The pressure steadily mounted, and the light around him began to vanish.
Gurgling bubbles rose from the pitch-black depths toward the light above.
A serpent-shaped Sea King plunged downward at high speed, dragging the surrounding water into a vertical current. Its frantic movements made its terror plain.
Werther opened his eyes. The immense water pressure made them sting.
"Lucky you."
Werther drew Intent Blood and kicked off the muscle beneath his feet, pulling free of the wound.
Sensing Werther's departure, the Sea King turned to look at him.
But after a single glance, it hurried into the depths. Werther had frightened it so badly that if it ever saw him again, it would probably turn and flee.
Werther still had plenty of oxygen, but the crushing pressure around him was becoming too much to bear.
Holding his breath, Werther used Geppo to speed through the water.
Geppo was an incredible way to accelerate underwater. If he could kick off air, seawater, with its greater density, was even easier.
Whoosh!
A swift shadow cut through the deep. Werther trailed a current behind him as he rose toward the surface.
The gloom gradually brightened, and golden sunlight made the sea breathtakingly beautiful.
Werther could not help stopping to take in the view.
Countless fish he could not name swam through the pale blue water, while an occasional shellfish fluttered past, flapping its shell.
Werther had seen the beauty of the sea before, but every time, it made him want to linger.
Surrounded by that beauty, Werther relaxed. The matter of his master had been settled, and Wano Country had paid the price it owed.
A little fish with red-and-white stripes slowly approached Werther. Its black eyes studied the human before it with curiosity. It wanted to come closer, but did not quite