The New Crew Members had many battles on land.
But in the sea, and at the bottom of the ocean thousands of meters deep... this was absolutely the first time!
"Dean will lead this operation, with Rocks and Newgate assisting. Linlin on standby, everyone else ready for rescue."
Silas, Ripley, and Kozuki Toki were all Devil Fruit users.
Kozuki Toki had no combat ability, needless to say. Though Silas could easily take down a giant Sea King on land, his strength could not be fully displayed in the deep sea. He could only let Dean, the fish-man, take point, with non-users Rocks and Newgate assisting.
"Sigh, does Linlin have to fight too?" Kozuki Toki asked.
"Just standby."
Silas rubbed Linlin's small head. After all this training, though her size had shrunk, her appetite had not decreased. Her Haki reserves were undisputedly first place after Silas.
Even Ripley, being a giant, could not compare to Linlin.
"Linlin, we are going to catch a big fish to make sashimi. Can you help Big Brother Rocks and the others?"
"Fish sashimi?"
Just hearing Silas's words made Linlin drool.
"Mm-hmm."
Seeing Linlin's attention completely absorbed by big fish sashimi, Silas gave Kozuki Toki a thumbs up, earning an exasperated eye roll.
"Captain Silas, you are fooling Linlin again!"
"I am just telling the truth. How is this fooling?"
The two huddled together whispering until Silas's breath while talking hit her face, making Kozuki Toki realize she and Silas were too close.
"S-Silas Captain, please continue arranging the upcoming schedule!"
Kozuki Toki's heart pounded. She felt her interactions with Silas were increasingly losing boundaries. What would happen if this continued?
Kozuki Toki thought worriedly.
"Captain, you are definitely plotting against Sister Toki!"
After Kozuki Toki left, Ripley immediately approached.
"You're already so old, yet having me and Sister Lily isn't enough? There is also Stussy. The way she looks at you is strange too!"
"Cough cough, Ripley, you cannot say such things carelessly."
The relationship had not developed to that point yet. Some things were better left understood between them. Silas would not advertise it everywhere.
"The most important thing now is capturing the lanternfish. That is a giant Sea King, at least a thousand meters in size. Even if we can knock it unconscious, can your ability shrink it?"
"Hmph, always changing the subject!"
Since Silas did not want to elaborate, Ripley did not pry. Men were all like this. With Silas's current strength, his willingness to discuss feelings with women already made him a genuinely good man.
"Since this is underwater, I am not sure I can make it small enough, but shrinking it ten times should be no problem."
If on the surface, even a thousand-meter giant Sea King could be shrunk to one meter with Ripley's current strength.
But in the sea, just touching the lanternfish meant contacting seawater. How much power she could exert was uncertain.
"Do your best."
If they could directly capture the lanternfish, that would be ideal. They could prepare an aquarium to keep it.
If not, they would have to kill it!
"If my intelligence is correct, there are still two living people in the lanternfish's stomach, one being the scientist who originally extracted Pure Gold."
Compared to the lanternfish's limited Pure Gold, if they could master Pure Gold's manufacturing method, Silas could not imagine what this world would become.
But perhaps this was the sea's curse.
The scientist had created Pure Gold to save his daughter, but both father and daughter were swallowed by the island-devouring lanternfish.
Over 150 years had passed since then.
"There are actually living people in the lanternfish's stomach? Can they survive until now because of Pure Gold?"
Ripley asked in amazement.
"After swallowing Pure Gold, the lanternfish stores it in the light organ on its head. Being illuminated by its headlight produces effects similar to wearing Pure Gold."
Silas explained.
"About time."
Two days after leaving Fish-Man Island, the Millennium Falcon had traveled unknown distances underwater. With sea beasts gifted by Fish-Man Island pulling them, the ship's underwater speed had greatly increased.
"We are probably near the Calm Belt now!"
This was why Silas hurried to leave Fish-Man Island. The lanternfish would not stay in one place forever. It moved.
Once the lanternfish returned to the Calm Belt, their difficulty in capturing it would greatly increase.
"Captain, look! There is light ahead!"
Newgate, observing from the crow's nest, suddenly shouted loudly.
Instinctively, Silas swept with his Observation Haki.
Then his mouth twitched.
"Newgate, come down! Do not shout so loud!"
Unknowingly, their ship had reached the Calm Belt's edge. Silas's Observation Haki sweep indeed found the light source ahead, the lanternfish they sought.
But simultaneously, around the lanternfish, Silas discovered a group of behemoths.
The 10,000-meter-deep sea was like an abyss.
Here there was no light. Any light could be created by predators.
So throughout the journey, Silas had Rocks and Newgate use Observation Haki to avoid giant fish schools, keeping the ship as dark as possible.
Now, just around their ship, Silas sensed over ten giant Sea Kings, all exceeding a thousand meters.
How big were thousand-meter Sea Kings?
For comparison, many schools had 400-meter running tracks. Thousand-meter Sea Kings were visually like over ten 400-meter tracks combined.
Forget the Millennium Falcon's current shrunken size. Even its original 200-meter length would be insignificant before these Sea Kings.
Moreover, thousand-meter giant Sea Kings were not even Sea Kings' limit.
In the Calm Belt, Silas even saw Super Giant Sea Kings exceeding 5,000 meters.
When Silas's Observation Haki swept over, those super-giant Sea Kings all looked toward his direction.
Seems like someone's watching us?
A bit far.
Can he hear us talking?
Hearing these voices in his mind, Silas's body immediately tensed.
"How troublesome!"
Silas's expression grew grave. He no longer had his initial leisurely attitude. If they accidentally angered these super-giant Sea Kings while capturing the lanternfish, he could not guarantee protecting the Millennium Falcon while escaping.
Indeed, in this world, one must never underestimate the sea.
There was good reason Poseidon could be called one of the three strongest ancient weapons alongside Pluton and Uranus. Just these 5,000-meter super-giant Sea Kings equaled countless great pirate-level fighters.
Though with size advantages, true great pirates would not necessarily lose one-on-one against such large Sea Kings; the terror was not quality, but quantity.
In this world where oceans covered over 90%, super-giant Sea Kings would only outnumber existing great pirate-level fighters.
"Pity."
Silas only regretted that the true Poseidon would not be born for over thirty years.
And he obviously would not wait that long.
"If following destiny, this world would have to wait over fifty years before rebelling against those lofty Celestial Dragons."
"But fifty years is too long."
"I already have cheats. If you want me to wait fifty years, would not my cheats be wasted?"
Silas looked at his system panel.
Sea Circle Calendar Year 1463, February. You encountered Golden Lion Shiki at Fish-Man Island. After a fierce battle, you successfully defeated Golden Lion Shiki and forced his submission.
You obtained special ability: Voice of All Things!
Your cellular activity increased!
This was why Silas could hear those super-giant Sea Kings talking. Though he had never fought Shiki directly, Shiki's complete inability to act against him was also true.
Voice of All Things was not extremely powerful, but given its uniqueness, few in the world could awaken this ability. Silas was satisfied with this "defeat Shiki" reward.
His current strength already exceeded ordinary Admiral-level fighters considerably. Even with cellular activity enhancement, he still had some gap before simultaneously facing two Admiral-level fighters.
But even if he could not win, unless he fought to the death, two Admiral-level fighters alone could not corner him.
This was his confidence for going to Mariejois later.
Unless the Marines and the World Government sent all Admiral-level fighters, they could not keep him. But if they were all ambushed at Mariejois, his Observation Haki was not decoration!
Moreover, after obtaining Voice of All Things, Silas's Observation Haki had been enhanced.
Now his future sight lasted 4 seconds. In this era, probably no one on the entire sea had stronger Observation Haki.
Except for that hidden existence behind the Celestial Dragons.
"I see it!"
Rocks spoke in a lowered voice.
Ten minutes ago, they had discovered a faint light source.
As time passed, the light source ahead of the Millennium Falcon grew larger.
By now, the two sea beasts pulling the Millennium Falcon dared not continue forward.
They wanted to detour.
"Dean, have them wait outside."
Bullying the weak was biological instinct. Silas would not force them forward.
"Rocks, Newgate!"
"Understood!"
"Got it."
Both Rocks and Newgate were wrapped in person-sized coating films that let them breathe underwater.
"Move out!"
(Water-Strike Coating)