Kairo Stoneheart stood at the boat, his eyes fixed on the monstrous silhouettes beneath the waves. Gigantic shadows, each a colossal Sea King—some nearly a hundred meters long—circled their ship like, sharks sensing blood.
"Tch... What the hell did we stir up? This many Sea Kings at once?!" he muttered, clenching his fists.
"Boss! They're coming right at us!" shouted one of the younger crew from the stern.
Kairo's brows furrowed. Without wasting a heartbeat, he bolted across the deck, his instincts screaming. Observation Haki surged from within as he sensed their wrath and bloodlust swelling beneath the sea.
A towering tail came crashing down toward the ship—no time to hesitate.
Kairo launched himself into the air and delivered a full-force punch, cracking the beast's tail with an earth-shattering BOOM!
"MOOOO~!"
The Sea King howled in agony, its massive form writhing in the water—but the damage was done. That one strike had triggered a frenzy.
A chorus of bellows echoed as the other Sea Kings—seven or eight of them—rose from the deep, eyes glowing with fury.
"Damn it... you should be snoozing at the bottom of the ocean!" Kairo barked, baring his teeth.
This wasn't normal. A couple dozen dead pirates shouldn't have drawn this many titans from the abyss. It felt like he'd kicked a hornet's nest under the sea.
"Everyone! Hold on tight!" Kairo roared.
The young crew clung to the handrails, eyes wide with fear.
Then—boom! Kairo launched himself off the deck, kicking off the sea using Moon Step, zipping above the waves like a bullet.
He closed in on a seventy-meter Sea King and unleashed a ten-meter-long flying slash from his blade.
SHRAKK!
The slash tore across the Sea King's skull, splitting it nearly in two. Blood painted the sea crimson as the beast writhed and thrashed before falling limp.
One down.
But Kairo's senses flared—someone had fallen into the water!
"Help!! Gulp—Boss!!" a young sailor shouted, struggling to stay afloat amidst the roiling currents.
Without a second thought, Kairo stepped on air again and dashed toward the sinking boy. He grabbed him by the collar and hurled him back onto the ship with ease.
"Grab something and stay down! I'll handle the rest!"
He turned again—more Sea Kings were advancing, their monstrous heads now rising above the waves, jaws wide.
"This ship's mine... I just tamed it!" Kairo growled. "No way I'm letting it get wrecked by sea lizards!"
He leapt onto the head of the next Sea King, driving his blade straight into its skull. Sword aura surged like a storm, exploding from within and shredding the creature's brain. Another beast down.
He didn't stop.
He dashed across the water again—two more strikes, two more Sea Kings down. The others began to hesitate, now fully aware that this tiny human was dangerous.
They stopped targeting the ship and turned their fury on him.
Kairo stood atop a floating Sea King corpse, drenched in blood, blade in hand, locked eyes with three remaining Gigantic Beast.
One of them—a grotesque squid-like Sea King easily over a hundred meters long—raised its enormous tentacles.
"This one's the boss..." Kairo muttered, his heart pounding.
The squid launched its tentacles, Kairo danced between them with nimble air steps. The other two Sea Kings flanked him—he was being surrounded.
But his size became his advantage.
He bounced from head to head, using the Sea Kings themselves as stepping stones while drawing their own attacks into each other.
SCHING!
Another flying slash took down one more Sea King, blood spraying high into the sky.
But suddenly—the massive squid puffed out a thick cloud of ink.
Except this wasn't ordinary ink.
The sea beneath Kairo turned pitch black, and sizzling sounds rose from below.
"HOLY—! That ink's corrosive!?" he gasped, beads of cold sweat forming. Below him, Sea King corpses were visibly shrinking, melting under the black substance.
"That's not in the anime!" Kairo shouted, nearly coughing in disbelief.
He steadied himself midair, blade poised.
"Lucky I dodged that. If I'd been standing still... I'd be a squid food!"
Enraged and determined, he charged.
A massive flying slash shot from his blade, cleaving two of the squid's tentacles clean in half. It howled in pain, spewing ink in every direction, causing the other Sea Kings to retreat.
"NOW!" Kairo yelled.
He launched himself with everything he had—one final strike—his sword slicing clean through the squid from head to tail.
SHHHRRAKKK!!
The beast split apart in one single stroke, its two halves sinking slowly into the crimson-stained sea.
Suddenly, it was pure silence.
Only the sound of crashing waves and heavy breathing remained.
Kairo floated there, exhausted but victorious, standing atop the wreckage of Sea Kings like a warrior of god.
From afar, his crew—tossed about but still safe—watched in stunned silence, tears of awe in their eyes.
"…Boss Kairo… took them all on... by himself..." one whispered, trembling.
The sea calmed once more, and Kairo sheathed his blade, breathing deeply.
"…Guess Neptune's army picked the wrong guy to mess with today."