Chapter 57: Battleship Part 2
The scientist led them to the stern.
"The propulsion system consists of two angled, high-efficiency ion thrusters. Encased in angular armor, they emit a clean, pale-blue ion stream, guaranteeing top-tier speed and agility."
"Hidden in the central stern section is a micro-multi-purpose missile silo. The bay doors are camouflaged to match the hull plating; they only slide open when firing, revealing the dense array of launch tubes inside."
The scientist rambled on, his ego stroked by the stunned expressions of these "country bumpkins."
He concluded by emphasizing that this ship could dive, attack, defend, scan, and auto-pilot. It solved every navigational problem. Its only flaw was its appetite.
It guzzled massive amounts of specialized high-energy fuel.
After transferring all control codes and the AI system to Knov—who looked the most reliable—the scientist finally left on his shuttle, satisfied.
But the fuel problem was immediate.
Kyle was broke. He had to bite the bullet and beg Netero for another 2 billion Jenny loan, spending every cent on a mountain of fuel.
Knov stored all of this "lifeblood" into his [Hide and Seek] dimension.
Everything was ready. Under Knov's command, the Hunter roared to life.
With a steady hum of power, the ship accelerated, heading straight for the deserted island Kyle had marked.
Standing on the beach, Kyle looked up at the steel mountain of a ship. He took a deep breath of salty air, suppressing his mix of excitement and anxiety.
He turned to Netero, Morel, Knov, Knuckle, and Shoot. His expression was graver than they had ever seen.
"Everyone, this is the critical moment. I will activate my ability first. Then, I need you to pour your Nen into me—without holding anything back."
"We need to wrap this entire ship in our combined Aura. Don't leave a single gap! Hold it until I give the signal!"
Kyle closed his eyes and focused.
A moment later, a powerful Aura exploded from him. It burned around him like an invisible flame, twisting the air and blowing the sand away from his feet.
Knuckle's eyes widened. He could feel the sheer volume of that Aura.
80,000? No, 100,000? Maybe even more!
He couldn't measure it precisely, but he knew one thing: this young captain's potential Aura capacity was definitely higher than his master, Morel's!
As Kyle fully activated the [Book of World Resonance], the phantom image of the book appeared beside him, glowing with mystic light.
A wave of Aura surged toward the Hunter, trying to envelop it like a tide.
But the ship was too massive. When the Aura had covered only a third of the hull, Kyle felt his strength failing. His face went pale.
"NOW!" he roared.
Without a word, Netero placed a hand on Kyle's shoulder. Instantly, a terrifying river of Aura—vast, pure, and burning hot—poured into Kyle.
Then came Morel's deep, steady Aura; Knov's precise, contained Aura; and the vibrant, energetic Auras of Knuckle and Shoot.
Kyle's body became a massive energy conduit. He guided the five powerful streams, fused them, and directed them into his ability.
The stalled wave of Aura surged again, climbing up the hull. One-third... one-half... two-thirds...
The process was mentally and physically exhausting.
Sweat beaded on everyone's foreheads. Breathing became heavy.
Even Netero, usually so playful, showed a look of intense focus and fatigue.
When the combined Aura finally wrapped the entire Hunter, forming a massive, shimmering cocoon of energy, everyone felt a wave of intense weakness wash over them.
But it wasn't enough! Wrapping was just step one. They had to convert this Aura cocoon into a portal capable of tearing through space and connecting to the other world!
Kyle gritted his teeth. The energy inside him was a raging river, threatening to burst him apart. At the critical point, he snapped his eyes open. Runes seemed to spin in his pupils.
"OPEN!"
He let out an earth-shattering roar, detonating all the Aura—his own and everyone else's—in a single, unrestrained burst!
VMMMMMM—!
A blindingly brilliant portal of light, over a hundred meters in diameter, unfolded around the giant ship like a miracle!
Rainbow waves of energy rippled across the surface, centering on a deep, void-like darkness that connected to the unknown.
A massive spatial suction took hold. Right before their eyes, the steel leviathan—the Hunter—was swallowed whole by the light, vanishing from this world.
The light faded. Everyone collapsed onto the sand, gasping for air, too drained to move a finger.
Even Netero looked unusually haggard. But as he stared at the empty sea, and then at the shrinking portal, his eyes were filled with indescribable awe.
A combined effort to open a gate to another world... he had never seen anything like it.
Kyle forced down the urge to faint. His arms trembling, he pushed himself up. "Hurry!" he rasped, his voice urgent. "The gate is closing! We have to go before it vanishes!"
He staggered toward the shrinking light.
Netero and the others didn't hesitate. Summoning their last dregs of strength, they followed him, leaping one by one into the brilliant curtain of light.
After a brief sensation of weightlessness and a kaleidoscopic assault on their senses, their feet landed on a solid deck.
A salty breeze, distinct from the Hunter world's, brushed their faces.
They had succeeded. They, and the technologically superior battleship Hunter, had arrived in the Pirate World.
They were completely drained, their Aura reserves empty. It took several minutes just to recover from the weakness.
"So this is the other world," Morel said, looking out at the endless ocean. His entire body began to tremble with excitement.
For a Sea Hunter, the urge to explore a new ocean was irresistible.
"Yes," Kyle said. "We rest for one day. Then... we set sail for the Grand Line."
Morel had been briefed by Kyle over the last few days. He knew about the Grand Line.
Although they had some reservations about the title of "pirate," they accepted it as a local necessity. There were good people and bad people everywhere. As long as they didn't do evil, the label didn't matter.