A sea dyed in strange, crimson red.
Like an ocean of blood…
The sea breeze brushed past softly, carrying with it the thick, metallic scent of blood that spread in every direction.
Led by the Navy's Head Chef, Old John, over thirty elite sailors had already surrounded the colossal carcass of a Sea King.
However—
At this moment,
faced with this massive creature's body, every single one of them stood there utterly bewildered.
"Old John, what do we do now?"
"Our weapons can't even scratch its hide."
"How are we supposed to cut this thing up?"
Dozens of sailors turned toward Old John, eyes filled with helpless confusion.
None of them had expected this—
The Sea King that Kai had torn apart with his bare hands actually possessed such terrifying natural defense!
No matter how hard they tried, their weapons couldn't even pierce its outer shell.
So now, how in the world were they supposed to butcher it?
No solutions.
No ideas.
Total despair.
"Wha—!"
Even Old John himself was stunned.
In all his years as a chef, he had never seen a Sea King with defense this absurd!
The thought alone made him turn back toward the battleship behind them.
"Our weapons can't even break through its skin… yet that very same Sea King was torn apart by Mr. Kai with his bare hands!"
"Good heavens…"
"Mr. Kai is truly a terrifying monster!"
Old John felt a chill run down his spine.
With no other choice, he finally pulled out his most prized possession—
A treasured blade he had kept locked away for years.
A knife so sharp it could slice through iron like butter, rivaling even the famed Meito blades of the Grand Line
"Everyone step back! Let me handle this personally!"
Holding his treasured knife, Old John approached the corpse. He raised the blade high and brought it down on one of the Sea King's massive front limbs.
Pssht!
Blood spurted through the air.
At last, the blade didn't fail him—
The Sea King's limb was severed cleanly in one stroke.
"Finally… success."
"If even this knife hadn't worked, I'd have truly been out of options."
"It's unbelievable…"
"To think, such a monstrous creature could actually be killed barehanded by a man."
Old John sighed in awe.
Seeing his success, the surrounding sailors broke into cheers.
"He did it!"
"Old John really came through for us!"
"If we couldn't cut it up, we'd have no choice but to leave the carcass here for other Sea Kings to feast on."
"Thank heavens for Old John's blade!"
Excitement spread through the group as Old John continued to butcher the massive corpse.
One by one, sailors began hauling chunks of Sea King flesh back toward the ship's refrigerated storage, grinning from ear to ear as they worked tirelessly.
—Meanwhile—
Roughly three kilometers away, another sight was unfolding.
At some point, a massive pirate ship had appeared on the horizon.
A gentle wind tugged at the black flag above the mast—
a skull and crossbones, declaring loud and clear who they were.
This was a pirate crew, and a large one at that—
nearly eight hundred men strong, hailing from the West Blue.
They had just crossed Reverse Mountain, enduring countless trials and near-death encounters, finally reaching their dream destination—the Grand Line.
The legendary Pirate's Paradise—the Grand Line.
For generations, pirates across all four seas had dreamed of setting foot on this fabled ocean.
And today, this crew made it.
After everything they'd endured, they should have been celebrating, drunk on joy and triumph—
But instead…
The entire ship was silent.
Not a trace of cheer or excitement.
Only a heavy, eerie stillness.
Hundreds of pirates stood frozen on deck, eyes wide with fear, disbelief, and horror, all staring blankly toward the blood-red waters in the distance.
Even their captain stood there dumbfounded, his body trembling as dread seized his heart.
Gulp.
The captain swallowed hard, breaking the deathly silence.
"Good god…"
"What—what did I just see?!"
"That was a Sea King… larger than a mountain!"
"Are all the Sea Kings in the Grand Line that terrifying?"
He stammered on, voice shaking.
"The ones in the West Blue… compared to that… They're like infants facing an adult! There's no comparison!"
He took another breath—
"But even worse… that terrifying Sea King—
was torn apart by a man's bare hands!"
"By the gods!"
"Tell me I'm dreaming!"
"That thing was bigger than our entire ship—how could anyone just tear it apart with their bare hands?!"
The pirates were in complete disbelief.
They had witnessed everything with their own eyes—
Kai's barehanded slaughter of the Sea King.
Moments ago, their hearts had been soaring with joy at finally reaching the Grand Line.
But that joy was instantly extinguished,
like a bucket of ice water dumped over their heads.
Cold dread seeped through them, chilling them to the bone.
From their feet to their skulls, they froze—
shivering uncontrollably.
It felt like they had plummeted straight from heaven into hell.
They had barely arrived at the Grand Line—
and already they had seen something that shattered everything they believed possible.
A creature larger than their entire ship,
a true monster of the sea…
Utterly destroyed by a single man's fists.
The scene overturned everything they knew about the world.
Every pirate present felt their very worldview collapse before their eyes.
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