On the sea surface, cannon fire thundered continuously.
The captain of the left wing warship was waving his command saber excitedly, shouting orders: “Hurry!
Reload the Seastone nets!
Give Boa Hancock one too!
As long as we capture her, we’ll have made a great achievement!”
“Yes, Captain!”
The Marines’ morale was high as the winch creaked loudly.
Suddenly—
Boom!
The entire warship shook violently, as if a giant hand had pushed it hard from below.
The Marines on deck were caught off guard and tumbled like rolling gourds.
Then, the warship began turning sharply to the right in a bizarre, uncontrollable manner!
“What’s going on?!” The captain grabbed the railing in a panic, his hat askew.
“Helmsman!
What the hell are you doing?!
Are you drunk?!”
In the helm room, the two helmsmen were desperately turning the massive wheel, but it was either stuck solid or spinning wildly out of control.
“Report, Captain!
The rudder… the rudder has failed!” The helmsman was drenched in sweat, his voice cracking.
“The drive shaft seems to have broken!
We can’t control the direction at all!”
“What?!”
The captain’s face turned deathly pale.
He looked ahead in horror.
Due to the sudden right turn, the out-of-control warship, carried by inertia, charged like a mad bull straight toward the side of Onigumo’s flagship!
The two ships were already close — now collision was inevitable!
“Damn it!
Stop!
Reverse!
Reverse!!”
“We’re going to crash!!”
The Marines on the main ship also noticed the chaos and screamed in terror as they scattered.
Onigumo, who was locked in combat with Hancock, turned his head at the cries.
His pupils shrank.
“Damn it!
What is the left wing ship doing?!”
BOOM—!!!
Accompanied by an earth-shaking crash, wood shards flew and steel twisted.
The left wing warship’s bow slammed heavily into the rear side of the flagship.
Although armored plating prevented immediate sinking, the violent impact caused both ships to tilt severely.
Countless Marines standing near the edges screamed as they fell into the sea like dumplings.
“Help!”
“I can’t swim!”
The sea surface descended into complete chaos.
And this was only the beginning of the nightmare.
Under the chaotic waters, the mastermind Zane floated silently in the shadows between the two ships.
His dark scales blended perfectly into the darkness.
His golden vertical pupils glowed with an eerie light, like the gaze of something from hell.
“Only chaos provides the best cover for a hunter.”
Zane opened his mouth and released a low-frequency sound wave that humans couldn’t hear, but marine creatures could detect clearly.
[Skill Activated: Deep-Sea Intimidation (Beginner) · Predator Summon!]
Buzz—!
An invisible wave spread wildly through the seawater with Zane at the center.
To humans, it only caused chest tightness and palpitations.
But to the marine life in the surrounding waters, it was an irresistible “feeding signal” and “the King’s summons.”
Although the giant Sea Kings in the deep Calm Belt were hard to awaken with this beginner skill, the smaller, more aggressive shallow-water predators — sawtooth sharks, tiger eels, piranhas — instantly turned bloodthirsty.
Splash splash splash!
The already turbulent sea surface boiled even more violently.
Hundreds of dorsal fins sliced through the water, driven by bloodlust, charging toward the fallen Marines.
“Ah!
There’s something in the water!”
“My leg!
Something bit off my leg!”
“Help!
It’s a shark swarm!
So many sharks!”
Screams rang out one after another.
Blood dyed the sea red.
The heart-wrenching wails made the surviving Marines on the ships shudder.
“Now’s the time.”
Zane watched the chaos with a cruel smile.
He stopped hiding.
His black body slithered up the broken anchor chain hanging from the left wing warship’s side and quietly boarded the deck.
At this moment, everyone’s attention was focused on avoiding collision and rescuing those who fell overboard.
No one noticed that the black serpent they thought had “drowned” had already boarded.
[Mimicry · Partial Enhancement — Venomous Fangs!] [Mode Switch: Assassination Mode!] [Size Compression: 2 meters!]
Zane didn’t enlarge.
Instead, he compressed his body to the extreme.
His scales turned into non-reflective matte black as he slithered low to the ground, weaving through debris and shadows.
A Marine Lieutenant who was directing men to move spare cannonballs was yelling: “Hurry!
Plug that hole!”
Suddenly, he felt a chill on his ankle.
It was like being brushed by a cold, wet branch.
He looked down — before he could see clearly.
Puchi!
Two sharp fangs pierced through his combat boot.
A neurotoxin called “Fire Venom” was injected instantly.
“Ugh…”
The lieutenant clutched his throat, eyes bulging.
His face turned a bizarre purple-red.
He tried to scream, but his vocal cords were paralyzed.
He could only make wheezing sounds before collapsing stiffly.
Then the second.
A sniper aiming at sharks in the water suddenly felt his neck tighten.
Crack.
A soft snap — his cervical vertebrae were instantly crushed by a black tail.
The third, the fourth…
Zane moved through the chaos with efficient, silent harvesting.
No unnecessary movements.
One bite or one coil, then he vanished instantly, seeking the next target.
“Enemy attack!
There’s something on the ship!”
Finally, someone noticed the fallen comrades.
The bizarre purple faces and twisted limbs caused the discoverer to scream in terror.
“Where?!
Where is the enemy?!”
“I can’t see it!
Ahhh!!!”
Another scream.
A Marine had just raised his gun before being dragged into a pile of rope shadows, never to emerge again.
Fear spread across the left wing warship like a plague.
An unknown enemy was the most terrifying.
They could only hear their comrades falling and catch glimpses of a black shadow, but they couldn’t track the enemy at all.
“It’s a ghost!
There’s a ghost on the sea!”
Some Marines with weaker mental fortitude were already breaking down, firing wildly into empty air.
“Damn it!
That snake isn’t dead!”
On the main ship, Onigumo — who was directing evasion maneuvers — heard the screams and the spreading panic from the left wing.
His face turned iron-blue.
He possessed Observation Haki.
Though the chaos interfered, he could clearly sense a violent, murderous aura rampaging across the left wing ship.
It was that black serpent from earlier!
“Not only is it immune to Seastone, it knows how to destroy the rudder to create chaos… and even uses psychological warfare for assassination…”
Onigumo’s hand gripping his blade bulged with veins as a chill rose in his heart.
This was definitely not the intelligence of a mere beast!
This was a monster wearing beast skin!
If it continued killing, the entire left wing ship would be wiped out.
The Marines on board had already become frightened birds, completely losing combat effectiveness.
“Moon Step!”
Without hesitation, Onigumo stepped on the air.
His figure soared upward, creating a series of air explosions as he flew toward the left wing warship like a giant bird.
“Damn beast!
Don’t even think about running rampant!”
Mid-air, Onigumo’s famous blade was already drawn.
Armament Haki coiled around it as a sharp sword energy locked onto Zane, who was slaughtering in the crowd.
Zane, who was about to bite through a gunner’s neck, suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
All his scales stood on end.
[Observation Haki Warning!
Extreme Danger!]
He looked up sharply and saw the murderous Onigumo descending from above.
“Hiss— (Came so fast?
The old guy’s pissed.)”
Zane was arrogant, but not stupid.
The wound from blocking that slash earlier was still aching.
Before comprehending Ryuo, a direct fight with this enraged Vice Admiral was unwise.
He had already earned enough Evolution Points and fear value from this wave of destruction.
“I’ve collected enough fear from this ship.
See you later.”
Facing Onigumo’s killing blow, Zane didn’t take it head-on.
He shrank his body and instantly slipped into a deck drainage opening.
Boom!
Onigumo’s sword energy struck empty air, carving a dozen-meter-long crack in the thick deck and sending wood shards flying.
“It ran?!”
Onigumo landed, staring at the empty drain in fury, teeth clenched.
The next second—
Splash!
Zane’s head emerged from the sea beside the ship.
He was still holding the Lieutenant’s rank insignia in his mouth.
He spat it out toward the standing Onigumo on the railing.
Then, he flicked his forked tongue and made an extremely human-like mocking expression.
His eyes were full of ridicule, as if saying:
Mad?
You’re mad, huh?
“BASTARD!!!”
Onigumo looked at the poisoned soldiers moaning across the deck, the two heavily damaged warships, and the slippery black serpent that acted like a ghost.
He was so angry he felt like his lungs would explode.
Humiliation!
This was the greatest humiliation he had suffered in decades of military service!
An elite task force had been toyed with by a single snake!
“I swear… whether you’re a divine beast or a demon, today — I will kill you!!!”