Freeloader

"Turn around!" Swain ordered the Sea King beneath his feet.

"Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing?"

Swain made several more gestures, but it still did not understand and charged straight ahead.

Helpless, he had to force it to change direction.

They could communicate, but not the way humans communicated with one another.

He could only sense that the Sea King felt close to him. One wave of his hand, and it came over.

But if he wanted to learn a proper language for communicating with it, he would have to go to Fish-Man Island.

After all, he and the Sea King were not even the same species.

Suddenly...

The Sea King beneath his feet grew restless, its tail swishing back and forth.

Swain knew what that meant. The Sea King had spotted an enemy and was preparing to ram it.

Its fishlike head rose, the spear on it gleaming like a peerless weapon!

Swain used the water's ripples to probe ahead and soon got an answer.

"Wolf and Wine Barrel? Looks like Blackbeard split his men into two groups to escape."

But he had guessed wrong.

Ever cautious, Blackbeard had split them into three groups. Unless Swain could make Clones of himself, he could only choose one group to pursue. That would greatly improve their chances of survival.

With luck, they might even make it out alive.

The Sea King moved faster and faster. It was called the Lord of the Coast for a reason: it was swift, its attacks were fierce, and it was fiercely territorial.

Anyone who entered its territory was bound to be attacked.

That was how Sea Kings could dominate stretches of the Calm Belt, though few in the New World considered them a threat.

Splash!

The Sea King burst from the water and lunged