Sunken Ship

"What happened?"

The sudden collision made the ship shudder slightly, and Dominic shouted loudly.

"Something seems to have hit the ship?" Leo walked to the side and looked down, but there was nothing below.

"The ship, the ship is taking on water! Seawater is flooding into the hold!" a pirate shouted from the stairs.

"Old Josen, where is the breach? How big is it? Can it be fixed?"

Dominic hurried over and asked anxiously.

Josen examined the hole and replied, "It's on the starboard side of the fourth compartment. It won't affect the ship's overall buoyancy. I'll have the cargo moved aside so we can repair it. Also, we must lower the sails. We can't keep moving forward."

"Go do it."

Dominic said quickly, then shouted, "Lower the sails!"

The pirates immediately got to work. Some moved cargo, others lowered the sails, while the shipwrights handled the repairs.

This pirate ship had watertight compartments, meaning the bottom of the ship was divided into separate sections. If one area flooded, the water would not spread into the others, allowing the ship to retain buoyancy.

Once the cargo was moved away, the breach could be repaired.

Watertight compartments were essential on many ships in the world of One Piece, protecting them against attacks from sea creatures.

This was not an especially modern technology. It had already appeared in ancient China during the Tang Dynasty and had become fairly common by the Song Dynasty.

Watertight compartments could not only prevent leaks from sinking a ship, but also reinforce the hull, improve lateral strength, and increase resistance to water pressure from the sides.

"Really hard."

In the distance, a figure shook his head, feeling a dull pain in it. It was Xia Qiu.

This ship was sturdier than he had expected.

When Xia Qiu saw the pirate ship, he had the urge to swallow the pirates into his belly. He wanted to obtain more Reinforcement Energy.

But most of them were on the ship. If he wanted to eat them, he first had to sink it.

The ship was around thirty-five meters long, with a sturdy hull and a weight of roughly a hundred tons. It would be difficult for him to destroy it directly.

But if he targeted a plank near the waterline and smashed it apart, letting seawater flood in, that was still possible.

He was eighteen meters long and weighed around fifty tons. After three enhancements, his strength was no weaker than that of a sea fish over thirty meters long.

In ancient times, blue whales ramming sailing ships was hardly rare. Many wooden sailing ships had been capsized or smashed apart by blue whales.

And Xia Qiu had a huge ram, allowing him to concentrate his strength on a single point. Shattering a few planks would not be difficult.

So Xia Qiu took advantage of—

But the ship was tougher than he had imagined. Even after accelerating into it, he had only made a hole the size of a washbasin.

And judging by their reactions, the hole had not caused much trouble.

"Again."

Xia Qiu swam beneath the ship and headed into the distance. He swung his body and accelerated once more.

Splash.

Xia Qiu turned into a black shadow and charged at the pirate ship again.

"Boss, what's that?"

On the ship, Leo stared at the distant surface of the water and frowned.

"What?"

Dominic looked in the direction Leo was pointing, narrowing his eyes. "Such a huge fish? Was that what hit us just now?"

As they spoke, Xia Qiu had already arrived. He rammed the ship again with a boom, and the hull shook violently.

His protruding skull slammed into the planks along the side, shattering them outright and opening a large hole as seawater rushed in.

"We've been hit again! Josen, how is it?" Dominic shouted.

"The nineteenth compartment is damaged. I've already arranged for the shipwrights to repair it, but we need to throw away some cargo."

Josen poked his head out from the stairway, his expression grim.

"Then throw some cargo overboard!" Dominic shouted.

"Boss, we can't let that fish keep ramming us," Leo said from the side.

"I know."

Dominic shouted, "Johansen, prepare the cannons and attack the sea fish. Leo, take the others and attack it with harpoon guns and crossbows."

"Yes."

Johansen and Leo immediately sprang into action.

Dominic raised his telescope and watched the sea, but he could not find any trace of the fish.

"What happened? Why did the Dominic Pirates stop?" The people aboard the merchant ship in the distance were confused.

"They look pretty frantic."

Joezer held up a telescope and watched the ship. The people aboard were constantly rushing about. Frowning, he said, "They're even throwing cargo into the sea."

"A leak?"

The captain raised an eyebrow, picked up his telescope, and took a look. "The sails have been lowered too. The hold must be taking on water."

"Hahaha, so this day has come for them too." Kafur laughed happily.

"Evil reaps its reward. They'd better drown here." Marcel clenched his fists.

"Ships generally have watertight compartments. An ordinary leak shouldn't be a problem. Besides, they have boats aboard. Even if the ship sinks, they'll be fine," Joezer said from the side.

"And we need to be careful."

The captain lowered his telescope and said, "Once their pirate ship sinks, they may come toward us and seize our vessel. We need to move away from them."

Everyone quickly followed the captain's orders, raising the sails, turning the rudder, and changing direction.

Marcel took Joezer's telescope and continued observing the distance.

"Port side! Left side!"

A pirate shouted aboard the pirate ship. Dominic immediately ran toward the port side and looked into the distance.

Bang.

A massive black shadow slammed into the pirate ship.

"Damn it! Where are the gunners? Johansen, what are you doing? Shoot it!"

Dominic roared in fury.

Leo and several pirates raised their harpoon guns, aimed at the water, and pulled the triggers.

Puff, puff, puff.

The harpoons shot into the water and struck the black fish, but it was completely unharmed.

"This kind of attack can't even scratch an itch."

Underwater, Xia Qiu snorted coldly, dived to the seabed, and swam into the distance to begin his fourth attack.

Xia Qiu had made two holes in the hull beneath the starboard side, one in front and one in back.

He had opened one hole on the port side, offset from those on the starboard side. He intended to make one more. With four holes, he refused to believe the ship would not sink.

Xia Qiu turned around, put some distance between himself and the ship, then charged toward it again.

Bang, bang, bang.

The cannons roared. Three cannonballs flew out and landed in the water around Xia Qiu.

The three cannonballs missed Xia Qiu. The other three cannons quickly adjusted their aim and targeted him.

Another three cannon blasts rang out.

Xia Qiu suddenly accelerated, dodging two cannonballs but getting hit by one.

But the cannonball's force had been weakened by the seawater, and it could not harm Xia Qiu at all.

Whoosh.

Xia Qiu barely slowed down as he charged straight at the pirate ship.

"Damn it, even the cannons can't hurt it."

Seeing the black shadow emerge unscathed, Dominic's face darkened. In anger, he slammed his fist against the rail.

The cannons continued firing, but Xia Qiu had already approached the ship and rammed into it.

Boom.

The hull shook violently, and another hole appeared.

Seawater flooded in, and the pirate ship slowly began to sink.

Water poured through the four holes, increasing the ship's weight. The holes were spread across the front and back of both sides, offset from one another, damaging four compartments. No sufficiently large section of the hull remained to provide enough buoyancy.

"Boss, four compartments are already damaged! We can't hold on anymore!"

Old Josen ran onto the deck and shouted.

"Can't they be repaired?" Dominic demanded angrily.

Old Josen looked troubled as he said, "There's too little time. With four breaches, the ship is sinking too quickly. It's hard for us to repair them against the water pressure."

"How long before the ship sinks?" Dominic asked coldly.

Old Josen replied, "At most two minutes, and that's only if it remains limited to these four holes."

"Bastard!"

Dominic's expression twisted as he shouted, "Lower the boats on the other side of the ship! Abandon the ship!"

"But the two boats can only carry fourteen people," Leo said from the side. "And that fish is still underneath us."

"Then only fourteen leave."

Dominic snorted coldly. "Let the remaining pirates and the pirate ship serve as bait. We'll leave from the far side. We'll get away from here first."

"Alright."

Leo nodded and arranged for people to lower the boats.

"Boss, I..." Old Josen looked at Dominic, hope in his eyes.

"You're still useful. You can leave with me."

Dominic said coldly. Old Josen was the best shipwright, experienced and skilled. He would still be useful after they escaped.

"Thank you, Boss." Old Josen said gratefully.

Dominic pointed at a pirate and said, "Go find Johansen. I'm saving two spots for you and him."

"Yes."

Having been given a chance to survive, the pirate excitedly ran toward the hold to find Johansen.

Dominic looked at the tilting pirate ship, his gaze fierce as he strode toward the boats.