In the end, Zhang Da Ye couldn't catch up to Tom—but Tom still wound up in his arms.
It happened because Tom, while swimming, suddenly spotted a huge wave rising ahead. A monstrous creature burst out of the water right after.
The beast was over two hundred meters long, with a dorsal fin and tail fin, its whole body pale yellow and oddly shaped. Without a doubt, it was a Sea King—though by their standards, only one of the smaller types.
Tom had been so startled by it that he dove straight into Zhang Da Ye's arms, trembling.
Truth be told, Zhang Da Ye was unnerved too. Two hundred meters… that was about the size of a hundred-story building. He had never seen a living thing that massive before. Even if he stabbed it with his sword, it'd probably feel no more than a mosquito bite.
Fortunately, the Sea King's attention wasn't on them. It was focused elsewhere.
Ahead was a ship—or to be more precise, a ship being carried on the back of a several-dozen-meter-long eel.
The Sea King lunged to bite, but the eel dodged with surprising agility.
"Artoria, Shark Chili—save them!" Zhang Da Ye shouted.
The ship's red sails fluttered, but the white flag with its crest couldn't be seen clearly. It probably wasn't a pirate ship. Zhang Da Ye wasn't reckless enough to charge in blindly—better to leave this to those who could handle it.
"Coming!" Artoria was already dashing across the water.
"Leave it to me!" Shark Chili shot forward like an arrow, yelling, "Super Shark Giant! Double Super Transformation Mode!"
In just a few seconds, he had summoned the Shark Giant and drove its ship-cutting blade deep into the Sea King's back.
So it turned out the Shark Giant didn't need to swim dramatically from afar whenever it was summoned—he only did that for style. Right now, with the situation urgent, there was no time for theatrics.
Even so, the Shark Giant's massive blade was basically a fruit knife compared to a two-hundred-meter Sea King. But it was still sharp enough to hurt.
The Sea King roared in pain, thrashing violently to fling the Shark Giant off.
"Ahh—damn it!" Shark Chili's voice came muffled through the loudspeakers, clearly struggling to keep his footing inside the cockpit.
Zhang Da Ye made a mental note to tell him later to install a seatbelt in there.
The Shark Giant didn't last long before being flung aside. Midair, though, its left arm raised. "You bastard—take this! Shark Cannon!"
A golden beam of energy blasted through the Sea King's tail. The creature howled and turned, jaws wide, ready to crush the Shark Giant.
"Missed the mark," Shark Chili grumbled. "I was aiming for the head."
Even with death rushing toward him, Shark Chili wasn't panicked—because he knew someone would block it.
"Haah!" Artoria leapt before the Sea King, her golden slash cutting straight across its neck.
The monster shrieked and collapsed, sending up a tidal spray before flipping belly-up, motionless.
The group stepped onto the massive corpse. Zhang Da Ye couldn't help recalling Usopp's tall tales—about once seeing a gigantic goldfish, even mistaking its droppings for an island to land on.
Disgusting. At least this one was edible.
Tom ran excitedly across the Sea King's body, and Rui Meng Meng, glancing around, voiced what they were all thinking: "Even if we wanted to eat it, there's no way we could finish something this big."
Shark Chili compared it to what he knew. "A blue whale over thirty meters weighs almost two hundred tons… this thing must be way heavier."
No matter the exact weight, Artoria's main thought was that it clearly wouldn't fit in one pot. She was already sizing up the best cuts to carve off and take back.
"I think we should be paying attention to that ship instead," Zhang Da Ye reminded, pointing at the vessel slowly approaching.
But no one responded. Everyone was still more interested in the Sea King beneath their feet. When even Artoria seemed unconcerned, Zhang Da Ye realized the newcomers must either mean no harm, or they were simply too weak to matter.
Soon enough, the giant eel carried the ship alongside them. A delicate-looking woman stepped to the rail and waved. "Hello! Thank you for saving me!"
Zhang Da Ye peered closer. Blonde hair, round face, flowing white blouse with wide sleeves, a long red skirt patterned with fish scales, a white sash tied at the waist, and a trailing ribbon. The outfit was familiar.
"You're… Princess Otohime of Fishman Island?"
The princess paused in surprise, then smiled warmly. "I didn't expect you to recognize me. Would you come aboard so we may talk?"
The mention of Fishman Island finally got everyone's attention—they actually looked up from the Sea King.
"Of course," Zhang Da Ye agreed readily. From what he remembered, Princess Otohime had always worked toward moving Fishman Island's people to the surface, hoping for peace between humans and fishfolk. Everything about her tone radiated goodwill.
"I'll put down a ladder right away!" Princess Otohime said with delight—it was rare to meet such easy company.
"No need for that." Zhang Da Ye leapt aboard with Tom in his arms, the others quickly following.
"Huh?" Several of them exclaimed in surprise as their feet touched down on a thin, springy surface.
"This ship is coated," Princess Otohime explained.
Zhang Da Ye examined the bubble film covering the hull. "I've heard about coated ships in Sabaody, but this is the first time I've actually seen one."
"Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Princess Otohime of the Ryugu Kingdom on Fishman Island. I've just returned from Mary Geoise and am on my way home."
So it was true—the Celestial Dragon Musgarud had been escorted back to Mary Geoise recently. It must have been Otohime who personally brought him.
"I'm Zhang Da Ye. For now I live on the Sabaody Archipelago. By trade I run a tavern, but I also do bounty hunting on the side… and part-time fishing." He pointed at the Sea King's corpse when he said the last part.
Princess Otohime blinked, then covered her mouth in a laugh. If that was "fishing," the standard for fishermen had truly been set impossibly high.
The others introduced themselves briefly. Artoria and Shark Chili were composed, Rui Meng Meng looked uneasy—it wasn't every day you spoke with royalty, after all.
Tom squirmed until Zhang Da Ye let him down—he wanted to feel the bubble-coated deck under his paws.
"You can go, but no claws. If the coating bursts, that'll be a real problem," Zhang Da Ye warned. He knew normally the coating wasn't fragile, but Tom had a way of defying "normally."
Princess Otohime then turned curious eyes toward Shark Chili. "Forgive me if this is rude, but… you said you're a robot? Not a fishman?"
"Robot, yes. I just happen to look a bit similar to a fishman." He rapped his chest with a clang of metal.
That gave Zhang Da Ye the amusing thought of having him perform chest-crushing tricks back at the tavern.
Princess Otohime nodded, then bowed politely. "Forgive me again, and thank you for saving me."
"No need for that. Honestly, I think even without us, you wouldn't have been in danger," Zhang Da Ye said. The eel beneath her ship looked clumsy but had shown surprising agility—and in the original course of events, Princess Otohime returned safely to Fishman Island anyway.
"Still, I mustn't take such things lightly," she replied gently. Then, smiling, "Please, come sit inside my cabin. Let me at least offer you some hospitality."
"Sure," Zhang Da Ye agreed, glancing at his companions. None objected—they were just as curious about Fishman Island as he was.
Following Otohime, they stepped through the bubble-coated doorway into the cabin. The bubble film didn't break as they passed through, only rippled around them.
Zhang Da Ye even had to yank back Tom with a quick grab, before the cat bounded away again.
Inside, they sat down as Princess Otohime personally poured tea for them.
Looking around the otherwise empty cabin, Zhang Da Ye asked, "I was wondering from the start—why does it seem like you're the only one aboard? Not even a guard? Isn't that risky?"
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