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Chapter 78 - Chapter 78: Divine Bulwark

Rakuya's Sea's Overlord was mastered to its peak, letting him command the ocean at will. Ten thousand meters down, he put a bold idea to the test.

"Boom!"

At his shout, the tranquil abyss lurched. Heat flared in his eyes as repulsion roared from his hands, the water around him thundering.

Every pirate crew in the deep stared, slack-jawed, as Flowing Cloud seemed ready to flip Fish-Man Island on its head.

Power like a tidal cataclysm burst from Rakuya. Cross-currents slammed together, and an invisible shockwave rippled out through the depths.

Boom.

The impact hit like a multi-hundred-meter tsunami, hurling the outer ships backward.

At the same time, level with the island's dome, an impossible thing appeared where Rakuya hovered.

Empty space.

As he amplified his repulsion, the sea on all sides was driven away, the deep trembling. The opening swelled under his control.

A gaping void four to five hundred meters across yawned open. Rakuya nodded, satisfied, then lifted both hands. His repulsion spiked a thousandfold.

Vrrrrr.

Fish-Man Island quivered. Pirate ships shook so hard their frames nearly split.

"Damn it, what is he doing?"

"Captain, the coating is about to fail. It's going to rupture."

"Are we dying down here? I am not ready to go!"

Another boom.

The island shuddered. Merfolk and fish-men rushed out in a panic. Coated ships were shoved farther back.

All eyes fixed on the man in the red-clouded robe.

His world-ending strength froze blood in veins. Despair crawled up spines.

"What is happening? What is the god doing?"

"He said he wouldn't kill us. Is he taking it back and wiping us out?"

"We're done for," a pirate whimpered.

"Turn us around. We have to run."

"Too late. Captain, the air in the coating won't get us back to the surface."

"I don't want to die."

Three hundred ships spiraled into chaos, crews scrambling like ants on a hot wok.

Thoom.

A fresh shockwave blasted off Rakuya and swept the fleet. Coatings shattered with wet pops. Seawater slammed across decks.

"Help!"

"God, save us!"

"I don't want to die."

The howling didn't stop. Every last coating had burst.

Rakuya lifted his eyelids and spoke to the System. "Protect every ship."

"Beep. Coating can be purchased. One layer, five points."

"Five points?" He did the math. One ship per five points, three hundred ships for fifteen hundred points. On paper, a loss. In truth, an investment.

If he sent these three hundred back alive, they would become his word of mouth. More crews would flood here. More coin would flow through Fish-Man Island. And he could claim the remaining half-year of Sun Tree sap.

"Redeem."

"Ding. Purchase complete. Three hundred coatings acquired."

Rakuya swept his arm. Three hundred gleaming membranes streaked out like shooting stars. The System's goods had a mind of their own; in heartbeats, every drowning ship was sheathed again, the new coatings crystal clear and tough as iron.

"Cough… cough…"

"Gasp… gasp…"

Soaked pirates dragged in air, faces red, eyes bloodshot. Devil Fruit users were dead weight in the sea. Without rescue, they would have fed the fish within minutes.

Thankfully, the god was not without mercy.

As their wits returned, they stared around in shock. Coatings that had shattered were whole again, snug around their hulls.

"How? I saw it break."

"Who could do this besides a Sabaody coater?"

"There are no coaters down here."

"Then who…"

"Could it be the god?" someone ventured.

"Flowing Cloud?" another whispered.

"It must be. Only a god could."

Every head tilted back. Rakuya was looking right at them.

A roar rolled across the water. "God, thank you for saving us."

"Thank you."

"I am moved to tears. He saved nobodies like us."

"This is justice. Real justice. I want to follow him. I want to join the Flowing Cloud Pirates."

"In your dreams."

"Dreaming my way into Flowing Cloud would still be worth it."

"Quiet," Rakuya said, frowning. The babble cut off at once. Men clapped hands over their mouths mid-sentence.

Silence fell.

Repulsion exploded from his palms, ten thousandfold. A white dragon surged from his hands, howling upward.

Its force was irresistible. It tore through the water without meeting any resistance.

Above, the dragon's body bored a vertical cylinder through the sea, four to five hundred meters wide.

"System, exchange for a barrier that keeps the seawater out."

"Ding. One hundred meters costs ten points. Depth is ten thousand meters. Proceed?"

"Proceed," Rakuya said through his teeth.

Where the dragon had carved open the shaft, a lattice of transparent barriers blossomed along the walls, layer upon layer. Even under the crushing weight of the deep, the Divine Bulwark held fast, solid as the seabed itself.

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