Faced with everyone's solemn thanks, Ages hurriedly used his Devil Fruit power.
The people bowing to him felt an invisible "hand" help them upright, and they all looked at Ages in shock.
"Hehe, uncles, big brothers, Captain John, you don't have to be so polite. You're making me embarrassed, hehe. Besides, I was on the ship too. I was saving myself, saving myself. You don't need to thank me."
"Oh, right, now that the danger's over, Captain John, shouldn't you..."
Seeing that everyone still wanted to thank him, Ages hurriedly changed the subject.
At Ages's reminder, Captain John, who had been so caught up in thanking him, finally remembered that the danger had passed. He said to Ages,
"I almost forgot. I need to go make the necessary arrangements. Thank you, Ages. To show our gratitude, everything you spend on this passenger ship will be free. Don't turn it down. Consider it a small token of our thanks."
As soon as Captain John finished speaking, he hurriedly picked up a Den Den Mushi and contacted the crew members who were evacuating the passengers outside. He instructed them to bring the passengers back, notify the Marines that the danger had passed, and take care of the other related matters, giving Ages no chance to refuse.
Ages shook his head. He could only accept the captain's kind offer.
While the captain, first mate, and others got busy, some of the crew who had nothing to do crowded around Ages, their eyes full of admiration and excitement.
"Ages, will you be my master? I want to wipe out a Sea King without breaking a sweat, just like you did today."
"Yeah, yeah! I don't even know how you did it, Ages. You killed that Sea King in an instant! You're amazing. If I had your skills, I'd join the Marines. I'd definitely make commodore at the very least!"
"I want to be Ages's disciple too! Don't fight me for it... Ages, please take me as your disciple!"
"Scram, scram! Get out of here! Why would Ages take you? Look at you, your legs went weak with fear when the Sea King attacked. If Ages takes anyone, it'll be me."
"Pfft, weren't your legs shaking too?"...
The crew gazed at Ages in admiration, excitedly talking to him all at once.
Just then, the first mate, having finished handling the relevant matters, walked over and came to Ages's rescue.
"Look at how excited you all are. Aren't you afraid you'll scare Ages? Hurry up and get out there and help."
The first mate's words left Ages speechless, and he thought to himself,
Am I that fragile...?
After chasing away "Ages's fans," the first mate thanked Ages.
"Ages, thank you so much for this. If I hadn't suggested taking a shortcut to speed up the voyage, we wouldn't have taken this route where Sea Kings often appear and run into one, and none of this would have happened today."
"But luckily you were here. Otherwise, I really couldn't have escaped the blame."
"Hehe, you're too polite, first mate. It was what I should have done."
After thanking Ages again and again, the first mate stopped bothering him and went back to work.
After accepting everyone's thanks, Ages returned to his cabin.
Lying on his bed, Ages recalled how he had killed the turtle-shaped Sea King and muttered to himself.
"Hehe, who would've thought eating a meal would give me an idea for a new move? I really am a genius."
The main reason Ages had been able to kill the turtle-shaped Sea King, with its formidable defenses, was that while he was eating in the dining room to restore his strength,
even as the turtle-shaped Sea King kept ramming the passenger ship outside, he had been thinking about how to improve Moonfall: Starburst.
After Ages had eaten his fill and patted his belly, he recalled Fujitora's words.
"If someone destroys that little black ball before you finish forming the meteor sphere, you won't be able to use that big move of yours."
Ages then looked down at his round belly after his meal and remarked,
"I really can eat a lot. I ate that much again."
As Ages marveled at how much his stomach could hold, he suddenly cried out,
"That's right! How could I have forgotten that? Pops said the weakness of my Moonfall: Starburst is that someone can destroy the little black ball while the meteor is forming."
"But wouldn't it be fine if I just kept them from reaching the little black ball?"
The solution Ages had come up with was to put the little black ball inside someone else's body. If they wanted to destroy it, they would have to damage their own body.
And if someone did destroy the little black ball, it meant they would have to cut themselves open. Otherwise, they couldn't possibly destroy it.
The little black ball was formed from invisible, colorless gravitational energy, so it was also exceptionally easy for it to pass through a person and enter their body. All Ages had to do was hold it in his hand and strike it into someone's body.
And Ages had struck a little black ball directly into the turtle-shaped Sea King's body.
As for the gurgling sound, it had been caused by Ages activating the little black ball, which then began drawing in the turtle-shaped Sea King's flesh, organs, and bones.
Each time Ages activated the little black ball, its attraction grew stronger, slowly pulling at the turtle-shaped Sea King's flesh, organs, and bones. That was also why the turtle-shaped Sea King had been in pain.
Its flesh, organs, and bones were gradually torn apart and drawn onto the little ball, destroying the turtle-shaped Sea King from within.
It was like someone inside your body frantically tearing away your flesh, organs, and bones with their teeth. That indescribable pain truly made death preferable to life.
That was why the turtle-shaped Sea King had screamed so desperately and longed for death.
Finally, Ages could detonate the little black sphere, destroying the turtle-shaped Sea King and blowing it to pieces from the inside.
Although this newly improved move was not as powerful as Moonfall: Starburst, its destructive power against a single target was astonishing.
Given that it could ultimately blow a Sea King apart like a blood-red firework,
Ages named this new move Moonfall: Fireworks Burial.
It meant that, at the funeral of someone subjected to the move, they would bid farewell to this world in the form of fireworks.