Ten thousand meters beneath the sea lay absolute darkness and absolute silence.
Wrapped in a double-layered bubble coating, the Flame Emperor slowly descended through the deep sea like a piece of glowing amber. The "Light Dials" embedded in its hull cast a pale halo, barely illuminating the surrounding fifty meters of water. Beyond that lay a darkness that swallowed even light, broken only by the occasional deep-sea creature drifting past like a ghost, its body glowing with eerie fluorescence.
"Depth, nine thousand eight hundred meters... pressure index critical..." Isuka stared at the instrument panel, cold sweat beading on her forehead. "Captain, tiny cracks are starting to appear in the bubble coating. The deep-sea pressure is stronger than expected."
Lin Yan stood at the bow, his crimson-gold eyes shining like two lamps in the darkness. His Observation Haki penetrated the bubble coating, sensing everything around them-the direction of the currents, the pulse of life, and... the malice hidden in the dark.
"Turn fifteen degrees to port. Avoid those hydrothermal vents," he ordered calmly. "Chopper, is the reinforcement agent ready?"
"It's ready!" Chopper held a bucket of thick blue liquid. "This is a 'Deep-Sea Reinforcement Agent' made from Sky Island's 'cloud dial gel' and Fish-Man Island's specialty, 'Coral calcium.' It can temporarily increase the bubble coating's toughness by thirty percent!"
Using both hands and feet, the little reindeer spread the agent evenly over the bubble coating's inner wall. The liquid seeped into the resin layer, and the membrane, which had begun developing tiny cracks, immediately became smooth again, even emitting a faint blue glow.
"The effect only lasts twelve hours," Chopper added. "We have to enter Fish-Man Island's inner bubble before then."
Holding Shigure, Tashigi watched the waters outside the ship warily. Her "Flame-Infused Inscription" had become sluggish in its responses in the deep sea-flames were already restricted underwater, let alone ten thousand meters down. But she did not let down her guard, because Lin Yan had said that the most dangerous enemies were often those you could not see.
Just then, Robin suddenly opened her eyes.
"Captain, something is approaching," she said quietly. "Not Sea Kings... humanoid creatures. Thirty-seven of them, rising from below in an encircling formation. They're moving fast."
Almost simultaneously, Lin Yan's Observation Haki picked up those presences as well-cold, vicious, carrying a familiar trace of hatred.
"They're Fish-Men." Ace walked to the railing, blue-white flames igniting around his hands-even underwater, Blue Flame's "penetration" property remained effective. "And... they've taken Energy Steroids."
The moment he finished speaking, dozens of pairs of blood-red eyes lit up in the darkness below.
Those were the eyes of Fish-Men, turned beastlike by the Energy Steroids. They carried coral blades and forks, wore "Water Dials" on their backs that jetted streams of water, and were dressed in matching black combat uniforms. Embroidered on their chests was the emblem of the New Fish-Man Pirates: crossed bones and sharp fangs.
Leading them was a blue-skinned octopus Fish-Man, each of his eight tentacles holding a sword. He was Hyouzou of the "Eight-Sword Style," a combatant of the New Fish-Man Pirates. His eyes were blood-red now; he had clearly overdosed on Energy Steroids.
"You rats from the Blue Sea..." Hyouzou's voice traveled through the seawater, muffled and distorted. "You dare intrude on Lord Hody's territory. Then we'll use your blood to honor Brother Arlong's departed soul!"
All eight of his arms swung at once. Eight fierce slashes tore through the seawater, striking at the Flame Emperor's bubble coating from different angles!
"Not a chance!" Tashigi drew her sword. Flame-Infused Shigure unleashed crimson-gold sword energy through the water-although its power had weakened, its heat still vaporized the seawater, creating a momentary cavity and forcibly blocking four of the slashes.
The other four hurtled toward the bottom of the ship.
But Lin Yan did not even turn around.
He merely raised his right foot and lightly stamped the deck.
"Furnace Domain: Underwater Expansion."
Crimson-gold flame patterns spread from him, running along the deck and covering the entire ship. Then... they pierced the bubble coating!
Flames burned underwater. It should have been impossible. But Lin Yan's flames were not ordinary combustion; they were "plasma energy release." Under the Genesis Furnace's control, the flames used the hull as their base to form a spherical "high-temperature domain" one hundred meters in diameter.
Within the domain, the seawater instantly heated to several thousand degrees, but the heat was precisely contained at the domain's edge, leaving the hull unharmed. The instant those slashes entered the domain, the terrifying heat vaporized them outright!
Hyouzou and the other Fish-Men were stunned.
"F-fire is burning underwater?!"
"How is that possible?!"
"Nothing is impossible." Lin Yan's voice vibrated through the seawater by means of the flames, reaching every Fish-Man's ears clearly. "I'll give you one chance: clear the way, or... become boiled fish."
Madness flashed in Hyouzou's eyes. He pulled a vial of bright red liquid from inside his clothes-Energy Steroids Concentrate-and drained it in one gulp.
"ROOOAR!!!"
His body began to swell, his muscles bursting through his skin, his eight tentacles becoming as hard as steel. His presence surged wildly, almost reaching the level of a Shichibukai's second-in-command.
"Kill them!!!" Hyouzou roared, charging into the high-temperature domain first.
Although the heat scorched his skin, the berserk strength granted by the Energy Steroids allowed him to temporarily ignore the pain. All eight swords slashed toward Lin Yan at once!
Lin Yan sighed.
"Stubborn to the end."
He extended his right hand, spread his fingers, then... slowly closed them into a fist.
"Furnace: Deep-Sea High Pressure."
HUM!!!
The seawater around Hyouzou suddenly compressed! It was not physical compression, but "conceptual" compression-Lin Yan used the Genesis Furnace to rewrite the "rules of pressure" in that area, instantly multiplying the normal water pressure at a depth of ten thousand meters tenfold!
Pressure on the scale of a million tons bore down on Hyouzou.
Crack, crack!
The sound of shattering bones traveled through the seawater. As though seized by an invisible giant hand, Hyouzou's swollen body began to deform and collapse inward. He let out an agonized scream, but the immense pressure weakened his voice.
Three seconds later, Lin Yan released his hand.
Hyouzou sank limply toward the seabed. Although he was not dead, seventy percent of the bones in his body had shattered, and the effects of the Energy Steroids had been forcibly crushed out of him. His senses returned, leaving nothing but terror in his eyes.
At the sight, the other Fish-Men were scared out of their wits. They turned and fled.
Lin Yan did not pursue them. He simply withdrew his domain.
Silence filled the bubble coating.
The crew looked at the octopus Fish-Man slowly sinking outside the ship, then back at their captain, and all swallowed.
"Captain... that move you just used..." Isuka's voice was dry. "Did you turn the deep-sea pressure into a weapon?"
"You could say that." Lin Yan nodded. "The deep sea is the Fish-Men's home ground. They adapt to high pressure and make use of the currents. Then we'll use even greater pressure and an even hotter environment to show them-"
"Home-field advantage can be taken away."
He looked down. Below them, Fish-Man Island's double-layered bubble coating was already faintly visible.
"Descend at full speed. We need to infiltrate Ryugu Palace before Hody reacts."
The Flame Emperor accelerated, plunging toward that dreamlike kingdom shrouded in crisis like a meteor in the deep sea.
What they did not know was that inside the "Hard-Shell Tower" in the deepest part of Fish-Man Island, a pair of blue eyes as pure as the ocean was watching this scene through a surveillance Image Dial.
Princess Shirahoshi covered her mouth, tears welling in her eyes.
"The sun... really has come..."
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