A massive wave surged up from the depths of the sea. The Marines on deck huddled together in terror. Wilder strode to the bow of the ship, calmly watching the dark shadow in the water grow closer and closer.
Although the warship was lined with Seastone to make sea beasts and Sea Kings avoid it, nothing was absolute. In the eyes of some of the more powerful Sea Kings, a warship was no bigger than a banana, or even smaller. Why would such a minuscule existence make a Sea King go out of its way to avoid it? To them, the warship was probably just a speck of dust on their bodies that could be shaken off at any time—something they didn't want on them, but not something they would go to great lengths to evade.
Not to mention, this was a terrifying Sea King nest. The ship could be destroyed at any moment by one of their casual movements.
A cylindrical wave rose high into the air. The thunderous roar of the water crashed into the ears of everyone on deck. The Marines let out blood-curdling screams, huddling together and trembling.
"We're gonna die, we're gonna die!"
"Get away! This is all your fault!"
Wilder calmly watched as the curtain of water broke apart, revealing the form of the massive creature.
CRASH!
The receding wave tossed the warship high into the air, lifting it from the surface of the sea, only to let it plummet back down. The entire process was accompanied by the screams of the Marines.
It wasn't until the sea had calmed that the Marines forced themselves to summon their courage and slowly open their eyes to look at the water ahead.
In an instant, another round of despairing howls erupted!
Wilder stood at the bow, calmly looking at the massive creature that was now right in front of them.
At this moment, the warship was like a single leaf, its forward progress halted before the head of the giant beast. It had only revealed its head, yet the sheer scale of it was enough to drive one to despair.
A smooth, rounded head, sharp fangs, and reddish eyes that were nearly the size of the warship itself. The creature's aura and the fishy stench washed over them, instantly silencing the Marines' screams and draining the color from their faces.
Although the Marines were praying frantically, the quiet didn't last. The massive Sea King moved. A slight motion from it caused a violent surge that, for humans, was nothing short of a cataclysm.
It rolled over, and a massive fin emerged from beneath the surface, descending upon the warship from above!
"Aaargh!!"
"We're dead for sure!"
"It's over!"
Staring at the giant fin pressing down from above, the Marines' eyes were wide with terror and despair.
Just then, Kakarot saw Wilder disappear from the bow.
"Wait! What is he doing?"
Kakarot's voice snapped the other Marines out of their stupor, and they couldn't help but look up.
Wilder appeared beneath the descending fin. He made a fist, and then his eyes narrowed, an icy killing intent erupting from them. He pushed off the air with the tip of his foot, and the air exploded in a puff of white smoke. Wilder's figure vanished, reappearing right in front of the fin. He slammed his fist into it!
The Marines' eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets, their faces frozen in a state of utter shock.
The scene that followed left their minds completely blank.
Shocked, they stared in disbelief at the figure in the sky.
BOOM!
With a deafening roar, the massive fin was sent flying upward by the force of the punch. A roar of pain and anger echoed from beneath the sea.
The waves churned, and the massive head re-emerged from the water, its crimson eyes fixed on the warship—or more accurately, on Wilder at the bow of the warship.
"Get lost!"
A domineering aura erupted from Wilder, sweeping out from his body and crashing directly into the massive Sea King's head. In an instant, a look of panic flashed in the Sea King's eyes, and its body froze, trembling.
After breaking free from the oppressive grip of the aura, it turned and dove frantically into the sea, fleeing for its life.
The Marines were completely stunned. A "holy shit" was stuck in their throats, dying to get out.
Kakarot stared at Wilder's back in shock. "Conqueror's Haki… and the physical strength to send a fin of that size flying with one punch… Is this guy even human?"
The Marines who had come to their senses went crazy! They hugged each other, tears of emotion streaming down their faces.
"We're… we're saved!"
"I thought we were dead for sure!"
"That was amazing!"
"King Wilder!"
The Marines on the deck looked at the figure with admiration. Wilder himself, however, was looking at his own fist. That punch just now…
He hadn't used his full strength. Otherwise… the result would have been much different. Two months of hellish training had raised his physical prowess to an unprecedented level. The reason for such great results was partly due to the accumulation of his efforts, and partly thanks to his improvement in the skill of Life Return.
Life Return itself was a skill for controlling and training the body. When mastered to a certain degree, as long as there was enough energy, it could even allow for rapid healing of wounds. Of course, the body it rebuilt was inevitably stronger.
The warship began to move again. This time, although the Marines were still on edge and worried, thanks to Wilder's feat of repelling the terrifying Sea King, they no longer gave up hope of survival.
Before long, the warship encountered another Sea King.
This one was covered in smooth scales, its body as large as ten warships combined.
"Prepare to fire!" This time, everyone was filled with fighting spirit. Kakarot gave the order, but his words were cut off by another voice.
"No need." Wilder unbuttoned his shirt as he watched the Sea King. As it opened its massive, bloody maw to bite down on the warship, Wilder's shirt fell casually to the deck. With a muffled sonic boom, he vanished from the bow. His upper body, revealing muscles as hard as steel, was filled with an excited battle lust as he shot straight toward the Sea King's gaping mouth.
"Holy shit! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!" The crowd was panicked by Wilder's sudden move. Kakarot couldn't stop himself from cursing him as a madman, but he stared nervously as Wilder got closer and closer to the Sea King's mouth.
The Marines held their breath, their bodies tensing as Wilder's figure neared the massive maw.
Just as Wilder was about to fall into the mouth, the crowd saw him move again. Just like before, he made a fist, brought it up to his eye level, and then pushed off the air with the tip of his foot. His forward momentum changed to an upward rush, and he appeared right above the Sea King's nose.
Even though they weren't in the thick of it, Kakarot and the others could still feel the terror of that punch. Without hesitation, Wilder brought his powerful fist down on the Sea King's head.
Kakarot and the others watched in shock at the unforgettable scene that followed. The muscles on Wilder's arm bulged like a steel cannonball as it landed on the Sea King's head. With a dense series of cracking sounds, cracks visibly spread across the Sea King's skull, and blood gushed from them like a spring.
"The skull… he shattered its skull in a single blow."
The Marines felt their scalps tingle. They swallowed hard, too shocked to speak.
BOOM!
The massive Sea King's body was slammed down beneath the surface of the sea by the force of the punch. It never came back up. Blood stained this patch of the ocean red.
"Full speed ahead!" Kakarot's expression changed. He had no time to be shocked by the scene. He gave the order. If the blood spread and attracted more Sea Kings, they would really be doomed.
This time, Wilder wouldn't be so arrogant as to say it was unnecessary. He too wasn't confident he could face a siege of multiple Sea Kings at once.
Hearing Kakarot's words, the Marines on the ship snapped back to their senses and quickly maneuvered the ship to move at top speed.
Over the next day, Kakarot and his men witnessed what a human killing machine looked like. Wilder tore apart Sea Kings with his bare hands all along the way. He was so savage, he didn't seem human at all. He was a peerless, ferocious beast in human skin.
Kakarot and his men were on edge the entire time, watching Wilder tear apart Sea Kings, his body bathed in blood that flowed through the valleys of his steel-like muscles. The sight was a shock to their systems.
"Is this guy still human?"
"He's a monster, right?"
"I'm starting to think he's the real beast, not the Sea Kings."
"It's been a day! Doesn't this guy ever get tired? He's a monster!"
"He's not relying on his ability at all! It's all pure, physical strength, tearing apart Sea Kings! No matter how you look at it, this isn't something a human can do!" By the end, the Marines were numb, their minds reeling from the shock.
After a day of their nerves being stretched taut and then going numb, the warship finally sailed out of the terrifying region. Only then did everyone let out a collective sigh of relief. The moment they relaxed, their bodies went limp from the release of physical and mental exhaustion.
"Mr. Wilder, our supplies are running low. We'll be stopping at Native Island to restock," Kakarot said, walking over.
"Native Island, huh… Mm." Wilder replied as he wiped the blood from his body.
Native Island was a small to medium-sized island in the first half of the Grand Line, near the Calm Belt. The island was rich in resources and had a large fish population, so the natives there were self-sufficient. Most of them made a living by fishing, trading their catch for other necessities. The people who lived there were natives who wore animal skins.
Wilder was somewhat interested in this, as he had read a little about Native Island in a book. Legend had it that a terrifying creature lived on that island. This made him very interested in going to see this so-called creature. Of course, since it was a legend, Wilder wasn't sure if it was true.
After another two days, the warship finally sailed out of the Calm Belt and arrived at Native Island. During this time, it was as if the warship had some kind of hate-attracting attribute; Sea Kings kept popping up to attack it. Of course, all of them were torn apart by Wilder, leaving a trail of red in their wake.
The arrival of the warship naturally attracted the attention of the natives at the pier, but they didn't show any particular emotion. Wilder had put on a cloak beforehand to hide his face and avoid being recognized, which would have exposed his whereabouts. Only then did he follow the Marines off the warship.
The pier was bustling with activity. Natives in animal skins were unloading the day's catch from their boats. The scene was lively.
Crates filled with fish were being carried off by burly men, and a large group of women and island residents immediately crowded around.
As soon as Wilder and the others disembarked, they heard the natives at the pier talking.
"Wow! Why is the catch so big this time? What kind of meat is this?"
"Heheh." The fishing boat captain was a simple, honest man. He didn't mind being surrounded by the crowd, his face filled with the joy of a good harvest. Hearing someone point to a huge chunk of pinkish meat and ask a question, he quickly lowered his voice and said, "This is Sea King meat."
"What!"
"Sea King meat!" The surrounding natives all gasped in shock, staring at him in disbelief.
The fishing boat captain nodded with a grave and serious expression. "The reason we had such a big catch this time is because of this Sea King meat. So not only did we catch a lot of fish, we also have a lot of Sea King meat. Do you know what we encountered on this trip?"
"What did you encounter?" Seeing his serious and mysterious expression, the surrounding natives couldn't help but have their curiosity piqued.
"Not long after we set sail, we saw that the surrounding sea was tinged with a faint red, and the smell of blood was very strong," the captain said, lowering his voice, and the crowd was unconsciously drawn in by his words.
"And then? For fuck's sake, hurry up and say it!" someone said impatiently.
"At that moment, I realized that something big had happened," the captain said, not minding the man's cursing. He leaned closer to the crowd, his brow furrowed with a mix of gravity and recollection.
"The sea turning red can only mean one of two things: either fishermen are using harpoons to hunt, or a large Sea King is hunting. But for such a large area of the sea to turn red, I realized that things were probably not that simple. I searched carefully, and guess what I found?"
"What?"
The captain slapped his thigh with a loud smack and said excitedly, "Sea King meat! There was Sea King meat everywhere! The blood was coming from the Sea King meat! And there were lots of fish eating the Sea King meat! So! That's why we had such a big catch this time!"
"You still haven't gotten to the point. Why was there so much Sea King meat?" The surrounding natives weren't interested in hearing about his harvest; they just wanted to know why there was suddenly so much Sea King meat in the sea.
"Oh, right!" The captain, interrupted, realized he had gotten off track. His brow furrowed again, this time with a hint of worry in his tone. "I'm worried that it might be dangerous for us to go out to sea in the future. There was so much Sea King meat that we couldn't bring it all back. It was too much. I saw one piece of meat that was as big as a small mountain. There's probably only one reason why such a large Sea King would be cut into pieces."
Hearing this, the surrounding people thought about it and couldn't help but get goosebumps.
The captain's face was heavy with helplessness as he said, "I suspect that this area of the sea is about to become very unsafe. The thing that killed the Sea Kings is probably a terrifying sea monster, even more terrifying than the Sea Kings themselves!"
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