Chapter 541 - 381

Chapter 382: Arriving at ZouThe morning after Sanji disappeared, the thousand sunny sailed across a calm sea.The deck was unusually quiet; compared to the commotion of the past few days where they nearly tore the ship apart, it was like two different worlds.In the kitchen, that elegant figure in a suit with a cigarette in his mouth was no longer busy, and not a trace of tempting aroma could be smelled in the air. It felt empty, leaving everyone's hearts feeling just as hollow.Luffy sat on the sunny's iconic lion head, and for once, he wasn't shouting for food. He just stared blankly in the direction where Sanji had disappeared, subconsciously rubbing his empty belly with a dazed expression.In another corner of the deck, Zoro was lifting a mountain-sized barbell, performing inhuman training while drenched in sweat.But the rhythm of his workout was clearly a bit more irritable than usual, and his eyes would constantly drift toward the empty kitchen.Tch, that damn Curly Eyebrows, it's really hard to get used to him not being around.Meanwhile, in that kitchen Zoro was thinking about, a disaster movie was playing out."Cough! Cough, cough! Usopp, did you mistake chili powder for salt?!""That's not right! I clearly added it according to the drawings in Sanji's survival guide!"In the smoke-filled kitchen, a heated argument broke out between Usopp and Yamato.Soon, two pitch-black figures rushed out from inside. Usopp was choking so hard that tears and snot were flowing, looking like he had just crawled out of a chimney.Yamato, looking innocent, held up a piece of Sea Kings meat that was completely carbonized and unrecognizable, muttering to herself in confusion:"Strange, Sanji's guidebook didn't say to roast meat like this..."Trafalgar Law leaned against the ship's railing, watching this farce with cold eyes as he took a sip of the coffee he brewed himself—the kind that was so bitter it could kill a person.His inner monologue was flooding his mind:Can this crappy ship really make it to Wano Country without that cook? I have my doubts.He glanced at the Vivre Card in his hand that pointed in a specific direction and shouted to Luffyat the bow:"Straw Hat-ya, stop daydreaming. We're almost there. Ahead... there will be some trouble."As soon as Law's voice fell, it was as if someone had flipped a switch, and the world's art style suddenly shifted.The sky, which had been perfectly clear just moments ago, turned gloomy within minutes, with massive dark clouds pressing down so heavily it was hard to breathe.Immediately after, a thick, impenetrable fog surged in from all directions like a living wall, instantly swallowing the sunny.Visibility rapidly dropped to just a few meters."Hey, hey, hey! What's going on?!"Franky cried out in surprise as he looked at the dashboard in front of him, which was flashing garbled code frantically.The log pose in Robin's hand, which had been steadily pointing toward Zou, was now spinning wildly like it had gone mad, becoming completely useless.Even more bizarrely, the fog seemed to swallow sound.The crew's voices became muffled and distant, and even the sound of waves hitting the hull vanished entirely; the whole world fell into a heart-pounding silence."It... it's appeared!!! It's the ghost ship of the New World! And the undead army in the mist!""I've heard of them! They drag all lost sailors to the bottom of the sea and turn them into their companions!"Usopp's can't-go-on-the-island disease instantly upgraded to can't-go-into-the-fog disease. He clung tightly to the sunny's main mast, his face pale and his body shaking like a leaf, as he began to vividly recount a horror story he had heard somewhere.Yamato wasn't afraid at first, but listening to Usopp's realistic description, she couldn't help but grip her Spiked Club tightly and look around nervously."My, this is truly interesting."In contrast to everyone's panic, Robin stood at the bow, letting the damp mist brush against her cheeks, her eyes shining with the mix of inquiry and excitement belonging to an archaeologist.She pulled out an old nautical chart with a yellowed cover from somewhere and whispered in a voice only she could hear:"In some ancient texts that have long been considered myths, a living mist is mentioned... it guards a walking island..."Zoro had already placed his hand on the hilt of wado ichimonji, his eyes scanning the thick fog like a hawk, ready to respond to a lethal attack from any direction.Faced with everyone's confusion and panic, Law, who remained calm throughout, simply raised his hand and pointed in the direction the Vivre Cardwas moving.His voice was calm and powerful."Ignore the fog, and don't trust your eyes or the pose.""Follow it and go straight through!!!"Luffy glanced at Law's determined gaze, then at the seemingly endless fog, and grinned."Franky! Wind Laser!""SUPER! Leave it to me!"A massive blast of air erupted from the sunny's stern, and the entire ship, like an arrow from a bow, turned into a streak of golden light and slammed hard into the thickest part of the fog wall ahead!"BOOM—!!!"As if passing through a thin membrane, the view suddenly opened up!The blinding sunlight made everyone subconsciously squint.But when they saw the scene before them, everyone was petrified on the spot.What they saw was not an island, but a grey pillar rising from the sea, so massive it was beyond description, seemingly piercing the clouds!It was so large that the sunny looked as tiny as a fallen leaf in front of it.Its surface was covered in deep textures like mountain ridges, filled with the aura of ages past."What... what is this?! The root of the World Tree?!" Usopp let out a soul-shaking cry.While everyone was dazed by this divine scene, a heavy, muffled sound like ancient thunder suddenly came from beneath the sea!"Rumble..."That giant pillar, which everyone thought was stationary, actually began to slowly lift upward!At its base as it lifted, the seawater poured down like a heavenly river, forming four magnificent giant waterfalls that crashed into the sea with a roar, creating towering waves!Until this moment, amidst the splashing spray and endless curtain of water, they finally saw clearly that it wasn't a pillar at all, but a leg!The leg of a giant beast, so large it was beyond imagination, as if it could crush an island with one step!As the giant beast took its world-shaking steps, the sunny was pushed back by the massive waves.The crew finally caught a glimpse of the monster's full form—An ancient giant elephant that seemed to carry the entire sky on its back as it walked across the endless sea.Its body was a moving continent, and its cracked skin, like an ancient map, was etched with thousands of years of time.In its eyes, which were several times larger than the sunny, flowed an eternal sadness and fatigue.And on its back, so broad that the edges were invisible, the outline of a giant city was faintly visible amidst the clouds and mist.In that moment, time on the sunny's deck seemed to stand still.Zoro, Usopp, and Yamato stood in identical poses, their mouths hanging open so wide you could fit a cannonball inside; their jaws collectively dislocated, hitting the deck with a 'thud' as their eyes bulged.Two lines of clear tears slid down Robin's fair cheeks.This was the ecstasy and emotion of a historian who had spent a lifetime chasing a dream and finally saw a miracle with her own eyes."Living history... it really exists..." she murmured in a trembling voice.Only Law, looking at his group of companions who hadn't seen much of the world, had a 'just as planned' smile curl at the corner of his mouth that almost no one noticed.He let out a light breath and spoke that oracle-like name in a soft voice:"Zou (Zunesha)."After a full minute of dead silence, the first to recover from the otherworldly shock was Yamato.Her eyes instantly exploded with light, and all the shock and daze were transformed in this moment into a fervor for unknown adventure!!!She jumped up suddenly, pointing at the city outline in the clouds on Zunesha's back, and shouted at the top of her lungs, a sound that rang through the sky:"Whoa—!!! Amazing!!! Is that Zou?! Awesome! Luffy, let's find a way to get up there!!!"The camera pulled back, showing the tiny thousand sunny looking insignificant at the feet of the giant elephant that walked like a god.And the boy wearing the straw hat on the ship was already eager to conquer this walking land.Zou Arc, START!