With the Sake-Sake Fruit consumed, Vivi walked toward the coast, her heart filled with joy.
Before long, the group arrived at the shore.
The coastline was crowded with people. Some were moving barrels of wine, while others were constructing a large feeding catapult. The residents of Wine Island were bustling with activity. But strangely, the so-called "Sea God" was nowhere to be seen.
"So much good wine! What a waste to give it all to this Sea God!" Ace said, taking a deep, intoxicated breath as he looked at the dozens of barrels of Monkey Wine stacked on the shore.
"I know, right?" Vivi nodded in agreement.
In her eyes, if all this Monkey Wine were given to her, she could use her powers to greatly increase her strength. After all, her Paramecia-type Sake-Sake Fruit couldn't create alcohol out of thin air; it could only control existing liquids to form attacks.
"Captain, look! Our ship!" Nami suddenly pointed out. The Soaring Dragon, which they had docked by the shore, was now drifting nearly a hundred meters out to sea.
"And where's Mohmoo?" Ryuuto asked, a hint of confusion in his voice. Normally, Mohmoo would be nearby, guarding the Soaring Dragon.
"Could it be this 'Sea God'?" Ryuuto wondered aloud, stroking his chin.
"Oh no! You don't think Mohmoo was eaten by the Sea God, do you?!" Nami imagined the worst.
"No way..." Vivi paled at the thought.
"What's a Mohmoo?" Ace leaned in, curious after hearing their conversation.
"Mohmoo is a member of our crew," Nami explained. "He's a gentle sea beast who tows our ship when we're sailing."
"A sea beast? That's so cool!" Ace's eyes lit up at the image. "Maybe I should get one for myself!" he said excitedly, the idea taking root in his mind.
Crocus, standing nearby, simply shook his head. With his powerful Observation Haki, he could sense Mohmoo was perfectly fine, alive and well under the sea.
"You all need to leave!" a middle-aged man dressed like a merchant in a simple tunic suddenly shouted, striding toward Ryuuto's group. "It'll be too dangerous for you to stand so close when the Sea God appears!"
"Don't worry about it, mister," Ace replied with a casual laugh. "When this Sea God of yours shows up, I'll give it a taste of my Fire Fist!"
"You're all insane," the man muttered. Seeing that they wouldn't budge, he stopped trying to convince them and turned to direct the other residents, having them load the barrels of Monkey Wine onto the feeding catapult.
The contraption consisted of a large wooden platform set on top of a massive, spring-loaded bow mechanism. The plan was likely to cut the restraining ropes once the Sea God appeared, using the spring's tension to launch the barrels of Monkey Wine far out into the sea.
Just then, the ocean floor began to churn...
With his Observation Haki, Ryuuto felt Mohmoo's presence deep beneath the waves. And with it, a much, much larger figure.
"That must be the Sea God," Ryuuto murmured. The creature below was immense, easily 2,000 meters long, with a slender body like a colossal eel.
Mohmoo and the massive creature were ramming into each other underwater, both moving rapidly toward the surface.
"Did Mohmoo wake this thing up?" Ryuuto couldn't help but guess as he sensed the underwater chaos.
"Captain, did you find Mohmoo?" Nami, who had been watching him closely, asked immediately.
"Yeah. Mohmoo is fighting the Sea God at the bottom of the sea right now," Ryuuto said, meeting her gaze with a nod. Everyone else turned to look at him.
"What? Is Mohmoo that strong?" Nami asked in astonishment.
"There's something happening on the surface!" Vivi suddenly shouted, pointing toward the water.
A massive whirlpool was forming. It was easily a thousand meters wide, its center exerting a powerful suction that was pulling everything nearby toward it.
"Oh no! The Soaring Dragon!" Ryuuto, Nami, and Crocus cried out in horror as they saw their ship being slowly dragged toward the vortex.
"Mohmoo, protect the Soaring Dragon!" Ryuuto roared, no longer able to stand by. He leaped forward, shouting toward the center of the whirlpool. He could sense that the Sea God was the one creating it.
ROAR!
As his voice faded, a roar like that of an ancient beast echoed from the depths. Mohmoo was furious. How dare this damned giant eel threaten its Soaring Dragon.
Mohmoo's roar was like thunder. The black, lightning-like patterns on its body instantly lit up, flickering over its skin like black flames.
"ROAR!" With a powerful lash of its tail, its horns seemed to activate, doubling in size and wreathed in trails of black fire, radiating an extraordinary power.
It shot straight toward the giant eel that was swimming in circles to create the whirlpool. Mohmoo's speed was incredible.
BANG!
The giant eel had no time to dodge. It could only watch as the black-flamed Mohmoo slammed into its body. A tremendous force struck it. First, it felt its notoriously tough hide being pierced, followed by the sickening crack of several ribs breaking. The giant eel found itself completely out of control, sent flying out of the ocean by the force of Mohmoo's charge.
SPLASH!
The impact of the giant sea beast hitting the water created a deafening noise. The islanders looked toward the sea just in time to see a colossal eel erupt from the waves. Impaled on its flank was a slightly smaller sea beast.
It was Mohmoo!
"Ah! It's the Sea God!" the people of Wine Island screamed in terror.
Nami and Vivi, however, saw Mohmoo on the eel's side.
"It's Mohmoo!" they cheered.
"Now that's a sight to see!" Ace exclaimed, shielding his eyes with a hand as he gazed at the spectacle.
"Looks like I underestimated Mohmoo," Ryuuto remarked, amazed that his sea beast could so easily send a Sea King several times its size flying.
CRASH!
The giant eel was thrown several hundred meters before crashing back into the water. Mohmoo detached itself the moment they hit the sea.
The eel was completely disoriented from the impact. Mohmoo began to circle it, waiting for a chance to strike again. Suddenly, it felt a surge of energy welling up inside it, a power that roamed its body with nowhere to go.
ROAR!
As Mohmoo let out a furious bellow, the energy found an exit, erupting from its mouth in a single, focused blast.
In an instant...
A massive beam of black, lightning-shaped fire shot from Mohmoo's mouth.
BOOM