Barrel was dragged onto the warship, where medics immediately began treating him.
The survivor was weak; though he hadn't lost consciousness, the expression on his face could be described in only two words: absolute terror. He kept mumbling incoherently about monsters.
'Monsters?'
'What monsters?'
Everyone was bewildered. However, given the survivor's current state, he wasn't in any condition for a detailed interrogation. Sean could only have the medics move him inside the cabin for care.
"Lucci, what's your take?"
"I suspect they encountered some particularly vicious Sea King," Lucci replied.
Sean nodded. "My thoughts exactly. Between the previous three incidents and this one, the wounds on the wreckage all look like they were caused by massive teeth tearing through the hulls."
"But there's something that doesn't add up," Lucci analyzed after a moment of thought. "If those marks were indeed caused by teeth, then the attacker must be a Sea King. Based on the size of the marks, this creature must be at least 1,500 to 2,000 meters in length. Logically, Sea Kings exceeding 1,000 meters rarely appear in the Grand Line; they typically inhabit the deep-sea zones of the Calm Belt."
Sean frowned deeply. It was exactly as Lucci said. Forget 1,000 meters—even Sea Kings over 500 meters were unlikely to appear in the first half of the Grand Line, let alone a behemoth of 1,500 to 2,000 meters. Creatures of that magnitude were rarely seen even in the Calm Belt, as they usually stayed in the abyss, at least 5,000 meters below the surface.
"Forget it. Report the situation to Headquarters and let them arrange for an investigation. We keep moving," Sean eventually decided, shaking his head.
While the matter intrigued him, the warship wasn't equipped with specialized underwater survey gear, and they couldn't afford to linger. It was better to let Headquarters send a dedicated team.
"Yes, Rear Admiral!"
'''
The following day, the warship continued its voyage toward Jaya Island. Along the way, they encountered two more ships in the same tragic state as the others.
The situation was becoming increasingly eerie.
"Rear Admiral! One mile ahead! Is that...?" a marine on the lookout tower suddenly shouted down to the deck.
Sean immediately grabbed his binoculars and looked ahead.
A medium-sized merchant ship was trapped in a colossal whirlpool, spiraling inward toward the center. Suddenly, the surface of the water in the middle of the vortex exploded.
A massive creature, resembling a saber-toothed tiger, leaped violently from the depths. With a gaping maw, it lunged at the merchant ship.
In a single instant, the ship was completely crushed. Countless shards of wood flew in every direction, sending plumes of spray high into the air.
Sean's pupils contracted.
A Sea King! And it was the largest one he had ever seen. Not only was it gargantuan, but its speed and power were equally formidable.
'Could this be the culprit behind the string of massacres?'
With a sudden 'whoosh', Sean vanished from the bow of the ship.
A series of explosive booms followed, and the surface of the sea was cleaved open in a massive gorge, looking as though it had been struck by a master's Zanjutsu slash.
A mile away, there were three survivors left on the surface—some had reacted quickly enough to jump, while others had been thrown clear when the ship was obliterated.
However, even if the Sea King ignored them, they were unlikely to survive. They were trapped within the super-vortex. For a human—or even a large ship—entering such a whirlpool was nearly a death sentence; they could only be swept along in a helpless spiral.
The Sea King, however, had no intention of letting them go. Upon noticing the stragglers, it opened its bloody maw once more. Its two terrifying tusks were enough to make anyone tremble.
'It's over. We can't escape... we're going to die here!'
Watching the gaping maw draw closer, the three survivors looked on in despair and closed their eyes. It wasn't that they were accepting death bravely; they were simply too terrified to look at the monster.
The expected death did not come. Instead, a thunderous boom echoed across the water. It sounded like a cannon blast, yet it felt different.
Confused, they dared to slowly open their eyes.
Standing in mid-air before them was a man draped in a Marine officer's coat. Although they couldn't see his face from their angle, the coat fluttering in the wind—emblazoned with the word "Justice"—ignited a flicker of hope in their hearts.
They looked back at the Sea King and saw that it had been blasted over a hundred meters away, kicking up massive waves.
'Hiss... who is this Marine? To send that monster flying a hundred meters with one hit?' The survivors were stunned.
What they didn't know was that the Sea King was equally shocked. It even wore an almost human expression of bewilderment. After giving Sean a long, searching look, it leaped back up and dove headfirst into the water.
Only then did another figure finally arrive.
"Rear Admiral, what was...?"
Lucci had been moving at his maximum speed, but he was still far too slow compared to Sean. Aside from the raw difference in their speed, there was one crucial factor: they were on the ocean. Lucci couldn't use Soru on water, and Moonwalk wasn't particularly fast, even for him.
The scene before him was equally surprising. In Lucci's understanding, a Sea King—even one a thousand meters long—was something that both he and Sean could handle.
But what had he just witnessed?
Sean's full-power kick had only knocked the creature back a hundred meters, failing to cause any substantial damage.
Moreover, the way the Sea King had looked at Sean before fleeing without hesitation suggested a level of intelligence and decisiveness that was far too high.
It didn't... feel like a Sea King at all.
"I'm not sure, but normally, a thousand-meter or even a nearly two-thousand-meter Sea King wouldn't have this kind of durability," Sean remarked. "And just so you know, I was in a rush to save those people... but I wasn't holding back!"
'He wasn't holding back?'
Sean hadn't held back, and yet he only pushed the creature back a hundred meters without dealing any real damage?
Even if it was just a result in his base form, wasn't that Sea King's strength a bit too excessive?
Lucci knew the truth. Without using that mysterious energy, Sean's Doriki in his base form was under 5,000—slightly lower than his own.
But even so, how could a full-power strike from someone with over 4,000 Doriki, and who wasn't holding back, produce such a meager result?
That Sea King... what the hell was it?
"Lucci, save the survivors first! We'll deal with the rest later!"
"Yes, Rear Admiral!"
A few moments later, three survivors were rescued and brought back aboard the warship. Meanwhile, the massive vortex on the ocean's surface gradually subsided.
"Brother Sean, I—"
"Call me Rear Admiral!"
"Fine, Rear Admiral!" Nami pouted, her voice dripping with reluctance.
'Stupid military regulations, I hate them!!'
"What is it?"
"I've been observing that vortex, and I'm certain it wasn't naturally formed."
"You're sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure!"
Hearing Nami's assertion, Sean fell into a contemplative silence.
If this were the Nami who had just set sail in the original story, she might have misjudged. But the current Nami had already studied every piece of Marine intelligence regarding the Grand Line. Consequently, her knowledge of the Grand Line far surpassed her level from the time she first entered it in the original story.
Sean trusted Nami's judgment.
Furthermore, considering the way that Sea King had appeared... that super vortex was essentially like a fishing net. Was it a hunting method devised by the creature?
It possessed intelligence and strength that clearly far exceeded its own kind. It even knew how to use traps to hunt...
This Sea King was abnormal. Absolutely abnormal!
"Lucci!"
"Yes, Rear Admiral!"
"Given the current situation, you and I will take turns on watch. Judging by what just happened, the others likely lack the strength to handle it."
"Understood!"
Sean had no intention of being halfway through a nap only for the warship to be suddenly ambushed by that thing. While it wouldn't be easy for him to die, he couldn't say the same for the others. After all, they were in the middle of the open sea with nowhere to retreat.
Therefore, the person on guard had to be strong enough to repel that Sea King the moment it attacked. And on this entire warship, besides Sean... only Lucci was capable of that.