Chapter 6: The Celestial Dragon's Severed Arm

"In short, trust me, Uncle Garter! Fire first—force this creature's body completely out of the water. With it thrashing up and down like this, I can't take aim."

Seeing Garter hesitating and wavering, Siano added in a deep voice.

Ignoring the other's reaction, Siano turned back, fixing his gaze once more on the sea king's abdomen, riddled with countless wounds.

Several minutes earlier.

The moment he realized what this creature, so similar to the Lord of the Coast, was doing, a bold idea had formed in his mind.

The reason for its frenzy was, ultimately, the unbearable pain in its belly; what if he could remove the source of that pain?

Sea kings were intelligent lifeforms, and their intelligence was quite high.

After rendering such a great service, he didn't expect any reward, but surely they wouldn't be treated as a meal anymore?

With his current strength, defeating this sea king head-on was pure fantasy; avoiding being swallowed alive left only this one path.

Regardless of the chance of success, at this critical moment of life and death, how could he not try?

"... Very well, we'll do as you say." Garter sheathed his saber, finally making his decision.

"Captain..." An experienced sailor began, then stopped short.

"Say no more! Do we have any other option?"

Garter cut him off directly; once his mind was made up, he became extremely decisive. "Starboard gunners, load the cannons immediately and await my command!"

"Ready?" he asked, looking at Siano.

"Mm."

The youth's eyes remained fixed on the sea surface as he nodded slightly.

"Good." Garter took a deep breath, waved his hand sharply, and issued the order: "Aim at the sea king's abdomen! Three, two, one—Fire! Cannon!"

Boom-boom-boom!!!

The eight cannons on the right roared in unison; the orange-red tongues of fire spewing from their muzzles illuminated the tense muscles of Siano's legs.

In his pupils reflected the trajectory of the cannonball tearing through the night sky; after a brief instant of silence, flames suddenly erupted from the sea king's abdomen.

Roar!!!!

A piercing howl shook the entire sea area; the shadow beneath the surface suddenly churned violently, making everyone's hearts nearly stop beating.

In the next instant, an iron-gray scaled body burst through the waves; its ferocious head whipped up a towering tsunami, and as it leaned down, its narrow, snake-like vertical pupils coldly locked onto the sailors on the deck.

Now!

Siano tensed every muscle in his body, kicked hard off the deck with his arches, and used the momentum to leap over the railing; at that very moment, the sea king's abdominal muscles, curled from pain, happened to form a slope-like fold.

Slap!

The youth planted his foot firmly on that fold; his right fist, already charged with his full power, shot upward with lightning speed, striking directly beneath the protruding spot!

Hm?

The sea king froze for a split second; before it could lower its head to see what had happened, the eardrums in its throat began to tremble violently beyond control. It retched, spitting out a small amount of dark green viscous fluid that trailed spiderweb-like filaments through the air.

At the same time.

Siano's left fist plunged with full force along the esophageal folds; the vibration caused by the strike made the scales on the monster's throat burst open like pinecone segments, causing the foreign object beneath the layer of abdominal skin to shift upward several more meters.

Excellent results!

A flash of joy crossed Siano's eyes, instantly transforming into ferocity; one final punch remained!

Borrowing the rotational force of his waist and abdomen, he fiercely delivered this last hook punch; the body-rotation technique forged day after day, night after night in the tangerine grove sent the shockwave of this blow surging straight up the intestines to the crown of its head!

"Urp—!!!"

The violent sensation of vomiting finally reached its critical point; great clumps of viscous fluid mixed with silt and seaweed were expelled, dropping with a pitter-patter. A small portion splashed onto the deck, corroding and piercing through the wooden planks in an instant, hissing as green smoke rose.

The remaining majority, however, crashed down onto the sea surface like a torrential rain.

Siano, who had been flung aside by the sea king's struggles, immediately swam desperately toward the spot; after rummaging around for a few moments, he suddenly stared fixedly at a certain place.

Floating there was, unmistakably, an arm.

A human arm.

As expected!

Siano grabbed the severed arm, his eyes filled with delight.

His guess had been correct!

This sea king was indeed that Lord of the Coast!

And this severed arm was the culprit that had caused it excruciating pain, driving it to seek ways everywhere to squeeze and scrape its abdomen!

How long had this been?

Siano didn't know; he only knew that on that day, the bandit king Shigure, who had killed fifty-six men of the Four Emperors, had long since been corroded by the Lord of the Coast's stomach acid and bile, turned into feces, and excreted.

Only this arm refused to digest; unable to vomit it out on its own, it had remained stuck in the stomach all this time.

Glancing up to confirm that his position was blocked by the ship's hull and that the people on the deck above couldn't possibly see him, he hesitated no longer and directly activated the Sacrifice.

In the next instant, the severed arm in his hand vanished into thin air, and the system transmitted a notification of successful Sacrifice.

【Sacrifice: Shanks' Severed Arm】

【Quality: Legendary】

【Value: 10,000 Points】

【Appraisal Comment: The severed arm of Shanks the Holy, son of the Supreme Commander of the God Knights and a Celestial Dragon, swallowed by the Lord of the Coast while saving Straw Hat Luffy. The world line has changed drastically since then; the future Emperor of the Sea clearly left this arm in the East Blue, yet firmly believes he bet it on the New Era.】

Legendary quality!

Ten thousand points!

Siano's eyes widened; after confirming he hadn't miscounted and that there were indeed four zeros, an uncontrollable surge of ecstatic joy flooded his heart.

Under the ink-black night sky, he couldn't help but burst into loud laughter.

Before making his move, he had worried about whether he could succeed, feared being swallowed before even reaching the Lord of the Coast, and even at the moment he found the arm, had doubted whether the thing could be Sacrificed at all.

Now that the sacrifice had succeeded smoothly, he had obtained a massive amount of points he had never possessed before.

In an instant, all his worries and hesitations vanished into thin air, making Siano feel utterly refreshed, as if he were not floating on the vast ocean but strolling among the clouds.

"Hey! Are you okay, Siano!"

Genzo's urgent shout suddenly came from above, snapping him back to reality; having failed to see the youth's figure in his field of vision for some time, he was growing anxious.

"I'm fine, old man! Trouble you to lower the rope ladder!"

He responded loudly with a smile.

Once the rope ladder had been lowered along the ship's hull and he had climbed halfway up, the youth suddenly felt a surge of tidal moisture at the back of his head, followed immediately by a thick, fishy stench rushing into his nostrils.

"Hiss—!!!"

It was the voice of the Lord of the Coast, right within arm's reach.

From this screech, so different from before, Siano heard satisfaction and joy; he lifted his head and met the Lord of the Coast's scarlet pupils eye to eye.

"How about it, big guy!"

Siano grinned at the creature, his face devoid of fear. "The digestive tract surgery I performed on you wasn't too bad, was it!"

The Lord of the Coast also narrowed its eyes, staring at Siano, drool dripping between its fangs, remaining motionless for a long while.

Genzo and the others watching this scene from above instantly felt their hearts tighten.

A full ten-plus seconds passed.

The Lord of the Coast suddenly extended its tongue, lightly licking Siano's back, then raised its head toward the sky and unleashed a roar powerful enough to tear through the night.

Finally, it performed a backward flip, plunging into the sea with a tremendous splash, gradually disappearing without a trace.

(End of Chapter)