Everything began to sway lightly.
"An earthquake?"
"What happened?" Creed and the others sensed something was wrong and grew alert.
Right then, a waiter ran in. "Dear guests, Aqua Laguna is coming—and this one is a once-in-decades disaster. Please head for high ground or shelters at once! Don't get swept away by the waves!"
Creed frowned. "Aqua Laguna was supposed to be next month. Why so early?"
Galley-La had assessed the risk and concluded they could finish Creed's new ship before Aqua Laguna arrived—he could even sail out of Water 7 ahead of it.
No one expected it to hit early.
The waiter couldn't answer; he turned and bolted immediately.
Everyone hurried out of the hotel. Outside, dark clouds pressed low and winds howled—the look of a great storm rolling in.
The hotel stood on high ground in Water 7, so they could see the sea below. A succession of massive waves—each ten to twenty meters high—smashed against the city's shores, rumbling like thunder.
Most of the ports were already flooded. People were streaming from their homes, rushing toward the shelters.
If Aqua Laguna truly arrived, the waves—driven by the force of heaven and earth—would surge in and drown the entire city.
The hotel's slight shaking earlier had been the result of those waves battering the port.
"Let's take shelter," Redfield suggested.
No one objected. Before such a natural calamity, manpower felt feeble.
Just then, Creed's Den Den Mushi rang. The caller was Iceburg.
"Creed-sama, this Aqua Laguna is far worse than the last few—our preliminary estimate is a once-in-fifty-years event. I'm afraid the shipyard won't hold!"
Iceburg sounded bitter. The keel and other major pieces of Creed's ship were already in place; craftsmen had been working overtime, and they could have finished in ten days. No one thought Aqua Laguna would come like this.
"But please rest assured, any losses will be covered by Galley-La…"
He had called mainly to warn Creed.
"No need. I'm coming now." Creed paused, then added, "My ship—I'll be the one to protect it."
He turned to the others. "Head for the shelters."
"No way," Crocodile seized the chance to show loyalty. "We call you captain, so we share hardship. Our flagship isn't going to die to some little tsunami!"
The others nodded.
"Fine. Move!" Time was short, and Creed didn't waste words.
Though Crocodile and the rest were Devil Fruit users and feared seawater, Creed did not. With his current strength, saving people was easy.
They had visited the yard to check on progress before, so they knew the route. Soon they reached Galley-La Shipyard No. 1.
Unexpectedly, Iceburg was waiting at the gate.
Wind and rain were already lashing down, waves starting to surge in. The shipyard still looked stable, but when Aqua Laguna fully hit, it would inevitably be flooded—or even smashed apart.
"Creed-sama, there's nothing more we can do. We have to evacuate—now!" Iceburg shouted.
Creed ignored that, walking to the edge of the quay to stare at the towering seas.
Enies Lobby.
Spandam and Baskerville watched the live feed from a surveillance Den Den Mushi. One of the feeds covered Galley-La's Shipyard No. 1.
Seeing the shipyard on the brink, Spandam sneered. "Creed, Creed… didn't expect this, did you? No one could handle you, but the gods couldn't stand it! Look—the great tsunami arrived early!"
"Congratulations, sir! You can finally vent your anger!" Baskerville's three heads laughed together.
Water 7 crawled with Marines and World Government eyes. They already knew Creed was building a ship from Adam wood and had reported it to Marine HQ. But with two admirals operating in the New World and the remaining Admiral Kizaru refusing to move, Headquarters simply played dead.
Infuriated, Spandam reported to the Five Elders and requested support, but for unknown reasons they hadn't replied. These past days had nearly driven him mad.
"Huh? Sir, look—Creed's walking to the quay. What's he planning?"
"Pffft! Idiot. He thinks he can protect a shipyard by himself? Delusional! Even if his Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki) is strong, can he stop Aqua Laguna?" Spandam burst out laughing.
"In the face of divine power, mortals are ants—and this is Aqua Laguna!" Baskerville's three heads cackled.
The next instant, all three heads forgot to close their mouths—or even blink.
"What the hell? Isn't that Admiral Aokiji's Devil Fruit power? How does he have that?!" Spandam roared, veins bulging on his forehead—the swing from joy to fury was so sudden it nearly gave him a heart attack.
"Even if he freezes a few waves, he can't hold back Aqua Laguna!" Baskerville rasped, voices grating.
Still—the chill, absolute and biting, did indeed restrain the sea on a vast scale. Their smiles died on their faces.
Shipyard No. 1.
Crack! Creak!
Ice congealed with overlapping snaps. Redfield and the others stared, stunned, at the colossal ice wall rising before the shipyard.
With a single sweep of his hand, Creed froze the massive wave surging in—and frost raced outward, sheathing more than a hundred meters of sea in an instant.
A thick "white city wall" sprang up out of nowhere before the yard.
Waves piled up behind, but for the moment, they couldn't roll over the wall.
"This… isn't that the freezing power only Admiral Aokiji has?" Crocodile swallowed, words sticking in his throat.
Redfield said nothing—the chill felt uncannily familiar. Inside, he was shaken by Creed's sword talent. To cross blades once and perfectly grasp a peerless technique? This kind of talent was monstrous.
Iceburg, however, shook his head, still grim. "It's not enough. When Aqua Laguna truly hits, the waves will be at least a hundred meters high!"
(End of Chapter)
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