Ritter stared at the enormous Noah before him.
The ark was brand new, majestic, and carried the fresh scent of newly worked wood. It looked nothing like the broken, decaying vessel he remembered from the future. Time truly was merciless. Back in Luffy's era, Noah had felt ancient and weathered, but now, in its earliest days, it radiated overwhelming grandeur.
Even unfinished, the colossal ship was already large enough to leave anyone speechless.
Yet "Little East," the massive Sea King that had guided them here, showed no excitement at all.
Its enormous eyes were filled instead with deep anxiety and unmistakable fear.
It did not stop near Noah. Instead, it released a low, urgent cry and flicked its gigantic tail, signaling for Ritter and the others to follow as it dove even deeper into the abyss beneath the trench.
Down there, light almost completely vanished. Only clusters of dimly glowing deep-sea fungi clung to jagged rocks, casting faint ghostly illumination through the darkness. The pressure was terrifying. Without Ritter's power and the protection of his blood mist, ordinary beings would have been crushed instantly.
Ritter and Joy Boy were creatures of the surface world. The ocean was naturally hostile to them. Even though Ritter could resist the crushing sea pressure, and both of them could fight for days without oxygen, they were still land-dwellers in the end. Eventually, they would need to breathe.
As they descended further, a suffocating silence spread through the trench.
Then came the malice.
It rolled toward them like a tangible tide, cold and oppressive enough to squeeze at the heart itself.
Even Joy Boy, usually carefree and impossible to unsettle, lost his grin. His body stiffened slightly. Mini Poseidon trembled violently atop Ritter's shoulder, clutching tightly at his collar.
Finally, at the deepest point of the abyss, in a place that looked like the end of hell itself, they saw it.
That thing.
It was an enormous seal formed from ancient stone and twisted coral. The structure was covered in cracks and radiated decay.
And now, a far more horrifying fracture had torn straight through its center.
From within the crack protruded half of a monstrous head beyond description.
Its skull was covered in dark, rust-like bone armor riddled with grotesque holes. The shape of the head looked as though the corpses of countless deep-sea monsters had been violently fused together into one abomination.
At the center sat a single gigantic eye.
Clouded.
Lifeless.
And deep within its pupil burned endless madness and hunger.
The mere aura leaking from the crack turned the surrounding seawater thick and frigid, draining all vitality from the environment. The nearby seabed was utterly barren. Not even deep-sea moss could survive here.
This was the "Shadow of Deep-Sea Destruction" spoken of in the prophecy.
Not humans.
Not outsiders.
But an ancient sea monster corrupted by something even older and far more sinister, a creature driven insane and sustained by devouring life itself.
It had been sealed here for countless ages. Now the seal was weakening. Half its body had already emerged, and it was constantly draining the life force from the waters surrounding Fish-Man Island.
That was the true cause behind the dying coral forest, the unstable bubble coating, and the agitation of the Sea Kings.
"It's... it's the one draining everyone's strength..."
Mini Poseidon's voice shook with tears.
As the Sea King, she was deeply connected to all creatures of the ocean. Their suffering pierced straight through her heart.
But Ritter's thoughts went even further.
Back in the original world, among the Three Ancient Weapons, Poseidon had always seemed the least terrifying. Plenty of people mocked it. After all, controlling Sea Kings sounded impressive, but compared to Pluton, which could erase islands with a single blast, or Uranus, which could annihilate entire races like the Lunarians, Poseidon felt comparatively tame.
But if Poseidon could command monsters like this...
Then Ritter had no choice but to take it seriously.
The creature seemed to notice their arrival.
Its giant murky eye slowly turned toward them.
The moment it locked onto them, a violent devouring force burst from the crack, trying to rip away their life energy.
"Troublesome."
Ritter's expression sharpened instantly.
The blood mist surrounding him exploded outward.
This time it was no longer soft or elusive. It transformed into countless solid crimson chains engraved with ominous runes, shooting toward the shattered seal.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The blood chains wrapped tightly around the fractured sections of the seal and pulled hard.
The sound of grinding metal echoed through the abyss.
The power flowing through the chains temporarily halted the widening crack and partially blocked the monster's devouring aura.
But Ritter's brows furrowed deeply.
He could feel his chains slowly being eroded by the creature's corruption.
The seal was ancient. Its core structure had already decayed. Reinforcing it externally was only a temporary fix. Eventually, the monster would break free.
The original sealing formation must once have been enormous. Compared to that, his blood chains were only fragments of borrowed strength, and even that power would eventually dissipate.
"Rubber-head, protect them!"
Ritter barked while maintaining the chains.
His mind raced.
A direct assault?
In the crushing depths of the sea, fighting a monster that fed on life energy would create uncontrollable destruction. The battle could damage Noah itself or even accelerate the collapse of Fish-Man Island's bubble coating.
They needed a more stable solution.
A permanent one.
Perhaps the ancient seal had to be restored completely.
But that would require time... and knowledge that might already be lost to history.
Still, it was the best option available.
And if that failed...
Then they would have no choice but to fight the monster head-on in the deep sea.
Before they could find a true solution, however, they needed to prepare for the worst.
Ritter glanced at Mini Poseidon on his shoulder.
"Listen carefully, little one. This thing is worse than we thought. My chains won't hold forever. Until we figure out how to stop it completely, Fish-Man Island needs to prepare for evacuation."
His eyes shifted toward Noah.
"That ship may still be unfinished, but it needs to be put into operation immediately. Inform your father. If things spiral out of control, he must cooperate with Noah and evacuate as many civilians as possible."
Ritter's thoughts drifted briefly toward the High Priest.
The old man had led them toward unimaginable danger, yet even if ordered to flee, he probably never would.
That thought irritated Ritter.
And there was one thing he still hadn't said aloud.
If it became absolutely necessary...
Some sacrifices might be unavoidable.
Poseidon, however, remained innocent and hopeful.
"Then let's hurry back!" she said anxiously. "If everyone boards the ship, they'll be safe! Thank you... thank you all so much!"
Ritter looked at the excited little princess in silence.
Beside him, the quiet girl gently gathered Poseidon into her arms.
Then, in a soft voice, she whispered:
"This is only the beginning..."
"We have to prepare for the worst."
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