Chapter 329: A Terrifying Blow

Chapter 329: Chapter 329: A Terrifying Blow

Chapter 329: A Terrifying Blow

"Wooooo..."

The enormous Sea King opened its mouth and released a deep roar.

The sound rolled across the sea like the whistle of a departing train, only magnified hundreds of times.

Vivi, Chopper, and the others immediately covered their ears.

Even after the roar faded, a sharp ringing remained.

Vivi grimaced.

If its voice alone could do that, she did not want to imagine what would happen if it actually attacked.

She turned toward Chopper.

Sea Kings were living creatures.

And Chopper could understand animals.

"What did it say?"

Chopper was still rubbing his ears.

"What?"

Vivi raised her voice.

"I said, what did it say?!"

"Oh!"

Chopper looked toward the colossal creature.

Then his expression stiffened.

"It said... it’s hungry."

Wapol picked at one ear.

"When I’m hungry, my temper gets worse too."

His stomach growled.

He glanced around for another piece of Sea King meat.

Before he could grab anything, the entire ship jolted.

Wapol lost his balance and hit the deck.

"Now what?!"

Vivi hurried to the railing.

The enormous blue body beneath them was moving away.

"I think it’s retreating."

Her answer sounded uncertain even to herself.

Something did not fit.

Chopper had just said the creature was hungry.

Why would a hungry Sea King suddenly retreat?

Then the sea began to change.

Sunlight poured across the water, reflecting from the surface like light through glass.

Vivi blinked.

Blue.

The ocean was turning blue again.

The blood that had stained the surrounding waters red was rapidly disappearing.

Not dispersing.

Being pulled away.

And their ship was moving with it.

Vivi’s eyes widened.

"No..."

She understood.

"ROW BACK!"

Everyone looked at her.

"That Sea King is swallowing the seawater!"

Vivi grabbed an oar.

"If we don’t move, it’ll swallow us too!"

They scrambled into position.

Too late.

The current seized the ship.

Whoosh!

The vessel shot forward with terrifying speed.

"AAAAAAAH!"

Vivi clung to the railing.

Chopper flattened himself against the deck.

Karoo wrapped himself around a post.

Wapol screamed louder than all of them.

The ship raced across the water as though launched from a cannon.

Then, without warning, everything stopped.

Silence returned.

Vivi slowly raised her head.

The sea around them had changed completely.

The crimson color was gone.

The battlefield left by the Sea Kings had vanished with it.

Only calm, blue water remained.

Vivi stared for several seconds.

Then released a long breath.

"It left."

Chopper slowly sat up.

Vivi scanned the sea again.

"It must have eaten enough and gone away."

She pressed a hand against her chest.

"That was lucky."

"If something that big swallowed us, it would’ve been over."

Chopper’s eyes filled with tears.

"Thank goodness..."

He collapsed onto his back, legs in the air.

His expression looked like that of someone who had been dragged away from an execution platform at the last second.

Karoo walked over to Vivi.

"Quack."

He puffed out his chest and tried to regain his dignity, standing beside her like a brave bodyguard who had absolutely not been terrified moments earlier.

Wapol also looked around.

Once he was certain the danger had passed, his confidence quickly returned.

"Hmph."

He folded his arms.

"You people panic too easily."

Vivi slowly turned toward him.

Wapol lifted his chin.

"That little bit of movement was nothing."

He laughed.

"Wahahaha!"

Then his laughter slowed.

Vivi was staring at him.

So was Chopper.

Karoo too.

None of them were looking directly at his face.

Their eyes were focused behind him.

Wapol frowned.

"What?"

No one answered.

He puffed himself up.

"Why are all of you making those faces?"

He grinned.

"Is the pressure of standing before Lord Wapol too overwhelming?"

Karoo raised one wing.

Very slowly, he pointed behind Wapol.

Wapol stared at the gesture.

"What’s that supposed to mean?"

Karoo pointed harder.

"Quack."

Wapol became offended.

"Do you even know who you’re gesturing at like that?"

Vivi’s face darkened.

This idiot was going to get them killed.

She whispered,

"Behind you."

Wapol froze.

His neck turned little by little.

Then he saw it.

Half of the Sea King’s head was rising from the water.

Only half.

Yet it resembled a mountain emerging from the sea.

Its full height could not even be seen from the ship.

One enormous eye was fixed directly on them.

The iris was a clear ocean blue, like a giant sapphire.

Under any other circumstances, it might have been beautiful.

There was only one problem.

The eye itself was several times larger than their entire ship.

Hundreds of people could probably stand across its surface without crowding one another.

Wapol’s mouth fell open.

His body locked.

Then he toppled backward.

Thud.

No one laughed.

The creature simply watched them.

For several tense moments, nothing happened.

Then its eyelid lowered slightly.

It blinked.

Slowly.

The motion alone sent a ripple through the air.

Vivi swallowed.

The Sea King seemed sleepy.

Like an animal that had eaten its fill and wanted nothing more than to bask beneath the sunlight.

That should have been comforting.

It was not.

Knowing that something so enormous was dozing right beside them only made the situation worse.

Their lives depended entirely on whether the creature felt like waking up.

Fortunately, its eye began to close.

Vivi’s shoulders loosened.

Chopper exhaled.

Karoo did the same.

Even Wapol started breathing again.

Then they noticed Axel.

Vivi’s relief disappeared instantly.

He was no longer on the deck.

He was standing in the air.

Directly in front of the Sea King’s eyelid.

Vivi’s face went white.

Normally, no one would have cared where Axel chose to stand.

Right now, however, he was hovering close enough to touch the sleeping monster.

And judging by the smile on his face, he was not there merely to admire it.

"No."

Vivi’s voice came out weakly.

Chopper saw him too.

His eyes widened.

"Don’t!"

Karoo began quacking frantically.

"QUACK! QUACK!"

Wapol remained silent.

He had been trained well enough to recognize the expression on Axel’s face.

Trouble was coming.

Axel moved.

BOOM!

His foot slammed into the Sea King’s eyelid.

The impact sounded like an exploding shell.

A shockwave burst through the air.

Vivi stared at him in horror.

Chopper’s mouth dropped open.

Why?!

Why would anyone do that?!

The Sea King’s entire body jerked.

Then a deafening cry erupted across the Calm Belt.

"WOOOOOOOAAAAAAAH!"

Chopper’s face turned pale.

He translated automatically.

"It said, ’That hurts!’"

The sea exploded.

Waves rose in every direction.

The small ship was thrown violently across the water.

Everyone grabbed whatever they could.

Vivi wrapped both arms around the railing.

Chopper clung to the mast.

Karoo flattened himself against the deck.

Wapol screamed while holding onto the side of the cabin.

The Sea King had awakened.

Its roar spread across the surrounding waters.

Almost every creature nearby disappeared.

Anything capable of fleeing did so.

Nothing wanted to challenge the ruler of this stretch of sea.

The giant creature’s eye opened again.

Blue filled its enormous pupil.

Then red began spreading through the surrounding water.

Blood.

Axel’s kick had actually injured it.

A thin stream flowed from the damaged eyelid and stained the sea below.

The Sea King stared at the tiny figure floating before it.

The pain faded.

Confusion gave way to anger.

Its gaze fixed entirely on Axel.

Was this little creature the one that had hurt it?

....

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