Shrimp!

Eve's scattered light illuminated the seafloor, but it could not clear up the distant region.

Standing atop the Sea Lion's head, Bright gazed at the scene in the distance in amazement.

Seafloor sediment billowed through the water there, while the churning sea formed surging undercurrents that spread in every direction.

The earth-shaking commotion came from two colossal creatures.

"Those are Sea Kings!!"

Arlong said in shock, "Two Sea Kings are fighting!!"

Ahead, two outrageously massive monsters were locked in battle beneath the waves.

One had a long, serpentine body, but the head of a black crow. Rings of black feathers also covered its body.

This Sea King was incomparably enormous. The Sea Lion, over fifty meters long, looked as tiny as a mouse before it.

Bright estimated that it was already over a thousand meters long—a behemoth even among Sea Kings.

Of course, it still paled in comparison to the five-thousand-meter-class Sea Kings Shirahoshi had summoned.

Compared to the Crow Snake, its opponent was much smaller.

It was probably less than half as long, large by the standards of ordinary Sea Kings—roughly four to five hundred meters.

Yet despite being far larger, the Crow Snake was being relentlessly beaten down by its smaller opponent.

Its opponent was covered in a thick shell. Its backward-extending tail was like a steel whip, with a bony hammer formed at the tip.

That massive hammer tore through the seawater and smashed directly into the Crow Snake, instantly sending blood pouring from the enormous monster's mouth.

The giant serpent endured the pain and bit down on its opponent, cracking its sturdy shell. But just as its long body was about to coil around it, another cannonball-like blow struck it.

The opponent had four pairs of thick walking legs beneath its abdomen. Farther forward, where its head met its thorax, extended two enormous claws.

Those two claws, which had been drawn in, suddenly shot out. They blasted a huge cavity through the deep-sea water and struck the Crow Snake with terrifying force.

The thousand-meter beast was blasted away, crashing heavily onto the distant seafloor and kicking up another cloud of sediment.

Within the sediment cloud, the Crow Snake did not dare retaliate. Without looking back, it broke through the water and fled.

The monster opened its huge jaws beneath its fearsome head, which was likewise covered in thick shell plating, and roared wildly in victory—but it made no move to pursue.

Its head looked like that of a giant lizard.

A lizard-like head, a scorpion-like body, and shrimp-like giant claws.

Sea Kings, just like sea beasts, were all patchwork monsters.

Bright could not help but think so.

Were they really creatures born through natural reproduction?

Still, though that thing looked a little strange, its fighting style was like that of a gigantic mantis shrimp.

Lizard Scorpion Shrimp?

But it was so noisy.

He had been wondering since earlier—why was it so noisy?

Bright suspected he was having auditory hallucinations. Meaningless clamor had been echoing in his ears the entire time, as though the Reaper Squid's sensory ability had picked up some strange fluctuations.

"Th-That's incredible!"

The fish-man who had led the way earlier was pale-faced. "The power of Sea Kings is truly terrifying!"

They were on an entirely different level from sea beasts.

The commotion from their battle was practically earth-shattering.

Just then, the roaring giant beast in the distant sediment suddenly turned its head. Its tiny eyes, wildly disproportionate to its huge head, stared straight at them.

"Roar!!"

The Sea Lion's eyes instantly went round, and even its mouth began to tremble.

"It spotted us!"

Arlong's expression changed. "Bright! Get out of here!"

Fish-men were a race that lived in the deep sea, but Sea Kings were the true rulers of these waters!

Bright was preparing to leave as well.

Sea Kings were different from sea beasts. They could not communicate with them, which made them impossible to tame, and there was no point in fighting one either.

But the gigantic Lizard Scorpion Shrimp did not attack. After glancing their way, it vanished into the deep sea without looking back.

"It wasn't interested in us."

Arlong sighed in relief. "Thank goodness."

It really did seem uninterested.

It was as though it had not seen them at all.

Were Sea Kings really such gentle creatures?

It was completely unlike the irritable manner they had shown during the fight just now.

Brother Bright was a little curious.

But it did not really matter. Once Shirahoshi mastered the powers of Poseidon in the future, all Sea Kings would bow before her.

However, the noisy voices vanished along with the departure of the two Sea Kings.

What had that been?

"Let's head back."

Brother Bright said.

Since he could not figure it out, he could not be bothered to keep thinking about it.

Although they had run into a small interruption, the beast-taming trip had gone very smoothly overall.

They had successfully captured one Sea Lion.

They rode the Sea Lion all the way to the Sea Forest, then had it land on the ground and crawl into the giant bubble.

Sea beasts were amphibious creatures and could survive on land as well.

Though fish tails were ultimately rather inconvenient for movement.

After passing through the wall of water again, they returned to Fish-Man Island.

There was a way to let the Sea Lion move around Fish-Man Island more easily: it only needed to wear a bubble ring like the fish-men did.

It just had to be a rather large one.

That was not difficult either.

Fish-Man Island's bubble technology was highly developed. Taking out the thick coral segment they had prepared beforehand, Brother Bright and Arlong skillfully fitted a bubble ring around the Sea Lion's waist.

The massive sea beast rose into the sky.

"Roar?"

The Sea Lion found the experience incredibly strange. It excitedly looked around in every direction; swimming in the sea and flying were entirely different sensations.

"Roar roar roar roar!"

After its initial discomfort faded, the Sea Lion cried out as it swung its tail and flew back and forth through the sky.

Like an overly energetic big dog.

After letting it fool around for a while, Brother Bright tapped its head with his foot. "All right, head in that direction now."

"Roar~"

The Sea Lion perked up, accelerating the swish of its tail as it sped toward the training ground.

When they arrived above the training ground, the warriors were still training. With such a huge monster appearing in the sky, there was no way they would not notice it.

"Wow! That's a sea beast! A Sea Lion!"

"Brother Bright is on the Sea Lion's head!"

"Brother Bright captured a sea beast after just one trip? That's incredible!"

Although there had always been a tradition of taming sea beasts, it was no easy task for the residents of Fish-Man Island to tame one.

Yet Brother Bright had gone out once and returned with a powerful sea beast!

That was amazing!

Brother Bright had the Sea Lion descend into the square. Standing atop its head, he called out loudly, "It's too early to be surprised. My plan is for every company to have a sea beast assisting them in battle in the future!"

The training ground fell silent for a moment.

Then—

"Really, Brother Bright?!"

"Isn't that too outrageous? In the depths of the sea, who could possibly be our match then?!"

"No, we'd be invincible even on the surface! That would be a full hundred sea beasts!"

The reserve warriors instantly erupted into excited cheers.

The Sea Lion proudly raised its head.

It could understand the fish-men's words and knew that these people were cheering for its arrival.

"Of course, capturing sea beasts is easy. Finding suitable ones is the troublesome part, so this will be a long-term process."

Brother Bright added, "So, in what order should they be assigned?"

For a moment, everyone held their breath.

Who would not want their own unit to be the first to receive a powerful sea beast?

Brother Bright flashed a brilliant smile. "We can discuss the rest later. As for this Sea Lion, I'll leave it to Brother Jinbe to assign."

Brother Jinbe nodded in understanding, then announced loudly, "Excellent! Then I declare that the battalion that performs best in the upcoming training will earn the right to raise this Sea Lion."

The battalion commanders' eyes gleamed with fiery enthusiasm.

Whoever won this Sea Lion would prove that their unit was now the best in the bureau!

"Understood!!"

They answered in unison.

"Arroo! Arroo!"

The Sea Lion cried out smugly as well.

That was its charm.

Bright and Jinbe exchanged smiles from afar.

Wasn't this moving in a better direction?