novel bin 36. Mist Whale
36. Mist Whale
Upon hearing Norton's question, the pirates on the twenty-nine ships of the Krieg Pirates exchanged glances.
Admiral Krik is dead, and the man who killed him is known as the most dangerous man in the East Blue in a century! Now, this very man is recruiting them...
"Greetings, Admiral Norton!"
A clever person immediately made a decision, crawled down, and shouted Norton's name.
Seeing this, the others quickly followed suit, fearing they would suffer the same fate as the destroyed pirate ship.
They went to sea to follow the strong and pledge allegiance to Krieg, solely because of Krieg's power; there was absolutely no loyalty involved.
Now that Krieg is dead, following Norton is a natural thing to do. No fool would disobey Norton for the sake of a dead Krieg.
No... if it were Captain Kin, perhaps he would have done that, but Captain Kin is already unconscious!
"Long live Admiral Norton!"
Amidst the deafening shouts, Norton nodded in satisfaction.
"Norton! What about that treasure turtle? Did you catch it?" Nami asked, leaning closer.
The legendary treasure turtle, with nine treasure chests, how many Berries must be inside!
"We caught up with them," Norton tossed the treasure chest to Nami. "Here it is."
Nami took it, opened it, and showed a disappointed expression.
"What?! Who played this prank? It's just a piece of fruit, isn't it?"
The item inside the treasure chest was a patterned fruit that exuded an ominous aura.
"No...it's not an ordinary fruit," Norton shook his head, "it's a Devil Fruit."
"A Devil Fruit?!"
Fu Ning, Kro, Sanosuke, and others also gathered around.
Devil Fruits, known as the treasures of the sea, grant their users superhuman abilities. Each fruit is worth at least 100 million Berries!
"What kind of fruit is it? Zoan type? Paramecia type? Or Logia type?" The most knowledgeable Fu Ning asked first.
"I don't know yet, I haven't looked at the Devil Fruit encyclopedia." Norton casually tossed the Devil Fruit back into the treasure chest.
He had no intention of eating a Devil Fruit, and even if he did, it would be one with a clearly defined ability, not one whose ability was unknown. Norton disliked this kind of gamble with uncertain outcomes.
Only top-tier fruits like Kaido's Azure Dragon Fruit, Big Mom's Soul-Soul Fruit, and Enel's Rumble-Rumble Fruit could possibly make Norton hesitate.
"If any of you want to eat it, think it over and come find me later. This Devil Fruit is for you," Norton said to the group.
"King! New pirate ship spotted! It looks like the Buggy Pirates' ship!" someone on the lookout tower suddenly shouted.
"Don't worry about it! Bucky is already my subordinate!" Norton waved his hand.
After demonstrating sufficient strength and courage, Bucky's submission was only natural, since Bucky was still very afraid of dying.
"Register these twenty-nine pirate ships! Remember their captains' names! Now that Krieg is dead, hand over this fleet to the new captains!" Norton ordered.
He already had someone in mind; he would just hand over the fleet to Akin, whose strength was no less than Krieg's and who was the most familiar with the fleet.
"yes!"
"King, where do we go next?" Kro pushed up his glasses.
"Loguetown!"
...
The journey to Rogge was not smooth.
Perhaps it was another stroke of bad luck for Sanosuke and the White Pearl, because after leaving the area where they had captured the Krieg Pirates and the Buggy Pirates, Norton and his crew entered a new misty sea.
The massive fleet had many ships that had lost their way and were trapped in the fog!
With Nami leading the way, the White Pearl didn't get lost, but the Baratie sea restaurant and the dozen or so pirate ships that were originally part of Krieg's fleet all got lost in the fog.
"King! The Den Den Mushi has lost signal and I can't contact it at all!"
The fog was so thick that nothing could be seen more than five meters away; all that could be seen was a vast expanse of white. Funing slowly made her way forward, feeling her way along the bulwark, before finally finding Norton's deck area.
"This can't go on! We can forget about those guys in Krik's fleet, but we can't lose Baratie!" Nami waved her hand, parted the thick fog, and walked over.
"That's strange! There shouldn't be any sea fog in this area!" Nami said.
Norton did not answer Funing and Nami. At this moment, he calmed down, and the sounds around him became incredibly clear. The surging of the ocean currents seemed to be right next to his ears.
Of all the sounds, one sound was so loud, like thunder!
That's the sound of a creature's heartbeat!
"Right on the seabed!"
Norton suddenly opened his eyes and said these words.
Fu Ning and Nami looked at each other, somewhat bewildered. What did that mean?
"What's at the bottom of the sea?" they both asked at the same time.
"The culprit behind this predicament is on the seabed!" Norton said, emphasizing each word.
There is no sea fog in this mist; the reason we encountered sea fog was because of that creature!
Have you ever heard of... the legend of the mist whale?
"Mist Whale?" Nami asked, puzzled.
"It was a fisherman named Sam who told me that there is a huge whale in a certain area of the East China Sea!" Norton explained.
"Although that whale lives in the ocean, it breathes with lungs just like land animals! But unlike other whales, the mist whale doesn't spew air, it spews mist! It's a giant whale that spews clouds and mist!"
"You mean, this mist was spewed out by that mist whale?" Fu Ning couldn't help but question. "Are you serious? This mist covers at least ten nautical miles around. How big of a whale would it have to be to have such enormous lungs?"
"It's true! I heard its heartbeat!" Norton exclaimed. "I thought it was just a legend, but the mist whale really exists! This ocean is truly amazing!"
"If such a massive whale exists, it's practically a natural disaster, isn't it? The White Pearl could capsize with just a slight turn! How do you plan to deal with it?" The sound of a blade slicing through the air came from the thick fog, and Zoro's figure appeared.
"Should we kill him?" Sanosuke appeared as well.
He knew without a doubt that his bad luck had struck again, so he stepped forward to take responsibility. Such a legendary behemoth is extremely rare, occurring only once in a century.
Almost all the officers on the White Pearl gathered together.
"Killed it?" Norton grinned. "Only I can kill that kind of creature!"
"But I don't intend to kill it! A behemoth that can spew thick fog has significant strategic value!"
The Norton Pirates now have a massive fleet: the White Pearl, the Black Cat, the Baratie restaurant, the original 29 ships of Krieg's fleet, and the Buggy, totaling 33 ships.
The force numbered over three thousand.
It is nearly ten times larger than the strength of a single naval branch!
Such a large pirate crew would be easily exposed.
But if there's a thick fog to cover it up, everything is different!
Ordinary methods simply cannot locate them on the vast ocean!
"I want to subdue that mist whale! That way, perhaps the founding of the nation can be accomplished much earlier!"
"We can even start preparing once we enter the Grand Line!"
Norton took off his black wool coat. "Nami, catch!"
Nami caught the coat Norton threw to her, and Norton jumped into the sea and disappeared.
"That willful guy!" Nami said angrily, wrapping her coat around herself.
"What do we do now?" The others looked at Nami.
"What else can we do? Let's wait for that guy to come back!"