The sea surface was smooth as a mirror, reflecting the gray-white sky; not a ripple could be seen, nor a breath of wind felt.
"The Calm Belt?" Sanji frowned, listening to Nami's words.
"Isn't that great? It's finally calm!" Luffy stretched his neck, looking around curiously.
"Great, my ass! You idiots stop chatting, spacing out, and playing around!!!" Nami suddenly turned, practically screaming hysterically.
Her finger trembled as she pointed into the distance—there, dimly visible, were dark clouds and surging waves, a terrifying contrast to the dead stillness where they were.
"Look over there! The storm is still going on! But we have no wind here! No wind means the ship can't move! If we can't move, we'll be trapped here forever! Quickly, find a way to paddle the ship back into the storm!"
"Paddle back?" Usopp looked around incredulously, "Why would we go back into such a terrifying storm? Isn't it safe here?"
Nami rushed over, steam practically fuming from her head, and punched Luffy on the head: "Don't ask! Just do as I say!!! This place is ten thousand times scarier than a storm! Paddle quickly!"
"Ow! But Usopp was the one who said it!!!" Luffy clutched his head and squatted down, a large bump actually rising on his rubbery head.
Zoro, holding his sword, looked around, quite relaxed: "Tsk, I don't get what's going on, but it's rare to have such clear weather, isn't it nice to rest a bit?"
"It's not about whether the weather is clear or not!"
Nami felt like she was about to break down, her voice tearful, "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 even enter the Grand Line; we'll only become..."
Giyu Tomioka, who had been silently standing by the ship's rail, his gaze never leaving the sea, suddenly spoke.
His voice was still steady, yet it was like a stone dropped into still water, exceptionally clear.
"Something is coming."
He could feel an incredibly vast, heart-pounding life-form vibrating beneath his feet.
Almost the instant his words fell—
Hum... A low hum, as if from the bottom of the deep sea, faintly echoed, the ship began to sway strangely, and the water surface started to tremble violently.
"An... earthquake?" Usopp, terrified, hugged the mast.
"Idiot! How can there be an earthquake at sea!" Sanji snapped, but his face had also completely changed.
As if to confirm Nami's earlier words.
Rumble rumble rumble—!!!
The sea surface where the Going Merry was located suddenly arched upwards, as if an underwater mountain range was rising! Then, a head so enormous it defied description broke through the surface and slowly lifted.
It was a Sea King in the form of a giant snake with black and white stripes; just the part visible above the water already surpassed most people's understanding of immense size.
Its pupils were larger than the Going Merry's sails, their dark color like ancient rock.
Having surfaced, its gaze slowly swept around, finally settling on the pitifully small ship on its nose bridge.
And this was just the beginning.
Around it, other heads of various shapes surfaced one after another; some resembled fish, some cows, and others horses, but their commonality was that each one was incredibly huge.
The Going Merry was currently positioned on the head of the first giant snake Sea King, like an insignificant speck of dust.
"So... so big!!!" Luffy's mouth hung open, his eyes wide and round; even Luffy was awestruck by the overwhelming scale before him.
Zoro and Sanji's muscles were taut, cold sweat trickling down their temples, their hands instinctively resting on their weapons.
"Uh..." Usopp's eyes rolled back, and he made an inarticulate gurgling sound in his throat, finally frothing at the mouth and falling straight backward, collapsing to the ground with a thud.
Nami desperately hugged the main mast, closing her eyes and crying out: "The most dangerous part of this sea area is... it's a nest of Sea Kings... and they're... gigantic ones..."
"...We'll just be snacks for these gigantic Sea Kings! Not even enough to get stuck in their teeth!"
Even Giyu Tomioka, whose glacial face was perpetually unmoving, showed a hint of wavering. His pupils trembled slightly, and his left hand, gripping the Blade's sheath, unconsciously tightened.
"These are Sea Kings, then..."
In his former world, his greatest enemy, Kibutsuji Muzan, was terrifying for his bizarre powers and regenerative abilities, not for such purely enormous sea beasts as these.
This sight completely exceeded his experience, bringing a shock that originated from the primal instinct of life itself.
"It's... it's over..." Nami slumped against the main mast, her voice filled with despair.
The giant Sea King beneath the ship seemed to feel some discomfort in its nasal cavity; its enormous head began to sway slightly.
"Hold on!!!" Zoro commanded tensely, also drenched in sweat at this point.
"As soon as this monster sinks back into the water! We paddle away immediately! This is our only chance!"
Luffy, Sanji, and even Usopp, who had just slightly regained consciousness, immediately grabbed the ship's oars.
Tomioka also silently picked up a spare wooden oar; his movements were still steady, but his mind involuntarily recalled the words of the Loguetown tavern owner—"That guy, I believe he can definitely make it through."
He looked at these "companions" before him, attempting to battle the sea with wooden oars, then glanced at the crude oar in his hand.
A small question arose in his heart.
Is this ship... really reliable?
"...Mmm... mmm..."
Just then, the giant Sea King beneath the Going Merry seemed to have its nasal passages stimulated by something; its enormous head suddenly tilted backward—
"A—CHOO—!!!"
A muffled sneeze, like a thunderous explosion, boomed out!
An unimaginable force came from the bottom of the ship! The Going Merry, like a pebble flicked away by a child, floated lightly yet rapidly detached from the Sea King's head, soaring into the sky!
"Waaahhhh!!!"
A sudden sensation of weightlessness swept over everyone.
The ship tumbled in 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 off!!!" Nami cried out.
Usopp failed to hold on during the ship's tumble, screamed, and was flung into the air, plummeting towards the sea below!
Even more terrifying, below on the sea, a giant Sea King resembling a frog seemed to be attracted by the commotion in the air.
It opened its cavernous mouth, its long, slimy tongue flicked out, and its hind legs pushed off the sea surface, its massive body agilely leaping up, precisely intercepting the falling Usopp!
"Usopp!"
[Power Stones Required]