Chapter 193: The Invisible Enemy, A Whirlpool of Death
"What's going on?! What the hell is this?! Why is there such a massive whirlpool in these waters?!"
The weather in the New World was so volatile it was practically incomprehensible. Sailing here meant facing not only extreme weather, but anomalous meteorological phenomena that defied all common sense.
Knives falling from the sky or candy raining down—such literary embellishments or whimsical fantasies were often cold, hard reality in the New World.
Navigating this weather relied entirely on the ship's navigator to make on-the-spot judgments and immediate decisions. The possibility of forecasting the weather days in advance, as one would in normal seas, was infinitely close to zero.
However, unlike the weather, the conditions of the sea itself could still be partially mastered after years of navigation.
Which island had fresh water for resupply, which areas were prone to running aground, and where the ocean currents were most complex—these details were all recorded on sea charts.
In frequently sailed regions, this kind of intelligence was readily bought and sold.
For example, the massive whirlpool zone in the outer seas of Wano Country was well-documented. These pirates, having made such a grand display of attacking Fish-man Island, had naturally researched this sea route.
A massive whirlpool of this scale occurring right here was completely unheard of.
"Don't worry about where this whirlpool came from! Just figure out how to break out of it! Watch the current's flow! Hard port!!"
If they sailed against the rotation of the whirlpool or charged straight toward its center, the probability of the ship being sucked in or capsizing would drastically increase.
Only by aligning the ship's bow with the direction of the whirlpool's rotation could they harness the current's momentum to slide the hull toward the outer edge.
Once the direction was adjusted, accelerating at full speed and surging outward perpendicular to the whirlpool's edge offered a sliver of a chance to break free.
But this possibility was essentially limited to paddle-wheelers. Ships equipped with auxiliary power could still put up a fight in this situation; wind-powered sailing ships relying solely on sails would have to depend entirely on the crew frantically rowing the oars.
Having traversed the Four Blues, navigated the first half of the Grand Line, and survived in the New World for a while, these men could be considered experienced. Faced with this perilous situation, their response was relatively prompt.
But the problem was... this was not a natural phenomenon. It was a man-made trap.
While the pirates were busy desperately trying to escape the whirlpool, no one noticed a swarm of transparent silhouettes approaching their ships from beneath the waves.
Beneath the crashing waves was the playground of the Fish-men and Merfolk. To them, the whirlpool wasn't dangerous in the slightest; it was merely a colossal treadmill.
Although swimming against the current inside it consumed more stamina, it was entirely harmless.
"Put your backs into it! Row for your lives! If we get sucked in, we're all dead!"
Inside the somewhat stifling cabin, a group of pirates was desperately cranking the massive oars. Even those who usually slacked off and shirked their duties were now pulling with all their might.
Slacking off at a time like this was gambling with their own lives.
But right at that moment, a series of muffled thuds echoed from the bottom of the hull beneath their feet.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The muffled impacts sounded exceptionally piercing within the enclosed cabin. The soldiers of the Neptune Army were, after all, not the elite personal guards Nereus had painstakingly forged himself; they hadn't reached the level where every single soldier was a superhuman.
Faced with the thick, sturdy hull of a ship, breaking through still required some time.
"There's something underwater!! It's those Fish-men! They're trying to scuttle the ship! Quick, find a way to stop them!!"
In a crowd of people, there were always a few with quick wits. Connecting this to the objective of their voyage, the answer to what was in the water was glaringly obvious.
However, realizing this did not help them resolve the crisis before them. Instead, those rhythmic thuds transformed into a death knell rung by the Grim Reaper himself.
Trapped in the churning whirlpool, they had absolutely no way to deal with Fish-men hiding beneath the surface.
CRASH!
Boundless terror began to spread through the hearts of the pirates. But this terror did not last long; the materials used to build the ship were ultimately just wooden planks, not some indestructible barrier.
Under continuous assault, a massive hole was smashed through in no time.
The surging ocean current flooded in through the breach, rapidly tearing the fist-sized hole wider and allowing even more seawater to cascade into the cabin.
"The hull is breached!!"
"We're taking on water! Quick, seal the watertight compartments!"
"It's no use! The bow has been smashed open too! Quick, figure out how to plug this hole!"
Through a design featuring multiple independent cabins, watertight compartments could effectively prevent a ship from sinking when it hit a reef. If it were only one or two breaches, it would hardly pose a fatal threat to a large vessel.
But when the number of holes went from one... to four or five... to seven or eight... no ship, regardless of its size, could withstand such devastation.
In their panic, the pirates on board desperately tried to salvage the situation, but there was absolutely nothing they could do. They could only watch helplessly as their ship gradually sank.
And it wasn't just one pirate ship being targeted; every vessel caught in the whirlpool was subjected to the exact same treatment.
Their original formation had been quite dense. As the cabins flooded and the ships gradually lost propulsion, the churning of the whirlpool caused several pirate ships to crash violently into one another, triggering catastrophic magazine explosions.
BOOM! BOOM!
Amidst the deafening roars of secondary explosions, several pirate ships were reduced to splinters. The shattered hulls triggered a chain reaction, tearing new holes into the remaining ships that were still struggling to stay afloat.
As the ships sank, they created new, localized sinking whirlpools, dragging the frantically struggling pirates nearby directly into the abyss.
Thus far, without having even caught a glimpse of their enemy's face, this pirate fleet had already lost more than half its numbers.
Although the average physique in this world meant many of those thrown overboard were still holding on, this entire whirlpool zone had long since become the hunting ground of the Neptune Army.
"Stay away! You monsters, stay away from me!"
A pirate thrashed wildly in the water, swinging his blade blindly. He even ended up slashing a few of his own comrades who had been swept close to him by the current.
From the moment they hit the water, the "monsters" beneath the surface never let them go. They were either dragged into the depths or inexplicably skewered through the body.
Even though they suspected it was the work of Fish-man Island, from start to finish, they never saw their enemies.
In this environment, the invisible enemy only amplified the formless terror gripping their hearts.
This was exactly what made the First Legion so unique. Aside from fundamental naval combat tactics, the diverse traits of different fish species endowed each company with its own specialized method of warfare.
The abilities to turn invisible, change color, and mimic their surroundings turned the Third Company—led by Sebastian—into invisible assassins, unleashing a massacre uniquely their own amidst the churning whirlpools.
And Sebastian himself was currently mingling within this massive army, executing targeted eliminations on the more threatening pirate captains.
"Get to the island! Get out of this water! Otherwise, we'll all die here!"
Not far from their location lay an island. A few pirates near the outer edge of the whirlpool had managed to gain a brief respite at the cost of their comrades' deaths.
Ultimately, the current Neptune Army still lacked practical experience in surface combat, allowing a portion of the pirates to break through the whirlpool's encirclement. At this moment, they began swimming madly toward land, completely abandoning everything else...
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