"An undersea waterfall!!!" the Straw Hats shouted in unison as the Sunny drifted toward the edge of a vast, plunging current. The water ahead fell away like a curtain of glass, a vertical current pouring into the ocean's depths.
Luffy's eyes were wide with the kind of giddy awe that made him forget caution. "How's that even possible?!" he whooped, bouncing on the deck.
"That's the downward current plume," Nami said. She leaned over the rail, the sunlight refracting through the bubble coating into a thousand fractured rainbows. "It's dangerous—don't get too close to the lip."
Usopp peered over and swallowed. "I can't even see the bottom! It's like the sea just… disappears."
Robin's tone was soft, almost reverent. "The sheer magnitude of this flow is breathtaking. Imagine how many meters across it must be."
Lucas, already fishing a small sphere from his pocket, grinned. "I know right. I'mma take a few selfies." He flicked it on; the orb rose, humming, and began snapping automated photos—wide panoramas, close-ups of him near the Sunny's rails.
Chopper and Usopp crowded around the sphere, posing like tourists. Luffy squinted into the water, then pointed. "Hey—look down there!" His voice cut through the chatter like a bell.
They leaned forward as the shape resolved: a vast, coiling shadow, then a mass of suckered arms erupting through the plume's spray. The ocean roared as a kraken—a titan of muscle and ink—thrust itself into the open, tentacles smashing across the surface and crushing small ships like toys.
"AAAAAAAAAH!!!" the crew screamed together. The deck lurched as the kraken's tentacles wrapped around a flotilla of wrecked hulls, bronze and wood splintering under the pressure. Water exploded into the air in geysers.
Chopper's voice was a high, terrified squeak. "It's crushing all those ships—look!"
Brook's laugh was a brittle, incredulous trill. "My, my—such a monstrous encore. It's like the antithesis to my being."
Caribou, who had been skulking at the edge of sight, barked in panic. "Hey!! Staw Hat! We have to get out of here! I mean look at that thing, it must've been been feeding on every ship that tried to ride the current!" He cried.
Luffy's reaction was an absurdly calm-excited, dangerous grin as he disregarded Caribou's remark. He giggled, the sound almost childlike. "Hey guys... I've got an idea." He rubbed his hands together. "Let's make that thing our pet."
Caribou's face went white. "You're insane!" he spat.
Usopp and Chopper echoed the disbelief. "How could we keep that as a pet? It'll eat us alive!" Usopp's voice trembled between terror and fascination.
Lucas's eyes flicked to the kraken, calculating. "If we could get it to follow us, it'd be like having a guard dog the size of an island," he said, half-joking, half-serious.
"Not you too," Usopp groaned. "No way."
Brook, staring at the kraken's boneless, flowing limbs, murmured with a strange, wistful tone, "The boneless beast… the bodiless bone… it's like a counterpart of myself." His voice carried a melancholy amusement that made the others blink.
Nami, practical as ever, snapped them back. "We're not keeping it. We don't even know if it's territorial or hungry." She shaded her eyes and watched the kraken's arms sweep the water. "Anyway, we need a plan to get past it."
Franky leaned over Robin's sketchbook, admiring her quick lines. "Wow—your sketches are great, Robin." He clapped his hands, then froze as the sea cow's bellow rolled across the water.
A thunderous MOOOOOH split the air. The sea cow—Mohmoo—had returned, dragging behind it the Caribou Pirates ship. The Sea Cow dragged the Caribou Pirates' ship back into view. "Captain!!" they cried.
Sanji muttered, cigarette dangling. "It's those guys again."
Caribou teared up. "You came back…"
His crew shouted, "Hang on big bro Dudeee! We're gonna save youuu!"
But in an instant, the Kraken's massive tentacle reached out, crushing their ship like paper.
"Ahhhhhhh!!!" Usopp screamed. "Did you see that?! There's no way you can tame it!" Usopp said, voice thin. "It's pure instinct." He pointed as the kraken's eyes turned toward the Sunny.
"Uhhhh!" Usopp spun around, panic in his voice. "Where did Luffy go?!"
Franky pointed casually. "Those two went off a while ago."
Outside the bubble coating, Luffy and Zoro were already swimming toward the massive octopus, their bodies wrapped in thin pink energy with a rope of light tethering them back to Lucas on the Sunny.
Usopp shrieked, grabbing his hair. "Gyaaa! You let them go out there after that thing?!"
The Kraken's eyes locked in on Zoro and Luffy as it spotted them, it's tentacles surging forward like towers of muscle.
Zoro's voice was low, steady, blades gleaming. "Three Sword Style… Six Caliber Phoenix ."
He spun, slashing in a wide arc. The water rippled violently as his strike carved through two tentacles, sending shockwaves that lit up the sea. The Kraken squealed, recoiling in pain.
Luffy grinned, excitement blazing in his eyes. "Nice one, Zoro! My turn!"
He bit down on his thumb, inflating his arm with a deep breath. "Gear Third… Now Gum-Gum… ELEPHANT GUN!!!"
His colossal fist, coated in jet-black Armament Haki, slammed into the Kraken's head. The impact thundered through the water, a shockwave bursting outward.
The Kraken's body convulsed, the ocean trembling as bubbles scattered. Amidst the chaos s shark, once trapped inside its stomach, shot free from the force of the blow, darting into the open sea.
On the Sunny, Nami's eyes widened. "He knocked it out!!"
Usopp's jaw dropped. "I can't believe it… they actually did it!"
Luffy chuckled, floating in the current. "Hehehe… that was fun."
Robin's voice cut in, "Oh no… they're too close to the current."
Suddenly, the downward plume surged, pulling Luffy, Zoro and the octopus into its grasp. Their bodies were dragged like ragdolls toward the abyss below.
The Sunny wasn't spared either. As it got too close, the Sunny got drawn in by the plume, as it was sent down violently.