Night had fallen.
The warship continued its voyage, but unlike usual, dozens of Marines were stationed at every corner of the vessel on high alert. Three massive searchlights swept the surrounding sea in a continuous, rhythmic motion.
Lucci stood at the bow, periodically pulsing his Observation Haki to maintain a three-dimensional awareness of his surroundings. The entire ship had transitioned into a state of maximum alert.
Suddenly, Lucci's closed eyes snapped open.
"All searchlights, three o'clock, eighty meters!" he barked. "Now!"
Instantly, the three searchlights positioned at the bow, stern, and lookout tower converged on a single point. Less than a hundred meters off the starboard side, the ocean surface began to bulge upward like a massive blister.
Then, the bulge erupted. The colossal Sea King from the previous day reappeared.
This time, it didn't simply lunge with its gaping maw. Instead, it leaped from the water, twisting its massive body in mid-air, and lashed out with its hundreds-of-meters-long tail like a gargantuan whip.
"Soru!"
"Moonwalk!"
"Armament Haki!"
Lucci's reactions were instantaneous. He vanished, reappearing at the side of the ship and launching himself upward with Moonwalk. His right fist, coated in a polished, pitch-black sheen, collided head-on with the incoming tail.
'BOOM!!'
A thunderous explosion echoed as the two figures were blasted apart. The Sea King was knocked back twenty or thirty meters, but Lucci fared worse; he was sent hurtling backward, crashing violently into the ship's central superstructure.
Wooden splinters flew in every direction.
Ever since he had started following Sean, Lucci had never been in such a pathetic state. Most frustratingly, the cause of this embarrassment was a mere Sea King.
It was absurd.
Climbing out from a heap of shattered timber, Lucci rubbed his neck and prepared to engage again. But just then, a hand rested on his shoulder.
"I'll take this. Go and have the men prepare. Once I drive it back a hundred meters, use the newly installed main cannons at the bow to blast it relentlessly!"
"Yes, Rear Admiral!"
Lucci recognized the voice without even having to look back. He nodded immediately.
The bow's main cannons had been installed during Retes' previous tests. It had been noted back then that even for a large warship, dozens of shots could cause significant structural damage. Wooden hulls were simply not built to withstand the massive recoil of such heavy artillery.
Because of this, Sean's general rule was to avoid using them unless absolutely necessary. After all, the new warship designs had only just begun production, and the first batch wouldn't be delivered for at least another month.
However, this Sea King was proving to be a nuisance. Even for Sean, killing it would be difficult. It wasn't a matter of raw power, but rather the creature's intelligence and the fact that the ocean was its domain. If things went south, it could simply dive, leaving Sean with no way to pursue unless he could kill it in a single, instantaneous strike.
After instructing Lucci, Sean leaped from the ship.
Unlike Lucci, Sean didn't need Moonwalk. By manipulating his Reiatsu, he could easily hover and maneuver in mid-air. Free from the physical constraints that limited Lucci, Sean began to execute a series of acrobatic martial arts movements in the sky.
Meanwhile, the Sea King regained its balance and glared at him with a vicious expression. It recognized the small creature before it—the one that had interrupted its hunt during the day.
The monster leaped from the sea, soaring dozens of meters into the air. At nearly two thousand meters long, its massive silhouette practically blotted out the sun. Despite its size, its movements were not sluggish; in fact, it was remarkably agile.
Like a professional diver, it performed a sharp 180-degree flip in mid-air, using its immense mass to slam its tail down toward the ocean surface with crushing force.
The move caught even Sean by surprise.
'What is this? Some kind of Sea King version of one piece martial arts?' he thought. 'This is ridiculous!'
Given the creature's mass and the physics of the strike, the result would be catastrophic. A hit like that would likely trigger a tsunami hundreds of meters high, swallowing the warship whole.
Sean gripped Hekireki, drew the blade, and struck.
The sequence was a blur of fluid motion. A crescent-shaped arc of deep blue energy tore through the air, reaching the Sea King and striking its tail with pinpoint precision just before it could hit the water.
The powerful energy blast halted the descent of the tail, sending the rest of the creature's massive body crashing haphazardly into the sea.
While the worst-case scenario was avoided, the impact of such an enormous mass still created a terrifying tidal wave that radiated outward in all directions. The warship was directly in the path of the surge and had no way to evade. If hit, the ship might not capsize, but it would certainly suffer severe damage.
Sean wouldn't allow that.
Hekireki flashed in a horizontal sweep, slicing the thirty-meter-high wave clean in two!
With the energy flow severed, the top half of the wave collapsed, though the bottom half still surged forward. However, its power had been drastically reduced. A moment later, the remaining wave slammed into the side of the ship. Even as a large vessel, the warship was shoved sideways by the force, sliding over a hundred meters across the water before finally stabilizing.
At the bow, Lucci and several Marines steadied themselves and shook the seawater from their faces.
"Quick, recalibrate!"
"Yes, Captain!"
Because the ship had been pushed a hundred meters off course, the previously calibrated cannons were now misaligned.
A moment later: "Main cannons recalibrated!"
"Rear Admiral!" Lucci shouted toward Sean, waving his right hand.
Simultaneously, the 130mm twin-mount cannons roared.
'BOOM BOOM!!'
At such close range, combined with the 16th Branch's superior artillery technology, the two shells hit their mark perfectly, exploding against the Sea King's hide.
"Keep firing!"
"Yes, Captain!"
Though the effects of the strike weren't yet clear, Lucci ordered the barrage to continue. Marines carrying shells rushed forward to reload.
"Cease fire!"
Sean's voice rang out. "It's gone. Stop firing!"
"Yes, Rear Admiral!"
Through his senses, Sean could tell that the behemoth had dived back into the depths and was swimming away at high speed. Before it vanished, Sean had seen clearly: the two 130mm shells had caused almost no damage.
One could even say that he had only managed to cause a few scratches.
Even the slash he had landed directly on its tail earlier had only left a shallow wound. It was clear just how incredibly high this creature's defenses were.
However... in Sean's memories of his past life, Sea Kings were definitely not this strong.
Even if such power existed, it would be reserved for the "royalty" among them—the ten-thousand-meter class Sea Kings that dwelled in the deepest reaches of the ocean. Like the ones that appeared near Fish-Man Island in the original story.
But clearly, this one wasn't one of those. In fact, Sean had a feeling that this creature might even be stronger than the royal Sea Kings.
'So, what exactly is this thing?'
Right, besides this one, he had encountered another abnormal Sea King back in the Calm Belt—the one the 16th Branch had turned into Type 2 Jerky—though it hadn't been nearly as powerful as this one.
Thinking back, it seemed these creatures only started appearing after he had first hunted a Sea King and multiplied the quality of its meat.
'Could it be that the half-carcass of the Sea King I left behind...'
Sean hissed. 'That's actually possible!'
But if his guess was correct, did that mean... he had indirectly created a batch of monsters?
While pondering these questions, Sean walked through the air and returned to the warship.
"Lucci, what are our losses?"
"Three Marines were injured during the impact of the giant waves, but they are only minor injuries and are out of danger. However, we'll need to stop the ship for repairs, especially on the starboard side, where there are several points of damage."
"Understood. Order the sails to be furled; prioritize the ship's repairs."
"Understood!"
The Grand Line was no joke. If a ship was damaged, it had to be repaired before continuing. Otherwise, one encounter with dangerous weather or a strange current could easily sink the entire vessel.
As for the Sea King, although it had only suffered light injuries, it likely wouldn't dare return to cause trouble anytime soon.
"By the way, has Headquarters sent anyone?"
"Yes. According to their reply, there is someone nearby with the necessary equipment. They are expected to arrive in these waters by tomorrow morning."
"I see. Who was assigned?"
"Admiral Candidate Gion!"
"Uh..." Sean paused.
Come to think of it, he hadn't seen Gion since leaving Headquarters. Had it been a year already?
Still, if Gion was coming... her Zanpakutō... With that ability, combined with his and Lucci's strength, they might actually be able to try and take down that Sea King.