Rescue

As howling winds whipped the rain into a torrential downpour, most residents were fast asleep in the deepest hours of the night.

Although the alarm had sounded, they had only a few minutes to react—obviously not enough time for most residents...

Water Seven, which had been filled with laughter and cheer during the day, was now in chaos. Amid the stormy darkness and the seawater gradually encroaching on the city, people cried out all around.

"Help! I can't swim..."

"Waaah... Mom... Mom, where are you?"

"Forget about me! Head toward the city center..."

"Ah! Th-there are Fish-Men taking advantage of the chaos!"

Amid the cries for help, there were also shouts of alarm.

"Quit whining! I'm here to save you! You'd better live the rest of your lives filled with gratitude!" Arlong cursed as he disdainfully tossed out lifebuoys tied to ropes.

"Put them on, all of you! Otherwise, if you fall behind, don't expect me to turn around and help you!" Arlong's tone was harsh, but his movements were quick and efficient.

This was the plan Sig had come up with earlier: he and his companions had "raided" the emergency supply depot on the coast.

By then, the coast was already underwater. If the Fish-Men didn't "raid" the place, no one would be able to get their hands on the supplies!

After collecting enough lifebuoys and lifeboats, the less physically strong Mermaids and a few Fish-Men were assigned to tie the ropes, lifebuoys, and lifeboats together.

Then the combatants, whose strength and speed far surpassed ordinary people and who could move freely underwater, would take the supplies and distribute them to the humans seeking shelter.

Like Arlong right now, who was swimming through the city streets as the water level rose, dragging lifebuoys attached to over a hundred ropes. He'd pulled more than a hundred people back to the shelter in the city center in one go, then immediately headed back to the other streets.

Even the weaker officers could tow twenty or thirty people at a time.

"Hold on tight... Damn it! No bringing valuables! Can't you see there's barely enough room on the boat for people?"

"I'm not taking money! You could pay me any amount and I still wouldn't let you bring a safe! Get lost!"

"Women and children first!"

Several of the more elite combatants worked together to steady the lifeboats in the water, pushing them along as they went...

"The rest of you, move the flood-control sandbags! Little Fei, you come too!" Fisher Tiger called Sig over.

The ordinary combatants began carrying sandbags, piling them up in key areas to buy time. Fisher Tiger, Jinbe, and Sig, who was skilled in Fish-Man Karate, were "holding the line" at those spots, ready to "smash" the incoming waves and delay them as long as possible.

Jinbe was an absolute cheat. His Sea Current Shoulder Throw could almost create a temporary reverse tsunami!

Hundreds of Fish-Men and Mermaids carried out the rescue in an orderly fashion. After all, the Fish-Man Race wasn't in much danger even during a tsunami. As long as they didn't take a powerful wave head-on and stayed away from buildings, even ordinary members of the race would be safe.

And yet, the Sea God Pilgrimage had only just begun...

The barriers against the water gradually crumbled, forcing them back again and again. Whether they pulled people away quickly with lifebuoys or slowly guided them along in lifeboats, they couldn't keep up with the speed of the "Sea God Pilgrimage."

And just then, Fisher Tiger, Jinbe, and Sig... all changed expressions at the same time. They could all feel it: the fluctuations in Sea Power had suddenly grown even more violent!

Fisher Tiger and Jinbe had visited Water Seven when they were young, which was why they knew that training in Fish-Man Karate here was especially effective.

But that wasn't because the fluctuations in Sea Power here were "special." They were simply "different"...

After adapting to the Sea Power in other places, training for a while somewhere with unusual fluctuations in Sea Power would be especially effective. In fact, if a Fish-Man native to this place trained in Water Seven all the time and then suddenly left for another region, they'd also go through a period of rapid improvement!

So although Fisher Tiger and Jinbe had come here to train in the past, they hadn't been training specifically this time. Sig, on the other hand, had sensed the fluctuations in Sea Power.

"Not good! Everyone, fall back! Stay away from the buildings. Once the first wave passes, dive underwater immediately!" Fisher Tiger shouted hurriedly.

Jinbe also grew serious at once and said to Sig, "Sig! You should leave too!"

"No. If it comes down to it, I can still hold it back." As he spoke, Sig reached for his right wrist.

As he fought against the Sea God Pilgrimage, Sig was getting "fired up" too, gradually starting to hear his own heartbeat...

Why was this emotion also being classified as anger?

Or was this what it felt like when willpower combined with physical strength?

Sig had no time to think about it. He simply stayed ready to use Armament Haki to block the effects of the Seastone Handcuffs and transform into the Prison Demon Giant!

Of course, with the seawater crashing around him, Sig couldn't use much of his Devil Fruit ability. Even after "transforming," he'd only be able to serve as an oversized flood-control sandbag. It was like when Luffy fell into the sea: he couldn't stretch his body on his own, but if someone grabbed and pulled him, they'd find that he could still stretch.

But if Sig transformed, his larger size would also mean he'd have to withstand bigger waves. A moment's carelessness could leave him injured, or even seriously hurt.

"Why is it pitch-black over there?" Talissgo said, adjusting his spectacles.

It was already the middle of the night, and the howling winds and torrential rain had blotted out every trace of light. Still... they could sense that the sea in the direction Fisher Tiger and the others faced was growing ever darker!

Suddenly, Fisher Tiger realized what was happening, and a bead of cold sweat appeared on his forehead. Jinbe's expression grew especially grave. Two breaths later, Sig realized it too...

A colossal wave, almost as tall as the center of Water Seven, was surging toward them without pause!

By the time it reached the shore, it swept across everything in its path. Every building along the coastline before Fisher Tiger and the others was swallowed up in an instant...

The flood-control sandbags piled up in front of them, with buildings as cover, seemed like a joke before the enormous wave.

Fisher Tiger glanced back. Large numbers of humans, and even their own kin, were still evacuating.

If they left them to fend for themselves, then not just humans—even Fish-Men would be in mortal danger in this kind of current!

"Boss Fisher Tiger, Boss Jinbe, I'm counting on you from here!"

As Sig spoke, he swung his right arm. Deep red Haki covered his forearm and fist, naturally shielding the Seastone Handcuffs on his wrist as well.

In an instant, Sig felt as if something resembling the Prison Demon had formed a translucent shell around him...

[Kid, you only think of me at a time like this?]

"If the Castle-Castle Fruit can do it, then I should be able to as well..."

[But here, turning into a big idiot will only get you killed faster!]

"I won't die! My companions are covering me!"

[Tch... What a strange thing to say... Whether Fish-Men or humans, they're not really your kin, are they?]

"Prison... Iron Fortress!" Sig shouted, blurting out a name he'd just come up with. It was more or less meant to correspond to "Castle-Big Boss."

Then Sig's body began to swell dramatically. This time, there was no bloody mess, no distorted feeling like flesh and machinery twisted together. He wasn't losing control; he was deliberately revealing the "Prison-Prison Fruit's" outward form...