The Bat in the Treasure Chest

"Temperature: twenty degrees. Clear skies. Winds from the southeast... Wait, Captain, if there's a giant sea beast pulling the ship, then a navigator can only be a weather forecaster!"

After determining their direction, Nami had initially navigated with great enthusiasm, but soon began to feel that something was off.

With Momoo, the sea cow, pulling the ship, she only needed to determine the direction and have Momoo move forward. Why did the wind direction matter at all?

This was a direct upgrade from sail power to a biological engine.

"Captain, let me teach you how to read! It'd be too pitiful if you couldn't even read the newspaper!"

Little Nami ran over to Ling Donglai's side. Her skin once again sensed the crackling current within his body, making Nami shudder.

"Sure. Once I learn to read, I can pick up a cookbook for the sea as well." Ling Donglai nodded. In any case, his Current Drive was training constantly.

"Then I'll teach you how to read!" Nami leaned beside Ling Donglai and took out a newspaper. Her skin accidentally brushed against his exposed skin, and she recoiled from the shock before cautiously touching him again.

"That really is amazing, Captain. Just touching your body gives you an electric shock." Nami taught him while marveling.

"Logia Devil Fruit abilities are the truly amazing ones. They can passively transform the user into an element and ignore any attack without Haki. I wonder if I can reach that level through this unconventional method of training."

Ling Donglai looked at his hand, wrapped in white bandages.

"Devil Fruits, the secret treasures of the sea... Captain, what is your Fruit ability?" Nami asked curiously.

"Zoan Human-Human Fruit... As for the ability, probably controlling my body and being unable to swim."

"No way, then what about your electricity..." Nami did not believe him.

"As long as you want to, you can release electricity too. It isn't that difficult."

Discharging electricity on the sea was nothing unusual. By the middle stages, Nami could use tools to discharge electricity, summon lightning, and make it rain.

The Mink Tribe's innate talent was also releasing static electricity, which could paralyze others and leave them unable to move.

"Can I... learn this power too?" Nami looked captivated.

She could not forget that lightning strike in the curtain of rain, like judgment from a god.

"Of course. As long as your willpower can make your cells rub together at high speed, you can generate electricity. Current Drive is a power that can be trained."

Ling Donglai gave an affirmative answer.

Current Drive had two effects. One was storing electricity within the body and unleashing it all at once when necessary. That was why Ling Donglai's average output was 100,000 Volts, yet he could freely erupt with the power of 300,000 Volts.

The second was continuous output—releasing the electricity generated by cellular friction immediately. It could only reach the power of 100,000 Volts.

"Then Captain will have to take on the job of a master as well." Little Nami giggled.

"At the same time, I'm your teacher, since I have to teach you how to read."

Momoo suddenly raised his head and cried out at the most inappropriate moment. At the same time, he had a treasure chest locked with an iron chain in his mouth, which was very strange.

"Eh, we're already there? That fast?" Nami asked in surprise.

"Is the giant sea beast that fast, or is there something wrong with the location of the Navel of the Sea..." Nami leaned over the side of the ship and took the treasure chest from Momoo's mouth, while also spotting a rocky outcrop in the sea.

That rock jutted abruptly out of the water. Any ship that failed to notice it, if it was even slightly fragile, would end up wrecked with all hands lost.

"Captain, do you think there really is a treasure that can grant any wish?" Nami hugged the treasure chest, holding a toothpick in her hand.

"It's fake. Something like that can't exist. It's just an exaggeration people made up."

Nami had already inserted the toothpick into the chest's keyhole. Having been a thief for years, she was highly skilled at picking locks.

"A living creature." Ling Donglai frowned slightly, then pulled Nami behind him.

The treasure chest slowly opened. A cloud of black smoke drifted out, accompanied by the appearance of a small bat.

"Ha ha ha ha, I've finally seen daylight again!" The little bat flew about in the air.

At the same time, the previously calm sea began to sink, as though the endless seawater were being swallowed.

"Are you pirates of this generation who have come in pursuit of the legend of the Navel of the Sea? I am your treasure-hunting sprite, specially responsible for guiding you to the Navel of the Sea to seek treasure." The bat spoke human words, staring at the two of them sinisterly.

"This thing—there was actually a bat inside the treasure chest!" Nami clutched Ling Donglai's clothes and peeked out from behind him. It gave people the impression that...

"I hate bats..." Azure arcs of electricity flashed in Ling Donglai's palm.

"Wait, don't get excited, don't get excited! Really, I'm not lying to you. The Navel of the Sea truly contains a treasure that can grant any wish!"

The little bat's pupils contracted as it awkwardly moved a little farther from Ling Donglai.

"Lightning Strike!"

Ling Donglai fired a bolt of lightning.

The little bat instinctively screamed, but when it felt no pain after a long moment, it opened its eyes and discovered that the lightning strike had been fired into the Navel of the Sea.

"There's open land with air below."

"Of course there is. The Navel of the Sea is a special phenomenon. Once it opens, it becomes a special passage. Beneath it lies an ancient land, though I don't know exactly how ancient." The little bat flew a little higher and said disdainfully, looking at Ling Donglai with extreme displeasure.

Because he had scared it.

"You don't even know that, yet you dare call yourself a treasure-hunting sprite?" Ling Donglai looked at the little bat, and an unspoken terror began to envelop it.

"I'm just a little, little sprite. How could I possibly know that much... Would you tell your pet what the land beneath its feet is called?"

Beads of moisture appeared on the bat's body, as if it were sweating, and it hurriedly explained.

It had the illusion that if its answer failed to satisfy this man, it would be killed.

This man's presence... was simply too powerful. This ship was also extremely strange. It did not fly a pirate flag, yet this huge vessel only had two people aboard. This ship was clearly equipped for over a hundred people...

There was only one possibility—these two were not the ship's true owners.

Damn it, I ran into someone who looks incredibly strong, but... I have to find a way to trick them into the Navel of the Sea!

For my freedom... I have to provoke this man and take a gamble!

The only good news was probably the little girl beside this man. She looked very weak. Was she... his daughter? She did not look like it...

"Tell me what's down there, and how to get back up after going down."

"Below is open land. As for coming back up, you can simply ride the rising air and return easily."

The little bat hurriedly answered.

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