"I didn't expect another Sea King to appear at the last moment." Saint Shamrock put away his weapon, frowning as he said: "This is truly surprising."
"Why should this be surprising?" Borsalino shook his head and said: "Don't forget this is the Calm Belt!"
Is it really strange for Sea Kings to appear in a place like the Calm Belt?
Saint Shamrock fell silent for a moment, then nodded: "You're right."
It really wasn't strange for a Sea King to appear in the Calm Belt, after all... this was the nesting ground of Sea Kings!
Then Saint Shamrock said: "Gunko, retrieve the upper half of this Sea King's body and dig out the Blood-Eyed Ninja's corpse."
"Isn't that a bit too troublesome?" Gunko frowned: "Can't we just take the Sea King back directly?"
Currently, she couldn't sense the Blood-Eyed Ninja's presence, so finding him would require searching through the Sea King's body piece by piece.
But the problem was... this was too troublesome!
After considering Gunko's words, Saint Shamrock nodded: "Then let's take the Sea King away."
Just as...
Before Saint Shamrock could finish speaking, his expression changed and he said: "Not good, another group of big ones is coming!"
The moment Saint Shamrock's words fell, the sea below suddenly began to tremble, followed by one terrifying giant after another bursting forth from beneath the water!
Several of them reached terrifying lengths of thousands of meters, looking like massive islands rising from the sea!
"There are actually Sea Kings this enormous in this world?!"
Looking at the immense Sea Kings, a flicker of shock passed through Borsalino's eyes.
Even he was seeing Sea Kings of such colossal size for the first time - they were as large as some islands!
Saint Shamrock swept his gaze over the surrounding super-giant Sea Kings and said: "I didn't expect these giants to suddenly appear here..."
Sea Kings of this level weren't easy to kill.
Just as Saint Shamrock was considering how to deal with these creatures, the super-large Sea Kings measuring hundreds of meters in length began to move.
These Sea Kings opened their massive jaws and quickly devoured the sliced eel-like Sea King, tearing it apart and swallowing it!
"Hmm?"
After observing what these 'food' creatures were doing, the super-giant Sea Kings measuring over thousands of meters in length immediately turned cold-eyed.
How dare these small fry hunt in their presence?
Were they seeking death?!
Perhaps sensing the gaze of the super-giant Sea Kings, the expressions of the hundreds-of-meters-long super-large Sea Kings immediately froze.
Then, these Sea Kings that had been driven into frenzy by the scent of blood or some psychological suggestion instantly regained their senses!
The moment they became aware, these large creatures quickly turned around and dove downward, attempting to escape into the deep sea!
Witnessing this scene, Saint Shamrock roared angrily, "Bastards! Who gave you permission to escape!"
With those words, Saint Shamrock swung his blade forward!
"Whoosh—"
"Thud!"
In the blink of an eye, he carved an enormous wound into a super-sized Sea King with elephant-like features!!
"Groooan!!"
The struck Sea King let out a painful cry before collapsing onto the sea surface, eyes rolled back.
"Boom!!"
The next moment, massive amounts of blood sprayed across the water, immediately inciting the ferocity of the distant super-giant Sea Kings.
"Roar!!"
Sensing the blood, these colossal Sea Kings roared thunderously.
They then turned their bodies and began moving toward Saint Shamrock.
"Driven mad by the scent of blood?" Saint Shamrock frowned.
After glancing at the approaching "islands" in the distance, he focused his gaze on the sea, using Observation Haki to sense the movements of the large Sea Kings.
After a moment of silence, his eyes sharpened as he declared, "Stay put, all of you!"
Instantly, Saint Shamrock unleashed his Conqueror's Haki without hesitation!
"Boom!!"
An overwhelmingly terrifying Conqueror's Haki erupted, enveloping the entire area.
Feeling the dreadful pressure of Saint Shamrock's Conqueror's Haki, the super-giant Sea Kings halted their advance, adopting cautious expressions as they realized he was not to be trifled with.
Meanwhile, some of the super-large Sea Kings in the water lost consciousness the moment they were struck by his Conqueror's Haki, their eyes rolling back.
"Gasp!"
Seeing their "companions" knocked out, the several nearly kilometer-long giants showed terrified expressions and swiftly swam toward the deeper ocean, moving even faster than before.
Among these giants... was one with a hippopotamus-like head!
Damn it.
Sensing the situation below, Saint Shamrock's face darkened immediately.
If not for these island-sized creatures, how could those bastards have succeeded?!
How infuriating!
"He actually took down so many super-large Sea Kings in one go."
Observing the unconscious super-large Sea Kings floating on the surface, Borsalino remarked with exaggerated surprise, "That's... truly terrifying~"
As expected of that man's brother, after all!
Gunko frowned at Borsalino. Why did this guy have to chatter so much? Was now really the time for such comments?
"Borsalino, Gunko, don't let them escape!" Saint Shamrock commanded. If those giants below got away... the Blood-Eyed Ninja's body might never be found!
Upon receiving the order, Gunko and Borsalino glanced at the sea and swiftly launched their attacks toward the ocean below.
"Arrow Rain!"
"Yasakani Sacred Jewel!"
"Boom!!"
"Boom!!"
"Boom!!"
A barrage of attacks rained down on the sea, mercilessly striking the fleeing Sea Kings.
Finally, at the cost of one or two Sea Kings, these nearly kilometer-long super-sized Sea Kings managed to escape alive.
After sensing the Sea Kings leaving his perception range, Borsalino showed a helpless expression and said, "There's no way to pursue those super-sized Sea Kings. Their swimming speed is simply too fast - we could never catch them."
Hearing Borsalino's words, a shadow of gloom appeared in Saint Shamrock's eyes.
Now he could only pray that those large Sea Kings hadn't swallowed the Blood-Eyed Ninja's body, otherwise they would have suffered a double loss this time!
Then, Saint Shamrock turned his gaze to the stopped super-giant Sea Kings and said coldly, "What? Finally realized you should be afraid?"
After hearing Saint Shamrock's words, the super-giant Sea Kings glanced at him with their enormous eyes.
Then, these huge creatures began looking at each other, appearing as if they were exchanging information.
This scene made Gunko pause in surprise.
Gunko: ???
What's with this human-like behavior?
Could these beasts possess intelligence not inferior to humans?
Just at that moment, the large creatures turned to look at the group, their eyes simultaneously showing a hint of disgust.
Then, these large creatures began sinking toward the sea surface, clearly not intending to conflict with Saint Shamrock and his group.
"They know we're not easy to deal with, so they're planning to leave just like that," Borsalino muttered.
It seemed these Sea Kings' intelligence was even higher than he had imagined.
"Did I say you could leave!" Saint Shamrock roared angrily.
As his words fell, he infused Armament Haki into his weapon, then without hesitation swung his blade!
"Clang!"
A massive Flying Slash shot out from the long blade, heading straight for the distant super-giant Sea Kings!
"Rumble~"
Seeing this, one of the large creatures immediately let out an angry roar, then raised its enormous claw and slammed it down hard!
"Clang!"
"BOOM!!"
In the end, this attack was perfectly blocked by the large creature!
After accomplishing this, the large creature gave Saint Shamrock a cold look.
That gaze seemed to say: If you don't know what's good for you, we'll have to take action against you!!!
Then, the large creature withdrew its Armament Haki and turned back to the sea.
"It was actually Armament Haki..."
Recalling the Haki on that large creature's claw just now, a look of shock appeared in Borsalino's eyes.
He truly hadn't expected a Sea King to be able to use Haki - this was truly astonishing!
Glancing at the surprised Borsalino, Saint Shamrock said, "Sea Kings that have grown to this level have lived for who knows how many years. It's quite normal for them to know Haki."
As one of the higher-ranking Celestial Dragons, he knew some of this world's secrets, so he didn't find it strange that super-giant Sea Kings could use Haki.
"I see..."
Looking at Saint Shamrock who showed no surprise, Borsalino nodded and said nothing more.
"What should we do now?" Gunko said.
After the Blood-Eyed Ninja was killed, his presence completely vanished, making it impossible for them to determine whether his body had been taken away by the fleeing Sea Kings.
"Let's take these Sea Kings back first," Saint Shamrock said, sheathing his sword. "We'll search their bodies thoroughly."
If they could find it, that would be the best outcome.
If not...
As if considering a certain possibility, Saint Shamrock sighed silently.
"Alright, understood," Gunko nodded.
Gunko then began using her Devil Fruit ability, intending to transport these massive Sea Kings back.
Watching Gunko at work, Borsalino remarked with admiration, "What a remarkable ability."
Hearing Borsalino's words, Saint Shamrock said calmly, "If it weren't powerful, we wouldn't have consumed it."
Members of the God's Knights only consume divine-level Devil Fruits!!
Glancing at Saint Shamrock's composed expression, Borsalino nodded. "That's true."
Today, he had witnessed the World Government's true depth of power—far greater than he had imagined.
Borsalino then turned his gaze toward the direction the Sea Kings had fled, his eyes gradually growing complex.
"Stop daydreaming," Saint Shamrock said. "Let's go!"
"Right."
Borsalino nodded and followed Saint Shamrock as they departed together.
Three hours later, a hippo-like Sea King opened its eyes in the deep sea a hundred miles away.
And those eyes were blood-red pupils resembling a three-leaf clover!
"Roar!!"
The Sea King roared in the deep sea, frightening away the smaller Sea Kings gradually approaching!
In the next moment, a figure materialized out of thin air before the Sea King!
"Whoosh~"
It seems the plan was executed perfectly.
In his Water Release: Dance of the Swimming Fish state, Meiser curled his lips into a smile, thinking, 'Those fools would never dream I could delay my resurrection.'
After participating in the Summit War, Meiser had discovered a unique application of his right eye's ability.
By expending a vast amount of Pupil Power and Chakra, he could activate an ability called Reverse Resurrection.
This ability allowed his body to revive at a preset time without affecting Kishu Mitsu Mikoto!
Relying on this ability, Meiser had been confident he could deceive them with a feigned death.
"This way, the World Government won't launch a large-scale manhunt for me," Meiser said.
Thus, the Straw Hat Pirates could peacefully navigate these two years!
Thinking of this, Meiser couldn't help but laugh.
"Hahahahaha!!"
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