Chapter 110: Arrival at Fish-Man Island
As the surroundings grew increasingly dim, sunlight only penetrated from above, creating a blurry patch of light. It had become eerily quiet, with strange-looking fish occasionally approaching.
In this pitch-black place, eyes seemed almost unnecessary. Nobody could see anyone else, so appearances hardly mattered. Most of the fish here were ugly and emitted fluorescent glows. These appearances, invisible to themselves, served the purpose of attracting other light-sensitive fish to them. They would lure these fish in and then devour them in one gulp.
Human fear stems from the unknown, and the deep sea is unknown. Darkness, too, is unknown. When these two unknowns combine, the resulting fear is doubled. Doubled fear!
"Yohohoho, could there be sea monsters, ghosts, and such in such a deep, dark place?" Brook curiously asked.
Robin suddenly said, "Brook, you've got one right behind you."
"W-what?" Brook stiffly turned around, only to see Perona's ghostly figure. "Aaah!"
Although he was a skeleton, he had an irrational fear of such things, and he screamed in terror, his face devoid of color, even though he had no skin, so it couldn't be seen.
"Stay away! I'm already skinless! Don't eat me!"
Rodney, exasperated, said, "You're already a walking skeleton. Is there anything scarier than a moving skeleton like you? And haven't you spent decades in the Florian Triangle with Moria's zombies? Haven't you gotten used to it?"
Had the habituation therapy lost its effectiveness on Brook? That was truly tragic.
"No use. No matter how many times I see them, I'm still afraid of those things," Brook replied.
The others sighed, realizing that there might be no hope for him.
Just then, Momoo suddenly called out, and a Sea King with glowing eyes swam towards them. With just its head, it was almost the size of the Black Pearl. It opened its mouth, full of interlocking fangs, and lunged toward the ship.
Seeing the rows of fangs coming for them, Rodney's expression darkened. "What terrible luck. Momoo, I'll deal with it. You and the ship, hide."
He had Brook reapply the Bubble Coating to him and then dashed into the sea, slashing his sword through the water.
"Elbaf's Spear: Hakoku!"
The sword energy pierced the seawater, but it was continually eroded by the water's resistance. What was supposed to be a powerful sword energy aimed at the Sea King's head only managed to blind one of its eyes due to the water's interference. The Sea King's blood stained the seawater red, making the area even darker.
Moonwalk!
With a swift kick, he propelled himself through the water, landing on the Sea King's face. He used its skin as a foothold, dragging his sword along, and creating a shallow wound.
The Sea King writhed in pain, and its blood mixed with the water, attracting some bloodthirsty predators. They quickly devoured it, leaving behind a skeleton. Even the skeleton wouldn't go to waste.
When it sank to the seabed, it would become a meal for other creatures, and its bones would be digested by the microscopic organisms in the sea, completing the cycle.
While the Bubble Coating was still effective, Rodney decided to prevent any further incidents by controlling a few Sea Kings and having them act as guards around the Black Pearl. The intimidating aura of the top-tier predators scared off potential troublemakers.
Sea Kings were top predators, and just one of them could easily annihilate an ordinary pirate crew.
The Ancient Weapon Poseidon, a mermaid princess who could communicate with Sea Kings, had the potential to control them entirely, turning them into mobile natural disasters. If Shirahoshi, the mermaid princess, were to ever despise humans or lean towards evil, Roger's Great Pirate Era could come to an end, and the seas might become forbidden zones for humans.
As they moved deeper into the ocean, they encountered underwater volcanoes, which emitted red light and black smoke. These were underwater volcanic vents.
The sudden increase in temperature made Rodney raise Momoo higher to avoid the boiling water below. The water here was superheated, with temperatures exceeding one hundred degrees Celsius.
Normally, water at this temperature would evaporate, but the immense pressure of the deep sea kept it in a liquid state, far exceeding the boiling point. Despite the extreme heat, there were still creatures living on the underwater volcanoes, including shrimp, crabs, and some white anemones.
They even spotted some tentacle-like creatures that attempted to attack the ship. However, Rodney controlled a Sea King to swiftly swallow one of them whole, making it a snack for the Sea King. Whether it could digest it remained uncertain.
Upon seeing this, Leicester, who had the same culinary inclination as Rodney, fell into deep thought. He asked, "Captain, Lester, what are you two thinking about?"
Leicester said, "It's so hot here, yet these creatures are still alive. If I were to prepare them as a dish, how should I handle them? Sashimi, perhaps?"
"How coincidental, I was thinking the same thing," Rodney added.
Perona sighed, while Robin and the others remained silent, knowing it was pointless to dissuade them.
Even Brook, who had no knowledge of Rodney's background, nodded in agreement. "This is indeed a thought-provoking question."
Don't join their ranks!
As they passed through the underwater volcano area, a bright light appeared ahead, piercing through the darkness like a lighthouse, guiding them forward.
"Sunlight Tree Eve!"
This was Fish-Man Island's only source of light in the pitch-black depths, akin to the sun in the deep sea. It provided radiant light to the entire island, capturing sunlight from the surface. As long as there was sunlight on the surface, it would continue to shine brightly. When night fell, Fish-Man Island would lose its light.
Sunlight Tree Eve was the deep sea's sun, with its crown absorbing sunlight from the surface and transmitting it down to its roots, providing sunlight and day and night cycles for the residents of the island.
It allowed both fish-men and merfolk living here to survive. Many life forms required sunlight, whether they were humans or fish-men. Eve's presence brought hope to the deep sea.
With the appearance of Sunlight Tree Eve, the arrival of Fish-Man Island was imminent. A massive, double-layered, semi-spherical bubble shield surrounded the entire island. In the space between the two layers was a layer of air, specifically designed to deter pirates who tried to enter Fish-Man Island using illegal methods.
As they entered the first layer of the bubble, the coating on the ship merged with the island's shield. Those with bad luck would fall through, and even those who managed to break through would be submerged by the island's seawater.
This defensive measure had deterred many pirate attacks on Fish-Man Island.
So, the only option was to go through the proper channels.
Guided by the Sea Kings, they moved forward unobstructed, with a sense of safety provided by the guards surrounding them.