"Sea Monster."
Indigo stepped onto the bow of the ship, glanced at Sophie, then moved forward quickly, leaning over the railing, and looked out at the sea ahead.
*Crick, crick, crick!!!*
As they got closer, the sound, like the friction of gears, grew louder.
And the piercing cry emanating from the whirlpool became clearer.
The sound wasn't harsh, but rather like a song, surprisingly pleasant to the ears.
Yet, in Indigo's ears, it caused his expression to change drastically.
*Smack—!*
A hand, a plump hand, landed on Indigo's shoulder. Ah Hua emerged from behind Indigo, adjusted his glasses, tilted his head towards Indigo, and asked, "Doctor Indigo, you recognize this thing."
Indigo lowered his head, pondered for a moment, and nodded, "Yes! I've heard legends."
"Tell us."
Hearing that Indigo actually knew, everyone looked at him with curiosity.
Indigo glanced at everyone, then turned his gaze towards the back of Empty Sky, who sat atop the windmill like a steadfast rock, exuding an aura of unshakeable security. The unease that had surfaced in his heart moments ago was instantly suppressed.
He cast his sight towards the whirlpool ahead and began, "Legend has it that hundreds of years ago, an unknown creature that fed on islands lived in these waters."
"Every time it appeared, it was accompanied by violent winds and rain, and a deep-sea whirlpool connecting to hell would form."
"Because its every appearance was accompanied by a beautiful, song-like cry, people also called it a Sea Monster."
"So, you're saying there's really a legendary creature down there."
A Tao threw away his cigarette butt, looking excitedly at the ever-approaching whirlpool, and declared loudly, "This guy eats islands, doesn't that mean it has lots and lots of treasure inside its belly?"
*Smack—!*
Ah Hua's plump hand delivered a swift blow to A Tao's back of the head.
"What are you thinking, you idiot?"
"Didn't you hear Doctor Indigo?"
"Those are legends, things from decades or a hundred years ago, or even earlier. Who knows what this thing is now?"
"And after so long, even if there were treasures, this guy would have long since expelled them!"
Speaking of which, Ah Hua glanced sideways at A Tao.
"Or perhaps you want to go rummaging around its backside?"
Ah Hua's string of questions left A Tao speechless. He turned and glared at Ah Hua, clenching his fists and snarling, "You keep hitting me on the back of the head, I think you're getting too cocky, you want a beating again?"
He ignored Ah Hua's question, instead focusing his anger on the fact that Ah Hua hit him.
"Bring it on, who's afraid of who."
Ah Hua rolled up his sleeves, leaned forward, and seemed ready to fight A Tao.
"That's enough."
Just then, a clear, bell-like voice rang out, instantly silencing the deck.
Hearing Kuina's voice, A Tao and Ah Hua exchanged glances and quickly moved aside.
With Kuina present, they knew they couldn't possibly fight.
Kuina looked at the two men standing obediently to the side, then stepped forward to stand by the railing and, looking at Empty Sky's back, asked, "Empty Sky, are we going down?"
Here, perhaps only she and Empty Sky could sense the immense power of the creature below. It was a creature, no less powerful than the colossal Sea King they encountered when they left Fish-Man Island.
And its aura was even more potent.
Based on her senses, the power of the creature below was absolutely earth-shattering.
At that moment, two rows of huge fins suddenly emerged from behind them. The fins were blade-shaped and rotated around the whirlpool.
Upon closer inspection, these weren't fins at all, but clearly teeth.
So, they were now...
Everyone leaned over the bow, looking forward. They saw that within the whirlpool ahead, sharp teeth were orderly crossing and rotating. *kan Shu Wu.net*
The crunching sound they had heard earlier was the friction of these things.
Just like humans grinding their teeth.
The fins outside were the outer teeth, and the sharp teeth within the whirlpool were the inner teeth. So, this whirlpool was the creature's mouth.
Then, how large must its body be?
Thinking of this, a trace of horror appeared on everyone's faces.
At this point, Kuina's body tensed instantly, a primal fear welling up within her.
The creature before her felt like a demon.
"It really is this guy."
Indigo stared at the sharp teeth revealed in the whirlpool with a grave expression, and said solemnly, "Legend says this creature is the Sea King's mortal enemy. In ancient times, it was known as the Sea Devil, the embodiment of the ocean's wickedness."
He then looked up at Empty Sky's back and said, "Empty Sky, let's leave. If this creature can be a match for the Sea King, it's no ordinary Sea King."
"Mhm!" Empty Sky nodded.
This creature was too massive. He could feel that it was currently opening its mouth unconsciously to feed. If it were to be awakened, the entire sea might be in danger.
He himself wouldn't be afraid; even if he were swallowed by this creature, he could get out.
But not with the Freedom. He had to ensure the safety of his companions, as his current spatial domain couldn't truly withstand the attacks of a creature of this caliber.
With a thought, Empty Sky enveloped the Freedom in a transparent layer of space, and then, under his control, the Freedom slowly lifted off the water and flew forward.
Only when they were in the air could they truly grasp the creature's immense size.
Although it was a black silhouette, the silhouette spanned several kilometers, and the center of the whirlpool alone was over a kilometer wide.
The creature was currently like a funnel, drawing in water through its body and then filtering the fish that fell into the whirlpool.
"Truly spectacular."
Floating in the middle of the whirlpool, Empty Sky gazed at the mountain-like white sharp teeth below, and at the dark abyss that stretched beyond sight, his eyes filled with awe.
Such colossal beings could only be nurtured in this world of water, he thought.
There was no mention of this creature in the original story. Perhaps it hadn't appeared yet, or perhaps it had been sleeping all along, waiting for Shirahoshi's true awakening.
And they were indeed lucky to have encountered this creature during its rare, decades-long feeding period.
*Splash, splash!*
"Hmm?"
Just then, Empty Sky's ears twitched. He seemed to hear a sound. He turned sharply, focusing on the outside of the outer teeth that resembled fins.
In fact, from its silhouette, the creature was pentagonal, resembling a starfish, and Empty Sky was now staring at one of its "legs."
What is that?
Empty Sky's eyes widened, his cerulean pupils contracting sharply.
"Chains?"
He saw that on the gradually emerging, dark blue-green surface, a leg as vast as a true mountain was draped with chains, chains thicker than their ship.
This creature wasn't unwilling to go elsewhere, but was somehow locked here.
And this sea was actually its prison.
"Who could have locked such a colossal being here?"
Empty Sky gazed at the chains, completely covered in green moss, his mind filled with questions.
"Ancient times." *kanδん*
The person who could lock this creature here couldn't have been recent. And as Indigo had mentioned, the creature's appearance was rooted in ancient times.
He surmised that the legends Indigo and Sophie had heard were likely of this creature surfacing unconsciously to feed recently, and thus becoming a legend.
What happened next explained why this creature hadn't appeared in the original story.
Just as the Sea Monster was about to fully emerge from the sea, the chains gradually tightened. The *hualala* sound echoed again, but this time it wasn't the Sea Monster pulling the chains, but the chains pulling the Sea Monster.
It was as if in the deep sea, another behemoth was dragging the chains, pulling the creature back.
As the chains tightened, the five colossal pillars, not yet fully revealed, were pulled back into the depths, and the layered sharp teeth, now fully exposed in the whirlpool, sank once more.
As time passed, the outer teeth also disappeared from the sea surface, and the black silhouette vanished. When the Freedom flew out of this whirlpool, the Sea Monster's singing also faded away.
If the whirlpool hadn't continued to spin, perhaps no one would have known that such a terrifying creature existed beneath these waters.
He cast a deep glance behind him, then withdrew his gaze and steered the Freedom away from the area.
Whether it was a Sea Monster or a devil, he didn't necessarily need to go down and find out. From the chains, it was clear that during ancient times, this planet wasn't as it was now; technology must have been very advanced.
Or perhaps this creature was an extraterrestrial being, a pet of an alien, which was abandoned here by its owner, thus becoming a legend.
The truth would become clear once he understood the true history of this world.