he was also a veteran who had fought in the battlefield to defend the kingdom, fighting his way through the bloody corpses!
"Logistics, take that kid named Shanu to the safe cabin below. There might still be a chance of survival!"
"All the rest of the combatants, prepare to fight me to the death!"
Gatt rasped through his teeth. "Damn it, what's the worst that could happen..."
"Mr. Gatt," Shanu's calm voice abruptly interrupted his spirited charge.
Huh?
Gatt instinctively turned his head, only to be surprised to see the young man clenching his fists, staring at the sea with eager eyes.
"Have the starboard guns aim at the sea king's belly and fire a few shots. Leave the rest to me. I've got a way to calm this guy down."
"You're kidding!"
Gatt's face darkened, and without a second thought, he cursed. "Hide in the safe haven! Is this the time to be a hero, you little brat? What nonsense are you coming up with?"
"Is there any other way?"
Shanu whipped his head around, his voice rising sharply. "I know what you're going to do! Jump over and shout, and then slash a few times before you die to show you're not cowards. What's the point?"
"And more!"
He roared, ripping off his thick coat and shirt, revealing a muscular, sharply defined body. His chest, brimming with explosive power and beauty, shone like iron in the darkness, its cold, hard sheen. The cheetah-like back muscles, with the slightest movement, instantly etched grooves like knife-cuts.
"My mom might have something she forgot to tell you about. Sorry."
The black-haired boy looked at him sideways, his delicate and childish face completely different from his low and calm voice.
"In the entire village of Cocoyashi, there's not a man who can fight better than me."
"..."
Gatt's eyes widened instantly.
In the brief encounters he had with him over the past few days, he had always remembered him as a frail, skinny boy, and the wooden sword he carried was nothing more than a child's plaything, making him laugh.
But now he realized that it was clearly the overly bloated maternal love of autumn and winter clothing that had concealed his true stature.