Two dark figures, one tall and one short, walked along Fish‑Man Street toward a deeper, cavernous area where a massive looming shadow lay hidden.
"Hey! Human!"
"Call me Master!"
The short figure lifted her round little head and snorted indignantly.
"Hmph! I am a dignified Fish‑Man warrior! Why should I call a human Master? It feels… strange!"
The tall figure beside her, wearing a protective air bubble, smiled down at her with untroubled confidence.
"If you don't call me Master, then I won't teach you how to beat up humans!"
The short figure hesitated. When she thought of the mysterious ability that Silver Serpent possessed, an ability that made her eyes glow with envy, she made a decision.
Slowly, humbly, and with considerable reluctance, she knelt and said very clearly:
"Alright then… Human Master, teach me how to defeat you evil humans!"
"Hm‑hm, that's a good girl," Silver Serpent said with a playful smile, pinching the little one's chubby cheek.
Then he turned and pointed toward Noah's Ark, the immense dark silhouette rising on the horizon, like a mountain beneath the waves.
"Akiue Hoshi… what do you know about Noah's Ark?"
Akiue Hoshi rubbed her cheek where Silver Serpent had pinched her, pouting indignantly as she rolled her eyes.
"Hmph, I don't want to tell my enemy humans anything! These are our Fish‑Man secrets!"
"Oh? So a certain Fish‑Man doesn't want to learn how to defeat humans, eh?"
"Damn it!!!"
Once Silver Serpent had grasped her weakness, Akiue Hoshi scowled furiously but admitted her fear.
"It's very scary there! The New Fish‑Man Pirates Captain and his crew live there! They're very powerful! Especially their Captain Hody Jones! He can beat a dozen humans at the same time with no injury at all! And the Flying Pirate Crew also patrol that area, and there are a lot of sea monsters there!"
"Human Master, I strongly advise you not to go! But if you really want to go, you'll have to teach me your abilities first… then I guess you can go die!"
Akiue Hoshi's small eyes glittered intelligently as she calculated a plan.
"Oh, that's a good idea!"
Silver Serpent pinched her cheek again casually, then gazed at Noah's Ark, which now loomed larger like a colossal fortress beneath the waves.
"…Did Joy Boy once use this ship to send various controlled races all over the world?" he muttered thoughtfully.
"Huh?"
Akiue Hoshi looked up in surprise, not fully catching what her human Master had mumbled.
"Nothing, go on ahead," Silver Serpent said with a relaxed twitch of his lips.
Suddenly, he sensed something restless, eyes upon him from within the darkness ahead.
"Little ones, don't you dare stare at me!"
A playful smirk curved his lips, and with a casual flick of his wrist a spear of lightning materialized in his hand.
This wasn't a flashy technique — it was precise and purposeful.
"Silver Serpent Lightning Spear!"
Zzzzz!!!
The lightning spear leapt from his hand and shot toward a huge, dark underwater cave. The seawater conducted the charge perfectly, and the glow of lightning illuminated the entire entrance.
Inside the cave, a fearsome giant eel, thick as a six‑story building, was poised to strike at unsuspecting prey when suddenly it was hit by that lightning spear.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!
"Owwwww!!!"
Lightning flared again, and the gigantic eel writhed in shock, its massive body thrashing through the water and stirring up towering currents of seabed mud.
"Wow!!! It's the Eel King!! Oh my god! I forgot! This is the hunting range of the Eel Snakes!"
When Akiue Hoshi clearly saw the giant eel sea beast writhing wildly beneath the flickering lightning, she suddenly realized they had entered the dangerous heart of a predator's hunting ground.
"Don't worry."
Silver Serpent smiled, extended his finger, and sent out hundreds of tiny arcs of lightning that danced through the caves with surgical precision.
Zzz!
Zzz!
Zzz!
Hundreds of eels hidden in coral caves and underwater tunnels were struck simultaneously. They had done nothing to provoke him, yet electricity flashed from above, leaving them trembling and sputtering with sparks as they curled into knots of static and fear.
"They did nothing, yet lightning comes from who knows where," Silver Serpent sighed with amusement, then withdrew his hand and scanned the distant area of Noah's Ark.
His Haki's imprint tingled with an uncomfortable aura.
"Oh? There's even that strange idol here."
Silver Serpent carefully sensed the chaotic and eerie energy radiating from that location and found it far more intriguing than any monster or foe they had faced before.
"It's interesting… this mixed, chaotic presence is even more violent than the Realm of Khorn," he muttered, analyzing the aura.
Akiue Hoshi blinked uncertainly and asked:
"Human Master, you've been talking to yourself… are you not feeling well in the head?"
Silver Serpent grinned.
"Come on, let me take you to meet the Fish‑Man powerhouses you admire."
He grabbed Akiue Hoshi's arm.
"Huh? What are you — ah ah ah!"
Her voice was cut short as she let out a scream.
Zzz!!!
Silver Serpent's body flashed like a shard of lightning. Wrapped in a protective bubble, he surged through the seawater with breathtaking speed, dragging Akiue Hoshi along with him.
He didn't care where he was going, but Akiue Hoshi did care…
"Help… me… ah…"
The little Fish‑Man's terrified voice trailed behind them as they tore through the water faster than anyone she had ever seen. If Silver Serpent had not covered her in a layer of Armament Haki to shield her from pressure and wind resistance, she would have been pulverized and dissolved long ago.
Noah's Ark — Entrance Chamber
"Ah!!! I'm so dizzy…"
When her vision finally stabilized, Akiue Hoshi felt the world still spinning around her. Clutching her stomach, she turned sideways and retched violently.
"Ugh…"
"Congratulations, you've just experienced motion sickness," Silver Serpent said cheerfully from the side, a teasing glint in his eyes.
"Despicable human!"
Akiue Hoshi glared up at him, teeth clenched.
"When I learn your abilities, I'll sell you!!!"
"Heh heh… Then you'll have to sell me to a rich woman," Silver Serpent replied with a grin as he scooped her up by the collar.
"Shush! Enough talk. Look around! What do you see?"
He planted her down and pointed into the depths of the massive chamber.
"Is there anything inside?"
Akiue Hoshi squinted into the darkness. She didn't see any people. Only odd clues — dried bloodstains on the floor and several enormous bulging sacs attached to the walls that glowed faintly red, these bearing an eerie resemblance to sea beast eggs.
"There's nothing! No one either!" she said in confusion, turning back to look at Silver Serpent.
"Then let's just go straight in."
Silver Serpent carried her forward and pushed open the enormous rusted iron door with a casual swagger.
Inside the Battle Chamber
The room was empty. Broken wooden stools lay scattered across the floor. Fresh blood and organic debris floated in corners of the water. All signs pointed to a recent struggle.
At once, Silver Serpent's sharp gaze fell upon something remarkable.
A statue of a woman with curled ram horns, expressionless, clutching a golden sphere as she leaned lifelessly on the ground.
This statue was identical to the ones discovered in Stilan Industrial Empire and the casino.
"Huh, these aren't sea beast eggs after all…"
Akiue Hoshi's eyes narrowed as she finally realized what the writhing crimson sacs actually were.
"Those beings you worship are inside them," Silver Serpent said with a thoughtful smile as he approached the largest of the strange black sacs.
"Hody Jones… you are truly hard to kill. Even when your body was half destroyed, you still found a way to survive."
Suddenly, the largest black sac throbbed, beating violently like a furious heartbeat.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
At the same time, a hoarse, enraged voice rumbled from within the sac.
"It's you! The Admiral who almost killed me before!"