Chapter 106: Target, Fish-Man Island
Late one night a few years ago, Shakky's Rip-off Bar had received a special visitor.
Brown skin, white hair, and black wings—Shakky had recognized him at a glance as a member of the legendary, supposedly extinct Lunarian race. At first, with the thought of avoiding trouble, Shakky had wanted to persuade him to leave. But the moment the man spoke, the nature of the situation changed, simply because the young man had announced with a hopeful look that he was looking for Rayleigh.
Not long after the young Lunarian arrived, Rayleigh returned to the bar and recognized the young man's identity.
Later, Roger's apprentice brat returned to the Grand Line, came here, and, holding a bounty poster, mentioned a person named Louis to Shakky and Rayleigh. To be honest, Louis's appearance was very difficult to connect with the legendary Lunarian race; he was more like a legendary angel.
From that day on, Shakky had been looking forward to meeting this monster whom Shanks considered to have talent surpassing even Charlotte Linlin. And now, the arrival of Yelena and Uta meant that he was also in the vicinity of the Sabaody Archipelago. To be so close yet unable to meet... Shakky felt it was a bit of a pity.
To this, Uta replied with some distress, "Because Louis has wings on his back, even with a cloak, he still looks very strange and attracts attention. So, he stayed offshore to prepare for our infiltration of Fish-Man Island."
"Is he getting a coating?" As a professional in this field, Rayleigh felt he had some say in the matter.
To this, Uta shook her head with a strange expression. "No. Our 'ship' is a bit too big. The bubbles on the Sabaody Archipelago probably can't cover it."
"Too big?"
Yelena's red eyes flashed with a thoughtful look, and she then answered softly, "Our pirate crew recently gained four giants as members."
"..."
"A ship that can accommodate four giants..." Shakky slowly stubbed out her cigarette, then turned to tease Rayleigh. "Old Ray the coater, can you handle that?"
To this, Rayleigh swirled the liquor in his glass, a "you've got to be kidding me" expression on his face. "Give me a break. How could I possibly handle something like that? I'd need to invite every coater on the Sabaody Archipelago to have a chance!"
Yelena was a little surprised. "The second-in-command of the Roger Pirates is actually working as a ship coater for people?" she asked, amazed.
"After a life of passionate adventure, one must eventually return to an ordinary life," Rayleigh said, pushing up his glasses, the corners of his mouth turning up in a nostalgic smile.
Meanwhile, one nautical mile off the Sabaody Archipelago.
The flawless white Island Cloud lay on the surface of the sea. Its height was almost level with the giant mangroves, and its length and width were immense, standing opposite the archipelago.
Louis stood at the edge of Avant Heim with his arms crossed, feeling the slight swaying beneath his feet. Beside him, a giant with a massive build and a longsword on his back stood拘謹地 (reservedly).
"Road, are you confident you can find Fish-Man Island in the deep-sea currents?" Louis looked up at the half of the giant's face that was obscured by his long hair and asked in a deep voice.
Louis's words made Road, who was a little different from the other giants, freeze for a moment. It was a good while before he nodded with a flustered look. "I can, Captain Louis!" At this moment, Road looked a little panicked, as if he was not very confident in himself.
To this, Louis shook his head. "No need to be so nervous. With Avant Heim and Natural Water, there's no danger. You just need to use your navigator talents to find the path to Fish-Man Island among the various ocean currents."
Louis's words made the somewhat unconfident Road gradually calm down. "Is that so?"
"Nothing will go wrong," Louis said again.
Then, Gerd and Hajrudin walked up from behind them and looked out at the distant Sabaody Archipelago.
"Is this the tip of the dark iceberg?" Gerd remarked with a strange emotion. She had long heard that the Sabaody Archipelago was the most prosperous area for the slave trade; they even conducted it openly. Every year, countless slaves were auctioned here, and not even the powerful giant race was spared. Therefore, when Louis asked if they wanted to go ashore, they had all refused to avoid trouble.
Hajrudin looked at the ships coming and going in the distance, which were completely unaware of Avant Heim. He was a little bewildered and subconsciously asked, "Why can't they see Avant Heim and us?"
To this, Road, who was quite familiar with weather phenomena and air currents, crossed his arms and explained proudly to his friend. "That's because the captain's Fantasy Species, the Anemoi, has manipulated the density of the air, creating a super-large mirage under the sunlight!"
Hajrudin heard this and looked thoughtful. He had heard of mirages before.
Just then, a small boat sailed over from the direction of the Sabaody Archipelago and entered the range of the mirage. As it approached the edge of Avant Heim, Daz Bonez, dressed in a black suit and covered in blood, and Kuina, in a blood-red kimono, walked up the steps and returned to Louis's side.
"The headquarters of that human trafficking organization has been wiped out. We've released the slaves."
Louis heard this and patted Daz Bonez's shoulder, giving Kuina a look of approval. "Good work, Daz, Kuina. Go wash up first. If you come back out, you can still catch the scene of Avant Heim's descent."
"Alright."
"Understood—"
The two of them left and returned to their rooms.
After they left, Hajrudin reached out and lifted the small boat, which was filled with the traffickers' ill-gotten gains, and placed it in the storage room.
Just then, Gerd noticed a second small boat and prompted Louis, "Yelena and Uta are back. We can set off!"
On the second small boat, two figures stood. The petite figure with red and white hair was waving in their direction.
After the two of them arrived, Gerd smiled, bent down, and extended her long hand to lift Yelena and Uta up.
The next moment, the seawater around Avant Heim began to churn violently, as if it were boiling with countless bubbles. Then, a powerful ocean current shot into the sky, swallowing Avant Heim's massive form whole.
A wall of water, over twenty meters thick, converged a hundred meters above their heads, forming a giant sphere that enclosed Avant Heim and a large amount of air within it. Immediately after, one by one, giant hands made of cold seawater broke through the surface of the ocean, grabbed onto various parts of Avant Heim, and began to pull it toward the deep sea.
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