Even in the windless belly of a fish, even going against the current, it's not a problem as long as Karin is present.
Controlling the wind should be considered one of the most desired abilities for every navigator... no, for everyone making a living on the sea.
It's just a pity that Karin herself is at an elementary school dropout level, plus being in a different world, she can't even fully recognize bounty posters, let alone study navigation techniques.
And she seems to have 'inherited' Naruto's sense of direction. Without clear Eternal Pose navigation, she probably couldn't even sail accurately from Sabaody Archipelago to Marineford.
Fortunately, Master Lantern's esophagus is only one path, so there's no chance of getting lost anyway.
"Wahhhhhhhhh!!!"
"It's fine, we're tied down, it's fine, we're tied down..."
"..."
Olga, Acier, and Naomi: one a screaming chicken, one a repeater, and the last silent, just gripping the helm tightly.
At this moment, the Shark Emeralda was sailing upstream at a forty-five-degree angle.
If they hadn't tied themselves to the ship beforehand, they would probably have been flung out like those treasures.
Well... nearly eighty percent of the gold, silver, and treasures accumulated over more than a decade by Mad Treasure were flung out during this exit.
But besides Naomi, no one seemed to care.
"Hold on tight, we're almost at the throat. I'm going to stimulate the fish's uvula."
Karin, flying in front of the ship, shouted to the big ship below.
However, the three on the ship didn't seem to have the energy to answer her.
But she didn't mind.
After all, the entire Shark Emeralda was practically being 'dragged' up by her using wind right now. As long as people weren't flung off, it was fine.
Thinking this, Karin looked down at her body again.
It has to be said, although she can't change back to human form for now, her strength has indeed increased substantially in her current state.
She had been lifting such a large ship with strong winds for so long and didn't even feel much drain on her stamina.
'I could keep this up all day... no, maybe even longer.'
Thinking this, the group had already reached Master Lantern's throat. Ahead was the uvula, like an inverted mountain peak.
Karin didn't rashly stimulate it. Instead, she chose to first sense the outside situation with Observation Haki.
After fully entering her awakened state, her previously half-baked Observation Haki seemed to have improved because of it.
—At least it could still detect at this distance.
Good news: Master Lantern had already surfaced. They could come out now.
Bad news: There was a group of people waiting outside, eyeing them hungrily.
...Not exactly terrible news.
"They're old acquaintances."
Karin muttered to herself.
From the information fed back by her senses, she clearly 'saw' the guys who had fired at them earlier.
These people are really persistent, following Master Lantern around, not afraid of being capsized when it surfaces.
But since they didn't run away... then new and old grudges will be settled together!
Not only dared to fire sneak attacks at her, but also think about blocking her?
If the eagle doesn't show its might, they think she's a little house sparrow?
Screech—
With a cry, the air in Master Lantern's mouth immediately began to flow rapidly.
Then, under the control of the Mythical Zoan power, that air transformed into 'air hammers', pounding against the mountain-sized uvula.
Once, twice… before Karin could strike a third time, Master Lantern abruptly opened its mouth.
Then, seawater poured in, replacing the originally corrosive stomach acid, also bringing with it a breeze from the sea.
"It's the sea breeze..."
Among them, only Acier had truly stayed in the big fish's belly for two hundred years without ever going out.
At this moment, looking at the real sunlight faintly shining in from outside, different from the light on Master Lantern's head, his eyes actually grew moist.
Beside him, Olga silently watched her father quietly shed tears.
She didn't find it strange.
Because when she accidentally escaped from Master Lantern's belly before, she wasn't much better, even more excited.
Olga wanted to wipe her father's tears.
But they were all tied to the ship now, completely unable to move.
'...Forget it, let it be.'
Pushed by strong winds, the Shark Emeralda sailed against the pouring seawater all the way outward and soon rushed out.
And Master Lantern still seemed to feel some discomfort in its uvula, making strange, loud noises like coughing on the spot.
Of course, the protagonist was no longer it now.
"Finally out! Geppo!"
Not far away, Lucci seemed unable to wait any longer. He simply stepped on the air and flew straight toward the Shark Emeralda.
Behind him, Kaku and Kalifa took the same action.
Now, besides following Lucci all the way, they didn't seem to have any other good choices.
As for the other people on that ship... they actually didn't know what treasure they were chasing, only that it was something very valuable.
If they knew it was Pure Gold, capable of granting eternal youth, then this group definitely wouldn't just be standing by watching now.
"It's World Government's people!"
In the pilot house, Naomi was the first to observe Lucci and the others approaching in mid-air.
Although these guys didn't appear in the previous battle, it wasn't hard to tell from their uniform white suits that they were likely from the same department as the previous CP agents.
By the way, the masked agents who fought to a stalemate with Mad Treasure, Naomi, and others earlier also became fish food that night. Those with faster regeneration might have already started their second round of life.
Although she hadn't fought them, Naomi knew these people weren't easy to deal with either.
With her strength, she would probably be at a disadvantage even one-on-one, let alone one against three.
—Wait, she's not alone now.
Naomi suddenly let go of the rope she was untying and looked toward another golden figure in mid-air.
'I get chased and attacked by you when I haven't found a powerful backer, and I still get chased and attacked after I've found one? Then what's the point of having this backer!?'
With this thought, Naomi opened her mouth and shouted toward Karin in the sky with her loudest voice.
"Captain Karin!! Those people are World Government's agents!! They're here for the Pure Gold!!"
This attracted Lucci's attention. He turned his gaze toward Naomi in the pilot house.
Through a layer of glass, Lucci recognized this person. Wasn't she one of those they used as cannon fodder to scout the way earlier?
Then he looked at the bird flying toward their direction in mid-air.
'Hmm?'
'Was it always this small originally?'
Just as Lucci and the others were still somewhat puzzled, Karin also turned her gaze toward them.
Actually, even without Naomi saying it, Karin wouldn't let them off easily.
The next moment, the Garuda spreads its wings—
Under everyone's stunned gazes, a golden giant bird, larger than Master Lantern, appeared in their field of vision.
—Saying 'field of vision' seems a bit forced.
Because just the boundless wings exceeded their ability to observe.
"Hmph."
Just a light snort, but in everyone's ears, it was no less than thunder.
The three CP0 agents silently landed on the Shark Emeralda's deck, close to Naomi and the Acier father and daughter, but didn't take any action.
At this moment, they were completely speechless, could only stare dumbfounded at the indescribable giant in the sky.
Not just them, even Naomi and the others had the same reaction.
Earlier, inside the fish's belly, there were restrictions. Now, just after coming out, Karin revealed her true form, directly using the [Size Control] ability to its limit.
What kind of giant creature was it?
It was to the extent that a single feather surpassed the entire Shark Emeralda.
Even Master Lantern, having just finished coughing, froze in place.
For the first time in who knows how many years at the top of the food chain, it felt the crisis of being preyed upon.
This big fish couldn't care less about the shiny thing, just turned and swam toward the sea.
At this moment, Kaku, Kalifa, and the others only wanted to say one thing.
'Hehe, can we make peace?'