Chapter 80: Zunesha

As her words fell, silence reigned.

The crew all turned to look at Kyle, their eyes filled with shock and confusion.

The prophecy was too vague, too terrifying.

Was he the embodiment of disaster? The one who would end the apocalypse? Or just a spectator standing at the world's edge, composing music for destruction?

Facing everyone's complicated gazes, Kyle felt rather puzzled himself.

Wait, Gomon [his inner self] went dark side?

Kyle, who considered his mental state perfectly fine, was genuinely confused. But the apocalyptic scene Shyarly saw in the future wasn't necessarily his doing.

Though that pose with his back to everyone... tsk tsk tsk, worthy of me indeed!

That's one hell of a way to look cool! Nice work!

Just as the atmosphere was about to spiral into an uncontrollable abyss, a booming laugh exploded without warning.

"Gu ha ha ha!"

Roger slapped his thigh, laughing so hard he bent over, tears nearly streaming down his face. "Hey, hey! What's with those faces! Isn't that super cool?!"

He threw his arm around Kyle's neck with enough force to strangle him, yet his face wore the brightest grin as he waggled his eyebrows at the others:

"His back to the entire world! Listen to that! So badass! Way better than some old geezer whose retirement plan is coating ships, right, Rayleigh?"

"Pfft!"

Shanks and Buggy had just managed to hold back their laughter, only for it to burst out again.

Rayleigh had been stroking his chin with a serious expression, but at those words, his mouth twitched and he rolled his eyes helplessly. "Captain, my peaceful retirement can't handle these comparisons."

"Now that's more like it!" Scopper Gaban rumbled. He looked at Kyle, strange battle spirit rekindling in his eyes. "Who cares about some world-ending scenario? When the time comes, we'll just have a good fight!"

Everyone: "..."

Was this guy's focus completely off?

The crew's laughter completely dispersed the heavy atmosphere.

They were the Roger Pirates, madmen accustomed to throwing caution to the wind and finding joy on the knife's edge.

A vague prophecy, no matter how terrifying, could never make them doubt a comrade they'd sailed with day after day. It could never shake the course of this ship.

Kyle, nearly strangled by Roger, rolled his eyes and finally broke free.

Seeing everyone's expressions return to normal, the surprise in his heart transformed into a gentle smile. He turned to Shyarly, who was still shaken, and smiled warmly.

Shyarly stared at him blankly. There wasn't a trace of darkness in this man's eyes, clear as the waters above Fishman Island.

Her fear gradually receded, leaving only deep confusion.

"Alright, alright!" Roger clapped his hands, pulling everyone's attention back. "We got the Poneglyph rubbing and heard the prophecy! Time to say our goodbyes! Neptune, thanks for your hospitality!"

Neptune watched these pirates instantly regain their energy and felt his headache worsen.

He let out a long sigh and waved. "...I'll see you out."

Before leaving, Roger hooked his arm around Neptune's shoulders again, lowering his voice as if discussing matters of state: "Hey, Neptune, I'm telling you, ten years flies by! You'd better get moving!"

Neptune's massive frame froze again, his face flushing all the way to his neck. He shoved Roger away and roared in exasperation: "You! Get on your ship already!"

"Gu ha ha ha!"

Accompanied by Roger's hearty laughter, enormous bubbles enveloped the Oro Jackson and it began slowly ascending.

The crew stood on deck, waving farewell to Dragon Palace below.

The residents of Fishman Island no longer looked as fearful as they had at first. Quite a few bold children even waved their little hands curiously from a distance.

The light gradually brightened, the deep blue giving way to warm rays of sunlight.

When the ship burst through the surface with a "pop," returning to the sun-drenched world, everyone took a deep breath of the salty sea breeze, as if reborn.

"Set sail!" Roger stood at the bow, high-spirited. "Men! Our target: the final Road Poneglyph!"

"Yeah!!!"

………………

The Oro Jackson left the depths where Fishman Island lay and returned to the ever-changing waters of the Grand Line.

The sunshine was perfect, the sea breeze gentle.

On deck, the crew's spirits remained high. Shyarly's somewhat frightening prophecy had long been tossed to the back of these optimists' minds, becoming instead new comedic material.

"Hey, Rayleigh," Shanks approached the first mate, who was polishing his sword, mop in hand, grinning mischievously. "Want me to get you a craftsman's outfit in advance? The coating specialist kind!"

Rayleigh didn't even lift an eyelid, methodically running his cloth over the blade. "When you can last ten moves against me, then you can worry about my retirement, brat."

"Pfft!" Buggy laughed mercilessly nearby. "Shanks, you should worry about not getting lumps all over your head from Rayleigh's wooden sword first!"

"What'd you say, Red Nose!"

"Wanna fight, Curly Brows!"

The two apprentices instantly started brawling.

Kyle leaned against the mast, his fingers unconsciously plucking at the air, producing a series of barely audible notes.

He watched Shanks and Buggy scuffle, then glanced at Roger's broad back in the distance at the helm, and couldn't help but smile.

The voyage continued for several days. The Oro Jackson sailed into waters unlike any they'd seen before.

Without warning, milky white fog surged from all directions like massive cotton candy, enveloping the entire sea and sky.

One second it was clear skies for miles. The next, visibility had dropped to less than ten meters.

The air became damp and sticky. The sound of waves seemed sealed off, the surroundings so quiet that only the monotonous "swoosh swoosh" of the hull cutting through water remained.

"All hands on deck!" Rayleigh's voice broke the silence, filled with vigilance. "Watch your surroundings!"

The crew immediately sprang into action, each rushing to their station.

The previously relaxed atmosphere instantly turned serious.

"Gu ha ha ha! Interesting! What treasure's hiding in this fog?" Not only was Roger not tense, he excitedly stood at the bow, trying to pierce this barrier with his naked eye.

"Roger, this fog is strange." Kyle walked to his side, brows slightly furrowed. "The sound waves and electromagnetic waves I'm releasing are being absorbed. The feedback is complete chaos."

"Oh?" Roger stroked his chin, his smile growing even wider. "That just makes it more interesting!"

"Hey! Buggy! Get up to the crow's nest!" Shanks shouted from below. "Your red nose is the most visible thing in this weather! Might as well use it as a beacon!"

"Bastard Shanks! My nose is NOT a beacon!" Buggy jumped in anger but still cursed as he grabbed the rigging and quickly climbed the towering crow's nest.

"Report anything you see immediately!"

"Yeah, yeah! Shut up already!"

Buggy grabbed the telescope hanging around his neck and scanned the surroundings irritably.

Everywhere he looked, nothing but blank white that made him sleepy.

He yawned and complained: "Can't see a damn thing... How could there possibly be an island in a place like this..."

His words cut off abruptly as his movements froze.

In the telescope's field of view, an enormous shadow loomed faintly in the distant fog.

That thing... was too big.

Buggy adjusted the focus, struggling to make out what it was.

The shadow gradually became clearer, revealing a huge, nearly cylindrical outline.

"A pillar?" he muttered to himself, confused. "Why would there be such a huge pillar in the ocean? A rock column from an underwater volcano?"

He instinctively moved the telescope slowly upward, wanting to see just how tall this "pillar" was.

His view followed the rough, deeply wrinkled gray "rock face" upward... Wait, this texture... something's off.

This didn't look like rock. It looked more like some creature's... skin?

An absurd thought flashed through Buggy's mind, raising goosebumps all over his body.

He continued looking up.

Above the "pillar" was an even more massive structure that rose and fell like a mountain range, like a joint.

A joint?!

Buggy's breathing stopped instantly, his hands trembling uncontrollably as they held the telescope.

He jerked the lens higher, past that enormous "knee," continuing upward.

At the edge of his vision, still only bottomless thick fog.

This wasn't a pillar at all!

This was a leg!

A... leg that stood on the seabed ten thousand meters deep yet still reached into the clouds! A giant beast's leg!

And their ship, compared to this leg, was as tiny as a speck of dust.

"Wha... wha..."

Unintelligible sounds emerged from Buggy's throat. His face was white as paper, his mouth hanging open in an O.

"Hey! Buggy! What do you see? Is it an island?" Shanks called impatiently from below.

The response he got was a heart-wrenching scream that pierced the heavens.

"—That... that's not a pillar!"

"It's an elephant!!! A... an elephant walking in the ocean!!!"