The deep-sea region where Fish-Man Island was located was indeed just as Valthior remembered—it wasn't completely dark.
The Sunlight Tree Eve grew from the seabed all the way up to the surface, channeling sunlight and air down into the depths, creating the unique natural environment of Fish-Man Island.
Within the current, the Oro Jackson advanced steadily.
Standing on deck, Valthior could already see Fish-Man Island below, encased in a massive bubble, gradually becoming clearer.
Not only that—far off in the deep sea, he could also make out enormous shadows occasionally circling around the island.
Without a doubt—those were colossal Sea Kings!
Sea Kings themselves weren't rare in the world. Anyone who sailed frequently would encounter them at least once or twice.
They didn't just exist in the Grand Line—they could be found in the Four Blues and the Calm Belt as well.
But colossal Sea Kings were extremely rare. In all his years traveling with the Roger Pirates, Valthior had never seen one before.
Generally speaking, these creatures only lived in the Calm Belt and the deep sea.
Just how big were they?
Simply put—they were the size of islands. And not small islands like Dressrosa—something far larger.
According to this world's classification, only Sea Kings exceeding 5,000 meters in length qualified as "colossal." And even then, 5,000 meters was just the entry level for that category.
Five thousand meters might not sound intuitive, so for comparison—
Godzilla, in King of the Monsters, stood at around 108 meters tall with a tail length of 167 meters.
Already an overwhelmingly imposing presence.
But a creature like that, if placed in the One Piece world, would barely amount to the size of a toenail—or at best, the sole of the foot—of a colossal Sea King.
One could only imagine the sheer terror and pressure such beings would bring when seen in person.
Without top-tier powerhouses to defend against them, a single colossal Sea King could destroy a nation or an island in a very short amount of time.
And these creatures were not few in number in the deep sea.
Yet, the royal family of Fish-Man Island could give birth to the ruler of the Sea Kings—Poseidon.
From this alone, one could understand what kind of power Poseidon represented.
Even if you gathered all the top fighters capable of standing against colossal Sea Kings and scattered them across islands, how many could they protect?
Fifty islands? Would that even be considered a lot?
As for the rest, if Poseidon willed it, they could all be destroyed. It was truly a power capable of destroying the world!
"What are you staring at so intently? Those shadows?" Roger walked up beside Valthior and followed his gaze. "Honestly, when we first dove into the deep sea and saw those things, we were all pretty shocked too. The ocean really is terrifying—to give birth to creatures that massive. We call them colossal Sea Kings."
"Do you hear anything?" Valthior asked, glancing at Roger. "Like… them talking or something?"
Roger scratched his head, confused. He even closed his eyes and listened carefully for a moment, but in the end, he shook his head.
"Nope. What, you're saying they can talk?"
"Maybe," Valthior smiled. "After all, they are the warriors of Poseidon."
Clearly, things were very different from the original story.
Back then, Roger had heard Sea Kings speaking here. At that time, although Princess Shirahoshi hadn't been born yet, there were already signs—prophecies had begun to surface.
But now, things were different.
Because of Valthior's presence, the Roger Pirates' exploration of the Final Island and the Void Century had been accelerated significantly.
Neptune hadn't even ascended the throne yet—the current king of Fish-Man Island was still an eighty-something-year-old merman.
As for Shirahoshi—that was even further off.
"Warriors of Poseidon… yeah, that makes sense," Roger said with a sigh. "Just thinking about someone commanding such enormous power—it's terrifying."
"If one of those colossal Sea Kings became your enemy, how confident would you be?" Valthior asked.
Roger clicked his tongue. "Now you're just looking down on me."
"Sure, they're strong and scary—but against people like us, they're not really a threat. I could take them down one slash at a time—believe it or not."
Honestly, not just Roger—even Valthior was confident that with his abilities, he could instantly kill a Sea King of that level.
But still—
For an average Marine Vice Admiral-level fighter, dealing with such creatures would already be impossible.
They were still terrifying.
While the two of them were chatting idly about such things, Gaban suddenly spoke up: "Get ready, we're about to break into the Sea Forest!"
At his call, everyone on board immediately prepared themselves.
Moments later, the Oro Jackson burst out of the current and slammed straight toward the Sea Forest.
This was the second danger of reaching Fish-Man Island.
Fish-Man Island did not welcome pirates. The official ports were sealed, and pirates were not allowed entry. If they approached, they would be fired upon.
And in the deep sea, if cannon fire broke the coating bubble—
That was basically instant death.
So pirates typically didn't enter through official ports like Coral Hill.
Instead, they used the Sea Forest.
Strictly speaking, it was a forest within Fish-Man Island, but it was also known as the Graveyard of Ships.
As far as the eye could see, it was littered with wreckage.
These were all remnants of ships that had failed in their attempts to reach Fish-Man Island.
Fortunately, Gaban and the crew were highly experienced. Despite some turbulence, they safely arrived at the Sea Forest.
The moment they entered, the Oro Jackson's coating merged with the bubble environment of Fish-Man Island.
If they wanted to leave again, they would need to coat the ship anew.
Many Fish-Man craftsmen made their living from exactly this business.
After docking, Doringo spoke first:
"If we're in a hurry to get to Linderland Island and join the action, we shouldn't waste too much time here."
"You guys go check out the Poneglyphs. I'll head into the island to find Big Sis Mary to arrange recoating, and pick up some supplies while I'm at it—so we don't delay departure."
Clearly, this "Big Sis Mary" was someone the Roger Pirates knew well on Fish-Man Island—a coating specialist.
"Then we'll leave it to you, Doringo," Roger nodded.
Gaban hesitated, glancing between the Sea Forest and the direction of Fish-Man Island, as if about to say something.
Before he could, Rayleigh slung an arm around his shoulders.
"Don't hesitate. Come meet Sunbell with us first. Tonight, when we're resting, you can go find some pretty mermaids on the island."
"Ahem—what are you talking about? Do I look like that kind of guy?" Gaban's old face flushed red as he defended himself. "I just want to gather some intel—like whether an eighty-year-old merman can still give birth."
"It's for confirming information about Poseidon, alright? Don't misunderstand me!"
"Yeah, yeah—how about you become our intelligence officer?" Rayleigh teased.
"Bastard, I'll split you in half with an axe sooner or later," Gaban grumbled.
But in the end, he still followed the group into the ship graveyard.
....
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