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With a stack of banknotes tucked securely in her pocket, Kagura hopped away contentedly.
"It's just 20,000 Berry. I don't know why you're so happy," Kyoma muttered.
After his recent grocery shopping trips, he'd roughly figured out the purchasing power of Berry. Of course, prices were based only on the Sabaody Archipelago, so there might be fluctuations elsewhere.
20,000 Berry basically amounted to pocket change.
As long as Kagura didn't expect this small amount to fill her bottomless stomach, it would suffice for a week's expenses.
Moreover, he hadn't played favorites. He'd given Klee 20,000 Berry as well.
Seeing the two young girls counting their money excitedly on the deck, Kyoma didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"Don't count it here. Aren't you afraid the sea breeze will blow it away?"
"Anyway…"
"It's time to get down to business."
****
Dozens of wooden barrels were thrown off the ship, floating on the sea and surrounding the ship.
The blood flowed out through gaps in the barrels and spread across the sea surface like spilled ink. In less than a few minutes, the seawater within a dozen meters of the fishing ship had been dyed red.
If an uninformed ship passed by at this moment, they might mistake it for the aftermath of a fierce battle between pirates.
"This is rather bloody," Kyoma said, smelling the stench and looking at the blood-red sea surface with visible discomfort.
"Only in this way can we attract the real big ones," Drake replied, standing beside Kyoma. His eyes scanned the sea surface with falcon-like sharpness, searching for signs of an approaching Sea King.
At the same time, he gripped both weapons tightly. One hand held the longsword he'd used when sparring with Kyoma previously, while the other grasped an iron axe that looked far more suited to his muscular frame.
In truth, dealing with a Sea King wasn't particularly difficult given his strength, but as a Devil Fruit user, attacking from too far away from the ship posed risks. He could only wait for Klee to blast it out of the sea, then deliver the fatal blow.
Plop!
Suddenly, a massive bubble appeared on the sea surface.
The water churned, and waves surged as a black shadow larger than their ship swam through the depths, disturbing the dozens of wooden barrels suspended on the surface.
The ship was affected as well, rocking slightly from the disturbance.
'It came so quickly!'
Kyoma felt pleased, but after sensing the size of that black shadow, he couldn't help feeling apprehensive. It had to be dozens of meters long.
He estimated it could probably swallow them and their fishing ship in a bite.
'What a big fish!'
"Kyoma-ni, can we start?"
Klee stood beside him, practically vibrating with anticipation. In her eyes, this wasn't a monster but merely a bigger fish. And if it was a fish, that meant she could blow it up however she wanted.
She'd never blown up such a large fish before. She could barely imagine how happy she'd be once she successfully blasted it.
The desire in Klee's eyes grew stronger and stronger as she stared at the enormous fish swimming through the sea in search of food. She looked like a hungry predator eyeing nearby prey.
"Wait a little longer. Wait for it to surface to eat the bait," Drake answered first.
"Listen to Drake. He has more experience. Wait just a bit longer, Klee," Kyoma added.
Looking at the huge monster floating near the surface, its hideous scales gleaming in the sunlight, Kyoma couldn't help swallowing hard. He suspected those scales could withstand artillery attacks.
If he relied on himself alone, he genuinely had no idea how to deal with this monster. With a size difference of dozens of times, his fists probably wouldn't even suffice as an appetizer for its teeth.
Fortunately, they had a demolitions expert named Klee present. Although he'd never actually witnessed her Jumpy Dumpty bombs in action, she'd managed to blow up a slave ship a few days ago. He could only imagine how terrifying the upgraded version she'd spent two days perfecting must be.
While Kyoma contemplated this, an unexpected development occurred.
The swimming black shadow beneath the sea suddenly stopped. Just when Kyoma and the others thought it would surface to bite the wooden barrels floating above, it vanished inexplicably.
"It ran away?" Klee looked at the sea in confusion. The black shadow had disappeared, as if it had dived deep toward the ocean floor.
"Could it be that it didn't like the bait we prepared? This sea king is too picky…" Kyoma couldn't accept that his money had been wasted like this.
"Kyo-chan, it hasn't left yet. I can still feel it below the ship," Kagura suddenly spoke up, pointing downward beneath their feet. Drake might be the most experienced sailor aboard, but she possessed the keenest senses.
Kyoma naturally knew about her exceptional abilities. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
"It's directly under our ship...?"
The moment those words left his mouth, the fishing ship shook violently, nearly causing all four people to lose their balance.
At the same time, just beside the sail, a hideous maw burst through the sea surface. Its shadow covered the entire ship as it attempted to swallow the vessel whole, exactly as Kyoma had originally feared.
No one had expected this Sea King to be so cunning.
Drake stood stunned, missing his opportunity to attack. Klee had just picked up her bombs from the deck and hadn't yet channeled her Pyro elemental energy when that sky-obscuring mouth had already engulfed most of the ship.
Fortunately, at this critical moment, Kyoma's sometimes-effective, sometimes-dormant [Conqueror's Haki], still in its awakening stage, was activated.
A majestic pressure burst from his body.
The effect of [Conqueror's Haki] proved most effective against beasts like this. Even this Sea King, measuring tens of meters, upon sensing the pressure radiating from Kyoma, was so frightened that its pupils suddenly expanded. The massive jaws that had been about to snap shut quickly retreated instead.
"Klee, Now." Kyoma urgently reminded her with a shout.
"Jumpy Dumpty!"
With a delicate hum, flames bloomed like flowers as dozens of fiery red bombs cut through the air, leaving trails of brilliant fireworks in their wake.
The bombs flew at high speed, all landing accurately into the Sea King's still-open mouth.
The Sea King displayed an almost human-like expression of confusion. It hadn't yet figured out why the food it had targeted suddenly burst out with such frightening momentum, and now something hot had inexplicably entered its mouth.
Was it food?
BOOM!
A thunderous explosion erupted from within the Sea King's mouth, causing its pupils to dilate as blood splattered from its upper body. Finally, its jaws were blown wide open as it expelled a long plume of thick black smoke.
Then Drake took action. Moving with remarkable agility, he stepped rapidly across the deck, cabin, and mast in succession. With just a few moves, he launched himself dozens of meters into the air.
The longsword and iron axe struck simultaneously, drawing an X-shaped flying slash more than ten meters long through the air.
Slash!
"ROAR!"
Blood fell like rain as the Sea King let out an agonized roar. Its entire body was carved by that X-shaped flying slash. The two intersecting wounds almost penetrated completely through its form, robbing it entirely of any ability to resist. It collapsed flat across the sea surface.
"Whew..."
Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.
They'd finally captured it without suffering any casualties.
"But how do we move it back?"
Looking at the Sea King, that measured several times larger than their fishing ship, everyone faced a new dilemma.
At that moment, Kyoma remembered the Den-Den Mushi that someone had given him that morning.