NOVEL NEXT Chapter 18 – The Greatest Sea
Kanata and Scotch hurried back to the ship, though they had delayed their pursuers by creating an ice wall - albeit only in one spot. If they tried to go around, so be it.
Dragging an unconscious male ability user with one hand, Kanata kicked Scotch's rear to urge him on, "Come on, hurry up. They'll be coming from behind again."
"Guh, guh...!” Scotch panted. “This is as fast as I can go! How are you so calm about this?!"
"It's a difference in training. From now on, you all will need rigorous training too. Your lives could be forfeit against the Marines."
"I'd rather not die, thanks! Go easy on me!"
"I'll go easy while not going easy, and slack off while not slacking off."
Ignoring Scotch's skeptical look, Kanata displayed physical abilities that made one wonder if she was truly injured as they reached the ship. Scotch panted heavily from running, clearly exhausted, but Kanata boarded without breaking a sweat.
She tossed the battered man over, declaring him a "souvenir" and ordering them to tie him up securely.
"What's the status on procuring food and weapons?"
"Well, not done yet. You told us money was no object, so the negotiations themselves went quickly."
"Then hurry it up. Things are getting troublesome."
She received a report from those left as liaisons. If the negotiations for the goods themselves were complete, all that remained was transporting them.
Since Feiyun stood out too much, Kanata had been reluctant to use her, but having the giantess carry everything would be fastest. Along with Zen, she had been napping in the ship's quarters as a guard, but eagerly disembarked upon being asked to assist.
The liaisons provided the location, and Feiyun rushed off to help with haste. Meanwhile, Kanata decided to make contact via Transponder Snail.
"Junshi, can you hear me?"
"What is it? More trouble, I take it?"
"An astute observation. It seems to be the Larsh Family, and their men have made an enemy of me. I've sent Feiyun to carry the cargo, so hurry the loading."
"...You really do attract trouble at every turn,." Junshi sighed.
"I don't invite it willingly, you know." She scoffed.
At minimum, Kanata was blameless regarding this incident. Her relationship with the Larsh Family extended only to a failed business deal. That they took it as a matter of "lost face" and provoked a fight was unavoidable on her part. Not that she intended to simply let them have their way, of course.
"Still, we need to be cautious." She warned.
"About what?" Junshi frowned.
"I doubt they'd go so far as to contaminate an entire town, but if even part of the food supply is poisoned, it complicates our judgment. It may be safer to resupply after entering the Grand Line proper."
"...Indeed."
This island's town and commerce were both governed by the Larsh Family. While weapons merely required proper maintenance, food presented a different issue - one of how much they could trust the supplier.
In that sense, choosing this town for resupplying may have been a mistake. The Eternal Poses and Log Poses acquired here were trustworthy due to being generic products harder to tamper with. Most problematic was their lack of a ship's doctor.
"In this situation, if someone falls ill from poison, unable to treat it would mean waiting for death." Kanata had a point.
"Then should we take only the weapons and discard the food supplies?" Junshi waited eagerly for her answer.
She voiced, "We do have some preserved rations aboard already. As for proper food, hunting sea creatures should suffice for a while."
They could even hunt sea kings in the Calm Belts if need be. Though their crew size was modest for the ship, having one giantess meant consumption would be fairly rapid - sea game alone might prove insufficient nutritionally speaking. The imbalance would be worrisome, but beggars couldn't be choosers.
Junshi began to comprehend her thoughts. "Very well...understood. We'll load only the weapons, then."
"Right, make haste. It seems they intend to blockade us at sea." The faint silhouettes of ships visible in the distance suggested they thought they could simply surround and defeat Kanata.
Her ability undoubtedly known, did they think dropping her in the ocean would suffice? Or were they simply ignorant about ability users' powers? As backwater seas, the latter seemed plausible.
"Once you guys return, we'll set sail immediately. Catching even one Island Whale would sustain us for quite a while."
"Go fishing then? A detour, but we could ask local fishermen for leads?"
"Regrettably, we lack the time, Junshi. Let's make do with whatever sea creature we encounter."
Ending her conversation with Junshi, Kanata plopped heavily into a chair to catch her breath.
The outdoor air remained chilly, but as an ice ability user, the cold bothered her little. Watching her scurrying crew prepare for departure, she considered how to handle the ships gradually encircling them.
(Freezing them would be easiest, but that would immobilize our ship too. If only we could retrofit as an icebreaker...)
While numerous, the ships didn't seem to harbor especially powerful individuals aboard.
Closing her eyes to concentrate her Observation Haki, she sensed no formidable presences - the enemy appeared content merely blockading rather than attacking directly. Slowly standing, she noticed Feiyun's return.
Not just a giantess, her size-enhancing ability would further increase her carrying capacity tremendously despite the weight - her colossal strength made it feasible.
Ignoring her rushed cargo loading, Kanata gazed upward. "...Looks like rain is coming."
While snow had been frequent lately due to the cold, winds were also picking up today. ‘A blizzard might hit,’ she muttered.
"Milady, we're all loaded up."
"Good work. Is everyone aboard?"
"Yeah, the whole crew's here."
Receiving Kuro's report, Kanata headed onto the deck. Preparations complete, they could set sail at her command.
"Then let us depart. From here, we enter the greatest sea - the Grand Line!"
"OOOOOHHHHH!!!"
"First, we'll smash through the Larsh Family's blockade! Get fired up!"
Roaring to raise morale, they scurried about launching the ship as the winds intensified.
Snow began falling, taking on a stormy aspect as the panicked enemy flotilla prepared to open fire. Kanata's crew struck first.
"Fire the cannons!!"
A deafening boom accompanied each shot, narrowly missing despite precise aim, merely kicking up huge splashes between the waves. But they didn't relent, continuing the barrage as Kanata's crew deflected any cannonballs coming their way - a feat the unaided enemy crews couldn't manage, their stricken ships bursting into flames and sinking one by one.
Yet Kanata's attack wasn't limited to cannons alone.
"Feiyun, do it!"
"Yes! Here goes!!"
The ice chunks Kanata created from seawater were hurled by Feiyun with the force of a baseball pitch, their massive size amplified by her giant's strength to yield a cannons' impact - if not greater - sinking enemy ships.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
"Damn it! How?! How can a single ship sink so many of ours?!"
Outraged cries rang out from the enemy as their cannonfire, no matter how dense, was deflected by Kanata and Junshi. At such range, cannons were their only recourse, and the tide had already turned.
"I don't have leisure to waste on the likes of you - our true enemy is far greater."
Raising her right arm, Kanata exerted her ability over the strengthening winds and snow, transforming them into a more formidable manifestation.
"Ice Crystal Blossoming!"
The snow touched the enemy ships, and like seeds sprouting, ice flowers bloomed wherever it landed - upon the sea or ships, blossoming like moonflowers at night.
Amplified by the gale-force winds, the enemy flotilla was progressively immobilized, each ship halted as ice flowers bloomed across their hulls. A power that could even stall a Marine fleet - these mere mafiosi under Drevan stood no chance of breaking through.
"Damn you, Kanata--!!" Drevan hollered hotly.
"Disappear. You are of no use to me."
However, this ability was difficult to control. In a solo battle, Kanata needn't worry, but here the ice flowers even threatened to engulf her own ship.
Fortunately, another Logia ability user was aboard.
"...I wonder what you'd do without me here," said Kuro, smirking.
"Quit yapping and get to it. Your ability has many conveniences."
"I'm jealous."
The "Darkness" unfurled like an umbrella, absorbing the falling snow and enveloping any ice blooms manifesting in their path, allowing them to bypass the hazardous floral ice that froze anything it touched, blossoming to leech away warmth.
Catching the gale with their sails, Kanata's crew scattered the Larsh Family and set course for Reverse Mountain.
***
Reverse Mountain.
Where the four seas' currents converged, flowing uphill like a reverse waterfall to allow entry into the Grand Line - the greatest sea.
Traveling a straight path from Toroa, replenishing with sea creature hunts along the way, they now gazed up at the massive Red Line continent looming like a giant wall before them.
"...Well now, it certainly lives up to its reputation for sheer immensity."
"So this is the Red Line continent..."
The second time they beheld it would be after circumnavigating the world. And should they witness it a third time, that would signify surviving as rulers of these seas.
Whether they could topple the many powerful rivals and reach the final island remained to be seen. Though concerned about what ordeals may lie ahead, Kanata still smiled faintly at the uncharted world before them.
"From here is the greatest sea - don't let your guards down, all of you!"
Naturally energized, her crew charged up the waterfall currents.
--From here was a sea where common sense did not apply. To survive, all obstacles must be overcome.
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