"We're in."
The moment the wind vanished from the world, Ron turned his head and looked behind him. The roaring sea beyond the border of the Calm Belt was still thrashing wildly, but inside, there wasn't even a whisper of a breeze. It was a strange, eerie calm.
Even when he activated his divine sense, he couldn't quite understand why the Calm Belt existed. He suspected that, like the Eternal Runes, this area was locked by some mysterious force. No matter how the outer seas raged, the waters here would remain utterly still.
"No more wind," Nami said, her voice a mix of awe and tension. "It's all up to you now."
Ron nodded and reached into the air. A flash of light shimmered, and his elven wand materialized in his hand.
He had discovered something interesting about it recently. When he'd last opened the profession interface, the wand had been absorbed into it, turning into a glowing wand icon on the screen. He could now store it within the system and summon it back at will.
It was much more convenient than having it follow him around all the time. Unfortunately, only the wand could be stored this way—nothing else, not even himself.
"Gale Spell."
Ron raised his wand and flicked it lightly.
Two runes flared inside the wand's crystal orb, forming a symbol that pulsed with power. A fierce wind instantly burst forth, slamming against the sails and pushing the ship ahead.
Over time, Ron had learned to understand the essence of the runes. The Gale Spell used two: the base rune that represented the element of wind, and another that symbolized dispersion. When combined, they transformed the sharp edge of a wind blade into harmless gusts of propulsion.
The Fire Wall Spell, for instance, was formed from three runes: the fire base rune, one representing dispersion, and one for restriction.
So far, he had identified only a few—dispersion, aggregation, and restriction among them. More than half of the derivative runes still eluded him. He suspected that truly mastering these runes was the key to unlocking higher-level magic—third, fourth, or even fifth-tier spells. Attempting to brute-force every combination would be madness.
The wind howled. The ship began to glide smoothly across the calm waters.
But before Ron could cast the next burst, his face suddenly changed. He wrapped an arm around Nami and shot upward into the sky.
A tremendous splash erupted below.
The sea exploded open as a massive shape rose from the depths—a Sea King so large that the ship resting on its head looked no bigger than a toy.
"Seriously? We just got here, and we're already running into one?"
Ron muttered in disbelief as he climbed higher, while Nami clung to him, trembling violently.
Without seastone embedded in the hull, their ship had no protection. It was only a matter of time before a Sea King attacked. But this fast? That was just cruel.
The creature was immense, large enough to rival a small island. Ron flew upward as fast as he could until they were level with its enormous head. The Sea King stopped moving, its eyes turning to focus on the tiny vessel perched on its snout.
"…"
It blinked once, then opened its enormous mouth and flicked out a tongue as wide as a plaza, trying to lick the ship off its face.
Ron sighed. "Guess we're abandoning ship."
But before he could ascend further, something unexpected happened. From beyond the Calm Belt's boundary, a warship came bursting through the waves, cutting into the tranquil zone.
A Marine warship.
On its deck, several officers were shouting in panic, their faces pale as they stared at the monstrous Sea King before them.
"Sea King! It's a gigantic one!"
Even with seastone built into the hull to mask their presence, a direct encounter at this distance was unavoidable. The Sea King's massive eyes rolled, its tongue still wrapped around Ron's vessel, before it turned its gaze toward the approaching warship.
The Marines froze in terror.
Then, before anyone could react, a figure shot out from the deck like a cannonball, crossing the sea in an instant. A coat of justice billowed behind him as he appeared beside the Sea King's massive head.
The next instant—
Boom!
A deafening crack split the air as his fist drove into the creature's jaw. The impact echoed like thunder. The Sea King's head caved inward, its eyes rolling white as it crashed back into the ocean, sending waves soaring hundreds of meters high.
Ron and Nami watched in stunned silence as their ship, still caught in the creature's tongue, was shredded into a cloud of splinters and torn sails.
Nami: "…"
Ron: "…"
The man who had delivered the punch finally seemed to notice the debris and the two figures hovering above. He scratched the back of his head and looked up.
"Ah… that was your ship, wasn't it?" he said sheepishly.
Nami was too stunned to speak.
Ron's lips twitched. He wanted to complain that this man's reaction time was a whole minute late, but he thought better of it. That kind of oblivious behavior was famous for a reason. No wonder Sengoku and Tsuru hated sharing a ship with him.
After all, there weren't many people in the world who could knock out a giant Sea King with a single punch.
The hero who ended the last era of piracy.
The grandfather of Monkey D. Luffy.
The father of the Revolutionary Dragon.
The Marine Hero—Iron Fist Garp.
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