The thing surfaced without a sound.
First, a huge bulge rose in the sea, the dark green water pushed up from below before shattering like a thin shell. There was little spray, but the swell rocked the ship violently several times. Luffy grabbed the rope at the bow, Usopp slid down the mast and fell onto the deck, and Chopper rolled twice before hitting the railing.
Naruto grabbed the mast to steady himself, his eyes fixed ahead.
What emerged from the water was a stretch of spine.
Gray-white bone plates, each half as tall as a person, stood in an arc like the spine of some enormous reptile. Dark red membranes connected the plates, contracting faintly in the water as though breathing. The spine rose about three meters above the surface, but there was no telling how far the submerged portion went. A black shadow extended beneath the ship, spreading at least several dozen meters to either side.
"What is that thing?" Nami rushed out of the cabin, clutching her Log Pose. "The needle pointing to the thing down below is shaking. It's gone completely haywire-"
She stopped mid-sentence when she saw the spine.
"A snake?" Luffy tilted his head. "Or a fish?"
"It doesn't look like a snake." Zoro studied the arrangement of the bone plates. "A snake's spine doesn't run that way. This looks more like part of a shell. There should be an even bigger body underneath."
Chopper poked his head over the railing and looked down, his face turning pale. "I-it's moving. Its whole body is rising. If all of it comes up-"
"How big is it?" Usopp asked nervously.
"Much bigger than the ship." Chopper pulled his head back. "Maybe bigger than White Reef Island."
Naruto watched the spine. It had stopped rising, remaining at