“Marco, aren’t you tired of flying yet?” High in the boundless sky, enormous clouds drifted as the mythical Phoenix wove back and forth through them.
Brilliant blue-green trails followed in his wake, coloring the white mist.
Hearing the call from below, the Phoenix swooped toward the massive sailing ship.
Just before striking the deck, Marco transformed back into his human form.
His momentum carried him several quick steps forward before he steadied himself.
A week had passed since Marco ate the Phoenix Fruit, and he had already adapted to it completely.
He had also mastered some basic applications of its abilities.
With the help of Marco’s medical skills and Devil Fruit power, everyone’s injuries from the previous battle had fully recovered.
His ability had only stabilized Teach and Vista’s wounds, leaving their bodies to complete the healing naturally.
The healing process was itself a form of physical strengthening and reshaping.
As long as a doctor ensured that no hidden injuries remained, there was no need to force a complete recovery with Devil Fruit powers.
“How enviable!” Thatch watched Marco land while carrying a tall stack of plates.
“Hey, Thatch, my cherry pie is in there, right?” Teach sat on the ship’s railing with a fishing rod in his hands.
He had hardly fished since boarding the Moby Dick, having spent most of his days getting closer to the people aboard.
“There’s plenty for you!” Thatch arranged the dishes in a row along the railing.
This was an extra meal prepared for their small group, not one of the crew’s three regular meals.
Anyone else who wanted food outside the usual mealtimes had to visit the kitchen themselves—and they had better not make a mess, or Thatch would scold them.
Thatch was only responsible for serving food at the proper mealtimes.
He also needed time to train and relax.
“Teach, why do you like such a strange-tasting pie?” Vista took a slice, tasted it, and immediately grimaced.
The others agreed with him.
Even Jozu, who was rarely picky about food, nodded.
Before Teach joined the crew, cherry pie had never been served aboard the Moby Dick.
Fruit was difficult to preserve at sea, especially something as delicate as cherries.
Thatch had only begun making it after Teach arrived.
He had even installed a special oven and racked his brains for ways to preserve the cherries.
“You wouldn’t understand!” It was the taste of Teach’s childhood memories.
Before the additional memories appeared in his mind, he remembered accidentally eating cherry pie once and believing it was the greatest delicacy in the world.
“Mmm!” Teach ate the pie everyone else found strange with an expression of complete satisfaction.
“Hey, have you noticed something unusual about the waves?” Jozu suddenly asked.
“I’ll fly up and take a look.” Marco never missed an opportunity to fly.
The majestic Phoenix soared into the distant sky.
After scouting ahead, he quickly returned.
“The weather ahead is terrible!
There’s a storm!” He landed atop the mast and shouted down to the crew.
“Quick, change course!” The crew immediately began adjusting their direction.
The weather in the New World was unpredictable, and everyone aboard had long since grown accustomed to sudden changes.
They worked quickly without falling into disorder.
However, just as the enormous Moby Dick slowly began to turn, something unexpected happened.
“This…” Marco stared down from the mast in disbelief.
“Are the Sea Kings rioting?
Why are they all the same species?” Countless giant koi surrounded the ship, each nearly as large as the Moby Dick.
All of them were swimming in the same direction, forcibly altering the current and carrying the ship deeper into the storm.
“Can carp even live in the sea?” Thatch asked, feeling as though his common sense was being challenged.
“Pops, what’s going on?” Marco landed beside Whitebeard at the bow.
“I seem to remember hearing about a special stretch of sea like this,” Whitebeard said, recalling something from the past.
“What should we do, Pops?” This was Teach’s first time confronting the true power of the sea.
He had previously remained in shallow waters and had never witnessed such a catastrophic scene.
The sea raged around them as the waves grew increasingly violent.
Even a massive vessel like the Moby Dick could not withstand the turbulence.
The ship rose and fell continuously, tilting so sharply that it seemed ready to capsize at any moment.
The sight only strengthened Teach’s desire for the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
A power capable of creating earthquakes and tsunamis was simply too formidable.
“Gurararara!” “Don’t be afraid.
Pops is here!” Whitebeard remained completely calm.
Now in his forties, he had spent most of his life sailing the seas and had witnessed storms far more terrifying than this.
He could still handle a situation at this level.
If necessary, he could overturn the sea itself and forcibly stop the storm.
The wind continued to howl.
With the ship surrounded by the giant koi, the crew could no longer control its course and could only follow the school.
As they continued forward, the sea level began to rise, and the ship gradually left the storm behind.
The koi carried the Moby Dick toward an enormous waterfall hundreds of meters high.
“Aaaah!” The crew screamed as the fish charged straight up the waterfall.
Even Teach clung desperately to the mast, not daring to loosen his grip.
If he fell overboard, returning to the ship would be nearly impossible.
As they climbed, more and more koi lost their momentum and fell back into the sea.
With fewer fish supporting it, the Moby Dick also began to fall.
“Aaaah!” The excited screams immediately turned into cries of terror.
If the ship fell vertically from such a height and struck the sea, it would likely shatter.
No one knew how many of the three hundred people aboard would survive.
Teach was not worried that the fall itself would kill him.
He was afraid the ship would be destroyed, leaving him stranded in this merciless sea until he eventually died.
“Quake!” Whitebeard planted his feet firmly at the bow and lowered himself into a horse stance, leaning forward until his body was nearly parallel to the sea below.
He braced himself with Murakumogiri in his left hand while drawing his right fist back toward his chest.
A white halo formed around his clenched fist.
After gathering his strength, Whitebeard unleashed the terrifying punch.
“Crack!” The air shattered like a mirror.
The vibrations traveled outward and altered the waterfall’s current.
The water began lifting the Moby Dick, though even Whitebeard found such violent power difficult to control precisely.
The altered current hurled the ship up the waterfall and sent it soaring into the sky.
“It’s an island!” “There’s an island above the waterfall!” The airborne crew stared ahead in shock.
“Boom!” The Moby Dick slammed heavily onto a beach at the edge of the island, suffering severe damage.
Whitebeard surveyed their surroundings.
After confirming with Observation Haki that none of his sons were in mortal danger, he finally relaxed.
He remembered a country that his former captain, Rocks, had once mentioned.
Wano Country.
Rocks had once set his sights on the nation, hoping to subdue its unique samurai.
Unfortunately, martial arts flourished throughout Wano, and the country possessed far too many powerful warriors known as samurai.
Its natural defenses were also exceptionally difficult to overcome.
Taking control of the nation would have required an enormous investment of manpower and resources.
Although Rocks commanded many monsters, keeping them balanced was already difficult.
Every one of them had their own ambitions, and none was willing to take on such a troublesome challenge.
Rocks himself had his eyes on the entire world and constantly needed to maintain the fragile balance among his monstrous subordinates, leaving him unable to intervene personally.