A furious roar heralded a dazzling entrance.
"How embarrassing!!"
Aboard the Marine warship.
Wuli stood rigidly upright, water dripping from his hair. The Justice Coat draped over his shoulders was soaked through and dripping too.
Drip! Drip!
The air seemed to freeze. Wuli looked perfectly composed, but inside he was mortified. He could barely bring himself to meet the eyes of his subordinates behind him.
Here was what had happened: Wuli had descended from the sky on Shangyang like a divine warrior. Everyone had gasped. It had been a magnificent sight.
Normally, an entrance like that would have established Wuli's greatness in everyone's eyes.
The Marines would have gazed at him in awe, the pirates in terror, and all of them would have remembered his imposing figure.
Unfortunately!
That was only how Wuli had imagined it. What happened next took such a sudden turn that even he felt awkward.
Even Gecko Moria had stared blankly for a while. The sight had been utterly unexpected.
Wuli had ridden Shangyang straight toward the Pirate Ship carrying Gecko Moria, looking every bit the mighty warrior. But just as Shangyang was about to reach the ship...
Shangyang had suddenly shrunk back to his normal size. Before everyone's eyes, he and Wuli had plunged into the sea in the most ridiculous way possible.
The Marine warship had come over and fished them out, but by then they had missed their best chance to attack Gecko Moria.
The pursuit continued, but a wide gap had opened between the two ships.
Ugh.
Wuli sighed inwardly and looked at the One-Legged Bird, whose feathers were still wet as he fought a little pink-haired girl for food. Wuli wanted nothing more than to grab that stupid bird and give him a beating.
Wuli spoke to him through their mental