The massive sea monster, the Kraken, rushed toward the bottom of the sea, carrying the Thousand Sunny and the Heart Pirates' submarine, riding the descending current.
Since the Kraken had become the Straw Hats' new pet, it naturally took on the duty of pulling the ship. As for Momoo, it was safely put back into its fish tank to prevent it from getting separated from the group.
With the "Little Squid" pulling the ship, the rest of the journey became much smoother. After the thrilling descent—which felt similar to jumping off a building—the Straw Hat crew successfully reached the ocean floor. They quickly navigated through the area of underwater volcanoes with no major obstacles.
However, they soon encountered another gigantic sea monster. It was a humanoid beast nearly ninety meters tall, with a black beard and dense hair covering its chest. If it weren't for its long webbed feet and long fins on its back, it would have easily been mistaken for a giant. Obviously, this sea monster was a specialized kind of Fish-Man.
This monstrous Fish-Man attempted to intercept the Straw Hat crew, but the Little Squid easily defeated it using the Gomu Gomu no Gatling attack that Luffy had taught it.
Carl recognized this creature. It was a massive Fish-Man belonging to the Flying Pirates, led by Hody Jones and Vander Decken IX, a group notorious for intercepting and sinking ships heading to Fish-Man Island. This time, though, the interceptor was extremely unlucky to provoke the Straw Hats.
The thought of Vander Decken IX immediately brought up unpleasant feelings. Vander Decken IX was a pervert who had harassed Princess Shirahoshi for many years. He constantly used his Mato Mato no Mi (Target-Target Fruit) to harass her, which forced Princess Shirahoshi to hide inside the Hard-Shell Tower for years, afraid to leave.
A guy like that simply deserved to be killed. Even ignoring any other terrible crimes he might have committed, the constant harassment of the young princess was reason enough. Pirate law dictated that such a person should be killed directly, without discussion.
As for Hody Jones, who might have been cooperating with Vander Decken IX, should he also be dealt with? Carl decided he didn't really want to intervene in the internal politics of Fish-Man Island. Since Whitebeard was still alive in this version of the story, no one dared to openly challenge Fish-Man Island. Hody Jones probably wouldn't dare to cause any major trouble on the island.
Therefore, the Straw Hats seemed to have no real reason to get involved.
"Forget it," Carl decided quickly. "If Hody Jones doesn't try to provoke the Straw Hats, we'll leave him be. At worst, I'll warn Jinbe before we leave the island and tell him to be cautious." Carl quickly pushed these trivialities out of his mind.
The distance to Fish-Man Island was shrinking fast, and the environment around them began to change. There seemed to be more corals and brightly colored fish.
But at that moment, the Little Squid suddenly became completely stiff. Many super-huge Sea Kings—a group of ten massive ones—had suddenly appeared all around them, casting their immense shadows and beams of light toward the ship.
Not only the Kraken but the Straw Hat crew, too, were stunned into silence.
Luffy tilted his head in confusion. "They seem to be saying something. Can you guys hear it?"
Everyone shook their heads, and then looked at Chopper.
Even Chopper shook his head. "I can't hear them talking. Maybe they aren't. Luffy, could it just be your imagination?"
Luffy replied with certainty, "No, I can hear them very clearly. Even though I don't know what they're saying, they are definitely talking, and they're staring at us!"
Staring at us...
Luffy was truly saying scary things so casually.
The cowardly trio—Usopp, Chopper, and Nami—immediately hugged each other in fright. "Are they... are they discussing how to eat us?"
That thought immediately scared everyone else. After all, the Sea Kings were truly enormous, several times bigger than the Kraken, and some were even ten times larger. If they decided to eat the Sunny, the ship probably wouldn't even be enough to fit between their teeth.
If that happened, the crew of the Tier 4: Emperors (Yonko) would meet their end right here. Who could withstand an attack from the Sea Kings at the bottom of the ocean?
Carl suddenly spoke up. "No, Luffy did hear them, but we can't!"
Everyone looked at Carl doubtfully, not understanding.
Carl patiently explained, "Do you remember when Uncle Rayleigh told us that Roger had the ability to hear the Voice of All Things? I think Luffy has this ability too, and he can hear the Sea Kings' language!"
What?! He can hear the Sea Kings' language?!
Such a conclusion made everyone go pale with fright, and they stared at Luffy with wide eyes.
Luffy looked confused. "Mr. Carl, do I really have that ability? How do you know, and I don't?"
Carl gave a mysterious smile. "Heh, I just guessed! Even though there wasn't any proof before, isn't this proof right now? Only Luffy can hear them, but we can't. That means you must have a special ability, and I guessed it was the ability to hear the Voice of All Things. I was right".
Luffy nodded blankly, still not quite grasping the concept.
The others were just as confused, but even if they didn't understand, they all chose to believe Carl. Carl had been a know-it-all throughout their journey and had never been wrong.
Usopp seized the moment to speak. "Isn't this a good thing! Luffy, Roger had this ability, and you have it too. Doesn't this mean you'll become the new Pirate King?"
Chopper chimed in, "That's right, Luffy, you have the same ability as the Pirate King!"
Everyone thought Luffy would be happy to hear this, but unexpectedly, Luffy just curled his lips and didn't look pleased at all.
"I want to be the Pirate King because I want to do it, not because I happen to have the same ability as the last Pirate King!" Luffy declared. "That's just fate, and I hate that. I want to achieve my dream through my own efforts!"
Everyone was stunned when they heard his words, and then they all broke into knowing smiles.
Indeed, Luffy had worked incredibly hard every step of the way. It wasn't just his own efforts, but the efforts of everyone in the crew. It truly didn't matter if he had the same ability as the last Pirate King.
This was Luffy, the real Luffy.
Carl just shrugged. This was exactly why he hadn't told Luffy that the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika was his Devil Fruit. If he told Luffy that he ate the Nika Fruit, inherited Joy Boy's will , and was the only one destined to become the Pirate King, Luffy would probably be furious on the spot.
Luffy wanted to be the Pirate King through hard work, not fate.
If others also held the dream of being the Pirate King and put in their own effort, Luffy wouldn't deny their dreams. Instead, he would work hard to defeat them and aspire to stand at the absolute top. If the future was already determined because of a single Devil Fruit, then in Luffy's view, it would just be a boring, pre-written path.
The main topic returned to the present. The Straw Hats passed by the Sea Kings, but the massive creatures made no attacks, watching the Sunny, the submarine, and the Kraken leave without incident.
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