In the depths of the sea, it is almost blanketed with darkness and only in the upper level of the sea will shine through the light that comes from the sun.
In a certain part of it, there's a wooden ball that keeps sinking, surrounded by a mass of large debris that is sinking and making a whirlpool that sucks them downwards.
As the wooden ball keep plunging much deeper, the wooden roots started to make a noise as they cracked because of pressure and a leak of seawater started to leak in but vines slithered towards it and plugged the hole stopping the leakage.
"This is not good! The pressure is starting to double and the roots wouldn't be able to take it!" Pate looked at the phantom cat who was still sitting and scanned the ceiling as the seawater began to leak, making rain-like weather here inside.
Pate showed a worried look as he found a tree to cover himself, he is a devil fruit user and he can take a tiny drop of seawater but almost hundreds that would drop to him - he would most likely fall because of weakness.
And in this kind of situation, he would not let his guard down as he needed to urge the roots to recover after the damage because of pressure.
The saved up energy of the forest is started to be drained because of the continuous regeneration of the wall roots, he can see in his perception that the pond underground started to decrease.
"We need a source of energy!" the phantom cat said while contemplating on what they should do in this kind of situation 'I didn't think that the saved up energy for hundreds of years would rapidly decrease like this!'
Pate looks at the phantom cat and he can't help but regret his decision to make a deal with this unyielding will 'If it comes to shove then I could only use these!' touching the Sin Seeds in his chest he can't help but remember all of the villagers 'I can't give up!'
The phantom cat controlled some of the roots to absorb the seawater and even though it has negligent energy that could be used here, it is much better than nothing.
Then Pate perceives the sea bed underneath and can't help but shout it out to the phantom cat "Guardian Forest! we were almost in the sea bed!"
"Sea bed!? that's impossible, we haven't sunk that much to reach the sea bed immediately!" the phantom cat could only be bewilderedly scanned with his perception but he can't stretch his perception like Pate but still he feels the amount of pressure they are currently in.
"We are entering the middle-level depth of the ocean, currently we are thousands of meters deep in the ocean. If my memory is correct then we need to sink to a 2,300 meter depth to reach the lower open ocean. So it's impossible that the sea bed would be upon us."
"Ehhh we need to sink 2,300 meters deep to reach the seafloor?" Pate asked as he can't imagine what kind of pressure they need to bear.
"Are you an idiot? we need to dive down 20,000 meters deep to reach the seafloor!" the phantom cat looks at him like an idiot and Pate can't help but yell at him back "The f*ck! you are going to kill me and it's a miracle if we reach the 10,000 meters depth that you are talking about, we are almost in a desperate situation where we barely take this much pressure, how about a 5,000 or 10,000 meters deep pressure!?"
Silence reigns over them as Pate looks angrily at the phantom cat, he couldn't care if he is a spirit of ancient sea forest or what - he would die anyway!
"I-i didn't think that much. I just lived under there and didn't think about the pressure and all so sighs, I thought that I could just sink into the sea and that's that." the phantom cat couldn't help but look down and be embarrassed.
Pate just sigh and weakly sat down, he couldn't help but ponder what he should do in this kind of situation 'Will I die again!? should I just try to float in the depths of the sea, would he float to the surface? a thousand meters deep, I think I'll die in a matter of a minute drowning because of weakness or a Sea King like earlier will eat me halfway."
Imagining himself being eaten make him shudder out of his wits and he snap out of his thinking when the island shook in the impact as it landed and it tilt to the side and in a matter of minute the forest would rotate upside down.
"Aarrghh!" Pate scream in pain when he crushed to the next tree, feeling the pull of the gravity and he heard the phantom cat shout "What is happening!?"
"I think we just hit the seafloor, I'm talking about!" he could help but to hope that they reach the sea bed.
"Impossible! but first, help me to stop the forest from tilt upside down, it would affect the underground pond!"
'F*ck your pond!' but he still helps as he knows that the villagers, especially Mother Riz and Old Geezer respect the underground pond and he wouldn't let that be destroyed no matter what.
With a newly two grown root that grows in the bottom of the forest making it to four with earlier roots it slithers to the seafloor but it was so smooth and slippery that it was useless and Pate could only manipulate it to drill to the assuming seafloor.
But as the roots tried to drill to it, it was so hard that it takes a minute to plunged and red blood gushed out of it that has vanished immediately as it spread to the sea.
"I think this is not a seafloor like what you said!" Pate said while he tried to stretch to the maximum his perception but it was futile that he could only perceive a humongous land like they landed on.
"Then what is it!?" asked of the phantom cat looking at him.
And an ominous feeling risen in his guts "H-how we could steer this land out of this place!?" he asked as he tried to control his breathing as sweat started to seep out of his forehead.
"I think we wouldn't be able to steer this place, as it does not design to swim through the depth but to plunged deep down the sea." The phantom cat answered completely.
As Pate wants to curse his luck he was almost lifted mid air because of some force as he hugs a tree near him "We are going down! It's too fast!" with this phenomenon he can assure that they somehow attached themselves to a massive Sea King out there.
"What have you done? Can you make it much faster than this?" the phantom cat said something that almost let Pate vomit blood out of anger.
But the happy feeling of the Guardian Forest was cut off as the pressure almost tripled and make the roots wall break as the water started to gushed in.
"The heck! Pate slow down, the roots can't take the pressure!" the phantom cat said to Pate who tried to patch the destroyed root walls and he think if they should detach themselves from hitchhiking.
"No, this is the chance amidst the obstacles!" stabilizing his position as he hug the tree tightly, he command the four roots that plunged into the Sea King to suck its blood 'I'll suck endless blood from it like a mosquito, it would not be able to feel it as we are too tiny and it's just an insignificant blood for the Sea King.'
The four roots that plunged in the back of the Sea King suck blood out of it and regenerate the almost destroyed root walls immediately as the blood of the Sea King is so powerful.
All of the roots started to become dark red as it become much harder and durable and the seawater didn't leak anymore but Pate feel that the Sea King started to fasten its diving in the depths of the sea "Out of all directions to take, why dive down?" he can't help but lament.