Bloodline

A few minutes later.

Only a few shattered planks remained on the sea. The great sailing ship had departed without a second thought, leaving only the aftershocks of the bombardment echoing amid the waves.

As the great sailing ship left, a barnacle shot up from the seabed toward its hull. It attached itself to the timber beneath the ship, gradually corroding the wood and burrowing inward.

An octopus swallowed the middle-aged man who had fallen into the water, then sank toward the seabed.

Five hundred meters below Sea Level, where the light was exceedingly dim, a massive figure floated silently.

The octopus entered through Marlin 001's abdomen and spat the man out. He was covered in wounds. The Shockwave from the shell explosion had severely damaged his internal organs; without prompt treatment, he would soon kick the bucket.

Leviathan threw him into a Life Support Pod and used it to heal his injuries.

Watching the man's recovery through the transparent observation window, he reported the incident to Wang Gao.

Upon receiving the news on Camel Island, Wang Gao immediately became intrigued and instructed Leviathan to ask about the full circumstances.

Just then.

The man inside the Life Support Pod finally woke up. Finding himself underwater, he instinctively began struggling. But A moment later, he realized that he seemed able to breathe underwater.

Leviathan noticed that he had regained consciousness as well. He pressed the release button, and the solution inside the Life Support Pod swiftly drained away. The hatch then sprang open upward.

"Put these on yourself." Leviathan tossed him a set of clothes.

The man caught them in a daze, then looked at the person opposite him.

A fish-man?

Had a fish-man saved me?

After quickly putting on the clothes, he found that the pain throughout his body had vanished. He hurriedly thanked him. "Thank you very much for saving my life, but I have urgent business to attend to. Can you let me leave?"

"Leave?" Leviathan Picked Up a Sea Apple, tossed it into his mouth, chewed a few times, and swallowed it. "You want to chase that ship?"

"Yes. Even if it costs me my life, I have to do it."

Leviathan casually reminded him, "That was a CP Organization ship. You understand what that means, don't you?"

"Wuwu... Benefactor, I'm afraid I have no way to repay the life-saving grace you have shown me." The man immediately burst into tears.

Ultraman Kane? Leviathan had certainly heard of that formidable name. Naturally, he did not let the snark in his heart show on his face.

"Would it be convenient for you to explain exactly what happened?"

"Wuwu... My wife is on that ship..." Ultraman Kane sobbed as he began to explain.

Hunting down the descendants of criminal bloodlines?

Wait...

South Blue, hunting down the descendants of criminal bloodlines.

Leviathan took out the Bio-Computer and pulled up a map of the nearby seas. Though the data was far from comprehensive, it still recorded the names of quite a few islands.

Besides Ultraman Kane's hometown—Tsuburaya Island—there were six inhabited islands and seventeen uninhabited barren islands nearby.

Very soon, Leviathan spotted an island named Baterila Island. Perhaps others did not know the specific significance of this island.

But Leviathan, who possessed a portion of Wang Gao's memories, understood exactly what kind of place this was.

He also understood why the CP Organization was arresting pregnant women. Clearly, this was one of Roger's fine deeds.

Baterila Island and the surrounding islands had been targeted by the Marines and the CP Organization because Roger had stayed there for over a year.

On these islands, any children born after Grand Line Era 1498, as well as any women who had become pregnant between July of Grand Line Era 1497 and July of 1498, had all been placed on the extermination list.

Ultraman Kane's wife had been listed as a target because she was five months pregnant.

This time, the people uncovered by CP6 on Tsuburaya Island included nineteen pregnant women and thirteen children born this year.

"Benefactor, please let me go! Even if I die, I have to be with Mary and our child!" Ultraman Kane wailed as he knelt and kowtowed.

Leviathan had just been about to throw him out when a message from Wang Gao surfaced in his mind. He closed his eyes for a moment before slowly speaking. "Are you truly willing to pay any price?"

"Uh... Of course. As long as Mary and our child can be saved, I'm willing to pay any price—even my life." Ultraman Kane clenched his fists and shouted.

"Very good. I hope you won't regret it." Leviathan took a flesh-colored seed from his pocket. It looked like a fresh walnut kernel. "This is a Life Control Core. As long as you agree to swallow it, I'll help you rescue your wife."

Looking at the "walnut" before him, Ultraman Kane picked it up without hesitation and swallowed it in one gulp. The Life Control Core immediately transformed into tiny parasites that lurked throughout Kane's body, especially deep within his brain.

As long as Kane harbored any disloyal thoughts, the Life Control Core could kill him instantly.

"Let's go!" Leviathan said, then operated Marlin 001 and rapidly pursued CP6's great sailing ship.

Kane also grew tense. Looking at the surrounding driving equipment that looked impressive despite being incomprehensible to him, he felt both worried and excited.

For the exceptionally fast Marlin-class, the current mainstream hybrid great sailing ships, equipped with paddlewheel propulsion, traveled at roughly 8 to 15 knots.

A Marlin-class using Supercavitation Mode, however, could surge to 200 knots. The two were not even in the same league in terms of speed. Still, Leviathan did not accelerate too much, because Supercavitation Mode would leave an obvious wake on the sea surface, which was unfavorable for concealment.

After making a wide arc, Marlin 001 soon circled around to a position roughly ten nautical miles ahead of the great sailing ship, waiting for it to come to them.

Leviathan pressed a button.

At once, several pipes extended from both sides of Marlin 001's dorsal fin. Floating sponges at the pipe openings kept their mouths above the sea surface.

Meanwhile, Marlin 001 opened its massive mouth and rapidly drew in seawater. Once the seawater entered the submarine, the water within it was swiftly turned into low-temperature water vapor through the combined effects of negative pressure and biological membranes.

This low-temperature water vapor was released onto the sea surface through pipelines.

A moment later, a thin layer of fog appeared over the surrounding sea. Then, the fog grew denser and denser. With dusk approaching, the sea mist became even thicker beneath the setting sun, spreading over an increasingly large area.

By the time the sailing ship reached the vicinity, the sea was blanketed in mist. Everything within a radius of more than ten kilometers had entered a fogbound state.

On the sailing ship, the two navigators wore strange expressions. It was their first time encountering such bizarre weather in the Four Seas.

A seagull perched on the mast, silently watching the situation aboard the ship. As a CP6 vessel, it carried not only powerful cannons but also quite a few Den Den Mushi.

These Den Den Mushi constantly transmitted the ship's real-time status to CP6 headquarters. This was also why Leviathan had chosen not to launch a frontal assault.

Once he attacked head-on, some information about the Marlin-class would be exposed to the CP Organization, which was not an outcome Leviathan wanted.

Marlin 001, lurking beneath the sea, began making further changes. Into the released mist, around the sailing ship, it added something colorless and odorless.

The sailing ship's lookout suddenly felt his body go limp. By the time he realized something was wrong, the sailors on deck and the six CP6 members had all developed varying degrees of paralysis.

"Damn it! What's going on?"

"Poison in the fog..."

The CP6 captain felt weak all over. He quickly opened the special equipment room and pulled out a large pile of gas masks. "Put them on. Prepare for battle."

Meanwhile, CP6 headquarters also noticed the abnormality aboard the sailing ship through the Den Den Mushi. They swiftly notified other squads carrying out missions nearby, ordering them to immediately head to the area and provide reinforcements.

Thank you for your support, everyone (ω｀). Once the contract status is confirmed in a few days, there will be more bonus chapters. For these next few days, there will be three updates a day.