Chapter 308: Fish-Man Island

Dawn was approaching.

On the distant horizon, a red sun had already risen.

Crimson light struck the transparent film enveloping the Lionheart Knight, refracting into a spectrum of seven colors.

Keluo had sat motionless all night without any obvious gain.

Only the faint omen of his Fruit's Awakening grew increasingly clear.

He could even occasionally sense the screeching emitted by another will within his body.

It was a harsh sound, like a steel blade scraping against gravel, instinctively making one feel uneasy.

"The omen of Awakening is drawing nearer."

"Once completed, my strength will surely increase, but what I seek is a perfect Awakening that completely devours the Fruit's will!"

"Not a fusion."

With this thought in mind,

Keluo suppressed his instincts, preparing to spend more time searching for a perfect solution.

At the very least,

he needed to clash with a true Zoan user, preferably one who had awakened a Mythical Zoan ability, before attempting to break through.

Hiss—!

Keluo took a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes.

He stood up, took a few steps back into the cabin, and unusually did not join the others in their cultivation.

Inside the cabin,

Gao Wen was keeping watch in the sickbay.

The woman of the Fairy Tribe whom Gao Wen had saved the previous night had awakened; leaning against the hospital bed, she instinctively wrapped the blanket tightly around herself.

Gao Wen had finally learned the identity of the Fairy Tribe woman.

Her name was Morgan, formerly of the Wang Zu of Britannias; the noble aura radiating from her every move corroborated this fact.

However,

regarding the internal affairs of Britannias, the woman remained tight-lipped, unwilling to reveal even a shred of information.

Whenever Gao Wen brought it up, her eyes were filled with panic.

This only made Gao Wen more curious about what had happened in that country to reduce a former member of the Wang Zu to such a plight.

After all, as far as Gao Wen knew, even the World Government was unwilling to engage Britannias in direct conflict.

Seeing that questioning proved futile, Gao Wen had no desire to force her:

"Since you are unwilling to speak, I will not press the matter."

"However, after we Enter the New World, our next destination will be Britannias."

"For certain reasons, we will ultimately remain there to establish our own base."

"If you wish to return, then come with us."

"If not, once your injuries have healed, you are free to leave on your own."

Having said this,

Gao Wen stood up directly, preparing to depart.

Morgan, however, called out to stop him:

"Ever since Arthur died, that place is no longer the Britannias of old; it has already..."

She paused, her voice becoming somewhat hoarse:

"It has already become a hell."

"Not a single person remains alive—no, those who are still alive have become monsters, their wills twisted, their minds rewritten, reduced entirely to living corpses!"

As she spoke,

Morgan curled up in a corner of the hospital bed, trembling all over, even instinctively burying her head between her legs.

The sickbay fell silent for a moment.

Gao Wen turned to look at Morgan, waiting for her to continue.

He remembered clearly

that last night, just as the explosive collar was about to activate, a fierce desire for survival had appeared on her face, as if there was something she had yet to accomplish.

After a long while,

a heavy breath echoed in the room; Morgan reluctantly lifted her head to look at Gao Wen:

"I am grateful that you were willing to save me, but whatever your motives, do not go to that country."

Last night, Morgan had witnessed Gao Wen act; although she marveled at his formidable strength, she still believed he could not resolve the trouble there.

Even out of instinct, she did not wish for this handsome man, whose demeanor exuded the air of a kingdom's knight, to go there only to meet his death.

"Even with your strength, you might not be able to escape."

"You know my strength?"

Gao Wen pressed, and seeing Morgan did not respond, he continued:

"Our next destination is already confirmed to be Britannias; this will not change."

"If you truly wish to help me, or if you are grateful, you might as well tell me the specific situation in that country."

As his words landed,

the sickbay fell silent once again.

Morgan made no sound, instead lowering her head to bury her face in her arms.

Seeing this, Gao Wen ceased pressing further; he simply turned and walked out of the sickbay, leaving the space to her.

A long while passed.

Morgan lifted her head to gaze at the tightly shut door, murmuring:

"No more people should die because of this."

"I can sense your strength is formidable, but at most, it only reaches the level Arthur once possessed?!"

"Against that fellow..."

"It's meaningless."

After some deliberation, Gao Wen decided to let Morgan stay on the ship to recover from her injuries.

After all, she could go nowhere in her current state, and she was a key figure of Britannias.

Even if she remained silent now, perhaps once familiar with them, more intelligence about Britannias could be gleaned from her lips.

However.

Several keywords from Morgan's mouth still caught Gao Wen's attention.

"The will of the living twisted, the spirit rewritten... Devil Fruit abilities? Or some other method? Something akin to Lily Carnation's power?"

Gao Wen couldn't help but recall that bizarre and evil plant, Lily Carnation, which appeared during the Baron Carnival arc.

It had created illusions nearly indistinguishable from reality, trapping Baron Carnival within the same day for nearly twenty years, until finally broken by the Straw Hat Crew.

That grotesque flower had left a deep impression on Gao Wen back then.

Yet, whatever had transpired in Britannias could not halt Gao Wen's advance.

Let alone a single flower; given the ley line energy reserves of Britannias, one fully-configured shot of the Red Emperor's Blue Star could wipe out an entire city!

The coating of the Lionheart Knight was complete, Franky's maintenance work was thoroughly finished, and Gao Wen's group was about to depart.

At this moment.

On the beach.

Lei Li arrived carrying a jug of wine to see Gao Wen and the others off.

"Hey~ Uncle Lei Li!"

On the deck.

Chopper, in his Human-Beast Form, tiny as he was, stood on the railing and excitedly waved greetings to Lei Li.

Lei Li's expression stiffened as he waved back at Chopper.

Even now.

He still could not associate this cute little thing before his eyes with that creature over five meters tall, covered entirely in ropy muscle.

However.

With parting imminent, he no longer cared about such things.

Gao Wen stepped out of the cabin, nodded at Lei Li who had come to see them off, and then directed everyone to return to their stations.

A few minutes later.

The Lionheart Knight sounded its whistle, ready to set sail.

Splash!

Franky dove headfirst into the seawater; he swam to the hull's bottom, removed the buoyancy bags, and the Lionheart Knight slowly sank beneath the waves.

Propelled by the ocean currents via its sails, it slowly made its way toward the Ryugu Kingdom in the depths of the ten-thousand-meter sea.

Under the morning sun.

Lei Li watched Gao Wen's ship gradually sink into the seawater, a faint smile unconsciously appearing on the corner of his lips.

For twenty years, stationed at the Sabaody Archipelago, he had coated ships for countless rookies.

He had watched them enter the New World full of ambition, watched them fall at the hands of those now called the Four Emperors, or watched them gain a foothold in the New World.

Even among such a vast number of rookies, Gao Wen's group was the most exceptional of all.

Not only did the captain possess combat power comparable to the Four Emperors, but the two figureheads were no weaker than the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and several main forces on board also boasted combat power approaching that of a Navy Vice Admiral.

Such a configuration was far superior even to Red Hair's crew when they passed through the Sabaody Archipelago to enter the New World back in the day.

Other configurations, such as the shipwright, navigator, and doctor, could also be described as top-tier.

"Tsk~"

"The New World is about to undergo a great change~"

"I just wonder where your final destination lies?"

"Will you ultimately find your own One Piece, or, like us back then, leave behind regrets?"

"However."

"Whichever it is, it is the romance of pirates!"

Lei Li took a sip of wine, sat down right there, and watched the traces left by everyone's training gradually washed away by the seawater.

He remained silent for a long time.

In the deep sea.

Riding the ocean currents, the Lionheart Knight gradually ventured deeper.

As the depth increased, more and more sea creatures appeared within everyone's field of vision.

Among them were even super-giant Sea Kings with bodies spanning several thousand meters.

Compared to it, the Lionheart Knight was merely the size of less than a single eyeball.

In the distance.

A giant Sea King noticed the Lionheart Knight, swayed its body, and slowly swam over.

Yet in the next instant, it turned and departed.

As if it had sensed something, even its movements appeared somewhat hasty.

"So huge!"

Chopper watched the departing Sea King, his face brimming with excitement, and Beepo beside him was no different.

"If we could possess such a body, perhaps a single punch could blast an island apart; the climate of the New World would pose no threat whatsoever!"

"Big is good! Big is strong!"

The two were nearly bewitched; right there on the deck, they added several sets of deadlifts to their routine, feeling the solid muscles on their bodies, their hearts filled with an indescribable sense of satisfaction.

Gao Wen looked at the pair with considerable speechlessness, then turned his head to focus his attention on his system panel.

Nowadays, Gao Wen's swordsmanship and physique had both entered a bottleneck; there was still a long road to travel before reaching the major threshold of level twenty, so they could not bring about a qualitative change for him for the time being.

Armament Haki and Observation Haki, by comparison, were faring much better.

After all, as the overall strength of Xiang Keluo and the others improved, more and more people would comprehend the two types of Haki, and the experience Gao Wen harvested would increase accordingly.

However.

Armament Haki was currently only at level six, and Observation Haki only at level seven; to reach level ten and awaken new entries would take at least several months.

Abilities like the Six Styles, which offered limited combat power improvement, or Conqueror's Haki, which was distant and required battle after battle to enhance, were directly ignored by Gao Wen.

His gaze landed directly on Shao Si.

Shao Si was the skill of Gao Wen's that was currently closest to level ten; it had provided Gao Wen with tremendous assistance in the earliest stages, and even now remained one of the cornerstones constituting Gao Wen's fighting style.

No one would ever disdain being too fast in combat.

Naturally, neither would Gao Wen; he too was very much looking forward to what kind of ability Shao Si would bring him once it advanced further.

However, the Shao Si skill currently relied solely on Xiang Keluo to gain experience; even though Xiang Keluo's potential had now reached Gold, it would still take several months for him to accumulate enough experience for Gao Wen.

"So at least until arriving at Britannias, there won't be any obvious changes in combat power?!"

"The power I possess now is basically sufficient."

"Morgan has also never seen me truly act; his assessment of my strength is based merely on the impressions from last night, which is far from my full power, which is why he made such a statement."

"However."

Gao Wen lowered his eyes to look at the columns for Armament Haki, Observation Haki, and Shao Si, and his heart couldn't help but begin to anticipate what new abilities the transformation of these three would bring him.

While he was pondering.

Xiang Keluo slowly walked over to Gao Wen, his expression revealing a touch of Solemnity:

"The Poseidon you mentioned earlier, one of the three Ancient Weapons alongside Pluton, is really on Fish-Man Island?!"

Gao Wen nodded:

"That is also the reason I wish to make a trip to Fish-Man Island."

"Poseidon differs from Pluton; it is a living weapon. No, rather, Pluton is a ship, whereas Poseidon is a person."

"A person?"

Xiang Keluo immediately reacted:

"A mermaid?"

Gao Wen nodded:

"The power to control Sea Kings, and as for Sea Kings..."

Hearing this, Xiang Keluo looked out into the distance.

At this moment, the Lionheart Knight was gradually approaching the deep sea; the Sea Kings lingering here, both in size and number, had undergone a qualitative change.

Compared to them, the Lionheart Knight was like a glass marble in a human hand!

"How many can Poseidon control?!"

Gao Wen shook his head:

"I don't know."

"Perhaps these Sea Kings are called by this name precisely because they are Poseidon's servants."

Xiang Keluo swallowed hard.

If these giant Sea Kings gathered together and launched a simultaneous assault, they could destroy an island in an instant!

With such size, one or two might not cause trouble for top-tier experts, but when the numbers reach tens of thousands, they could annihilate a kingdom in an instant, sinking it completely beneath the sea!

Size and quantity brought about a true qualitative change in these Sea Kings!

"This is power on the same level as Pluton?"

For a moment, Xiang Keluo felt nothing but dry-mouthed.

For the first time, he felt the impulse to tie Franky up in the shipyard and withhold food until he built it!

"With such a formidable weapon in hand, how exactly did Fish-Man Island fall into such a state?!"

"Poseidon is naturally powerful, but requires certain special existences to be awakened; the Ryugu Kingdom does not possess such conditions."

Xiang Keluo immediately felt relieved.

Otherwise, if the other party controlled Sea Kings to launch an attack from ten thousand meters deep, it would be impossible to defend against.

What he failed to notice was that upon mentioning special existences, the corner of Gao Wen's mouth curled into a slight mocking smile.

The Lionheart Knight was surrounded by countless schools of fish; everyone was captivated by the dreamlike underwater scenery, even forgetting their cultivation for a time, focusing only on admiring the beautiful sight before them.

In an underwater trench that no one noticed.

Clutching a giant ram-headed hammer, the bulky double-bun shark-man Tose lurked within, his eyes fixed tightly on the Lionheart Knight ship as it gradually receded.

"That is..."

"Gao Wen's crew's ship!"

A trace of dread flashed through Tose's eyes.

Recently, news of Gao Wen's name, accompanied by his defeat of Hawkeye and his seizure of the title of the World's Greatest Swordsman, had spread across nearly the entire sea.

Even one as arrogant as him could not help but feel a trace of awe.

"No!"

"I must inform Brother Hody of this news; perhaps..."

"This is an opportunity!"

"An opportunity to make the fish-men great again!"

(End of Chapter)