Unknown sea territory.
The sky was like ceaselessly churning smoke, dense black clouds that seemed to press the entire sea downwards.
Crack!
Red lightning, like pillars reaching from heaven to earth, descended, striking the equally dark sea. Electric arcs scattered, and soon, countless fish with their bellies facing upwards floated on the surface, appearing like white lanterns from afar.
Great waves crashed, and the white lanterns were swept back into the deep sea, disappearing with the swell.
Boom—!
Behind the constantly churning waves, a medium-sized two-masted sailing ship with a windmill-shaped bow, like a fallen leaf on the sea, swayed and pitched against the giant waves, as if it might capsize at any moment.
Yet, the people on board were not worried at all; instead, they were filled with excitement.
And the figure sitting at the bow of the ship, whose buttocks seemed to be rooted, remaining completely still no matter how the ship rocked, showed no panic, no worry, and no fear in the face of these monstrous waves. Instead, an air of laziness permeated him.
The rain and sea spray around him, as if encountering an invisible, sharp blade before reaching this figure, parted automatically, sliding to either side.
Gazing calmly at the continuously churning black clouds overhead, Kong Tai leaned against a windmill blade, his left leg bent and his right leg extended, his left hand behind his head, his right hand holding a wine gourd and taking a sip.
The wine in the gourd was bought by A Hua, the royal tribute wine from Fish-Man Island. It was a small jar, not much.
To be honest, it was delicious, but too weak.
Rather than calling it wine, it was more like a beverage.
He estimated the alcohol content to be no more than twenty percent.
To him, it was practically water.
This was their third day since leaving Fish-Man Island.
It took them one day to reach the seas of the New World from Fish-Man Island. Since they didn't have to follow ocean currents, Kong Tai spent an extra half day in the deep sea.
The deep sea near the Red Line continent, due to its peculiar geography, presented many wonders.
After setting sail, they headed in the direction indicated by the Vivre Card in Sophie's hand.
It had to be said that the New World was entirely different from the Paradise of the first half of the Grand Line. The weather here was more violent. In just two days, they had encountered three instances of extreme weather.
And this was the third time.
During these two days, they had also encountered other pirate crews.
The pirate crews here were also different from those in the first half; they were more powerful and more cunning.
Powerful, because A Luo's spear, which was unstoppable in the first half, had met several pirates in these two days who could block it.
Although A Luo eventually sent them to the bottom of the sea, being able to block it was still a testament to the fact that the pirates in the New World were completely different from those in the first half.
They were cunning because, upon seeing the Freedom, they would often not charge forward but would coordinate with other pirate crews. They were also not as reckless as the pirates in the first half.
When they realized they couldn't win, these pirates would retreat without hesitation, never engaging in prolonged battles.
Of course, since these scoundrels had encountered them and attacked, they weren't allowed to leave. They all went to accompany the countless skeletons beneath the sea.
"Eh!"
At this moment, the Freedom suddenly accelerated in one direction.
And this pitch-black, wave-churning sea area suddenly calmed down. The sea surface seemed to have a hole, causing the surrounding seawater to pour into it.
As the speed increased, a massive vortex, tens of kilometers in diameter, formed on the endless sea surface.
The Freedom was at the edge of this vortex, being pulled towards the center by the current.
As the ship stopped rocking, everyone on board noticed the anomaly.
From the crow's nest, A Luo stood up, raised his telescope, looked forward, and then shouted down, "Kong Tai, a whirlpool, a super giant whirlpool."
A Tao came out of the cockpit, as he had no control over the direction at the moment.
He nodded to Koa and Robin, who had come out of the cabin below the ship, and walked to the bow, gazing at the black vortex ahead, which resembled a funnel, with eyes full of astonishment.
They had seen whirlpools before, but they were never this large. At least, not in his opinion.
Never like this one, which was like a black hole. On the surface of the vortex, he could even see Sea Kings.
These Sea Kings, in the face of this vortex, were like small fish and shrimp.
They roared, trying to break free from the vortex, but the vortex's pull was like iron chains attached to them. No matter how they struggled, it was futile; they could only disappear into the black hole with the current.
A whirlpool, and such a whirlpool. In his opinion, if not for Kong Tai on their ship, they would have been sucked in, perhaps leading to their ship's destruction and their deaths.
And ordinary pirate ships that came here could only wait to die.
"Kong Tai, do you want to go down and take a look?"
A Tao put a cigarette between his lips, took a deep puff, and looked at the figure on the windmill, speaking excitedly, "There might be something special down there."
From the roars of the Sea Kings just now, he had heard fear.
Sea Kings, even medium-sized ones, were like kings on the sea. Even with this large vortex, they shouldn't be so terrified.
There must be something in there that made them panic, like a little white rabbit encountering a fierce tiger.
Kong Tai did not reply but stared intently at the vortex ahead with a grave expression.
In his perception, beneath this vortex was a creature as large as the super-giant Sea King they encountered when they left Fish-Man Island.
However, unlike the intelligent creature from Fish-Man Island, the one beneath the vortex was full of ferocity. He couldn't even sense the intelligence that Sea Kings possessed on this creature.
The aura emanating from this being was devoid of reason, only madness.
And its current actions were like a beast opening its mouth to feed, driven by instinct.
"This creature is a beast."
Just then, a crunching sound, like gears colliding and grinding, emanated from the vortex, followed by a crisp shriek.
"A siren, it's a siren."
Sophie, who had followed Koa and the others to the bow of the ship, heard this sound and seemed to have encountered something particularly terrifying.
Her legs went weak, and she sat down on the ground. Looking at the sea ahead, her face instantly turned pale, and cold sweat poured down her forehead.
She kept shouting frantically.
"Siren, siren..."
Everyone looked at Sophie, their faces showing shock.
"Sophie, don't be afraid, we're here!"
Robin stepped forward, pulled Sophie up, and held her in her arms, patting her back like an older sister.