Tiger was very familiar with this route. Back when they rescued Tom, they had set up an ambush in advance on the Sea Train tracks.
That operation had been quite simple for them. Tom was a Fish-Man, so as long as they got the Sea Train into the water, they could naturally take advantage of the ocean's terrain to rescue him.
This time was different. Tom's apprentice was a human, and "Aqua Laguna" was on its way. If they overturned the Sea Train like before, it would probably turn into a Russian-style rescue.
[Report: We have eliminated all enemies. Hostage? What hostage? We don't see any hostages.] [TN: Talking about this https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/301701139 ]
However, this time, they were equipped with greater firepower. Although their numbers were far fewer than before, they now had a giant Feraligatr—essentially a "war machine."
Under the cover of night and sea, Feraligatr's blue scales were no longer conspicuous. Only the red bony plates on its back gleamed menacingly in the moonlight.
Its powerful forelimbs sliced through the water as it swam, constantly shifting between different swimming styles. Besides the usual crocodilian strokes, it was also adept at butterfly stroke, freestyle, and breaststroke. Right now, it was moving forward using the breaststroke.
"Nyuuuuu, Boss Tiger, why the heck does a crocodile know how to do the breaststroke? Isn't that weird?"
"That's just because Arlong had too much free time and taught it. And it's not that strange—look over there, isn't there also a frog doing freestyle?"
To Tiger, Arlong teaching a crocodile how to swim was better than him going out looking for trouble. Even though Arlong had restrained himself a lot, Tiger still wasn't completely at ease with him.
"This world really is weird, Nyuuuuu."
A frog doing freestyle, a crocodile doing the breaststroke—this bizarre sight left Hachi utterly dumbfounded. It also caught Tom's attention.
"Yokozuna? Yokozuna! Get over here! Where are you going?"
Because of the waves, Yokozuna didn't hear Tom's call. In the end, Tiger had Feraligatr grab it and bring it back.
At first, Yokozuna tried to attack Feraligatr, but after seeing Tom, it finally calmed down.
That was when Tom learned of Yokozuna's intention to rescue Franky and the origin of the scars on its body.
"Nyuuuuu, what a loyal frog."
Believing that Tom had truly died, Yokozuna had been ramming its body against the Sea Train every day, leaving its body covered in countless scars.
"Don't worry, Franky is still alive. I'll bring him back."
After calming Yokozuna's emotions, Tom took it along as they set out to rescue Franky.
Meanwhile, Franky was already bound by chains inside the train carriage, his mouth gagged. He had been talking too much trash, which annoyed the CP9 members to the point that they simply decided to block his mouth.
Lucci and the others were inside the carriage, resting with their eyes closed. Their years-long undercover mission had finally come to an end—they had completed this phase of their mission.
Enies Lobby was now very close, and they inevitably let their guard down a little. However, at that moment, a sharp whistle suddenly rang out from the Sea Train, followed by an abrupt emergency stop.
"What's going on?"
"Attention, urgent notice! A Sea King has appeared on the tracks ahead! Armed personnel, proceed immediately to drive it away. I repeat, a Sea King has appeared on the tracks ahead! Armed personnel, proceed immediately to drive it away!"
The conductor's voice came through the speakers. The ordinary agents didn't notice anything unusual, but Lucci and the others immediately sensed that something was off.
Having spent years undercover in Galley-La Company, they were well aware of how the Sea Train operated. From the very beginning, its design had accounted for potential Sea King attacks, and a special method had been implemented to handle such situations.
Apart from the initial test runs, there had never been a recorded incident of a Sea King attacking the train.
They couldn't help but stand up, planning to check out what had happened.
But before they could move, a series of violent explosions erupted from the front of the train, followed by massive tremors that shook the entire carriage.
At the front of the Sea Train, the conductor had collapsed onto the second carriage, his pants already soaked. Under the relentless assault of the sea waves, he managed to maintain the last shred of his dignity—leaving it unclear exactly what kind of liquid it was.
A continuous, creaking noise rang in his ears—it was the sound of the metal train head being twisted. At that moment, the entire front of the Sea Train was caught in the jaws of Feraligatr, which was clamping down with its powerful maw, reducing it to a pile of metal scraps.
Feraligatr normally moved at a leisurely pace, almost appearing sluggish. But once it entered an explosive state, its speed became far greater than usual.
Its immense explosive strength made it almost impossible to see its movements when lunging at prey. By the time people realized something was wrong, all they could catch was a fleeting afterimage.
Using this explosive strength, Feraligatr had gotten ahead of the Sea Train's path in advance—completely blocking its way forward.
Due to its size, supporting its own body on land was a difficult task for Feraligatr. This was even more true for this particular twenty-meter-long enormous Feraligatr. However, in the water, with the buoyancy of the seawater, it could unleash even greater power.
As its name suggests, Sheer Force was its ability.
Unlike other Water-type Starter Pokémon, Feraligatr didn't make many appearances. To be precise, Starter Pokémon from the Johto region as a whole were like this.
Their existence was largely overshadowed by the Starter Pokémon from other regions.
Feraligatr's true specialty wasn't water, but rather its powerful jaws and razor-sharp claws. Now, having blocked the Sea Train's path, it began taking action—like opening a mystery box, it advanced along the tracks, ripping apart the carriage's roofs as it moved forward.
The other Fish-Men had already dived into the sea by this point. Only Tiger and Tom remained on Feraligatr's back, searching for any sign of Franky.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The sharp sound of something slicing through the air rang out. The CP9 members, who had come to investigate the situation, immediately launched several Rankyaku upon spotting the rampaging Feraligatr. However, all of their attacks were blocked.
Feraligatr's defense wasn't as strong as that of a Tyranitar, but handling these Rankyaku was still well within its capabilities.
"This thing doesn't look like a Sea King at all…"
Seeing that his Rankyaku had no effect, Kaku's expression grew serious.
"It doesn't matter what they are. Attacking a World Government transport train is a capital offense. Compared to that monster, the ones riding on its back are the real masterminds."
Tiger and Tom stood out clearly. The darkness of the night obscured their faces, but anyone riding on the back of a creature like this obviously wasn't just playing around.
"Where did these guys come from? Are they here for Franky?"
"No idea. We'll know once we take them down. Kalifa, go watch over Franky—Nero is too weak. Kaku, Blueno, you two keep this monster busy. I'll take down the one controlling it."
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