Chapter 120

Chapter 120 - Sea Kings and Strange Ships

Adrian couldn't catch up with Tom in the end, but Tom still ended up in his arms.

Because while Tom was swimming, he suddenly saw a huge wave ahead, followed by a ferocious monster emerging from the water.

This monster was estimated to be over two hundred meters in length, with dorsal fins and tail fins. Its body was a pale yellow color and had a strange shape. There was no doubt that it was a Sea King, although it was a smaller type.

Tom was so frightened by it that he immediately jumped back into Adrian's arms, trembling.

Actually, even Adrian felt a bit frightened looking at this creature. Two hundred meters was roughly equivalent to a hundred floors, and he hadn't seen such a massive creature before. He wondered if even plunging his sword into it would be like getting stung by a bee?
But the Sea King's attention wasn't on them; it was fixated on another target.

It was a ship, to be more precise, a ship being carried by a several dozen meters long eel-like creature, probably an eel.

The Sea King opened its mouth as if to bite, but the eel was agile, evading its attacks.

"Artoria, Sharkler! Save them!"

The ship had a red sail and a white flag with an indiscernible emblem. It was likely not a pirate ship, but Adrian wasn't reckless enough to charge straight in. He knew to leave it to those capable.

"Here I come!" Artoria was already running across the water's surface.

"Leave it to me!" Sharkler swam over like an arrow, shouting, "Super Shark Giant! Double Super Transformation!"

In a matter of seconds, Sharkler was wielding a giant shark and using a ship-cutting sword to stab fiercely at the Sea King's back.

When the Shark Giant was summoned, it didn't necessarily have to swim from a great distance. The dramatic entrance was all about style.

Given the urgency of the situation, there was no time to care about that.

The ship-cutting sword in the Shark Giant's hand was probably equivalent to a fruit knife compared to the Sea King's two-hundred-plus meters, but it was still a threat, causing considerable pain.

The Sea King cried out in pain, forcefully thrashing its body in an attempt to throw off the Shark Giant.

"Argh... Agh... Damn it!" The loudspeaker in the Shark Giant crackled, probably because Sharkler was being jostled inside.

Adrian decided he should remind him to add a seatbelt to the driver's seat in the cockpit.

The Shark Giant didn't last long before being thrown away, but in mid-air, it raised its left hand: "You wretched creature, taste this! Shark Cannon!"

A golden beam pierced through the Sea King's tail. The Sea King roared in anger, turning to bite the unique nuisance.

"Missed." Sharkler's frustrated voice came out of the loudspeaker. He had been aiming for the head.

Faced with the gaping maw coming at him, Sharkler remained calm. Someone would shield him.

"Haah!" Artoria stood in front of the Sea King, delivering a massive golden slash to its neck.

The Sea King let out a mournful cry, fell, sending up a large spray of water, flipping over and lying still.

The group walked on the Sea King's body. Adrian couldn't help but recall a boast Usopp made once: he had seen a giant goldfish and used its feces as an island...

Yuck, that was kind of gross. But what they were stepping on was edible.

Tom was running around on the Sea King's body, and Rui Mengmeng looked around, helping Tom express her thoughts, "This thing is so big, even if it were just us, we couldn't finish it, right?"

Sharkler compared it with the data he knew, saying, "A blue whale that's over 30 meters weighs close to 200 tons. How heavy is this guy?"

Regardless of its weight, Artoria understood that it was too much for one pot. She was already looking for the best part to cut off and take with them.

"I think we should pay more attention to that ship." Adrian pointed to the ship slowly approaching them.

However, nobody paid him any mind. Everyone was more interested in the Sea King they were standing on. From the way Artoria looked, he understood that the newcomers either didn't have hostile intentions or were simply weak.

Before long, the large eel-like creature carrying the ship stopped nearby. A seemingly delicate person walked to the edge of the ship and waved at them, "Hello, thank you for saving me!"

Adrian looked carefully. With golden hair, a round face, a white wide-sleeved top, a long skirt with red fish-scale patterns, a red-and-white waistband, and white ribbons, this attire seemed familiar:
"You are... Queen Otohime of Fish-Man Island?"

Queen Otohime paused for a moment, then smiled and asked, "I didn't expect you to recognize me. Would you mind coming aboard to chat?"

It seemed that the term "Fish-Man Island" caught the attention of the others, prompting them to finally lift their heads to take a look.

"Sure." Adrian readily agreed. He knew that Queen Otohime had been working to get Fish-Man Island residents to move to the surface, hoping for peaceful coexistence between humans and Fish-Men. Her words felt genuine and kind.

"I'll put down the ladder right away!" Queen Otohime was delighted. It was rare to encounter such easy-to-talk-to people.

"No need to bother." Adrian lifted Tom from his arms and jumped off the Sea King, the others following suit.

"Huh?" Several of them were surprised when they stepped on something underneath; their feet encountered a layer of bubble membrane.

"This is a coated ship." Queen Otohime explained.

Adrian observed carefully. The entire ship was wrapped in a layer of bubbles: "Although I've heard of it in Sabaody, this is my first time seeing an actual coated ship."

"Let me introduce myself properly. I am Queen Otohime of the Ryugu Kingdom of Fish-Man Island. I just returned from Mariejoa and was about to head back to Fish-Man Island."

In the past few days, the rumors had it that Celestial Dragon Saint Mjosgard was sent back to Mariejoa. It seemed that Queen Otohime went to deliver him personally.

"I am Adrian. Currently, I'm a resident of Sabaody Archipelago, running a tavern as my main job, a bounty hunter as my side gig, and occasionally... going fishing." Adrian gestured towards the Sea King nearby as he mentioned fishing.

Queen Otohime raised an eyebrow, amused by his words. If this counted as fishing, the standards for fishermen were quite high.

The others gave brief introductions. Artoria and Sharkler were composed, Rui Mengmeng seemed a bit uneasy, thinking to herself, 'She's a Queen, right? Sounds like someone important.'

As for Tom, he was wriggling in Adrian's arms, wanting to hop down and step on the coated ship.

"You can go down, but no

reaching out your paws. It would be a hassle if you damage the bubble membrane." Adrian let go of Tom only after getting his agreement. While the coated ship wasn't so fragile, Tom wasn't exactly the most careful.

Queen Otohime seemed curious about Sharkler, "This might come off as a little offensive, but are you saying you're a robot? Aren't you a Fish-Man?"

"I am indeed a robot, but I might share some visual similarities with Fish-Men." Sharkler patted his chest, producing a clang of metal on metal.

Adrian suddenly thought that maybe he could invite Sharkler to perform the chest-breaking stunt.

Queen Otohime nodded, then bowed slightly, saying, "I apologize if that came off wrong. Thank you all for saving me."

"You don't have to be so polite. Honestly, I feel even without us, you would have been fine." Adrian believed that in the absence of their presence, Queen Otohime would have still made it safely back to Fish-Man Island.

"That's not entirely true." Queen Otohime shook her head gently, then smiled, "Please sit and have some tea in the cabin. Let me at least treat you."

"Sure." Adrian looked at his companions; no one objected. There was no urgent matter, and they were quite curious about Fish-Man Island.

Following Queen Otohime, they entered the cabin. Because of the coating, there was a layer of bubble membrane at the entrance. However, it didn't impede their passage; they could simply pass through without popping the bubbles.

As they entered, Adrian made sure to drag Tom, who was bouncing about, into the cabin with them.

Once they were seated in the cabin, Queen Otohime personally poured them tea.

Adrian looked around the spacious cabin and asked, "I've been curious from the beginning: it seems like you're the only one on this ship. Is it really okay not to have even a single guard with you?"


CN AN:
The "Saint" in the name of Celestial Dragons... I made the main character mention it earlier with such reverence... the subtitling team tricked me...