It was dark around the ship as it flowed with the current down into the depths below. With no lights on the outside of the ship, Marcus had no way to see much of anything as they sank deeper. It wasn't like the anime where everything was lit up, instead it was just inky darkness that clung around the ship's bubble. The worst part about the whole situation was the speed. They traveled with the current's speed only since the propulsion system didn't work inside the bubble.
At first Yamato, Marcus and Nicholas were excited since it was the first time any of them experienced going to Fishman Island. But once the light faded and darkness surrounded them, they quickly grew bored. They still had stuff to do, it just wasn't what any of them really expected from the trip. As for hitting or crashing into something in the darkness, Marcus wasn't worried. Besides the eternal pose for the island, Marcus knew that as long as he stayed with the current he would miss all the obstacles along the way.
Whether or not he was in the right current didn't matter either, since all of the ones around the area funneled into a larger one that led towards their destination. Marcus only checked the direction out of habit since they couldn't do much other than go with the flow.
Time passed slowly with nothing interesting to see or really do. Marcus stayed at the helm and kept the ship in the middle of the current by feel. Whenever the current changed it was easy to notice since the ship would shake a little as it tried to fight against it. Marcus would just adjust the ship's direction until it stopped each time. At some point in time, Marcus finally noticed a small point of light in the distance before he checked his pose. It was pointed directly at that light and it made Marcus smile.
"Hey, I see Fishman Island in the distance!" Marcus called out from the bridge and a few moments later everyone came out to look.
It was a little cramped with everyone on the bridge at the same time and only made worse when Yamato pushed her head against the front glass for a better look. She studied the light for a few moments before she asked, "How much further?"
"Maybe half an hour if the current doesn't slow down at all."
"Great! How long are we staying for?"
"At least a day since we'll need to get the ship recoated to leave. Plus I want to talk to a couple of people if they're on the island." Marcus said as he adjusted the helm when the ship started to shake.
As Yamato and the others started talking about what they would do on the island, Marcus zoned out half listening to the conversation. While he wouldn't mind checking out the island too, he was more concerned if Jinbe was there. Marcus wanted to meet the man, but never bothered to call ahead and ask to meet up. It didn't matter that much, since Marcus had nothing important to discuss other than finally meeting each other in person.
The light in the distance slowly grew brighter and after a while everyone could see what looked like a massive tree trunk radiating light. From the bottom of the trunk, hundreds of large roots stretched out and branched out all over the place. Most of them were concentrated in one area like a forest, but the tree trunk was so massive that other roots broke off from the main cluster and spread out over a large area of the sea bed for miles.
In the middle of all of those roots floated a massive bubble with a smaller bubble resting on top of it. The bubble wasn't connected to the sea bed at all and as far as Marcus could tell, it should have floated away. But as they closed in Marcus was able to see that the bubble was double layered with the bottom half filled with land. At least it looked like land to Marcus but it was apparently all coral from the information he gathered.
Closer to the actual island, the current lost its strength as it fought with the other major current coming from Paradise. So Marcus stopped going with it and aimed the ship towards the bubble directly as they slowly approached. As they sailed closer, Uta pointed towards the right side of the bubble and said, "There is an entrance to the island over there and it's the same place to get the ship coated at."
Marcus adjusted the helm and followed Uta's directions to what looked like a large circular port that stuck out of the bubble. It almost looked like some kinda low tech docking port on a spaceship or something. Except it was massive in size compared to the ship and Uta happily said, "Head in there, that will take us into the island and the harbor."
As the ship turned and headed into the docking port, it passed through a thin membrane which seemed to just hold the outside water out. The inside was also filled with water but beyond a second membrane Marcus noticed the actual island. He needed to steer the ship a little, but he aimed for the center of the second membrane where the water level was.
When the ship started to pass through the next membrane, Marcus watched as the resin bubble stretched. He quickly left the helm and moved towards the back of the ship to see the ship coating stuck to the membrane. After passing completely through, the coating bubble kept stretching until it finally popped and Marcus felt fresh air rush across his face. Marcus took a deep breath and studied the dock membrane for a moment before he moved back inside.
Uta was at the helm now as she steered them towards the harbor as she said in a happy tone, "The harbor isn't far, afterwards we can go explore the island together!"
"I need to find us a ship coater first, you can all go have fun without me."
"We'll just wait for you then." Uta said as she glanced over her shoulder with a smile.
"Don't wait for me, I still have other things I need to do. It will probably take me at least half the day."
Uta pouted but didn't reply as she sailed the ship around a large reef into a harbor. The harbor was large with a dock to match, but it wasn't filled up with only five ships currently docked. Each ship proudly displayed a pirate flag overhead and a couple of them were even re-coated. Uta picked an empty pier and sailed towards it as gunfire rang out. Everyone turned towards the nose and noticed a large group of people running towards the docks.
Marcus frowned slightly as he took in the sight, while pirates always did whatever they felt like. The giant Whitebeard pirates flag hanging proudly over the dock should have deterred most idiots from causing problems. Marcus watched the group as the distance between them shrank and noticed they were headed towards one of the already coated ships. He wouldn't have thought much about it but he also noticed they were carrying people locked in chains.
"Dock the ship, I'm going to get some exercise." Marcus said as he grabbed his sword and rushed out of the cabin.
"Exercise?" Yamato asked, slightly confused as she glanced at everyone else.
Nicholas pointed at the pirates running along the pier towards their ship as he said, "He's probably going after them."
"Shouldn't we help out?"
"I doubt if he needs help, but we can check once we secure the ship." Nicholas said as he watched Marcus use geppo to run across the air towards the pirates ship.
Marcus landed on the ship in moments where he found part of the crew already working on setting sail. He glanced over all of them before a powerful wave of conqueror's haki blasted out from him and people collapsed to the ground. A couple of unfortunate men were up in the rigging when it hit them and they fell to the deck with sickening sounds. Marcus didn't spare any of them a second look as he drew his sword and slashed at the ship below him.
The resin bubble that coated the ship instantly split apart all along the deck and for a moment nothing else happened. The slice was completely clean and nothing else was touched below it as the bubble began to tremble. A moment later the entire resin bubble popped and disappeared from around the ship. The sound was so loud it caused everyone in the harbor to look in its direction and made the approaching pirates instantly stop.
Marcus jumped from the ship and landed on the pier a hundred feet or so from the stopped pirates. He glanced over them and noticed the people they captured were a couple of Fishmen and some mermaids. The captain, a burly man that stood a couple feet taller than the rest, glared at Marcus as he demanded, "What did you do!?!"
"Just taking out the trash." Marcus replied as he disappeared from view.
The captain was blasted off his feet and slammed into the men behind him as Marcus appeared where the man was just standing. A moment later Marcus disappeared again as people started to scream and fly through the air. Within a minute over twenty people were disabled and moaning on the ground as Marcus flashed around like a specter. Anyone he touched was almost crippled from his attacks as he worked through the entire group.
At some point the captain recovered and along with two of his lieutenants grabbed a couple prisoners to act as hostages. Marcus sent the last regular pirate flying through the air as the captain yelled, "Make another move and we'll kill them!"
Marcus glanced over towards the captain and his two lackeys who each held a hostage, one mermaid and two Fishmen. He slowly turned towards them and his hand moved to rest in his sword hilt as the captain yelled, "I said don't move!"
"You know, I don't like killing people." Marcus said as his grip tightened around his sword hilt before he added in a menacing tone, "But I'll make an exception if you don't release them."
The captain and his men each pulled their hostages a little closer while the weapons in their hands shook uncontrollably. The captain took a few moments to form his resolve and his hand steadied slightly as he said, "Don't try and scare us brat! Just because you got the drop on us doesn't mean you're stronger! Now toss that sword away and get on your knees!"
Marcus's eyes narrowed as a burst of concentrated conqueror's haki slammed into the three pirates before he disappeared. All of them froze in place from the blast as the smell of burnt meat wafted through the air. A second later a soft click filled the surrounding space and the three pirates dropped to the ground in missing their heads. There wasn't a single trace of blood from the decapitation since the wound was completely cauterized from Marcus's sword.
The handful of Fishmen and mermaids they were able to catch glanced around in shock as Marcus said, "Give me a minute and I'll get you out of those chains."
One Marcus stepped up to the first mermaid, she unconsciously flinched back from him. Marcus didn't pay attention to her reaction and just grabbed her cuffed arms before he used haki to break them apart. Afterwards he moved to a Fishman and did the same thing until he reached the last mermaid. As he was about to remove her cuffs a loud voice bellowed, "Let go of... Them?"
Marcus ripped the cuffs off before he glanced towards the voice and found a large group of Fishmen approaching and at the lead was Jinbe. Marcus stepped back from the mermaid and waved as he said, "Hey Jinbe, it's good to finally meet you in person."
Jinbe stepped closer as he studied Marcus and asked, "Do I know you?"
Marcus made a slight bow as he said, "Monkey D. Marcus at your service."
"Marcus!" Jinbe said as his eyes widened in recognition and he stepped next to Marcus before he glanced down at him and said, "I thought you'd be taller."