As they drew closer to Old Trench, the weather changed without warning one morning.
Bai Zhu had just stepped out of his cabin, thinking of teaching Xiao Ba a few new words, when the newly risen sun vanished at an alarming speed.
Dark clouds rolled in from Old Trench, as though something were pushing them from behind.
The wind picked up abruptly, whipping the waves three or four meters high within seconds.
When the rain hammered down, no one on deck had time to take cover.
"Everyone below deck!"
Morel bellowed around his pipe, rain streaming down his face.
Knuckle tried to say something, but Shuto grabbed his arm and dragged him inside.
Gela Jiang stood in the wheelhouse with both hands spread, guiding the surrounding water into a cushioning membrane around the hull.
The ship rocked violently. Milluki clung to a handhold on the cabin wall, his face green as he kept dry-heaving.
"Fuck, is this lousy weather doing this on purpose...?"
Bai Zhu leaned beside the window without saying a word.
He stared toward Old Trench. Behind the curtain of rain, that black fissure drew steadily closer.
By the time the ship entered the outskirts of Old Trench, the downpour had reduced visibility to almost nothing.
Knuckle lay on the floor, Nen surging chaotically over his body. He tried to rein it in, but his hands were shaking too badly.
"Master... this..."
Morel ignored him, his eyes fixed ahead.
Milluki watched the sonar screen as its readings suddenly jumped.
Just as he was about to speak, the signal vanished from the screen.
Then the sea erupted.
A white figure surged out of Old Trench, thrusting up a mound of seawater over a hundred meters high.
Knuckle instantly collapsed on the floor. By now, he had no desire to