Chapter 229: Boss Luo Han, Niu Niu Wants to Go Back to the Sea!
Sky Island.
At the top of the Giant Vine.
Before the massive Golden Bell, Luo Han, the two women, and Sanlong stood together.
"What a huge Golden Bell!"
Especially the two golden pillars holding it up—they were absolutely massive. Ellis stared for a moment, then glanced at Luo Han standing before the bell's base. "So this is what you came to Sky Island for?"
"That's right."
Luo Han stepped forward and touched the base of the bell. "More precisely, I came for this stone."
"The Poneglyph?" Ellis asked in confusion. "Didn't you already see one back on Fishman Island? You didn't care that much back then."
"That was… circumstantial," Luo Han chuckled. "Besides, flying around with such a massive Poneglyph isn't exactly elegant. But now that we have the Penguin, I can take it with us."
With a thought, the entire Golden Bell rose into the air. Wrapping his arm around Aishi 's waist, Luo Han turned to Sanlong and instructed, "Alright, you stay and continue guarding the island. If someone like Roger shows up, don't fight to the death. Dying pointlessly is the dumbest thing you can do."
"Yes, Lord Blue Demon."
Before Sanlong's reply even faded, Luo Han and the others had already flown away.
Shortly after, the trio returned to the Penguin and placed the bell on board.
Aishi went to the kitchen to prepare food while Luo Han and Ellis sat close together on the large sofa in the lounge.
Feeling the softness under his hand, Luo Han asked softly, "Where do you want to plant your avatar?"
That was one of the goals of this trip—to begin Ellis' "tree-planting journey"… no, her avatar-planting journey.
In the future, these old-rooted trees would only get more terrifying. But Luo Han liked it. Heh heh!
"Hmm… somewhere off the trade routes," Ellis replied, slightly breathless. "That way we'll avoid unwanted attention."
"How about near the Calm Belt?" Luo Han squeezed her slightly. "No one usually ventures there."
"That works."
Ellis gently pushed his hand away, then shot him a sultry glance. "But before that, come to my room. I can fulfill that promise I made you earlier."
With her legs pressed together, she flew swiftly to her room.
Promise…? Luo Han's heart skipped. He followed nonchalantly.
Soon, the Penguin began to move… rhythmically.
Feeling the strange tremors, Aishi blushed in the kitchen, but didn't say anything. She'd clearly gotten used to this.
Habit is truly a terrifying thing!
...
The next afternoon
Calm Belt
The most dangerous sea in the world of One Piece—bar none.
There's no wind here, and it's also home to countless Sea Kings. Those under 1,000 meters in length were rare—most were over 2,000 or 3,000 meters.
But Luo Han and the others didn't enter it directly. They stopped about ten kilometers away.
"We're here!"
Luo Han gently patted the ladies beside him, causing a ripple.
"Phew…"
No response—only heavy breathing.
"I'm heading out first," Luo Han chuckled, getting up.
As soon as he left, the girls' gazes met. Aishi blushed and turned away.
"Haha!"
Ellis laughed smugly. As she dressed, she said, "I'm going too."
Aishi remained silent, curled under the blanket. Soon she heard the door creak open.
Whew! She sighed in relief, then got up and dressed.
On deck
Ellis came out to find Luo Han standing there, smirking at her.
"Nice performance just now!"
"I don't get where you come up with all this nonsense," Ellis rolled her eyes. Luo Han had insisted she reenact their 'first time' with Aishi , saying it would help her feel balanced—because this clearly wasn't the first time he and Ellis had done this.
Tch! What's there to hide!
Bending down, Ellis asked, "So this is the place?"
"Yup."
She walked to the bow and looked around—no island in sight. She nodded. "Alright, let's go down."
And with that, she dove straight from a thousand meters in the air toward the sea.
"Aishi ! I'm going down with Ellis," Luo Han called. "Wait for us here!"
"Okay!" Aishi 's gentle voice called from inside.
Hearing her reply, Luo Han flew down after Ellis.
At the surface, he activated a telekinetic shield to encase Ellis, and they dove together—the seed needed to be planted on the seabed.
...
In the deep sea
A conical stream of water shot like a missile from the surface to the depths. Sea Kings didn't even seem to notice, letting Luo Han and Ellis pass. Only after did they react, confused.
On the seabed
Their telekinetic shield formed a bubble of air. They hovered above the seafloor, not stepping on the muddy bottom—too dirty.
Ellis pulled a golden-scaled seed from behind her.
Nature energy surged around her. A hole formed in the seabed.
She gently placed the infused seed into the hole.
"It's starting."
Green light glowed around her like a goddess of nature.
Boom! The rock cracked as a small divine tree shot up like an angry bird.
Rumble! It broke through the seafloor, rapidly growing like time was being fast-forwarded.
Its roots tore through the seabed like giant serpents.
Its trunk expanded from meters to hundreds of meters in diameter.
"Let's go up!" Ellis said as the trunk pushed them away.
"Right!" Luo Han grabbed her and flew upward.
Soon—
Splash! They burst through the surface and rose hundreds of meters into the air.
A massive shadow followed—boom! The divine tree erupted from the sea like a dragon, piercing the sky.
...
On the calm sea
A tree over a kilometer wide and two thousand meters tall had emerged. Its branches stretched like a giant umbrella. From afar, it looked like a massive mushroom.
Under its shade, Luo Han sensed Sea Kings swimming around.
"Ellis," he asked, "Are you sure they won't attack it?"
They'd been circling since the tree grew, looking at it strangely—like it was something they'd fought before.
"Don't worry,"
"My divine tree avatars won't bear fruit. Without the scent of fish-scale fruit, they won't attack," Ellis said confidently. "Otherwise, these trees wouldn't exist all over the sea."
Makes sense. Without the mermaid princess's will-infused seed, Sea Kings wouldn't have attacked the tree.
"So? What changed now that you have another avatar?" Luo Han asked.
"My stamina and recovery have noticeably increased."
Ellis smiled, pressing her hands to the trunk. Nature energy rippled around her. "But you'd never be able to measure how much."
"…"
I'm being serious, and you're flexing endurance? Tch. Infinite stamina, huh? I'll develop that too.
Luo Han swore silently—he'd reclaim his manly pride.
"Alright, I'm done here."
Ellis withdrew her hands. A golden-scale fruit floated behind her.
It hadn't released the scent that would drive Sea Kings mad—either because it hadn't fully matured, or because Ellis had learned to suppress it.
She turned to Luo Han and said seriously, "The rest is your job."
My job? Luo Han blinked, then smiled bitterly. "So you know?"
"Yup. I can sense that special frequency," she nodded.
Luo Han's ability to fix Aishi meant he could do the same with Sea Kings—and even control them.
She must've known even back at Fishman Island that the princess had eaten the Mind Fruit. He hadn't confirmed it with her then, but clearly she knew something about it.
Processing this, Luo Han pointed toward the Calm Belt. "The ones here are too small! I'll go find one over ten kilometers long!"
"I'll wait on the ship."
"Alright." Luo Han replied.
Ellis flew back to the Penguin, and Luo Han headed deeper into the Calm Belt.
...
Calm Belt
Luo Han searched while the Penguin hovered above.
"I thought there'd be plenty of ten-kilometer-long Sea Kings. But I haven't seen one!"
He was frustrated. He'd found many in the 4,000–8,000 meter range—not even a single 9,000-meter one.
So for days, Luo Han searched by day and "trained" by night.
Time flew.
A month passed. Luo Han was visibly slimmer. But at last, near the midpoint of the Grand Line's Calm Belt, he found one.
A dragon-shaped Sea King with a bull's head and a body over 10,000 meters long.
How strange—it wasn't staying put like most, but roaming freely.
"No wonder I couldn't find the lantern fish—these big guys wander a lot!" Luo Han muttered.
"What now?" Ellis asked as the Penguin trailed the Sea King.
Luo Han thought for a moment. "Safer to pull it out of the sea first."
His mental powers were weakened underwater.
With a thought, his vast telekinesis wrapped around the beast's 400-meter-wide, 10,000-meter-long body.
Boom! The sea exploded as he ripped it from the depths.
Luo Han flew up. A strong, salty, fishy stench hit him—he activated his mental armor to block it.
Suspended midair, the Sea King glared at Luo Han with house-sized eyes—then shuddered in fear. It tried to escape.
Its serpentine body twisted, but Luo Han's current telekinetic power held firm.
"Oh, you like to twist? Let me help!" Luo Han grinned and twisted it like wringing a towel.
Scales popped off like bullets. Blood rained down, dyeing the sea red for kilometers.
"Meeeehhh…!"
A horrible shriek echoed across the sea.
"…"
Luo Han's expression froze. A… goat bleat?
You have a dragon's body and a bull's head—can't you roar like either?!
Luo Han was mentally screaming.
The Sea King bleated again before going limp.
Luo Han stopped twisting it and landed between its massive horns.
He closed his eyes and sent a wave of spiritual energy into the beast's mind.
"As I thought!"
A massive glowing willseed blazed like the sun, suppressing a dim, imprisoned consciousness—its original self.
"What a terrifying power."
He summoned his divine mind power and channeled it into the Sea King.
Fssss! As soon as it touched the seed, it ignited and burned away.
With the foreign will gone, the creature's own mind began to awaken.
Before it fully recovered, Luo Han overwhelmed it with his power, forcing an evolution.
"That was easier than expected."
He fused the thought, "Absolute loyalty to Luo Han," into the evolving consciousness.
Soon it was complete—but unstable, about to collapse.
What?! Luo Han realized—it was dying!
He quickly planted another willseed and exited.
"Ellis, get down here! It's dying!" he called out mentally.
"On it!"
She was speechless. Should've known not to twist it like that…
Ellis arrived, summoned nature energy, and created a large life force orb.
She fed it to the creature. Green light flowed through its body, healing wounds and regrowing scales.
It soon recovered fully.
Its massive eyes opened. Though it couldn't see Luo Han, it sensed him. A wave of spiritual intent scanned him:
"Boss Luo Han, Niu Niu wants to go back to the sea!"
Hmm? Luo Han frowned and glanced at Ellis. She looked normal.
Was that a voice just now?
"Boss Luo Han, Niu Niu wants to go back to the sea!"
He stiffened. This time, he heard it clearly—like a five- or six-year-old child's voice.
It came from the Sea King.
"What is it?" Ellis asked, noticing his expression.
"Shh!" Luo Han signaled for silence.
A wave came from the creature's mouth:
"Boss Luo Han, Niu Niu wants to go back to the sea!"
"It really is talking!" Luo Han exclaimed.
He could hear Sea Kings now! That would massively improve his chances of finding the lantern fish.
With his speed, he could interview every Sea King in the world.
"Who's talking, Luo Han?" Ellis asked.
"You didn't hear it?"
"No?"
Interesting. So only I can hear it. Luo Han thought it was telepathic like Ellis used to do.
Sigh! Niu Niu was frustrated. This boss must be dumb. I've said it three times already!
One more time. If he doesn't listen, I'm never speaking again.
It sent another wave:
"Boss Luo Han, Niu Niu wants to go back to the sea!"
Luo Han blinked, then smacked his forehead.
He adjusted his mental frequency and responded,
"Alright, I'll let you down!"
He guided Niu Niu back to the sea.
(END CHAPTER)
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