Battle of Encounter

The Calm Belt is exactly as its name suggests: a sea area devoid of wind, located on both sides of the Grand Line. The reason the Calm Belt is known as a sea from which there is no return is not merely because the lack of wind makes sailing impossible, but because it is the gathering place for the most dangerous creatures in the ocean—the Sea King Beasts.

Therefore, the Calm Belt is also known as the Sea King Beast Nest!

It is precisely because of this that any pirates entering the Grand Line routes dare not change their course at will, choosing instead to follow the Log Pose from one island to the next. Changing course at will to enter other routes is one thing, but if one were to accidentally drift into the Calm Belt, it would be a situation of ten deaths and no life.

However, there are exceptions to everything. This situation began to change after the Navy officially developed warships equipped with Internal Turbine Power capable of navigating the Calm Belt. Following the discovery that Seastone could mask the presence of the ship from the perception of Sea King Beasts, the Navy officially conquered this terrifying sea area.

The ship Bai Ina was currently aboard utilized this very technology, having been developed by the Revolutionary Army using a captured warship.

"Is there a situation?"

Seeing Mo Mo enter the cabin specifically built for his training, Bai Ina stopped his sword practice and casually picked up the mask lying to the side, putting it on.

Sometimes, even Bai Ina did not know why he was so obsessed with the mask.

Perhaps it was because of his inner resistance toward this world, wanting to use the mask to isolate himself from it.

Perhaps it was because he instinctively wanted to hide certain emotions, not wanting others to know, or perhaps... it was both.

Seeing this, Mo Mo's brows furrowed imperceptibly. He had not spent much time with the Bai Ina of the past, but in his memory, the former Bai Ina was merely a somewhat withdrawn kid with strong swordsmanship who treated everyone except Loxi with cold indifference.

Although he did not know why he had turned into this cruel Asura wearing a Demon Mask, he knew without thinking that there must have been some catalyst that caused him to become this way.

As for what that catalyst was, he did not know, nor did Tufang or Zongcilang; perhaps even Bai Ina himself did not know. But... the three of them vaguely felt that Loxi might know what the catalyst for Bai Ina's transformation was.

However, Loxi had not spoken of it, so they respected his choice and never pressed for answers. But... as time passed, Bai Ina's increasingly extreme and cruel behavior had become difficult for them to bear, leaving them feeling fearful...

"What is it?"

Bai Ina's icy voice reached Mo Mo's ears, snapping him out of his trance. Subconsciously masking his lapse in composure, he said, "The ship has reached a dense fog zone. The lookout cannot see anything beyond ten meters. In this situation, should we take any countermeasures?"

They had been at sea for half a month. Since using the Calm Belt to enter the Grand Line, they had been traveling by night and hiding by day. Whenever they sensed the slightest disturbance, they would immediately turn around. Although this extended the time it took to reach their supply cache, it allowed them to avoid many dangers.

"A dense fog zone!"

Bai Ina frowned. If they were on any other route and encountered a dense fog zone, they could simply use the pointer to sail straight through, but sailing blindly in these waters, where the Navy frequently patrolled, was incredibly dangerous.

Thinking of this, Bai Ina walked straight out of the cabin and found that the fog outside was indeed as thick as Mo Mo had described; it was impossible to see what lay ahead. Faced with this situation, Bai Ina had no choice but to shout toward the operations room, "Reduce Internal Turbine Power, proceed at low speed!"

Click.

Yet, not long after Bai Ina's words fell, a blinding light shone from the distance.

"Not good!"

Bai Ina's pupils constricted. As the light swept over, a massive silhouette was instantly etched into his vision.

The discovery that a ship was present in such close proximity caused everyone's expressions to change.

"Woo... woo..."

A shrill siren sounded, and the massive silhouette in the distance gradually grew larger.

All the crew members in the cabin surged onto the deck, their expressions tense as they watched the unknown ship approaching at high speed.

"Apologies, Commander Bai, it is all my fa—"

Mo Mo stepped forward, his face full of guilt.

"It has nothing to do with you!"

Before he could finish, he was interrupted by Bai Ina: "In a dense fog zone like this, such things are hard to avoid." With that, Bai Ina turned and shouted, "All hands prepare for battle! Gunners, prepare to fire! Everyone else, ready the ropes for close-quarters combat!"

"Close-quarters combat?"

Mo Mo was stunned, not understanding why they would choose to engage in hand-to-hand fighting. He knew that once two ships were linked by ropes and close-quarters combat began, one side would inevitably be wiped out; escape would be impossible.

"The Navy's warships are far more powerful than our vessel. If we engage in a pure firefight, we will struggle to survive even if we retreat while fighting. Therefore, we have no choice but to choose close-quarters combat. We charge onto their deck, and whoever is left standing at the end will be the victor."

Upon hearing Bai Ina's words, the five hundred combatants felt their bodies tighten, and they subconsciously gripped their weapons.

The unknown ship moved quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it arrived before their warship. Its silhouette became clear, and the Navy insignia on the sails shattered the last remnants of hope in the hearts of Bai Ina and his men.

Standing at the bow of the warship was a burly man with golden hair and a rugged face. He wore a colonel's uniform, his chest left open to reveal muscles as sturdy as boulders.

The colonel looked at the people standing on the deck, a savage grin on his face as he shouted, "I didn't expect that after just wiping out a group of the Revolutionary Army, I would run into another batch on the way back to base."

Seeing the colonel's uniform, Bai Ina secretly breathed a sigh of relief and gave a hidden signal to those behind him.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

Seeing Bai Ina's gesture, the ready crew members immediately threw the ropes equipped with iron hooks.

The iron cables tore through the air and hooked directly onto the warship.

The colonel at the bow watched the scene with interest, making no move to stop the cables; instead, his expression became even more brutal.

Slash—

The twin swords crossed behind his back were unsheathed in an instant, and a fanatical fighting spirit surged onto the colonel's face: "Hahaha, you've got guts! You want close-quarters combat? Then I'll join you!"

With that, he did not hesitate for a second, charging along the cables toward the ship where Bai Ina and his men were stationed. Seeing this, the Navy soldiers on the warship twitched their lips, feeling helpless about their hot-tempered colonel, but they did not hesitate to follow him.

Bai Ina raised an eyebrow, a curve forming at the corner of his mouth.

He hadn't expected the enemy commander to be such a brute, but this was exactly what he wanted.

"Kill—"

Accompanied by the sounds of battle cries, the two groups collided instantly!

PS: Thanks to Ding Bujue and Xianqi for the tips, thank you for the support.

PS2: From now on, all PS notes will be placed after the main text. Some readers mentioned that putting them at the beginning affects the reading experience; this was Xiao Jiao's oversight, my apologies.

PS3: I've been suffering from severe writer's block and churned out two filler chapters; they feel incredibly boring, so please forgive me. I think I need some post-writing clarity to calm down now... That's all for today's two chapters, I'm just drowning in filler due to a lack of inspiration... Sweat!