Chapter 15: Grandfather and Grandson United!
"Is that enough for the fare, Nami?"
Luffy scratched his head, asking with a face full of seriousness. "If it's not enough, we can just sell Grandpa! He's gotta be worth at least 5.5 billion!"
BONK!
A dull thud echoed, and a steaming red lump instantly swelled up on Luffy's head.
On the figurehead, Garp didn't even look back; he simply retracted his fist.
"What a stupid grandson."
Nami: "..."
I dare not speak!
The Thousand Sunny.
Amidst this extreme silence and terror, the coated bubble slowly sank beneath the water's surface.
Silently, without a sound, they dove into the bottomless darkness of the deep sea.
Outside the cabin lay a gloomy world wrapped in endless water pressure. The light was swallowed rapidly, leaving only the faint glow emitting from the Sunny itself.
Like a lonely star falling into the abyss.
On the deck, the newspaper still lay quietly on the floor. The photo and the headline were like a brand, seared into everyone's mind.
The air seemed to stagnate.
"Pressure gauge... readings are normal."
Nami's voice broke the dead silence, carrying a trace of uncontrollable trembling. She forced herself to tear her gaze away from the leisurely old man on the bow and stared fixedly at the nautical instruments in her hands.
"Bu... Bubble coating strength is stable!"
Usopp and Chopper hugged each other tightly, teeth chattering so hard they were on the verge of tears.
Zoro's hand never left his sword hilt. Sanji's leg was poised, ready to launch a kick at any moment.
They were no longer facing just a Navy Hero.
They were facing a living legend who had single-handedly trampled the face of the World Government into the dirt.
Even if he was Luffy's grandfather, he was still a man with a bounty of 5.5 billion berries!
And to top it off, he was currently sitting on their figurehead, picking his teeth as if he were in his own backyard.
Suddenly.
A shadow so massive it was immeasurable loomed over the Sunny from above.
The ship's own light source was instantly obscured.
Absolute darkness descended.
"Wh... What is that?" Chopper's voice carried a sob.
"It's... It's huge..." Usopp's eyes had rolled back into his head.
Through the bubble coating, countless pairs of gigantic, crimson eyes lit up in the darkness, hanging like lanterns in the abyss.
Sea Kings.
And not just one—it was a massive school of them.
"All hands! Battle stations!"
Zoro's low growl snapped everyone back to reality.
Franky instantly aimed his arms outward. Flames ignited on Sanji's leg.
Luffy took a step forward, shielding everyone behind him. He took a deep breath, and pitch-black Haki began to congregate around his body.
Just as he was about to use Conqueror's Haki to intimidate these uninvited guests...
On the figurehead...
The old man, who hadn't moved an inch since the beginning, finally stirred.
He simply let out a lazy yawn.
Without even opening his eyes, he grumbled impatiently.
"So noisy."
The voice wasn't loud; it was even a bit slurred.
But those two words seemed to contain some kind of ancient law that dominated everything.
Outside the Sunny...
The movements of the hundreds of Sea Kings—creatures as massive as mountain ranges—froze instantly.
Time seemed to stop.
The next second.
As if they had heard the final judgment of a natural predator, the Sea Kings erupted into unprecedented panic. Their colossal bodies whipped around, and they fled into the dark deep sea at a speed ten times faster than their approach.
The massive displacement of water created a violent undercurrent, causing the Sunny to rock violently.
In the blink of an eye, the shadow that had blotted out all light vanished without a trace.
Light returned to the Sunny.
"Eh? They ran away?"
Luffy scratched his head in confusion, the Haki he had just gathered dissipating.
" hallucinations! That must have been a hallucination!" Usopp rubbed his eyes vigorously, refusing to believe the reality before him.
"Sc... Scary! They... they seemed like they were terrified of something!"
Chopper's hooves were still trembling. He could clearly feel the fear that had erupted from the depths of those creatures' souls in their final moments.
"They were afraid."
Robin's voice was soft. She stood with her arms crossed, looking at the old man who had closed his eyes again, appearing as if he had already fallen back asleep.
The deck fell into a weird silence once more.
Just then.
BANG!
A violent impact came from the rear flank of the ship.
A crude ship made from a modified giant barrel, pulled by a massive sea cow, had savagely slammed into the Sunny's bubble coating.
The lid of the barrel popped open, and a man with long hair, a tongue hanging out way too far, and a face covered in slime poked his head out.
"Kehihihihi... Finally caught up with you, Straw Hat!"
"Wet-Haired" Caribou.
He let out his signature, nauseating laugh.
Behind him, the sea cow, Momoo, let out a cry to follow up. But the moment it saw the figure wearing a straw hat on the Sunny's deck, its giant cow eyes widened instantly.
Moo!
A scream of terror that cracked its voice.
Momoo turned tail and ran!
It sped away like an arrow released from a bow, disappearing into the darkness in an instant.
Leaving behind a dumbfounded Caribou and the abandoned barrel ship.
"Oi! Momoo!"
Caribou hadn't even processed what was happening.
A fist coated in Armament Haki punched through the bubble coating and smashed heavily into his face.
WHAM!
Caribou was sent flying like a sandbag. He spun a few times in the air before crashing onto the deck of the Sunny, knocked out cold on the spot.
"How do we handle this guy?"
Sanji walked over and nudged the unconscious Caribou with the toe of his shoe.
"Hmm..." Luffy held his chin, seemingly deep in thought.
On the figurehead, Garp stood up.
He stretched his back, his joints popping with a series of crisp cracks.
Then, as if picking up a baby chick, he grabbed Caribou by the collar with one hand and walked to the rail.
Under the astonished gaze of everyone, he swung his arm.
Splash.
Caribou was casually tossed into the dark deep sea outside the Sunny, barely making a ripple.
"Hey! Grandpa! He's gonna die!" Luffy shouted hurriedly.
Garp clapped the dust off his hands, his expression as calm as the clouds and wind.
"Oh, that works out perfectly."
"Consider it an appetizer for those big guys that just ran off."
On the deck.
Everyone turned to stone again.
A chill, colder and more biting than the deep-sea pressure, shot from the soles of their feet straight to the top of their skulls.
BOOM!
Suddenly, the ship shook violently.
A gigantic, unimaginably large deep-red tentacle covered in suction cups shot out from the darkness below, death-gripping the Sunny!
Terrifying force squeezed the ship, and the bubble coating let out an overwhelmed creak.
"It's... It's the Kraken! The legendary monster!" Usopp let out a desperate scream.
However...
His captain's focus was entirely different.
"Woah! So cool! A giant octopus!"
Stars instantly appeared in Luffy's eyes.
"Let's make it our pet!"
"Seconded."
Garp grinned, revealing a smile full of curiosity and excitement that was identical to Luffy's.
He looked at Luffy.
Luffy looked back at him.
Grandfather and grandson, in this moment, reached perfect synergy.
"Gum-Gum..."
"Fist Bone..."
Both of them took a step back simultaneously, cocking their right arms back, assuming a punching stance.
The next instant.
Two fists, one after the other, blasted out at the same time!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Two distinct yet equally terrifying forces pierced through the bubble coating!
They landed solidly on the massive tentacle.
The Kraken's giant limb, strong enough to crush steel ships, trembled violently and caved in like jelly under the might of their fists.
ROAR!
A muffled, agonized wail echoed from the darkness of the deep.
The giant tentacle released its grip instantly, trying to retreat back into the depths.
But Luffy and Garp had already wrapped themselves in small bubbles and shot out.
The figures of the grandfather and grandson left two white trails in the deep sea as they chased the tentacle, diving straight into the darkness below.
A few minutes later.
The crew of the Sunny stared dumbfoundedly at the scene before them.
The legendary sea monster capable of destroying nations, the Kraken, was currently using one of its tentacles to pitifully and carefully push the Sunny toward Fish-Man Island.
On its head, two massive lumps had swollen up.
And the grandfather-grandson duo who had just beaten it up were sitting on top of its head, one on the left and one on the right, chatting and laughing.
"Shishishi! I knew it would make a great pet!"
"That's right. This thing moves way faster than a warship."
Silence reigned on the deck of the Sunny.
"Did... did we just... get a new pet?" Chopper asked in a whisper.
"No, I think... we just gained a moving volcano and a crewmate who might sell us for rice crackers at any moment..." Nami retorted weakly.
Just then.
A massive shark wearing a pink shirt swam out from between the Kraken's other tentacles in a panic.
It seemed to want to flee, but upon seeing the humans on the Sunny's deck, it performed a terrified U-turn and hid behind the Sunny's bubble.
It peeked out with just one eye, looking around stealthily.
"Wh... What is that?" Usopp pointed at the strange shark.
"That's the Princess's pet, Megalo!"
A voice suddenly came from the bottom of the Sunny.
(To be Continued)