The calm sea surface resembled a mirror, reflecting the grayish-white sky without a trace of wind movement.
"Calm Belt?" Sanji frowned upon hearing Nami's words.
"Isn't that great? Finally some peace!" Luffy stretched his neck, curiously looking around.
"Great my ass! You idiots need to stop chatting and daydreaming!!!" Nami turned to look at the troublemakers, nearly hysterical with rage.
Her trembling finger pointed into the distance, where dark clouds and turbulent waves were faintly visible, forming a terrifying contrast with the Calm Belt they were in.
"Look over there! The storm is still raging! But we have no wind here! Without wind, the ship can't move! If we can't move, we'll be trapped here forever! Quickly figure out how to row the ship back into the storm!"
"Row back?" Usopp looked around in disbelief. "Why would we want to return to such a terrifying storm? Isn't it quite safe here?"
Nami rushed over, steam practically coming from her head, and punched Luffy on the head. "Stop asking questions! Just do as I say!!! This place is ten thousand times more terrifying than any storm! Start rowing!"
"Ouch! Usopp was the one who said that!!" Luffy crouched down holding his head, a large bump actually forming on his rubber head.
Zoro just looked around, rather relaxed as he said, "Tch, though I don't really get what's going on, the weather's unusually clear. Wouldn't it be nice to take a break?"
"This isn't about whether the weather is clear or not!"
Nami felt like she was about to break down, her voice trembling with tears. "Our problem right now is that we're in the Calm Belt! The Grand Line is sandwiched between two long, narrow Calm Belts like ribbons! This is every navigator's nightmare! Without wind, we can't enter the Grand Line at all, we'll just become..."
Giyu Tomioka, who had been silently standing by the ship's railing with his gaze never leaving the sea surface, suddenly spoke.
His voice remained steady, yet it was like a stone dropped into stagnant water - exceptionally clear.
"Something's coming."
He could feel an incredibly massive life force approaching from beneath them.
Almost the moment his words fell—
Hum...
A low, deep humming sound, as if coming from the depths of the ocean, faintly reached them. The ship began to sway, and the water surface started trembling violently.
"E-earth... earthquake?" Usopp screamed in terror, clinging to the mast.
"Idiot! How can there be earthquakes at sea!" Sanji shouted sharply, but his face had completely changed color.
As if to confirm Nami's earlier words.
BOOOOOOM——!!!
The sea surface where the Merry was located suddenly arched upward, and then, an indescribably enormous head broke through the water surface, slowly rising.
It was a Sea King in the form of a giant snake with black and white stripes. Just the portion above water already surpassed ordinary people's understanding of size.
Its eyes were larger than the Merry's sails.
As it surfaced, its gaze slowly swept around, finally settling on the pitifully small ship resting on its nasal bridge.
And this was only the beginning.
Around it, other heads of various shapes surfaced one after another - some resembling fish, some like oxen, others like horses - but they all shared one common trait: every single one was enormous beyond measure.
The Merry was currently perched atop the head of the giant serpent Sea King, like an insignificant speck of dust.
"So... so huge!!" Luffy's jaw dropped, his eyes wide and round. Even he was stunned by the overwhelming scale before him.
Zoro and Sanji tensed every muscle in their bodies, cold sweat trickling down their temples as their hands instinctively reached for their weapons.
"Urgh..." Usopp's eyes rolled back, an incomprehensible gurgle escaping his throat before he foamed at the mouth and collapsed backward with a thud, knocked out cold.
Nami clung desperately to the main mast, weeping with her eyes shut. "The most dangerous place in these waters is... it's the Sea King's nest... and they're... gigantic..."
"...We'll just become snacks for these giant Sea Kings! We're not even enough to fill the gaps between their teeth!"
Even Giyu Tomioka, whose face was usually as unchanging as a glacier, showed a flicker of wavering. His pupils trembled slightly, and his left hand gripping his Nichirin Blade's sheath tightened.
"So this is a Sea King..."
In his original world, the greatest enemy Muzan Kibutsuji was terrifying because of his bizarre powers and regenerative abilities, not this kind of purely massive sea beast.
This sight completely exceeded his experience, bringing a shock rooted in primal instinct.
"It's... it's over..." Nami slumped weakly against the main mast, her voice filled with despair.
The giant Sea King beneath the ship seemed slightly bothered by the small object on its head, and its massive skull began to sway gently.
"Hold on tight!!" Zoro shouted nervously, now drenched in sweat himself.
"When this monster sinks back underwater! We'll row away immediately! This is our only chance!"
Luffy, Sanji, and even Usopp, who had just regained a bit of consciousness, immediately grabbed the ship's oars.
Giyu silently picked up a spare wooden oar. His movements remained steady, but he couldn't help recalling the words of the bartender in Loguetown: "That guy... I believe he can definitely break through."
He glanced at these "companions" attempting to fight the sea with wooden oars, then looked down at the crude paddle in his hand.
A small doubt arose in his heart.
Is this ship... really reliable?
"...Hmm... hmm..."
Just then, the giant Sea King beneath the Merry seemed to have its nostrils irritated. Its massive head suddenly jerked backward!
"A—CHOO—!!!"
A thunderous sneeze exploded like a bomb!
Unimaginable force erupted from beneath the ship! The Going Merry was flung off the Sea King's head like a pebble flicked by a child, soaring rapidly into the sky!
"Waaaaaah!!"
A sudden sense of weightlessness overwhelmed everyone.
The ship tumbled through the air, barrels, ropes, and wooden crates scattering across the deck. Everyone desperately grabbed onto anything they could to secure themselves.
"Oh no!! Usopp fell!!" Nami screamed in panic.
Usopp had failed to hold on during the ship's rotation. With a cry of terror, he was flung into the air, plummeting toward the sea below!
Even more terrifyingly, below them, a giant frog-like Sea King seemed attracted by the commotion in the air.
It opened its cavernous maw, its long mucus-covered tongue curling, then pushed off the sea surface with its hind limbs. Its massive body surprisingly leaped nimbly, charging straight toward Usopp who was falling through the air.
"Usopp!!"