"Should be soon, right?"
With a huge sack of food on his back, Austin strolled leisurely across the sea, a gentle breeze curling around him.
In theory, spending too much time on the ocean's surface would leave one constantly damp, but Seagull King's wind-controlling ability kept Austin fresh and dry at all times.
Even when storms occasionally swept in, the beast-transformed Seagull King would disperse them.
"You're really capable, Seagull King~"
Above the clouds, vast stretches of storm clouds had gathered, but before Austin could do anything, Seagull King, standing guard on his shoulder, spread his wings.
Screech—
Howling winds formed between his wings and, before long, slowly turned into a tornado that reached the heavens.
Seagull King waved in one direction, and the terrifying tornado swept up seawater, connecting sea and sky as it shot off into the distance.
Countless dark clouds were swept away, and patches of sunlight immediately spilled down from the sky.
Austin, standing on the sea, raised a hand to shield his eyes as he looked at the terrifying tornado in the distance.
"If a ship ran into that, it would definitely be smashed to pieces."
Elsewhere,
With his older sister Reiju's help, the young Sanji had successfully boarded a passenger ship bound for the East Blue. Now working as an apprentice kitchen hand, he had no idea what an enormous gift his adoptive father, whom he had not seen in a long time, was about to send him.
He was still learning how to cook when the ship suddenly lurched violently.
When he came out, he was shocked to discover that a pirate ship had hijacked the vessel he was on.
He tried desperately to resist, but he was no match at all for the Chef Pirates led by Zeff. Just as he was