Not Heartbroken

Rumble—

Dull thunder rolled out from the clouds. In an instant, raindrops as large as beans slanted down, pelting the fish-men heavily.

Driven by the howling winds, enormous waves crashed violently against the Sea Bass's hull. Amid the fierce wind and waves, the sturdy Sea Bass was like a leaf, barely holding on.

"Boss, we can't hold this side much longer! Get ready to dive!" A crewman at the stern clutched the rope in his hands tightly as waves surged over the rear of the ship, smashing into him and those beside him again and again.

Seeing the wind and waves growing fiercer, Tiger turned and had Arlong survey the deep-water conditions. For the Sea Bass, the ocean was much safer than the surface right now. Rather than risk holding out here, they might as well dive and wait out the storm first.

Although "Dan" had said that every dive damaged the Sea Bass's hull, continuing to force their way forward now might damage the ship even more.

Arlong responded and turned to investigate, but the wind around them suddenly weakened considerably. Just as everyone was wondering what was happening, the wind and waves miraculously died down. They could even see the rising sun on the distant horizon. They had clearly left the storm's most violent region.

Talissgo climbed up the mast and looked toward the direction the storm had come from.

"Boss! There's a ship over there... It looks like it was wrecked in the storm! Its mast is broken!" Talissgo shouted.

From afar, Tiger could also make out a vague outline, though it was still too dark to see clearly.

"There's no flag. I don't know what kind of ship it is, but it definitely isn't a warship," Talissgo called.

Arlong already wore a helpless look. He knew without thinking that Boss Tiger was definitely going to...

"Arlong, take a few brothers and see what happened. If there aren't many survivors, bring them back. If there are too many, give them some repair materials and supplies... Little Fei, you're coming too."

Why did Sig have to go?

Mainly so he could serve as proof that "though my companions may look ugly, they're good-hearted"—while people on the Grand Line had seen enough that races like the Fish-Man Race were not particularly rare, ordinary merchant sailors would still be frightened when they saw vicious-looking fish-men.

If communication did not go smoothly, Sig, who looked friendlier, could handle it—of course, unless he had decided to hide his identity, Sig would retain some fish-man features around outsiders and would not easily let anyone know there was a "human" aboard the ship.

"Huh? I'd better not go, right? My stomach kind of hurts..." Hachi muttered softly, unwillingly clutching his stomach.

"What's with all your excuses? Move!" Arlong grabbed Hachi and tossed him into the sea, then jumped in after him.

In the end, Arlong, Hachi, Kuroobi, Chuu, and Sig swam toward the wrecked ship together.

This area was closer to the storm, and the sky was still oppressively overcast. Fortunately, the waves had already weakened considerably.

Arlong climbed straight up the side of the ship with his bare hands, heedless of his fingers as he gouged hole after hole into the outer hull.

Sig was much more civilized. After calling out several times and receiving no response, he climbed up step by step through the holes Arlong had dug.

When he reached the deck, Sig found no one anywhere...

Could it have been because of the storm just now? But surely the storm could not have tossed everyone into the sea?

The keen observational skills granted by Reasoning Trainee allowed Sig to make a judgment after only two sweeps of his gaze. This ship had clearly been well maintained. Though the deck was now littered with wreckage and even the mast had snapped, it had all been caused by the recent storm. In the tiny details, he could instead see that the ship had been meticulously cared for on a daily basis.

"Hm? Where's Hachi?" Arlong looked around and realized that, including himself, there were only four people aboard.

Leaning over the rail, he saw Hachi still soaking in the sea, with only half his head exposed. When Hachi saw Arlong looking down at him, he raised his head and shouted, "Brother Long, you guys do your thing. I'll support you from the sea!"

A vein bulged on Arlong's forehead. "Cut the crap! Get up here! Everyone on this ship may already be dead. Get up and help carry the supplies."

Under Arlong's urging, Hachi reluctantly climbed aboard, then silently curled up off to the side.

"Hey, what are you looking at?" Arlong asked, looking toward Sig, who was inspecting the surroundings.

"Something's strange. The ropes and these tools are all neatly hung in the cabinets... Why does it seem like there was already no one aboard when this ship encountered the storm?"

Sig's Reasoning Trainee ability had made him feel that something was off the moment he boarded. Now, he was completely certain.

"Could it be an empty ship swept out from a harbor by the waves? Then this ship is incredibly lucky!" Arlong rubbed his chin.

That storm just now had been no joke. An empty ship had actually made it all the way through purely by luck?

At the words "empty ship," Hachi suddenly shuddered, his teeth chattering. "Th-this isn't a ghost ship, is it? I... I heard people on Legout Island talk about the legend of g-ghost ships!"

Sig: ...

Had this guy been so distracted lately because of some ghost story about ghost ships?

"Ghost ship?" Kuroobi and Chuu exchanged a look, then burst out laughing.

"Hahaha, the legend of ghost ships? Shouldn't there also be legends of mermaids? The kind that sing in the sea, captivating young sailors before eating them!"

"You actually believe ghost stories meant to fool children?"

To ordinary people who had not seen much of the world, the Fish-Man Race itself was already something out of stories. Some of those stories were beautiful, while others were frightening.

Hachi, a fish-man himself, actually believed in and feared such stories, which Kuroobi and Chuu found utterly hilarious.

"Mermaids aren't very good at singing. The best singers here are fish-men."

"Though they probably wouldn't have much appeal to young men..."

The two took turns mocking him mercilessly. Unable to take the provocation, Hachi immediately snapped, "Who's scared? I just mentioned it in passing! Even if it really is a ghost ship, Hachi-sama will still..."

Before Hachi could finish, a hand suddenly landed on his shoulder. Hachi screamed in fright, only then realizing it was Sig who had tapped him.

"Don't scare me like that. Seriously," Hachi complained unhappily.

Sig asked in a grave tone, "Hachi, what kind of ship was the one in the legend you heard?"

Hachi froze at that. The others also looked over, while Arlong frowned and walked closer. "Why are you asking about that? Humans just like weird stories... Is your human blood getting the better of you?"

Sig shook his head and gestured behind him with his thumb. "No. I just found something strange."

They looked in the direction Sig was facing—the broken mast had originally lain here. Sig had just moved it aside, revealing the entrance from the main deck to the lower cabins, and that entrance was actually locked!

A huge iron-bar gate had been locked from the outside. Beyond it was pitch-black, making it impossible to see anything.

The very presence of this iron gate here felt deeply out of place. Its overall style did not match the ship at all, and besides... even if an iron gate was truly needed here for safety, shouldn't it have been locked from the inside?

Otherwise, it felt like something was being locked in there...

And there was no one on the ship, so who had locked it?

Of course, it was not impossible that someone had originally been aboard, locked the gate, and then fallen into the sea—but that was rather far-fetched!