Power Surge

Sea Circular Calendar 1521, June 1.

At the border between the Grand Line and the South Blue, Calm Belt.

"Crack—boom!"

Half of a canvas-wrapped mast suddenly snapped in the middle. Its jagged break tore a huge hole in the sail before crashing heavily onto the deck, making the entire ship sway three times.

Baccarat, now eight feet tall, stood there clutching the broken mast in helpless confusion. She had only meant to raise her hand and adjust the rigging, but she had failed to hold back her strength and snapped it outright.

"Leave it."

Lucas leaned against the cabin doorway, the corner of his mouth twitching.

"A steamship doesn't need sails. Instead of tearing the ship apart here, you might as well go lift your barbell by the side."

Today marked their thirty-seventh day since leaving Resort Island.

Before departing, they had acquired this ship from a group of human traffickers at a "zero-cost premium." Lucas had also picked up most of the basics of operating a steamship during his earlier travels.

Their destination was the South Blue. The last Devil Fruit Lucas had set his sights on was hidden somewhere on an island in the South Blue.

Ordinary sailing ships could not cross the Calm Belt, making this steamship especially useful.

Life Energy's alterations to the human body were even more crude and overbearing than he had expected.

After only a little over a month together, Baccarat had shot up to eight feet tall. Lucas himself was only around ten feet.

Even more outrageous than her height was her strength.

Breaking a mast with her bare hands had to be at least on East Blue Luffy's level.

Baccarat did not have much talent for fighting and had extremely poor control over her rapidly increasing strength. Wrecking things around the ship had become commonplace.

But that was hardly a problem.

When raw power reached a certain level, skill became nothing more than optional decoration.

Even if she swung her fists wildly with her eyes closed, she could still beat most pirates roaming the Four Blues to death.

Fortunately, the growth finally began to slow.

Starting three days ago, Life Energy's enhancement had entered a plateau. It no longer had that absurd momentum of adding several centimeters a day.

Lucas was relieved. This was more normal. If she kept growing at that rate, in another half year he would end up with a naturally mutated female giant. That would be a little horrifying.

By the rail, Baccarat was pressing a barbell as tall as a person overhead without even breaking a sweat.

A massive shadow suddenly rose soundlessly beneath the mirror-still sea.

She merely glanced at it before looking away and continuing her presses.

They had been in the Calm Belt for more than a day or two now. She had long grown used to sights like this.

"Ten Million Volts Discharge."

A mass of blood-red plasma erupted from Lucas's palm. The lightning spread through the seawater in an instant, burrowing precisely into the shadow's body.

Lightning infused with projected Armament Haki easily pierced the Sea King's rough, thick hide, racing along its nerves and charring its internal organs black.

"Splash!"

The surface exploded. A hundred-meter-long Sea King resembling a giant eagle floated up belly-first, wisps of black smoke rising from its body. It was dead beyond doubt.

In this world's seas, marine mammals such as seals and whales were called Sea Beasts; only non-mammalian creatures were called Sea Kings.

Lucas raised a hand, and a churning sea of blood spread from beneath his feet, instantly covering nearly half the deck. A giant arm formed from congealed blood extended from the blood sea, spanning dozens of meters over the water. It grabbed the Sea King's corpse and lifted it into the air.

At the same time, dozens of blood blades wrapped in Armament Haki sprang from the blood sea and slashed through the air in crossing arcs.

The sea of blood quickly withdrew, seeping away through the gaps in the deck. The neatly sliced Sea King meat rained down onto the deck with a series of loud thuds, each piece evenly sized.

Baccarat walked over with a frown, staring at the bloody chunks of meat with undisguised distaste.

"Darling, you cut it up so small that it'll be hard for me to deal with."

"Still better than having me carry it aboard."

Lucas spread his hands. He could have used Geppo to go down and carry it up himself, but he did not want to.

The Vampire-Vampire Fruit allowed him to survive by drinking blood and Life Energy, but he had still kept the habit of eating three meals a day.

He did not want himself to become more and more like a real monster. At least when it came to eating, he still wanted to be human.

The setting sun slanted westward, dyeing the sky a cool, pale orange-pink.

The dining room in the cabin glowed with warm yellow light. Two sets of tableware sat on the table, with golden pan-fried Sea King meat on one side and stir-fried vegetables on the other.

They sat facing each other, quietly eating dinner like the most ordinary married couple.

Lucas placed a chopstickful of greens into her bowl and casually asked,

"Come to think of it, I never asked. How did you happen to be at that casino that day?"

Baccarat took a mouthful of rice, chewing before she spoke.

"That day, I had only barely managed to control the Lucky-Lucky Fruit. I originally wanted to go to the casino and make some startup money.

"But as soon as I arrived, I heard the locals say that several people who had won big before had disappeared for no reason afterward.

"I was hesitating over whether to leave when you came over and started talking to me."

She looked up, a hint of amusement in her eyes.

"If I hadn't met you, I might have been blinded by greed and fallen into their trap one day. Not only would I have been captured, but who knows what I would have suffered.

"Tell me, did you happen to appear at that moment because you were also blessed by my luck?"

Lucas froze for a moment, then laughed helplessly.

They smiled at each other, and tenderness filled the entire room.

To be continued