"!!!"
Wapol's originally joyful face instantly twisted with shock, his eyes nearly bulging out.
On the sea, the warship that had been perfectly fine just moments ago was now falling apart amid a violent explosion, flames soaring into the sky. In less than a minute, it had completely sunk into the ocean and vanished without a trace.
"W-what... what on earth is going on... Chess... Kuromarimo..."
Wapol instinctively called out the names of his two subordinates, but only after no one answered did he remember that they seemed to have been on the ship.
Didn't that mean...
"Huh!!!"
Just then, among the surrounding Drum Kingdom soldiers, one soldier who had been observing the sea through a telescope cried out in terror.
"There's a ship... no, someone's on the sea... what kind of monster is that..."
"You bastard, what nonsense are you spouting?"
Those incoherent words left Wapol utterly furious. He ran over, shoved the soldier aside, and leaned in himself.
In an instant, he saw an extremely strange sight.
On the ocean, where the warship had just exploded, a red-skinned monster that was half man and half ship was charging toward Drum Kingdom at an unbelievable speed.
Its upper body was a burly man with blond wavy hair flowing down his back, dressed in a black military uniform, with headphones on his head. But his lower body was a small boat that could only hold one person. The two wooden wheels on either side of the hull were spinning rapidly, giving the boat unbelievable power and speed.
Clearly, the one who had destroyed the warship just now was this fused monster, half man and half ship.
But...
"What the hell is that monster..."
Just as Wapol roared in terror, the half-man, half-ship monster seemed to notice this side as well.