Echo whispers
The Thousand Sunny sailed to the core area where the Log Pose hovered. The sea here was an eerie dark blue, unusually calm, like a huge, lifeless sapphire. A peculiar salty smell permeated the air, and even on the surface, a low, mixed, continuous hum, as if from the depths of the underworld, could be faintly heard—that was the " Echo."
"This is it." Nami confirmed the location, her expression grave.
"Alright! Franky! Get ready to dive!" Luffy shouted impatiently.
"Leave it to me! Diving mode—activate!" Franky pressed several buttons in the control room. The Thousand Sunny's hull emitted a mechanical hum, streamlined waterproof shields extended from both sides, stabilizing fins emerged from the bottom, and the mast slowly retracted, the entire ship quickly transforming into a diving state suitable for deep sea operations.
"Everyone, get into the cabin and seal all entrances and exits!" Jinbe commanded calmly. As the member of the team most familiar with the ocean, he naturally took on the responsibility of providing technical guidance for this operation.
As the last hatch was sealed, the Thousand Sunny began its slow descent. Sunlight streamed through the sea, casting beams of light that gradually dimmed before being swallowed by the deep darkness. The ship's searchlights blazed on, like two sharp swords piercing the veil of the deep sea.
The surrounding scenery changed rapidly. The colorful schools of shallow-sea fish disappeared, replaced by strangely shaped deep-sea creatures that emitted a pale or eerie blue glow. They curiously approached the uninvited guest and then quickly vanished into the darkness. The water pressure increased rapidly with depth, and the hull made a slight creaking sound, but thanks to Franky's excellent design and Jinbe's precise control, everything remained stable.
The " Echo " became increasingly clear underwater. It was no longer a single hum, but a mixture of countless sounds—as if countless people were whispering, crying, singing, praying, and roaring at the same time. These sound fragments were stretched, distorted, and superimposed, forming a background noise that reached deep into the soul, making people feel involuntarily disturbed and even hallucinating.
"This sound... it's so unpleasant..." Usopp covered his ears, his face pale.
Chopper trembled too. "I feel... so much sadness..."
Even Zoro frowned, needing to concentrate to Resistance this pervasive mental interference.
Nami tried her best to remain calm, monitoring the depth and the ship's condition.
Sanji prepared hot drinks for everyone in an attempt to ease the tension.
Brook attempted to counteract the noise with his ethereal piano playing, with some success.
Robin closed his eyes and focused intently, carefully discerning the fragments of sound, trying to glean valuable historical information from them.
Ace's flames were greatly suppressed in the deep sea, but he could still sense the negative emotions contained in that voice.
Luffy, on the other hand, wasn't too affected. He was thick-skinned enough to yell and shout at the various strange deep-sea creatures flying past the window.
Standing before the observation window, Allen's perception disregarded the physical depth and darkness, directly "looking" at the source of the Echo. In his perception, those sounds were not chaotic noise, but countless fragmented memories and obsessions, clinging to a huge object on the seabed, continuously emitting mental fluctuations.
"We're close," Allen suddenly spoke, pointing to the edge of the searchlight beam, into the deeper darkness, "There are... the outlines of man-made structures there."
Everyone's spirits lifted, and they looked in the direction indicated. At the limit of the light's reach, they could vaguely see a huge, slanted shadow, its outline clearly not a natural formation, but rather... the ruins of a building?
As the ship cautiously continued its descent, the shadow gradually came into focus. It was a sunken city!
Broken towers, collapsed palaces, crisscrossing streets... everything is covered with thick coral and sea mud, and countless luminous deep-sea creatures move among them, like ghostly lights adorning a land of the dead. The city is extremely large, far exceeding the Fish-Man Island, and its architectural style is ancient and peculiar, with an inhuman geometric beauty that is completely different from any known civilization.
And that unsettling " Echo " emanated most strongly from the heart of this sunken city.
"My God..." Nami murmured, "It really is a lost city..."
Robin's eyes gleamed with an unprecedented light. "This architectural style... I've never seen it in any documents before!"
Franky was awestruck by this magnificent underwater spectacle. "Super ancient technology!"
Luffy excitedly pointed to the tallest pyramid-shaped building in the city center. "Let's go there! The sound seems to be coming from there! There might be treasure!"
However, just as the Thousand Sunny was trying to approach the pyramid, dozens of huge, scarlet points of light suddenly appeared in the surrounding darkness! Immediately afterwards, several incredibly thick tentacles covered with suckers and bone spikes, like claws from the Abyss, silently coiled around the ship from all directions!
At the same time, a will filled with hunger and violence crashed into everyone's minds like a shockwave!
They disturbed the "guardians" of this deep-sea ruin—or rather, the "masters" who occupied this place!