Chapter 313: The Might of the Sea Kings

Low sobs echoed through the Long Gong, but the only response to Bai Xing was corpse after corpse lying in pools of blood.

As early as when the disturbance broke out at the port and Jinbe's attention was diverted, Hody's gang had, with the force of thunder, seized control of the entire Long Gong Kingdom.

Not only Princess Bai Xing, but also King Neptune, the Second Prince Ryuboshi, and the Third Prince Manboshi were all captured alive by Hody.

It was precisely because of this that Jinbe, knowing defeat was inevitable, took the initiative to attack Gao Wen and his party.

"So noisy!"

Hody slapped his palm against the prison cage beside him.

Clang—!

The deafening noise made the sobbing Bai Xing pause slightly; she pressed her lips tightly together, stifling the sound of her crying, yet tears still slid down her cheeks.

When Bai Xing looked at Hody before her, her eyes held nothing but terror.

Only then did Hody turn his head to look at Bai Xing inside the cage:

"How exactly did you do it?!"

"Instantly dominating the giant Sea Kings near Fish-Man Island?!"

Facing Hody's question, Bai Xing shook her head in confusion, clearly unaware herself about the matter of dominating Sea Kings.

Hody fell into deep thought for a moment.

He understood.

Bai Xing had a gentle nature and was still young; moreover, with Neptune and the others in his hands, she could not and would not dare to hide anything from him at this time.

That left only the possibility that Bai Xing herself could not freely control that power, after all, when the incident happened a few years ago, Bai Xing was merely six years old.

While pondering this,

clues from that incident of the past slowly emerged before Hody's eyes.

"Back when the Celestial Dragons caused trouble, they made a move against that woman Otohime, and the Sea Kings appeared at that very time, which means..."

"Intense mental stimulation?!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Hody raised his hand to open the cage, dragged Neptune out like a dead fish, and took a long spear from his subordinate's hand.

Tap—!

The spear touched the ground, emitting a crisp sound.

Bai Xing turned her head.

She saw Hody swing the spear in his hand, piercing it into Neptune's body!

Hiss—!

Blood splattered, landing on Bai Xing's face.

Watching her father pinned to the floor, struggling continuously, her eyes trembled, and her spirit nearly collapsed in that instant:

"Don't!"

A sharp, ear-piercing scream erupted from the royal palace, so loud that it could be heard across the entire Fish-Man Island.

Fish-men who did not know what had happened felt an inexplicable palpitation in their hearts; they raised their heads one after another, looking around in bewilderment.

Yet in the next instant, they witnessed a scene that sparked panic!

Outside the transparent bubble enveloping Fish-Man Island, giant Sea Kings arrived in swarms, surrounding the area where Fish-Man Island lay in the blink of an eye.

These giant Sea Kings, even by merely shifting their bodies and triggering whirlpools, caused ripple after ripple to appear on the bubble enveloping Fish-Man Island.

Consequently, fierce winds even blew within Fish-Man Island itself!

Whoosh—!

The wind howled.

The glowing corals hanging above Fish-Man Island cast down dazzling light, yet it only illuminated the ashen faces of the crowd.

"With so many giant Sea Kings, just one round of collisions would submerge the entire Fish-Man Island in seawater."

"In such deep seas, in merely an instant, everything in this kingdom will be crushed by the water pressure; is Fish-Man Island doomed to destruction!"

"I..."

"I don't want to die!"

Within the crowd,

some fled in all directions seeking survival, while others sat kneeling on the spot in utter despair.

Yet not a single person dared to step forward and confront the Sea Kings in the distance.

Simply because this was the deep sea!

Those who dominate the deep sea have never been humans, nor merfolk, but these Sea Kings.

The pirates in the port panicked in an instant as well.

"Hey, hey, hey... is this for real?!"

"This size, this quantity..."

On a large pirate ship, the captain at the helm looked down at the long blade at his waist and the famous gun he took pride in, the corner of his mouth inadvertently curling into a smile of self-mockery:

"With weapons like these, I'm afraid we couldn't even pierce the scales of these monsters."

"After all, even this ship beneath my feet isn't as large as their eyeballs..."

"Heh."

Even more people retreated despairingly into their pirate ships, clinging to a sliver of hope in their hearts that everything before their eyes was merely a nightmare.

What civil war on Fish-Man Island? What Knight Gao Wen instantly killing the Sea Hero Jinbe?

Fake!

It's all fake!

But when they opened their eyes, everything before them had not disappeared.

Even accompanied by the impact of the Sea Kings, the bubble membrane shrouding Fish-Man Island rippled in layers, as if in the next instant it would be completely torn apart!

"Hahahahahaha!"

An extremely arrogant and wild laughter rang out from the royal palace, startling all directions.

Hody's expression was utterly manic; the corners of his mouth stretched wide, revealing a mouthful of fangs:

"This is it!"

"The power to dominate the Sea Kings!"

"As long as this power is grasped in hand, whatever World Government, whatever Marines, whatever Four Emperors, all must submit beneath the feet of the Fish-Men!"

"However, we cannot simply let Fish-Man Island be destroyed by these monsters."

"Hey, Bai Xing, that's enough, withdraw your ability."

No one responded.

Hody whipped his head around sharply, only to see Bai Xing looking up at the ceiling, eyes rolled back white, obviously having lost consciousness.

"Damn it!"

"This brat cannot control the activation of the ability, nor can he control its termination!"

"How was it stopped back then?"

For a moment.

Hody was so anxious he was like an ant on a hot pan.

He wanted to seize Fish-Man Island, but he had never intended to destroy this place.

Here, ten thousand meters beneath the sea, as long as the passage was closed, with human technology it was fundamentally impossible to reach the ocean at this depth.

In other words, once the Fish-Men and humans went to war, it would be a conflict where only we are allowed to strike you, but you are not allowed to strike us.

The Fish-Men would occupy an absolute advantage!

"That's right, Neptune, he surely..."

Hody whipped his head around sharply.

He looked at the blood-stained steel trident in his hand, then looked at Neptune, who was already heavily injured and unconscious.

His eyelid visibly twitched once.

At the same time.

On board the Lionheart Knight.

A crowd of cultivation maniacs one after another put down the equipment in their hands, lifting their heads to look at those massive figures one after another!

"For real?!"

"Even larger than the Sea Kings we saw when we entered Fish-Man Island!"

"Their body length is probably several thousand meters!"

Bepo let out a sigh of astonishment, but what followed was immense awe and unease!

Zoro on the deck was the same; putting down the barbell in his hand, he pressed his palm against the long sword at his waist, his forehead covered in cold sweat:

"With this kind of monster, exactly how can it be slain?!"

"Tch!"

"Cook, isn't killing fish your area of expertise?!"

Sanji's mouth twitched:

"Don't joke around!"

"You call this kind of thing... a fish?!"

"Then what kind of pot would have to be used to cook it?!"

Just as the two were about to continue arguing, they were interrupted by Van Augur, who jumped down from the lookout tower:

"Stop the internal infighting for now; this time, it's likely that every single one of us will meet our end here!"

Both Zoro and Sanji fell silent, looking with Solemn expressions at the distant ocean, their hearts unable to help but begin calculating exactly what fraction of a chance of victory they possessed.

And how many people on this ship would be able to survive.

And that answer made one's heart tremble.

Van Augur turned his head to look at Franky:

"Is there any countermeasure?!"

Franky shook his head, his face extremely gloomy:

"In deep sea of this degree, the water pressure alone is sufficient to crush any ship hull; even if there were a method, it wouldn't be able to hold up. Coating the ship's body with a bubble membrane might work, but there simply isn't enough time for this!"

"Tch!"

"This is troublesome now!"

"We can only see if the Captain's side can resolve this problem!"

In the corner of the deck.

Morgan, looking at the shocking scene before her eyes, similarly lost her presence of mind for a moment.

"With this kind of size, and this kind of quantity, merely a single collision would completely tear apart the bubble membrane on the periphery of Fish-Man Island!"

"I..."

She lowered her gaze to look at the palm of her hand, where a strange character was emitting a faint light.

"Although they are pirates, they are a group of decent people."

"They should not die here!"

Morgan clenched her fist tightly; just as she was about to speak, from within Fish-Man Island in the distance, a heaven-shaking dragon roar suddenly erupted!

"This is..."

She lifted her head to gaze into the distance.

There, a massive dragon, entirely crimson-red, soared into the sky; its body, exceeding a hundred meters in length, dwarfed even a pirate ship.

Yet before these colossal beasts, it was no different from a single sesame seed.

But at this very moment.

That dragon's presence far surpassed the Sea Kings lurking around Fish-Man Island!

Crimson Conqueror's Haki radiated outward from the Crimson Dragon as its center!

Like a raging storm! Like a tsunami! Swallowing everything it touched!

Countless Fish-Men collapsed before they could react, rolling their eyes back or foaming at the mouth as they lost consciousness.

Only a handful remained conscious, yet all felt their minds clouded, their eyes fixed solely on the Crimson Dragon high in the sky!

"Is that... a dragon?!"

"Wait, look! The Sea Kings around Fish-Man Island have stopped moving!"

In the harbor.

Countless people raised their heads toward the sky.

As the crimson Conqueror's Haki erupted from the Crimson Dragon, the agitated Sea Kings near Fish-Man Island regained their sanity in that instant, slowly drifting around the island's perimeter.

Their gazes coldly fixed upon the Crimson Dragon floating high above!

"That dragon did this!"

"That fellow is... Knight Gao Wen?!"

"I once heard a rumor: Knight Gao Wen is a Zoan Mythical Type Devil Fruit user, and he's the only one on this island capable of such a feat!"

"Now, we all owe that man our lives!"

In the harbor.

A pirate captain, gripping sword and spear, watched the crimson figure high above, a trace of fervor flashing in his eyes:

"Following such a man might not be bad at all... an Emperor Heavy on the Sea, soon to rise!"

"Exactly!"

"With his strength, he is bound to claim his place upon these seas in the future!"

"If we can board his ship, we'll all earn merit for aiding the dragon's ascent!"

"Merit for aiding the dragon's ascent, in every sense of the word!"

Clearly, he was not the only one thinking this.

Today, nearly every pirate present in the harbor harbored similar thoughts, to varying degrees.

They had witnessed Gao Wen's overwhelming power with their own eyes.

Even someone as formidable as Jinbe was defeated by Gao Wen in a single strike, and the Sea Kings, capable of destroying Fish-Man Island, were pacified by him in an instant.

Such strength was more than enough to face any opponent!

Moreover, Gao Wen bore another title: the most righteous man of the East Blue!

He was even willing to expend effort building a retirement home for subordinates who could no longer fight.

Setting aside everything else, that alone was enough to make the vast majority of pirates submit willingly.

After all, for these pirates who spent their years killing and being killed at sea, living day to day with no guarantee of tomorrow, the future was a luxury they never dared contemplate.

Yet in Gao Wen, they saw their own future!

For a moment.

Fervor flickered in the eyes of many, to varying degrees.

Standing aboard the Lionheart Knight, Morgan gazed at the distant Crimson Dragon, her face etched with disbelief.

"Has Arthur's ability been reborn upon these seas?!"

"Arthur?!"

Nami patted Morgan's shoulder, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly:

"That is our captain's ability!"

"Knight Gao Wen?!"

"Yes, Knight Gao Wen!"

Morgan opened her mouth, the hope that had gradually dimmed in her heart reigniting in that instant:

"A knight who wields unparalleled might, transforming into a Crimson Dragon... perhaps it can be done!"

"The legendary White Dragon vanished long ago along with history; the Crimson Dragon shall reclaim everything that was once his!"

"Is the ancient prophecy destined to reappear in this era?"

Beneath her sleeves, Morgan clenched her fists so tightly that her nails dug into her flesh, drawing beads of crimson blood, yet she seemed utterly unaware.

At the same time.

High in the sky.

Having transformed into the Crimson Dragon, Gao Wen breathed a slight sigh of relief upon seeing the agitated Sea Kings calm down.

Given the situation just now, forcibly restoring the Sea Kings' sanity using his own Conqueror's Haki was the only solution he could conceive.

After all, if those creatures had been allowed to rampage freely, the entire Fish-Man Island would have been swallowed whole.

Gao Wen cared little for the lives of those pirates; the Fish-Men underwater would likely not drown, but his companions aboard the ship would almost certainly be swallowed by the sea in an instant.

Devil Fruit users would perish at the bottom of the ocean, while the others could hardly withstand the water pressure at such depths, possibly leading to total annihilation!

Fortunately, this step was correct.

"Moo—!"

"Wu—!"

"Gelalalalala—!"

……

One cry after another, rising and falling in succession.

The Sea Kings surrounding Fish-Man Island refused to disperse, emitting cry after cry toward Gao Wen.

Their tones carried urgency and concern.

Gao Wen could not understand their language, but he could roughly guess what they wished to express.

The mournful cry that had just echoed from the Long Gong must have come from the Mermaid Princess—the Sea King of this era.

And there could be only one reason!

Hody Jones!

Gao Wen slowly reverted to his demonic form, his eyes brimming with murderous intent; he lifted his head and looked at the surrounding Sea Kings, saying:

"I'll handle Bai Xing's matter."

"But if you destroy this place, you cannot fulfill your promise to that man."

With that said.

Gao Wen did not care whether the giant Sea Kings understood any of it; he flapped his wings and raced toward the Long Gong Kingdom.

Amid the boundless sea, the giant Sea Kings remained stationed there, no longer agitated as before, but watching the retreating figure.

"Has Joy Boy arrived?!"

"No, it's not yet the agreed time."

"Then who is he…?"

"An existence beyond the prophecy—perhaps steering the world's future into the unknown!"

"For good? Or for ill?"

(End of Chapter)