"What did that girl just say her name was?"
On the way back to the Marine ship, Onigumo hadn't heard clearly and kept asking Nao.
"Unclear, don't know, not interested."
Nao's face was expressionless.
He genuinely wasn't interested. To be precise, he truly didn't want to get involved with that girl.
Domino…
Initially, just looking at her face, he had no impression at all. But the moment she introduced herself and her name slipped out, he immediately remembered.
—Shiryu's future colleague, the Head Jailer of Impel Down, who was petrified by Empress Hancock.
Judging from her behavior just now, she had masochistic tendencies and was a hundred percent an obsessive psychopath.
A young man out on his own needed to know how to protect himself. It was better to keep a distance from someone with such an unpredictable personality.
Onigumo, his curiosity unsatisfied, pouted and looked bored.
The Marine ship left the small island, heading towards Saint Dine Island.
Saint Dine Island was actually the main island of the Alabasta Kingdom, with a population exceeding ten million. It was one of the few super-large islands in the entire Grand Line.
It would take at least five days of sailing to reach it from where Nao and his group were.
Onigumo had someone bring him a sea chart. After observing it for a long time, he offered his speculation, believing that the Max Pirates' target was not Saint Dine Island, but Picardo Town, located halfway there.
That was an illegal area where black market trade flourished. Many pirates would go there to cash in their looted treasures, then spend lavishly and frivolously in town.
They often entered with full pockets and left empty-handed, all their stolen money contributed to the town's black market merchants, like dedicated workers.
"Makes sense," Nao nodded. "So, how long until we reach Picardo?"
"Roughly before dawn," Onigumo thought for a moment. "Our ship is fast. If they haven't gotten too far ahead, we might even run into them on the way tonight."
"Understood."
Nao waved his hand casually, turned, and walked into the cabin, perhaps to train or to talk with Shia. "Just call me when we get there."
"This guy…"
Watching Nao's retreating figure, Onigumo muttered, "He really doesn't treat himself as an outsider."
He was both the captain and the senior, yet why did it feel like he was the subordinate in front of Nao?
This guy always started out impeccably polite and courteous in his dealings with people, but once he got familiar, his true nature would immediately show, and he wouldn't hold back at all…
However, Onigumo also knew.
Putting aside future achievements, just Nao's current strength and the achievements he had already accumulated meant that if he applied for graduation now, he could at least be granted the rank of Commodore.
Meanwhile, he himself would probably have to languish as a Headquarters Captain for a few more years, building up his seniority, before he had any hope of promotion.
Meaning…
If that kid wanted to, he could really become his superior at any time, maybe even his direct superior.
After all, judging by Mr. Borsalino's attitude, he seemed very eager for Nao to remain at the G-2 Branch. If Nao were assigned there after his promotion, Borsalino would undoubtedly welcome him with open arms.
Onigumo sighed dejectedly.
There was truly nothing more frustrating in the world than this.
That night, around seven or eight o'clock.
Nao, having finished his training, had just stepped out of Shia's room when he felt the ship's deck violently pitching and rocking. He staggered, nearly achieving the feat of tripping over flat ground.
"Enemy attack?"
His expression changed slightly, and he immediately rushed to the deck. After exiting the cabin, he found Onigumo standing grim-faced at the railing, gazing far out at the sea in the southeast.
The other marines on the deck were even more panicked.
"What's going on?"
Nao followed his gaze and saw that several hundred meters away, the sea was bubbling and churning violently. Waves grew tumultuous, and faintly, he could make out a massive figure coiled within.
"Terrible luck!" Onigumo angrily stubbed out his cigar, cursing, "Damn it, it's a Sea King!"
Splash!
Almost the instant his words fell, the lurking figure beneath the surface suddenly burst through the waves!
It was a monster about seventy to eighty percent similar to a giant python, with chilling light glinting in its triangular eyes, examining the people on the Marine ship's deck as if sizing up prey.
"Hiss…"
It gently flicked its tongue. Its long, massive dark blue body, with every turn and shift, caused the surrounding seawater to churn violently. Its scales were densely packed, reflecting a cold, chilling gleam under the moonlight.
"At least two or three hundred meters long…" Onigumo's gaze was grim. "While it can't compare to the massive ones in the Calm Belt, only barely qualifying as a medium-to-small Sea King, this size is already beyond what we can contend with…"
Damn it, why are we so unlucky today!
He had encountered Sea Kings before, but each time, they either happened to be passing by and weren't interested in the Marine ship, or they were far enough away that he could detect them early and take a detour to avoid them.
But this time, of all times, they had directly run head-on into one late at night!
There wasn't even time to escape!
"We can only fight to the death."
The red hair behind Onigumo spread out like spider legs, each gripping a sword. Then he turned his head, gritting his teeth, and said:
"The lifeboats are all ready. We need to work together and do our best to delay and stop this thing, to buy time for the rest of the crew to escape…"
Before he could finish, he suddenly realized that Nao, who had been standing behind him moments ago, had vanished without a trace.
Where is he?
As he pondered in confusion, a whooshing sound suddenly came from above.
Onigumo instinctively looked up, and the next moment, he was astonished to see Nao soaring into the sky with Moonwalk, silently drawing his swords in the night and slashing towards the Sea King!
"Hey, you idiot!"
Onigumo's eyes widened, and he couldn't help but anxiously shout, "This isn't the time to be reckless, kid! That's a Sea King! You'll lose your life!"
Lose his life?
Nao, in the night sky, also heard Onigumo's shout, but he didn't look back. He kept his eyes fixed on the Sea King below, grinning with a spirited, fighting smile.
"Don't worry, just leave it to me."
—It's not certain who will lose their life!
It had been over a month since he entered the swordsman realm, and his swordsmanship had improved significantly. He could now perfectly fuse Armament Haki with Lunar Eclipse, and had been wanting to find a suitable target to test his mettle.
However, the pirates he had encountered recently were all of ordinary strength, the kind that could be dealt with in a single basic attack, which didn't satisfy him at all. This even led him to contemplate targeting Sea Kings in his idle boredom.
Now he had finally encountered one, and of a moderate size at that. With such a perfect opportunity, he was too excited to back down!
As the distance closed, the python-like Sea King finally noticed the movement above its head.
"Hiss~"
It looked up, narrowed its eyes, and observed Nao for a moment, then flicked its tongue. Suddenly, it roared ferociously, opening its massive maw to snap at Nao's head!
"Just what I needed!"
Nao let out a low cry, his will condensing. The Wind Blade and Azakana Sword were almost simultaneously coated with dark Armament Haki.
As the blades descended, a brilliant, silver-moon-like radiance suddenly erupted at that moment, dazzling and blinding, illuminating nearly half of the night sky above the Marine ship as if it were broad daylight!
Boom!
The magnificent sword energy, roaring forth, was hidden within this light. It traversed several hundred meters through the sky at a terrifying speed, imperceptible to the naked eye, slashing towards the Sea King's gaping maw below!
CRASH!
A deafening explosion suddenly resounded across the sea at that moment. As the blinding light gradually dissipated and everyone on the Marine ship, including Onigumo, regained their vision, they saw a cross-shaped wound clearly on the Sea King's head, cutting through its cheeks and severing its tongue. Large gushes of dark blue blood surged out like a fountain.
The python-like Sea King cried out in pain and entered a state of furious rage, its tail constantly sweeping and churning the water.
Even from a hundred meters away, the people on the Marine ship could feel themselves being caught in an oceanic storm, constantly shaking violently with the ship's body.
And in the sky above.
Seeing his sword slash successfully inflict massive damage, Nao had no intention of pausing or holding back. He wielded both his red and white swords, his attacks coming in relentless waves.
Rapid and seamless, giving the Sea King no chance to catch its breath or counterattack.
Finally, after nearly half an hour of fierce battle, the python-like Sea King, struggling in vain, finally let out a desperate wail. Its massive body crashed into the sea, dark blue blood continuously rising to the surface, showing no more signs of life.
And the entire Marine ship, with hundreds of marines aboard, was thus declared free from its life-or-death crisis.
"Phew…"
Nao then used Moonwalk to return to the Marine ship. As he stepped onto the deck, he saw almost all the marines gathering around him, and a thunderous, enthusiastic cheer erupted from the crowd.
"As expected of Nao-san!"
"To defeat even a Sea King… he's simply, simply too strong!"
"If only I could have half… no, even a fifth of Nao-san's strength, it would be amazing!"
Onigumo's reaction was no better; the cigar fell from his mouth onto the deck, and he was scrutinizing Nao up and down with a look as if he were staring at a monster.
"Hey, hey, hey, no need to be so surprised, right?"
Nao walked through the crowd to Onigumo, smiling as he patted his shoulder. "It was just an ordinary Sea King. There are plenty of strong individuals at Headquarters who can instantly kill it. You graduated years ago; don't tell me you haven't seen a scene like this before."
"Nonsense, of course I have…"
Onigumo instinctively retorted. He had served under Vice Admiral Sakazuki and had personally witnessed the latter casually turn a Sea King into grilled fish with a single punch.
But, was this the same?
"You're so young, and you haven't even graduated yet…"
He looked at the smiling Nao, at a loss for words, and could only sigh melancholically. "Your future is truly boundless. I feel like you'll definitely have a spot among the future Admirals."
"Of course, that's one of my dreams."
Nao laughed heartily, not bothering to hide his ambition. "And when that happens, I'll even force a certain guy's leg up there next to me!"
Onigumo couldn't understand those words.
"Never mind, let's keep going," Onigumo didn't take it to heart and turned to ask his subordinate officer, "How is it? No problems with the ship's hull?"
He had asked out of habit, but to his surprise, the subordinate actually spoke with a troubled expression: "There is a problem, Captain…"
"Hm?"
"The shipwright just reported that this Sea King's blood is somewhat corrosive. An area on the bottom of the Marine ship was exposed to it and is already showing signs of damage. It needs immediate repair…"
"How long will that take, roughly?" Onigumo's face darkened again.
"Conservatively, at least seven or eight hours…" the subordinate carefully said. "Meaning, for safety's sake, we'll have to drop anchor and stop for now, and can only set sail again after dawn…"
"Huh?"
Now it wasn't just Onigumo; Nao, who was standing by, couldn't remain calm either. He couldn't help but say, "Repair until dawn? Then by the time we reach Picardo Island, wouldn't the Max Pirates have already fled?"
"Perhaps it's not that bad…" Onigumo had just started to speak when Nao impatiently cut him off, "Where do you get that confidence? Do you think your luck today isn't bad enough?"
Onigumo immediately choked and silently closed his mouth.
"This is troublesome…" Nao paced, then after a moment's thought, suddenly turned and asked the subordinate, "Among the Marine ship's lifeboats, are there any speedboats with their own engines?"
"There is one, but the space is very small. At most, it can only squeeze two people…"
"That's enough!" Nao's eyes lit up, and he ordered, "Please deploy this speedboat. Also, bring me a Log Pose for Picardo Island and another for Saint Dine Island."
His words carried almost more weight on the Marine ship than Onigumo's. The Lieutenant Commander, without a word, immediately turned to comply.
"What are you up to?" Onigumo caught on, frowning. "You're not planning to abandon us and go alone, are you?"
"Bingo!" Nao looked at him with a smile. "What, even now, you still don't trust my strength?"
"Of course not…" Onigumo shook his head, then suddenly felt a pang of frustration. "It's just that if you do that, I won't get any action again, will I?"
He had been holding back for so long, hoping to get his fill of fighting in this battle.
"No way," Onigumo immediately said after realizing. "I have to go too."
"Are you kidding me?"
Nao rolled his eyes at him, pointing to the speedboat already deployed below. "There's only so much space. Don't you know how much you weigh? With you on it, will that speedboat even be fast?"
… Shia's Diary …
A month has passed, and I still haven't been able to take that final step with Nao.
He agreed to everything else, but on this, he insisted it had to wait a while.
He also said,
"Some things don't need to be finished in one night. When the time is right, we can do it every night."
Time? What does he mean by time?
I'm confused.