The weather in the New World was sometimes even more unpredictable, but overall, the changes weren't particularly drastic.
What changed the most were the islands. Compared to the first half of the Grand Line, the creatures on these islands were on an entirely different level of ferocity.
The first island they arrived at after entering the New World was an uninhabited one. The island teemed with wildlife, and vast stretches of green forest covered the land.
"My god, you've got to be kidding me!"
Tant had transformed into a massive lion and was sprinting for his life. Behind him charged a herd of gigantic wild boars.
"Tant, are we just going to keep running like this?"
"What else? Those damn boars are way too tough!"
Tant had brought a few men into the forest to search for supplies, only to run into a terrifying herd of wild boars. Their hides were thick and their flesh was tough—no matter how hard Tant fought, there was no way he could kill them all. If anything, he'd just get trampled into meat paste.
"So this is the level of the New World…"
Tant felt like crying without tears. He was a pirate worth tens of millions in bounty, an Animal-Type Devil Fruit user—and yet here he was, being chased by a herd of wild boars.
Click—
An air door appeared ahead of them. Dragonite waved its chubby hand at them.
"Go!"
The group rushed into the Door-Door Fruit space. Two particularly fast and savage boars also charged straight in after them.
The rest of the herd lost their target. After wandering around in confusion for a while, they eventually left.
...
On the beach.
The giant Mogan skewered two enormous wild boars on thick iron rods and roasted them over a massive bonfire. The boars were far too large for ordinary people to roast whole, but for a giant, they were just the right size.
"You have no idea how terrifying it was when hundreds of those boars came charging at us."
Tant kept gesturing animatedly as he described his ordeal.
Don't be fooled by the fact that two of the boars had already become oversized skewers in Mogan's hands. When Dragonite lured them to the beach through the Door-Door Fruit space, most of the fleet simply couldn't handle those savage beasts.
"Wild boars in the New World are easily worth twenty to thirty million Belly in strength."
"Wonder how something that strong tastes."
The aroma of roasted meat gradually spread across the beach. Even though the two boars were huge, with over a thousand people in the crew—plus a giant—they were only just enough to go around.
As Captain, Vane received the fattest and most succulent cut.
The taste was good, but not mind-blowing. Recently, they had been eating deep-sea fish and even deep-sea Sea King meat—their palates had grown rather refined.
Still, land creatures had their own unique appeal, and since it had been a while since anyone had tasted them, everyone found the flavor quite satisfying.
"This island… I think I've seen it before…"
An island filled with savage wild boars. He remembered that one of the Supernovas, Scratchmen Apoo, had landed here when entering the New World.
Apoo had also been chased by a herd of ferocious boars and eventually fled to a cliff. There, he discovered that the gravitational field was different from elsewhere—on the edge of the cliff, one could actually step through the air.
"Meowth, Caesar, let's head out for a bit."
"Huh? I have to go too?"
Meowth didn't mind. Caesar, on the other hand, clearly didn't feel like moving.
"This island has some mysterious phenomena. It needs a top-tier scientist to study it."
The previously lazy Caesar instantly changed his expression.
"Well, since you put it that way, I suppose a genius scientist like me has no choice but to step in."
The way to activate Caesar was either through threats or flattery.
...
Vane quickly found the cliff. It was incredibly abrupt, as if some immense external force had sliced off the peak of a complete mountain. Below it lay a bay.
"This just looks like an ordinary bay."
Caesar stared at it for quite a while but couldn't spot any supernatural phenomenon Vane had mentioned.
"Take one step forward."
"Are you crazy? This is a cliff!"
To anyone unaware, it really did seem like Vane had lost his mind. Neither Meowth nor Caesar could fly, so Vane had to take the first step himself.
He leapt outward without using any ability—yet his body floated in midair.
"That's really strange, meow."
Meowth followed behind Vane, experiencing the unbelievable gravitational anomaly for himself.
In the world of pirates, such phenomena weren't entirely unacceptable. The Sky Island floating ten thousand meters above sea level and Egghead Island with its hovering capabilities both existed in reality.
"This is weird. Why is the gravity in this area so strange?"
Caesar groped at the air in confusion. Only this bay exhibited abnormal gravitational effects.
"There could be many reasons. For us, the best-case scenario is that there's some kind of special mineral here."
Environmental factors were hard to replicate. But if some object was causing the phenomenon, they might be able to make use of it.
"Many islands in the New World have unimaginable supernatural phenomena. Researching this kind of thing is such a hassle… Well, it's not impossible, but mainly we just don't have enough time."
Caesar had originally wanted to say it couldn't be studied at all, but after catching Vane's gaze, he rephrased his answer.
Vane thought for a moment. Caesar had a point—their time was limited.
"Then take a look at my invention, meow—Metal Detector!"
Meowth pulled out a detector with a little pot-shaped attachment. If there were enough metal deposits below to form a vein, the device would react.
It was the kind of black technology Vane couldn't understand at all, and even Caesar found it absurd.
With Vane's help, Meowth used the detector to scan the strange bay.
"Meow… how should I put this? Rather than special minerals down there, I feel like there's an artificial object beneath us."
On the green screen of Meowth's detector, rough shapes of metallic objects could be reflected.
At the bottom of the bay, beneath the waves that had been washing over it for who knew how many years, a non-natural object appeared on the display. It looked remarkably like a flying saucer.
Vane tucked Meowth under one arm and drew the Cursed Sword with the other, casually slashing at the base of the cliff.
Boom—!!
The base of the cliff exploded open. Seawater immediately tried to surge inward, but Vane unleashed an Ice freezing beam, sealing off the surrounding waters in ice.
Man and cat entered the hollow space beneath the cliff.
What appeared before them truly was a flying saucer-shaped machine, submerged in water.
It was badly damaged. Through a massive breach, they could see inside.
Meowth stuck his head into the machine and exclaimed,
"Incredible, meow! Two devices are still running! This machine's been here for who knows how many years—and even soaked in seawater, two of its systems are still operating!"