The turtle could fly. Initially, through the mental communication bridge established by Bruna, Law heard the turtle mention this and didn't believe it.
Until the turtle, paddling with its limbs resembling propellers or wings, dragged its massive body into the sky. Then, disbelief had to yield.
Unfortunately, with the turtle's maneuverability in flight, if traveling through airspace, it would immediately become food for aerial creatures.
The turtle's appearance left Nique and the others speechless with shock.
Seeing their reactions, Law felt it necessary to warn them. "In the Dark Waters and even the Dark Continent, creatures larger than this turtle are countless. Prepare yourselves mentally sooner."
He thought: 'When you see the size of the Island Crab later, won't you be completely dumbfounded?'
"But this is too huge!" Nique said, still shaken.
Knov quietly wiped sweat from his brow, pretending composure.
Shiro accidentally swallowed his smoke. For an old smoker to make such a mistake showed the turtle's appearance truly gave him a massive shock.
"So, this turtle is taking us to the Dark Continent?"
Shiro looked at the turtle's neck of indeterminate length. If not for the distance, they probably couldn't see its end.
"Mhm."
Law acknowledged, then told Kuro, "Take the helm, bring the ship closer."
"Copy."
Hearing this, Kuro darted toward the captain's cabin.
The Ellie slowly sailed toward the turtle constantly turning its neck on the sea surface.
Simultaneously, Law extracted the fist-sized tissue from the book page, holding it in his palm. The tissue pulsed slightly, like a faintly beating heart.
Actually, this was a small piece of flesh beside the turtle's head.
"Bruna."
Law dismissed the book, signaling Bruna to come over.
Bruna understood, landing on Law's shoulder, extending tentacles to stick to Law's temples and the flesh piece.
[Communication Bridge]
Connection established. Instantly, Law heard the turtle's deep, muffled voice.
"Law, where are you?"
"Approaching you. Until we get close, just stay still."
"Understood."
The turtle's constantly turning neck gradually stilled.
A while later, it finally noticed The Ellie sailing toward it.
The turtle's neck, more aptly described as snake-like, turned, descending toward the sea surface. Its neck's length visibly increased, stopping at an angle allowing a direct view of The Ellie.
Its amber pupils shifted from above to below, silently watching The Ellie.
Nique watched the turtle's head hanging down like a cable, his mouth twitching.
'An extendable, retractable turtle head... but so long!'
The Ellie approached the turtle. The turtle's head hovered about ten meters above the sea, giving a sense of close-range pressure.
Soon, The Ellie reached the turtle's head.
"Board."
Law stepped onto the turtle's head first.
Seeing this, Tonpa simply followed, then Biscuit.
Subsequently, Nique and the others suppressed their churning emotions, following Law onto the turtle's head.
After everyone boarded, Law used mental communication for the turtle to place them on its shell.
Receiving the command, the turtle turned its neck, reaching back effortlessly, placing everyone in the center of its shell.
"How long is its neck exactly?" Shiro couldn't help asking.
"If I recall correctly, it can extend to any part of its body," Tonpa answered.
"No way?" Shiro was dumbfounded.
"I was shocked too when I first saw it. But that's its feeding characteristic. Anyway, once it dives, you'll understand," Tonpa said.
'This is a creature from the Dark Continent...'
Shiro looked at the turtle's head retracting forward, silently thinking.
'Compared to its massive body, the turtle's neck and head seemed relatively slender. What kind of structure allowed extension to cover any part of its body? Could it be corpus cavernosum?' (T/N: For those who don't understand, corpus cavernosum is the muscle responsible for erection.)
'Even corpus cavernosum wasn't that exaggerated.'
On the shell, Law led everyone to a semi-transparent scale-like section. A single scale was several soccer fields large.
Standing there looking down, they could see the moving tissues beneath the turtle's shell and a... somewhat comfortable-looking wooden room.
"This is...?"
Knov's expression turned odd.
After all, as a Nen Space's owner, he was sensitive to rooms and such.
This wooden room was surrounded entirely by flesh and blood, giving a feeling like a lush green tree standing on cracked, barren land.
"This is a modified 'cabin' I made. It doesn't bother the turtle… after all, the area is like a drop in the ocean compared to him."
Law explained, then used God Hand to move the shell aside, jumping down directly.
Tonpa, Bruna, and Biscuit had been through this before, showing no reaction. But the others looked at each other.
Then, they successively jumped into the room. Only then did Law seamlessly reconnect the shell, sealing the space.
Nique hesitantly said, "I feel like I'm suffocating. Probably not my imagination, right?"
"Nonsense. This is basically a sealed space," Kuro retorted lightly.
Nique widened his eyes, about to say something when he suddenly felt his breathing ease.
He looked aside to see Law sticking a few unknown algae sporadically on the wooden walls, emitting faint Nen light.
"These are Oxygen Algae, brought back from the Dark Continent. With a bit of Aura injected continuously, they keep producing oxygen."
Saying this, Law pointed to another darker-colored algae. "These are Light Algae. Inject Nen, and they glow. If Emission proficiency is high, they're like voice-activated lights."
The Nen in the algae was all injected by Law. With his expertise, he could control them freely.
"Amazing," Shiro murmured softly.
Riding this kind of 'transportation' once felt like having no regrets in life.
At that moment, the ground slightly trembled… the turtle began diving toward the seabed.
Hundred meters, thousand meters...
Light sources from the sea surface gradually vanished, replaced by a green glow.
The turtle's pale green crystal shell emitted pearl-like light, becoming a beacon in the dark seabed.
In the wooden room on the shell, through the light source, Knov and the others stared blankly at the silent seabed outside.
'If Morel were here...' Knov thought.
The green light source was like a guiding beacon in the dark deep sea. Many deep-sea creatures approached the turtle, swimming around the glowing shell.
And at this time, as Tonpa said, the turtle's extendable, retractable head, capable of covering its entire body, began preying on deep-sea creatures attracted by the light.
It truly accepted everything, swallowing whatever came its way in one gulp. From the start of the dive, it never stopped feeding.
Seemingly, its massive body required vast amounts of food to sustain.
In the wooden room, everyone could clearly see the turtle swinging its head, hunting deep-sea creatures.
Though not a panoramic view, they could imagine the surrounding carnage.
Those deep-sea creatures seemed to be lining up for delivery...
But the key point was: that turtle head was really too incredible!