I'm Afraid of This Power Myself

After an unknown amount of time...

The sea in this part of the Calm Belt returned to calm once more. There were no storms, nor were there towering waves dozens of zhang high. Only a group of fallen soldiers remained soaking in the seawater.

"Sir Rear Admiral, our G8 warship sank into the sea amid the massive waves."

"Sir Rear Admiral, this area of the Calm Belt is where Sea Kings are most active. Our current situation is already extremely dangerous."

"Sir Rear Admiral, please push that floating mast over here. A few of the brothers here swallowed quite a lot of seawater and are at death's door. We need to call for help as soon as possible!"

"Damn it, is the communications officer dead or not?"

Rear Admiral Strawberry roared. He was in an awful mood. The vice admiral had given him three days, yet before even a single morning had passed, his entire force had lost its combat capability and was now struggling just to survive.

"Not dead, not dead, Sir Rear Admiral! I'm lucky enough to still be alive! It's just that the lieutenant died horribly!" A fat Marine sprawled across a floating supply crate and waved.

In a situation like this, Rear Admiral Strawberry had no time to mourn that lieutenant's death. He hurriedly asked, "Where's the Transponder Snail? Have you contacted the vice admiral?"

"Sir Rear Admiral, to be honest, the Transponder Snail's signal was cut off in a complete three-hundred-and-sixty-degree dead zone before the incident. We simply can't reach the vice admiral's Transponder Snail." The fat man sounded utterly helpless. "Then the Transponder Snail got swept into the sea too."

How could they have known that the invisible radiation generated by Norse's release of Sun Power had long since thrown the signal sources throughout this area into chaos and interference?

The moment Strawberry and the Marines floating around him heard that, their hearts sank halfway. They had never expected their only hope to be gone as well.

Were they really going to have to wait three days?

But the Sea Kings here would not let them off. If even one appeared, they could be wiped out completely.

"Ah! Look! So many fish! They're floating to the surface belly-up."

"Sir Rear Admiral, save me! It's... it's a Sea King!" One man was lifted out of the water, supported on the back of a surfaced Sea King.

That sight nearly scared the wits out of countless Marines. When death truly arrived, there were very few who did not fear it.

For a time, one strange event after another unfolded before the eyes of these shipwrecked Marines.

Countless fish, numbering in the tens of thousands, floated across the sea. There were even Sea Kings hundreds of meters long, appearing on the surface by the twos and tens.

The smaller fish had all died. As for the larger ones, such as the Sea Kings, they seemed to have been injured and temporarily knocked unconscious, which was why they had not launched any attacks on them.

"Sir Rear Admiral, only these Sea Kings are still alive. They seem like they could wake up at any moment. What should we do?"

"Should we act immediately and strike first? Find a fatal spot and stab them to death. Otherwise, once they wake up, we definitely won't escape their enormous jaws."

"Don't do that. Spilling so much blood will only draw even more terrifying Sea Kings here." A Marine stopped them. Just imagining the sea being dyed red with blood felt utterly horrifying!

"Biri biri biri... buruburu buru..."

Yet at that moment, the sound of a Transponder Snail rang out nearby. This undoubtedly made every Marine hold their breath, as though they had grabbed hold of a lifeline.

"Sir Rear Admiral, the Transponder Snail seems to be inside this Sea King's stomach." A Marine standing atop one Sea King suddenly spoke, because the Transponder Snail's voice was indeed coming from that Sea King's belly.

He heard it clearly.

"As a rear admiral, I order you to immediately crawl in through the hole above, contact the vice admiral at once, and request that he come to rescue us with all haste!" Strawberry issued an absolute command.

In truth, he could have used his two-sword style to cut this Sea King apart, but that would cause a great deal of blood to flow into the sea. Needless to say, the consequences of that would be extremely dangerous.

"Yes, Sir Rear Admiral!"

This Marine did not hesitate in the slightest. The lives of everyone aboard depended on this, so he had no other choice at this point. Even if he had to enter this Sea King's stomach, so what?

They were the elites of Marine Headquarters. Life and death were not things they could not take lightly, especially now that there was hope.

At this, the other Marines finally saw a glimmer of hope, and a fierce will to survive rose within them.

Elsewhere.

The hunters and fishers on Kuja Island entered the stage of a bountiful harvest.

They cast huge nets to scoop up the floating fish from the sea, rowed boats out to drag back the enormous fish floating on the surface, and so on.

There were giant shrimp and huge crabs, and even the deep-sea fish Norse needed with something inside their bellies. Not to mention that this was a place where Sea Kings were active—it was impossible for them not to catch some unconscious Sea Kings.

"Lord Norse, you've truly worked hard this time."

"Lord Norse, allow this servant to wipe your sweat for you!"

Some of the female warriors still fawned over Norse, wanting nothing more than to take advantage of him.

But how could Norse not understand that?

He said coldly and bluntly, "You women are truly unbearably boring. These Sea Kings that surfaced will wake up one after another within half an hour. Rather than waste your time trying to seduce me, you might as well gather more food and let your Empress favor you."

After saying that, Norse found the commander of the coastal harbor and instructed, "Immediately send a Sea King in its growth stage to the imperial kitchen in the palace. Also, find some deep-sea fish with fresh roe in their bellies. Make sure they're delivered quickly to preserve their freshness."

The commander was overwhelmed by the favor. After hearing this, she immediately mobilized her subordinates and sisters to carry out Lord Norse's orders.

"Loli, are you coming with me to the palace?"

Norse intended to prepare a grand meal and have a hearty feast. His exertion just now had been rather great, so he needed to replenish his strength properly.

Besides, if his guess was correct, the one who had come to deliver the invitation to become a Shichibukai, while also making a show of force, would not be some defeated rear admiral like Strawberry. At the very least, a fairly powerful vice admiral would have come to preside over things.

It was meant to highlight the strength of the World Government.

"I'm going! Does that mean I'll get to see the beautiful Empress too?"

Marguerite had been happy all morning. She had witnessed the female warriors' courage and fearlessness, seen Big Brother Norse's invincible might, and now she could meet the Empress she had long dreamed of seeing up close. She felt almost too excited to breathe. She was truly so lucky.

"Of course there was a chance, but what was so interesting about the Pirate Empress? When the time came, I'd let you watch me cook. That would definitely be much more interesting than watching her."

Norse thought of Hancock, who had possibly sneaked into his room with a knife last night and violently attacked his bedding, and he truly felt annoyed.

She really thought that just because she had done nothing guilty, she could casually come knocking in the middle of the night. What did she take the room of a dignified man like him for?

Besides, he was a perfectly decent person.

"Lord Norse, the former former Empress has arrived. She's over there and seems to have something to discuss with you."

Suddenly, a female warrior came up behind Norse and spoke with utmost respect.

"What does that old woman want?" Norse muttered to himself, then led the little girl toward Old Lady Zha Mi, who stood beneath a tree not far away.

"Norse, did you use that ability again? The entire Kuja tribe was affected—it scared this old woman awake from her sleep!"

Old Lady Zha Mi knew a little about Norse's abilities. That was also why she had not stopped this man from staying on Amazon Lily: strong people had their value.

"I only used it to blast fish in the deep sea. There's nothing to worry about."

Norse spoke calmly, but he did not believe the old woman had come to see him just for this. He asked, "Old lady, do you have anything else? I'm very busy right now. Oh, by the way, do you want me to bring you a meat dish later?"

"But this old woman's teeth are bad now. I can't chew anything even slightly tough, so you'd better not make it too tough. Get me more collagen-rich ingredients, simmer them into a glowing thick broth, and bring it over right away.

"I also need to take proper care of my skin, just like Hancock does!"

Despite being so old, Old Lady Zha Mi did not feel the slightest bit embarrassed.

Then she pulled an old newspaper from her clothes. "Oh, right, take a look at this. This is the good deed you people did three months ago. You've already made it onto wanted posters!"

Norse accepted it and merely glanced over it before handing the newspaper back. "Actually, all of this was within my expectations. But after today, my bounty will surpass Hancock's.

"Now that I, Norse, am no longer remaining silent, I only hope to fulfill the oath I made back then as soon as possible and break free from the shackles on me."

"~~But this old woman can no longer meddle in such matters. You young people can handle it yourselves. As long as you don't affect the people of the Land of Lilies or disturb my peaceful old age, I'll be grateful!"

Old Lady Zha Mi put away the newspaper. She did not remind him that, on closer inspection, Norse's wanted poster portrait was actually rather handsome.

"You've lived too comfortably. Since I've only just made my name, I did something neither too big nor too small—I blasted fish in the deep sea, and at the same time, I blew up a warship from Marine Headquarters.

"There'll be a good show to watch soon. You old lady had better prepare yourself mentally. You know that once I, Norse, decide to act, even I'm afraid of this terrifying power."

Norse smiled teasingly, yet it made people feel that he was not joking—he was genuinely warning them.

"Speaking of that, I've remembered something very important that I must tell you now. Since last night, Hancock has suddenly developed a terrible psychological illness.

"She's currently lying in bed, wishing she were dead, and is unable to fight. So you must handle the matter with the warship by yourself, then hurry back to treat her and help her recover.

"I think that in this world, only you can completely cure her."

Old Lady Zha Mi shook her head and sighed. "Sigh, I was never this happy when I was young."

"No problem. Whether it's a serious illness or a minor one, I can give it a try."

Norse did not think much about why Hancock had suddenly fallen ill. In fact, he did not really believe that Hancock was sick.

Damn it, hadn't she broken into his room with a knife in the middle of the night last night? She hadn't even spared a brand-new set of bedding.

"Well... old lady, let's leave it at that for now. I need to hurry back and prepare some food. Later, I'll have to communicate with my fists."

With that, Norse temporarily went back to prepare for the upcoming battle.