The surface churned violently, frothing with great swathes of white foam as enormous shadows swallowed the entire stretch of gray sea in an instant.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
After several thunderous crashes, seven or eight enormous Sea Kings burst out of the water and surrounded the little sailboat.
Deep-sea mud and barnacles clung to their bodies. Each eye was the size of a millstone. Their greedy gazes first fell on the still-bleeding corpse of their own kind, then shifted to the people aboard the deck.
A foul, fishy wind rushed into their faces.
Lin Xuan glanced toward Sanji by the railing.
The blond cook's fingers trembled slightly around his cigarette.
He could hardly blame Sanji.
At the Baratie in the East Blue, the worst trouble he had faced was a pirate like Krieg, armed to the teeth. A pack of enormous beasts, each capable of capsizing a warship, was rather beyond his experience.
"This... is the Grand Line?" Sanji's throat went dry. He tried to light his cigarette, but his thumb failed to strike the lighter several times.
"Hey, isn't this a bit much?"
He instinctively raised a leg, but faced with those looming shadows, his legs, ready to kick at any moment, had no idea which direction to take a stance toward.
"Don't block the way, Mr. Cook."
A calm female voice sounded behind Sanji.
Nami pushed the still-dazed Sanji aside, spinning the Clima-Tact nimbly in her palm.
"This humidity is just right."
Nami glanced up at the dark clouds overhead, her gaze certain, as though everything had been accounted for.
She quickly joined the three short rods together, the ball at the tip tracing an arc through the air.
First, she released cool and heat bubbles. The two kinds collided, creating a small pocket of unstable airflow. Then she