Just as panic spread like a plague, Hans's steady voice cut through the chaos like an anchor in a storm.
"Everyone calm down! Follow my orders!"
Both hands locked tightly around the helm, his sharp gaze fixed on the raging waterfall current ahead.
"Everyone, secure yourselves immediately! Deck crew, prioritize protecting the masts and critical rigging! If you don't want to be flung out and smashed to pieces, then hold on tight!"
The crew on deck rapidly tied themselves to masts, railings, and sturdy bollards with safety ropes, while others scrambled into the safer interior cabins, desperately clutching anything fixed in place.
Almost the instant everyone finished securing themselves, the Flaming Fang was completely seized by an irresistible force.
The bow suddenly pitched downward.
Then the entire ship began plunging vertically into the abyss!
"WAAAAAAAHHHHHH——!"
The sensation of weightlessness gripped every single person aboard, their screams swallowed by the thunderous roar of the current.
The world itself seemed inverted.
Only the devouring darkness below rushed ever closer.
"Hard to port! Reef the mainsail by one-third! …Starboard taking pressure—adjust the lateen sail!"
Even amidst the deafening waters, Hans's commands remained perfectly clear.
Eyes wide, he devoted every ounce of concentration to battling the violent current.
Through delicate adjustments to the angles of the sails, he fought desperately to keep the Flaming Fang within the relatively stable core of the waterfall current, avoiding the invisible reefs and chaotic whirlpools lurking at its edges.
The process was utterly nerve-wracking.
The hull shook violently within the torrent while outside the bubble membrane churned an endless abyss of roaring seawater.
No one knew how much time passed.
Perhaps only a few minutes.
Yet it felt like several centuries.
Then suddenly—
The terrifying downward force abruptly weakened.
"We made it!" Hans roared, spinning the helm one final time with all his strength.
Borrowing the remaining momentum and the force of the current, the Flaming Fang carved a perilous arc near the seabed, shifting from a vertical plunge into horizontal navigation.
"I-Is it over?"
"We… we're okay?"
"W-We survived! WAAAAH! WE REALLY SURVIVED!"
The overwhelming joy of surviving disaster instantly swept across the ship.
Many collapsed limply where they had tied themselves down.
Even someone as thick-nerved as Aldo wiped cold sweat from his forehead and let out a long breath.
But that joy quickly faded beneath the oppressive environment surrounding them.
It was too dark.
Unlike the upper waters, where faint traces of light still filtered through—
Here, there was almost absolute darkness.
Only the ship's lamps and the faint glow of the bubble membrane barely illuminated a small patch of ink-black seawater around them.
The cold was even worse.
It seeped into the bones.
Even through thick winter clothing, everyone could still feel the piercing chill invading every inch of their bodies.
"W-Where are we now?" one crewman asked with trembling lips.
Inside the helm room, Hans carefully checked the Log Pose pointing toward Fish-Man Island before raising his head toward Riberra Sami and the others gathered outside.
"According to the navigation records and the Log Pose, we're currently around seven thousand meters below sea level."
"S-Seven thousand meters?!"
Someone sucked in a sharp breath.
"If the bubble bursts at this depth…"
"Forget bursting. Even a slightly larger leak and we'd…"
The man didn't finish the sentence, but everyone understood.
At this depth, the ocean pressure would flatten a human body instantly.
Any accident meant absolute death.
No chance of survival whatsoever.
Clinging to the doorway, Aldo asked in his booming voice,
"Hans, how much farther is Fish-Man Island? It's pitch black down here—how are we supposed to navigate?"
Hans pointed toward the Log Pose indicating a certain direction.
"The heading is correct. Fish-Man Island lies ten thousand meters underwater. We still need to descend another three thousand meters."
"Another THREE THOUSAND?! In a place this dark?!"
Worry immediately resurfaced among the crew.
Riberra Sami didn't join the discussion.
Instead, he reached out and lightly touched the bubble membrane surrounding the hull.
That seemingly fragile membrane had endured the horrifying pressure of seven thousand meters beneath the sea, as well as the impact of the waterfall current earlier, yet it remained completely intact without the slightest sign of rupture.
"Incredible…" Riberra Sami muttered softly.
"At this depth, even steel submarines would probably struggle to withstand the pressure."
"The resin secreted by the Yarukiman Mangroves of Sabaody… just what kind of strength does it have?"
The unknown darkness instinctively oppressed the human mind.
Then, just as unease and silence spread through the ship—
"Boss! Look! One of your own kind showed up!"
Aldo's sudden shout shattered the stillness.
Everyone followed the direction he pointed.
In the dim waters off the ship's front side, a hazy and dreamlike glow slowly emerged.
It was a gigantic jellyfish nearly the size of a small sea beast!
Its body was almost completely transparent, while countless tiny bioluminescent spots lined the edges of its bell and its long trailing tentacles.
The lights pulsed rhythmically like breathing, radiating a soft blue-white glow.
Within the absolute darkness of the deep sea, it resembled a living lantern made from starlight.
"Wooooow… it's huge! And it glows!"
"It's beautiful… creatures like this actually exist in the deep sea?"
As everyone marveled at the underwater spectacle, Feiqi suddenly smacked his forehead as though struck by divine inspiration.
Excitedly turning toward Sami, he loudly proposed:
"Boss, that thing's definitely your relative, right?! Come on, use your fellow-jellyfish connections and ask it to guide us! It's pitch black down here—having a local guide would be amazing!"
Hearing this, several invisible black lines instantly appeared across Sami's forehead.
Here we go again…
Riberra Sami felt utterly helpless inside.
The "Jellyfish Man" nonsense he had casually made up back then had apparently been accepted wholeheartedly by these idiots, to the point where it had become a running joke that never died.
Looking at the crew's eager, expectant expressions, Riberra Sami realized there was no escaping this performance now.
With great difficulty, he stepped forward beneath everyone's burning gazes and cleared his throat toward the leisurely glowing jellyfish.
"Hey——! Over there… fellow countryman! What's your name? Can you guide us to Fish-Man Island?"
The giant glowing jellyfish gently waved its tentacles as it drifted past the Flaming Fang.
At the same time, the lights across its bell continued blinking rhythmically.
Riberra Sami folded one arm across his chest while the other supported his chin, furrowing his brows as though carefully listening.
Every so often, he even nodded thoughtfully.
After a long while, Riberra Sami finally turned back toward the crew, who stared at him with wide expectant eyes.
A complicated expression mixing regret and helplessness appeared on his face.
"Well, Boss? Did it agree?" Aldo asked impatiently.
Riberra Sami sighed and shook his head.
"Nope."
"Huh?! Why not?" everyone shouted in unison.
Riberra Sami spread his hands and gave an explanation so ridiculous it nearly knocked everyone over.
"I couldn't understand a single word. It was speaking some kind of Grand Line regional dialect. The accent was way too thick."
"NANIIII——?!!!"
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