The Lord of the Coast Opened Its Jaws

"Tell Red-Hair that if he wants this brat alive, he'd better come to the shore alone."

Su Hang clenched the bloodstained strip of cloth and turned to rush out of the tavern.

His legs were still weak, and every breath he drew into his lungs carried the salty, fishy stench of the sea.

Bracing himself against a corner, he raced through the alley. He stumbled, then flung out his right arm, grabbed an eave, and hauled himself toward South Beach.

Dadan chased after him with a blade in hand.

"You were just fished out of the sea, and you still dare run back to the shore?"

"Higuma wants Shanks. He won't stay on land and wait."

"How do you know?"

"The cleanup ships sealed off the north, and Red-Hair blocked the harbor. South Beach still has a channel exposed by the ebb tide. He wants to steal a small boat and escape to a neighboring island."

South Beach lay just ahead.

A narrow fishing boat had already left shore.

Higuma held an oar in his left hand and a knife in his right. Luffy's arms were bound with rope, and he was pinned against the stern.

"Su Hang!"

Luffy rammed his shoulder into the side of the boat, making the wooden vessel rock violently from side to side.

Higuma kicked him in the back.

"Move again, and I'll chop off your legs!"

Su Hang stepped onto the reef and bent over, gasping for breath twice.

"Higuma, you told Shanks to come alone, but you're running away first. Did you earn that eight-million-Beli reputation by fleeing for your life?"

"Don't try to provoke me with words!"

Higuma rowed frantically, and the fishing boat drifted outward with the receding current.

"Red-Hair destroyed my fleet, and that brat made me lose all my face. Once I reach the neighboring island, I'll sell him first, then come back with people and burn this village to the ground!"

"You won't reach the neighboring island."

"With you?"

Higuma turned and saw Su Hang's pale face. He raised his short blade with a vicious grin.

"Someone saw those bandits carry you back to the village. So Devil Fruit users become dead fish when they fall into the sea too!"

Su Hang suddenly thrust out his right hand.

His arm swept over the reef, and his fingers hooked around the crossboard at the stern.

His rubber skin stretched taut in an instant, yanking the fishing boat back by half a foot.

Higuma nearly fell into the sea. He immediately dropped the oar and slashed at that hand.

"Get lost!"

The blade struck the back of Su Hang's hand, cutting a shallow wound.

Su Hang did not loosen his grip. He planted his feet against the reef and tightened his waist and abdomen as he pulled back.

"Luffy, ram the left side of the boat!"

"Got it!"

Luffy rolled over and slammed into the left side, tilting the fishing boat in the direction Su Hang was pulling.

Seawater poured into the bottom of the boat, and Higuma hurriedly lifted a foot to press down on the other side.

"You two are asking to die!"

He pulled a black sphere from behind his waist, bit off the fuse, and hurled it at the reef.

Su Hang's pupils contracted.

"Dadan, get back!"

The black sphere struck the reef, and grayish-white smoke exploded outward.

The choking powder flooded his mouth and nose. Su Hang coughed until he doubled over, and the strength in his arm loosened.

Higuma swung his blade down.

Crack!

The board Su Hang had been gripping snapped apart, and the fishing boat shot more than ten meters away on the current.

His stretched arm recoiled with the broken wood. Su Hang's back smashed against the reef, and the seawater he had just expelled from his lungs surged back up his throat.

Dadan covered her mouth and nose with her sleeve and charged out of the smoke.

"Stop that boat, damn it!"

Her short blade spun toward the sea.

Higuma ducked. The blade skimmed past his scalp and embedded itself in the mast.

He broke out in a cold sweat and rowed even faster.

But at that moment, turbulent currents began churning across the sea.

The fishing boat sank deeper and deeper.

Higuma glanced at the seawater flooding the cabin, then at the bound Luffy. Nothing but viciousness remained in his eyes.

"It's all because of you, brat."

Luffy had barely raised his head when Higuma grabbed him by the collar.

"What are you doing?"

"The boat's too heavy."

"Higuma!"

Su Hang took two steps forward across the reef.

Too late.

Higuma kicked Luffy in the chest, sending him and the ropes flying out of the boat.

Splash!

The straw hat flew off Luffy's head and landed beside the boat.

Luffy sank into the water, then desperately kicked his legs and surfaced again.

"Su Hang, my hands are tied!"

"Turn around and kick with your feet!"

"The waves keep pushing me!"

Su Hang swept his gaze across the sea.

The ebb tide had carried away all nearby floating debris. Only a broken boat plank was caught between two waves, several meters away from Luffy.

Dadan rushed toward an overturned boat on the shore.

"Hold on! I'll row over!"

"There's no time."

Su Hang wrapped his right arm around the reef behind him, stretched his left arm to its limit, and grabbed the plank he had pulled back earlier.

Dadan gripped his shoulder.

"You still want to go into the sea?"

"I'm not going in."

"You can barely stand right now!"

"One push is enough."

A wave forced Luffy under. Several breaths later, his face emerged again, with seawater already in his mouth.

Su Hang released his right hand.

His taut body suddenly sprang forward. His feet scraped past the reef as he flew horizontally above the sea.

His left hand held the plank, while his right fist stretched toward Luffy's back.

"Catch it!"

The plank flew first.

Luffy twisted his shoulders and pressed his chest onto the drifting wood.

The next instant, Su Hang's fist braced against his lower back and pushed him and the plank toward shore.

"You tricked me again!"

Luffy shouted as he lay on the plank.

Su Hang had already lost his foothold.

His body fell into the sea.

Icy seawater swallowed his waist and abdomen, and the Nika Core immediately fell silent.

His stretched right arm lost its strength and hung limply in the waves.

[Seawater suppression continues to intensify.]

[Module activation failed.]

"Got it. Stop reporting it."

The moment Su Hang finished speaking, a wave covered his mouth and nose.

He tried to lift his chin, but his body kept sinking.

Dadan pushed the small boat into the water.

"Grab the side of the boat!"

"Save Luffy first!"

"You two never stop worrying me!"

Deep beneath the seawater, a massive black shadow silently swept past.

Higuma saw it too.

He stopped rowing, and all color drained from his face.

"What is that?"

The shadow changed direction and charged toward the blood spreading across the surface.

The wound on the back of Su Hang's hand was still bleeding, and the bandage around Luffy's palm had also come undone in the seawater.

The surface of the sea bulged.

A row of sharp teeth suddenly burst through the waves!

The Lord of the Coast opened its massive jaws, casting half the fishing boat into shadow.

Higuma did not even finish screaming before he and the boat were crushed between the closing teeth.

Planks, oars, and bloody water exploded together.

Luffy lay frozen on the driftwood.

"That thing ate Higuma..."

"Don't look! Kick toward shore!"

Su Hang tried to push the water aside, but his arms had no strength left.

The Lord of the Coast swallowed the fishing boat. Its scarlet eye turned, fixing once more on the two people closest to it.

Its huge tail slapped the sea.

A wall of waves rose up, blasting away the plank beneath Luffy's chest.

His small body was swept into the white surf and rolled toward the sea beast's open maw.

"Luffy!"

A figure raced over the water atop the waves.

Shanks pressed his right hand to his sword hilt. He first grabbed Su Hang by the shoulder and threw him toward Dadan's small boat.

Then he turned and plunged into the waves, scooping Luffy up with his left arm.

"Shanks!"

When Luffy opened his eyes, the teeth were already descending.

Shanks shielded the back of his head with his right hand and forcibly turned his body in the water.

The enormous jaws closed beside them, and blood instantly stained the sea red.

The left arm holding Luffy was gone.

"Your arm..."

Luffy stared at the empty side of Shanks's shoulder, and tears immediately flooded his eyes.

"That thing ate your arm!"

"Quiet."

Shanks's face was pale, but his voice remained steady.

Having tasted blood, the Lord of the Coast shook its head and bit at them again.

Su Hang lay against the side of the small boat, his fingers gripping the planks tightly.

With most of his body out of the seawater, the Nika Core barely stirred again.

[Current stamina is below activation requirements.]

"Shut up and move."

His right arm suddenly lashed out.

His palm passed Shanks's side and wrapped around the protruding scale-bone beneath the Lord of the Coast's jaw.

As the sea beast lifted its head, Su Hang's rubber arm stretched to its limit, nearly pulling him back into the water.

Dadan wrapped both arms around his waist from behind.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"Hold the boat steady!"

Su Hang gritted his teeth and wound his arm around the sea beast's jaw.

The Lord of the Coast could not close its mouth. It thrashed its head wildly, dragging the small boat several meters away.

Shanks seized the chance, tucked Luffy under his arm, and swam one-handed toward the boat.

"Enough. Let go!"

Su Hang unclenched his fingers, and the recoil yanked his arm back.

The Lord of the Coast turned and charged toward them, its crimson eyes locking onto everyone aboard the boat.

Shanks planted a foot on the gunwale and straightened.

Blood dripped steadily from his left shoulder.

His gaze bore down upon the sea.

An invisible shockwave swept out with a thunderous crash.

The Lord of the Coast's massive body abruptly froze. Its pupils constricted as its head trembled against the surface of the water.

Shanks said only one word.

"Get lost."

The sea beast turned and plunged into the deep water, never looking back.

Luffy wrapped his arms around Shanks's waist, crying so hard he could barely catch his breath.

"It's all because of me... You lost your arm..."

"Stop crying. I'm still alive."

Shanks pressed his remaining right hand onto Luffy's straw hat, then looked at Su Hang, who was soaked through.

"The real wager was never an arm. It was who deserved the future."

Seawater slapped against the hull, while blood continued to drip from the severed arm.

Shanks pulled both Luffy and Su Hang in front of him.

"Remember this arm. Don't make me regret betting on the two of you."