aircannonsinc Page 11
Page 11
"What the hell is this weather?"
"I feel...so awful..."
Even Bucky, who is usually so loud and boisterous, shut up, looking around nervously, his body clenching tightly as if afraid he might fall apart again.
Shanks also stopped smiling, stood behind Roger, and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.
Roger stood at the bow of the ship, his expression more solemn than ever before beneath his straw hat. He tilted his head slightly, gazing at the darkness that swallowed the light, his eyes sharp as an eagle's.
Rayleigh stood beside him, his gaze behind his glasses equally calm, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword, his body slightly tense.
"They're here," Roger said in a low voice, which made everyone's hearts tighten.
Liu Jiu felt his heart pounding slowly and heavily in his chest. The invisible pressure made his skin tingle slightly, as if he were standing on the edge of an abyss, instinctively wanting to retreat.
He looked at Roger and Ridley.
The two men were like rocks nailed to the bow of a ship, facing the ever-spreading, unknown darkness.
The boat, propelled by inertia, continued to glide slowly into the darkness.
It seemed as if it had willingly driven into the mouth of a giant beast.
The surrounding temperature seems to be dropping.
Liu Jiu took a deep breath, suppressing the discomfort in his heart.
He looked away from the oppressive darkness and instead lowered his head to check if the ropes binding the wooden barrels next to him were secure.
The rope was tied very tightly.
He reached out and tightened the belt again.
After finishing this, he raised his head again and looked at the two figures at the bow of the ship.
But he just stood there quietly, watching.
Like the other silent crew members on board, waiting for something.
Waiting, the ship sailed into that unknown darkness.
The bow of the ship was the first to touch that thick, dim light.
It felt like crashing into an invisible, cold, gelatinous wall; the ship's hull emitted a slight, teeth-grinding scraping sound. The light was quickly swallowed up, and everything around us rapidly faded, plunging into a deep, almost absolute darkness.
It wasn't the kind of black that has starlight and moonlight at night, but a pure black where you couldn't even see your own finger if you put it right in front of your eyes.
The sounds of breathing and heartbeats, which were just clearly audible, seemed to have been absorbed by the darkness, becoming barely audible. Only an absolute, ear-splitting silence remained.
The biting cold wasn't the kind of chill brought by the sea breeze, but a chill that seeped into your bones, carrying a putrid smell.
Liu Jiu stood there, feeling goosebumps instantly rise on his exposed skin. He subconsciously tightened his thin clothing, but to little avail.
From the darkness came a few suppressed, heavy breaths and the uncontrollable chattering of teeth. These were the crew members with weaker mental fortitude.
"Light...light the torches!" someone suggested in a trembling voice, the sound particularly abrupt in the deathly silence.
"Idiot!" he was immediately silenced in a low voice by the person next to him. "What do you want to attract?"
No one spoke anymore.
Everyone was on edge in this all-consuming darkness and deathly silence.
Liu Jiu squinted slightly, trying to adjust to the darkness. After a long while, he was able to barely make out the blurry outlines of the objects around him by the faint phosphorescence of some unknown source.
It's like being covered by a thick black veil.
He looked towards the bow of the ship.
Roger and Rayleigh's silhouettes were still faintly visible; they stood there like two silent statues. A faint aura seemed to emanate from the brim of Roger's straw hat, slightly dispelling the invisible pressure.
The ship sailed through this absolute darkness at a slow but steady pace.
My sense of time has become blurred. It might have only been a few minutes, or it might have been several hours.
A faint, ethereal song drifted over from an unknown direction.
The voice was ethereal and melodious, possessing an indescribable allure that seemed to penetrate directly into the mind. The lyrics were indistinct, but the melody stirred the deepest desires and memories within.
The crew members' eyes instantly became glazed over, and infatuated smiles appeared on their faces. They subconsciously walked towards the ship's side, their steps unsteady.
"Wake up!" Rayleigh shouted in a low voice, but it sounded like an alarm bell ringing in everyone's minds.
The crew members were jolted awake, snapped back to their senses, broke out in a cold sweat, and hurriedly retreated.
The singing continued, sometimes near, sometimes far, stirring the heartstrings.
Liu Jiu also heard the song. The melody was strange, not exactly pleasant to listen to, but it did have a peculiar power that made some fragmented, distant images flash through his mind—the cold light of the computer screen in that cramped rented room before he transmigrated.
He shook his head, trying to clear his mind of those distracting thoughts.
The singing continued to linger, but he ignored it, instead becoming more vigilant and attentive to his surroundings.
The ship continued its journey.
The singing gradually faded away and eventually disappeared.
Immediately afterwards, two huge, eerie green lights shone from the depths of darkness on the left.
Like will-o'-the-wisps, but bigger and more sinister.
The light moved slowly, approaching the ship. Accompanied by a low, grinding sound, as if from the abyss, something enormous was lurking in the darkness.
An even stronger pressure, carrying the stench of deep-sea silt and decay, surged in like a tide.
"Hard to port! Avoid it!" Roger's voice was noticeably urgent for the first time.
The helmsman frantically turned the rudder, the ship groaned, and struggled to turn.
The owners of the two green lights seemed to be startled, and the friction sound suddenly intensified. A huge, blurry shadow flashed across the darkness, causing the ship to rock violently in the undercurrent.
The icy seawater splashed onto the deck.
Liu Jiu steadied himself by holding onto the mooring bollard. He could feel the disgusting sensation on his skin as the shadow swept past, like being rubbed by cold, sticky fluid.
The thing didn't give chase; the two green lights slowly sank into the depths of darkness and disappeared. Only the nauseating stench lingered.
The crew members were still in shock and panting heavily.
The darkness remains, but the voyage continues.
After an unknown amount of time, a tiny point of light appeared in the darkness far ahead.
Like a distant lighthouse in a storm.
As the ship moved forward, the spot of light gradually grew larger and brighter.
Finally, the bow of the ship suddenly felt light, as if it had broken free from some kind of viscous restraint and returned to normal sea area!
Bright, even dazzling, sunlight instantly flooded the deck, revealing a clear blue sky, white clouds, and undulating blue waves... all the familiar sights came back to life.
Warmth dispelled the chill, and the howling sea breeze and the crashing waves replaced the deathly silence.
Everyone instinctively raised their hands to shield their eyes, adjusting to the sudden brightness.
It felt like I had just woken up from a long nightmare.
Liu Jiu lowered his hand and squinted at the long-lost sunlight.
On the deck, someone let out a long, thorough sigh of relief.
Then came more sighs of relief.
No one cheered, and no one discussed what had just happened. They simply inspected the hull in silence, tidying up the items that had been scattered by the turbulence, their movements slower than usual, carrying the weariness of surviving a disaster.
Bucky slumped onto the deck, patting his chest and muttering, "Wow... that scared the hell out of me..." This time, his body held up surprisingly well and didn't fall apart.
Shanks breathed a sigh of relief, leaned against the ship's railing, and looked back at the sea that had returned to normal, as if nothing had happened, with a trace of lingering fear in his eyes.
Roger took off his hat, wiped non-existent cold sweat from his forehead, looked back at the crew, and his wild smile returned to his face.
"Kula la la! How about that? Exciting, right!"
Too much excitement.
Liu Jiu walked to the side of the ship and looked at the ordinary sea behind the stern.
Everything that just happened was like an illusion.
Only the still-smelling, icy water stains on the deck testify to the reality of that dark voyage.
He looked down at his hands.
Sometime during the night, a small, jet-black stain, like ink, appeared under my fingernail.
He frowned and rubbed his fingers together.
It carried a very faint, decaying scent belonging to that dark place.
He walked to the wooden tub, scooped up a ladle of clean seawater, and carefully washed his hands.
He shook the water droplets off his hands and looked up into the distance.
The sea and sky blend into one, vast and boundless.
He let out a small breath.
The comic didn't say that the sea was so eerie.
Chapter 11 Obtaining the Title of Pirate King
Two years have passed.
The news spread like a sea breeze, unnoticed, throughout the entire ship, and then across the whole ocean.
"Have we... finished?"
"The Grand Line...has come to an end?"
On deck, the crew members wore expressions that were a mixture of bewilderment, excitement, and disbelief. Some were pounding on the ship's side, some were yelling at the sky, and most were just looking at each other with wide, silly grins.
Shanks and Bucky put their arms around each other, jumping and shouting, though they probably couldn't even explain why they were so excited.
Roger stood at the bow of the ship, still wearing the same straw hat, but his back seemed even more upright than before. He didn't share the ecstatic joy of the others; he simply gazed quietly at the seemingly ordinary, vast expanse of sea ahead, a subtle, enigmatic smile playing on his lips.
Rayleigh stood beside him, his face showing a relieved calm.