A Matter of Luck

Gradually, the sunlight from the sea disappeared, Big Top had moved from the photosphere to the photic zone, leaving only the vastness and depth of the ocean around it.

Lilina gazed at the increasingly dark depths of the sea. "No wonder I heard the chance of reaching Fish-Man Island is only 30%... Even with the Log Pose, in this situation, we could still collide with an unknown object at any moment, resulting in shipwreck and loss of life..."

"That's why the importance of a navigator becomes apparent... Correctly controlling the course and having a keen eye for the surroundings are the basic qualities of a navigator," Buggy replied. "But the journey has only just begun; the real skill will be revealed when nothing can be seen around us."

Mikuru pursed his lips. "Don't worry, the cat will handle it. The little lion can take care of the helm."

"Awoo..." Richie wiped the sweat from his forehead with his paw, his face drooping as he glanced at Mikuru out of the corner of his eye, seemingly somewhat unwilling.

All the ships in Buggy Grand Fleet continued to descend with the Big Top. The deeper they went, the lower the temperature became. Buggy took out Den Den Mushi and called the ships behind him, telling his pirate crew to put on more clothes to avoid getting cold.

Hearing Captain Buggy's concern, the pirates were moved to tears, and the sound of their sobbing from the Den Den Mushi Big Top.

About half an hour later, the deep-sea waterfall came into view, with seawater cascading down into the ocean, and the area directly below the waterfall as dark as an abyss.

"Let's go down the ocean current..." Before Mikuru could speak, Buggy gave the order, "Everyone behind, stay alert and keep up!"

"Yes!" A deafening reply came from the six ships connected by the Den Den Mushi.

After descending about four hundred meters, a Big Octopus covered in shipwreck debris was resting with its eyes closed beside the rocks... This was the Surume that Hody Jones had brought from the Arctic!

"Try to avoid it," Buggy said decisively. "It's best to avoid contact with it."

Richie controlled the direction of their advance to avoid the Surume, which remained completely unaware of Buggy's arrival. Even after Buggy Grand Fleet had passed, the Kraken still hadn't woken up.

Bucky had expected a battle, but the Surume didn't launch an attack, which was somewhat Buggy.

After bypassing the Surume, the Buggy Grand Fleet continued its descent. The surrounding light seemed to be absorbed bit by bit, and it began to become extremely dim, like a night without any light.

"Dog, turn on the lights."

Upon hearing Buggy's instructions, Nilek quickly turned on the lights, and the surrounding scenery became clearer, revealing all sorts of strangely shaped deep-sea fish with sharp teeth.

Examples include giant lanternfish that use the lights on their heads as traps to lure prey, enormous deep-sea lampreys, and Lightning Flash jellyfish covered in toxins.

After Cabaji and Mohji put on their coated water suits and went out to deal with a few people, the surrounding area finally calmed down a lot.

"The seabed is truly terrifying..." Cabaji returned to the Big Top and sheathed his knife.

"I can't muster any strength at all..." Mohji gasped for breath. For an ability user, nothing is more uncomfortable and unpleasant than the ocean.

Mikuru sniffed the air and suddenly said, "Let's speed up! I smelled the underwater volcano; in about an hour, the [thermal mineral deposit] volcano will erupt!"

Buggy nodded and immediately gave the order, and the six ships behind him also sped up.

The voyage went very smoothly, with the ship descending steadily. Thanks to the illumination provided by the Big Top, the six ships behind it followed without incident. After about six hours, a glimmer of light finally appeared on the previously pitch-black seabed.

Numerous sea bubbles rose to the surface, revealing an island enveloped in giant bubbles. Beside the island stood a colossal sea tree, the Sun Tree Eve!

"We've arrived." Buggy breathed a sigh of relief. "We've been incredibly lucky... nothing happened along the way."

"We've finally arrived, Fish-Man Island! Fish-Man Island!!" Shuma excitedly put his arm around the equally delighted Richie's shoulder and they started dancing.

"The existence of an island like this underwater is simply unbelievable from an environmental science perspective!" Nilek exclaimed, gazing at the island before him. "I need to study it thoroughly!"

"This is Fish-Man Island...?" Kaya stood up from her chair, her face filled with astonishment. "This is simply a dreamland..."

Lilina couldn't help but exclaim, "After experiencing the danger just now, this Fish-Man Island is truly beautiful..."

"White-haired monster..." Cabaji nudged Mohji's ribs, his gaze fixed on a sea fish with a ring of white hair around its head, and said with a half-smile, "That must be one of your kind, right?"

Mohji's eye twitched violently, and he immediately pointed to a sea fish with only one eye, bursting into laughter as he retorted, "Hey, hey, since that's the case, then this is your brother!"

"Tch..." Cabaji muttered, looking at the one-eyed fish, "Bite it, bite that guy..."

"You go too!" Mohji retorted defiantly to the white-haired fish, "Give that One-Eye Hotel a good beating with your fists!"

"Fish don't have fists," Cabaji said. "Those are fins!"

Mohji ignored him completely and shouted, "Beat it up!"

These two fish seemed to be on the same wavelength as Cabaji and Mohji, and they actually swam together and started fighting!

"Haha, well done!" Mohji threw a series of left and right hooks, seemingly wanting to personally demonstrate and teach the white-haired fish fighting techniques.

"Look! Mohji and Cabaji are fighting!"

Shuma pointed at the two fish and laughed without a care in the world, but Mohji and Cabaji's expressions gradually stiffened, and the two immediately put aside their past grievances and began to discuss the matter.

"Should we give this kid a good beating first?"

"I think it's a good idea!"

Just then, a giant shadow darted out, opened its blood-red maw, and swallowed both fish whole in the blink of an eye. Then, six or seven more giant shadows emerged, surrounding all the ships of the Buggy Grand Fleet.

Immediately, everyone stopped playing around and looked at the giant shadows around them.

These giant shadows were all sea beasts with the upper bodies of lions, Masira, and giraffes, and the lower bodies of fish. Several Fish-Man sat arrogantly on top of them. Hammond, the Fish-Man, looked down, revealing a pair of sharp teeth. "You must be the [Buggy Pirates], the pirates who once shattered the ambitions of [Arlong Pirates]. But we can give you a chance to submit to our [New Fish-Man Pirates]. If you dare to refuse... then you'll be buried at the bottom of the sea!!"