Above the sea, three ships belonging to the Hundred Beasts Pirates sailed on the waters: Kaidou's Hundred Beasts King, Arceus' newly built Origin, and finally Queen's Brachiosaurus.
Pirate ships are also important sources of firepower. Over three years, each cadre acquired their own vessel; however, King and Shaina's ships remained on other Hundred Beasts' territories, stationed on the islands with the garrison.
Once pirates make a name for themselves, they don't need to stay in their territory constantly. Whitebeard is still in a phase of roaming freely, though few dare to invade his territory.
So it's enough to leave behind basic forces to maintain order and handle ordinary troubles. They don't have to defeat every opponent; as long as they can deliver intelligence, that's enough.
Queen's Brachiosaurus was brought out because it's the largest vessel, capable of carrying more crew. Shaina's ship is primarily used for stone plate searching missions, so it's smaller, focusing more on speed and convenience. King's ship is somewhat balanced.
Queen deliberately increased the size of his ship to carry more stuff. His Brachiosaurus is also used for trade, delivering goods to the BIG MOM Pirates.
The name was his own choice. The reason being it could conceal its real capabilities, ambushing the opponent unexpectedly, though it never quite worked out.
After some time sailing, following the Eternal Pose left by Kurozumi Higurashi, the Hundred Beasts Pirates' ships reached the waters near Wano Kuni, sensing the changes here.
The sea is turbulent, waves surging violently. Compared to the previously calm areas, the environment here can only be described as harsh, with stone pillars jutting from the water and fragments of ship hulls visible at their bases.
The man-made terrain of Wano Kuni and the fierce surrounding seas are one reason it's so defensible, and part of why its people rarely venture out.
People of Wano Kuni mostly sail in inland seas and rivers. They aren't accustomed to rough seas, and venturing into open seas with their sailing skills likely results in capsizing.
Even Whitebeard encountered an accident here, forcing his ship to undergo repairs at Wano Kuni.
His navigator was far better than those from Wano Kuni.
The clouds in the sky twisted, threatening rain at any moment. The navigator on the ship, with a tense expression, directed the crew to adjust the ship's condition.
During navigation, they are the masters of the ship, even the captain must heed their advice.
But not everyone is so tense. Yamato climbs more skillfully each time, indifferent to the tension of the other pirates, merely amused by the ship's sway.
She'd been scampering about the deck, followed closely by four Chanseys, as for Jack?
He was picked up incidentally. As long as he didn't starve, it was fine. The Chanseys mainly cared for Yamato; Jack was just an afterthought.
As they neared Wano Kuni, the ship's rocking intensified, so the Chanseys forcibly brought Yamato back into the cabin.
"Kaidou, we're almost there, right?"
To prevent the ships from colliding, the Hundred Beasts King and Origin maintained a certain distance. However, Kaidou wasn't aboard his ship; both he and his daughter were on the Origin.
To be precise, apart from Queen guarding his new sapling on the Brachiosaurus, all other cadres were here.
"We're almost there. I've already contacted the old lady; Wano Kuni people are just ahead.
At this moment, unidentified creatures sporadically leapt alongside the ship. Initially unnoticed by the crew, as the ship advanced with the current, the creatures became more numerous, revealing themselves as giant Magikarps.
"Why are carp living in the sea?"
"Who knows, maybe they're a new species. Regular carp wouldn't be this big. Hey! Mandfeish, look, aren't these your subjects?!"
The other pirates joked fearlessly. After all, Mandfeish's ability was Magikarp, and it's reasonable for regular carp to listen to Magikarp.
These pirates didn't pay much mind to the carp, but Arceus had a sudden idea when he saw them.
The currents here were extremely rapid, not even some sea fish could survive these waters, yet these freshwater carp evolved large bodies and strong stamina here.
First, it was Zeraora, then the Chanseys. His power now supported minor creations, but for large-scale creation, modification was more suitable.
He needed more informants, which didn't necessarily need to be humans. Previously, the Thousand-Year Dragon served this role, but their numbers were too few. Even if their leader consulted their companions, it would take over twenty more years.
These resilient carp, however, were different.
Remarkably resilient, able to survive in saltwater, freshwater, sewage, and even puddles—Pokémon of such resilience is Magikarp.
Distributed in every region, frustrating countless fishermen—Magikarp.
With an extremely high reproduction rate, capable of quickly expanding their population—still Magikarp.
These Magikarps, adept at surviving torrential currents, filled the biggest weakness of ordinary Magikarps' frailty, so Arceus began to observe the carps in the current, eventually selecting a few of the most active ones.
Streams of power surged from within him, finally entering the bodies of those Magikarps.
There are two types of animal modifications: one like the Thousand-Year Dragon, where they gain abilities but can choose to revert, lest they become unrecognizable to their kin in decades.
In such cases, their offspring remain Thousand-Year Dragons, but the powers aren't inherited.
This time's modification was permanent; like those earlier Miltanks, they would forever remain Miltanks, unable to revert to regular cows.
The same logic applied to Arceus' modification of these carp. Their offspring would directly become Magikarp, inherently influenced by Arceus.
In due time, these Magikarps would spawn. Magikarp had a fast growth cycle, and soon, with stubborn vitality, vast numbers, and physical prowess inherited from local species, they would spread throughout the surrounding oceans.
They would venture into deep seas to look for traces of plates, and like the Thousand-Year Dragons, they'd return here periodically to report on their findings, thus solving the issue of the Hundred Beasts' inability to conduct large-scale deep-sea exploration.