r18novel Chapter 96 Heading to the Seabed!
Chapter 96 Heading to the Seabed!
Chapter 96 Heading to the Seabed!
"Good! That's got guts!" Rayleigh paused for a moment, then burst into laughter.
He put down his wine glass, stood up, and stretched.
"I'm getting old, I can't stay up all night anymore. I'll go see your ship tomorrow. That's all for tonight."
Norton also stood up.
"The cost of the drinks?"
"No need," Shakky finally interjected, smiling at Norton. "It's rare to meet such an interesting young man, this meal is on me."
"Then I won't stand on ceremony." Norton smiled and turned to walk towards the door.
Norton suddenly stopped when he reached the door.
"Oh, by the way, I took those slaves with me. If anyone comes looking for trouble," "Let them come looking for you?" Shakky replied with a smile.
"Send them to the fleet to find me," Norton said. "I'm bored."
After saying that, Norton pushed open the door and left.
As the door closed, the bar fell silent. Rayleigh stood by the bar, staring at the closed door, and remained silent for a moment.
"What do you think of him?" Xia Qi asked with great interest.
"Don't you think he looks a lot like Rocks?"
Xia Qi paused, gazing at the night outside the window. The bubbles were still floating, drifting towards the unseen distance.
That's true.
After leaving Shakky's Bamboo Bar, Norton returned to the fleet.
Norton didn't pay much attention to the pirates and pirate crews who came to join him.
After listening to Crow's report, Norton went straight back to his living room to rest.
Those pirates who manage to reach Sabaody Archipelago are stronger than those recruited from the East Blue, after all, they have sailed in the harsh and dangerous waters of the Grand Line.
But for Norton himself, there was no essential difference between these pirates who came to join him and those he had subdued in the East Blue.
Even if the former is slightly better than the latter, the difference is only slight.
The people who are truly worth cultivating are the cadres under my command.
Like Crow, like El. Like Dalton, like Zoro.
Only after these cadres are trained can they replace him in training those grassroots pirates.
Those who are chosen by him to be officers are basically those whose talents far surpass those of other ordinary pirates.
Furthermore, with Steel Hand around, Norton doesn't need to spend too much time or effort training officers, especially in combat.
He just needed to calm down and wait patiently. As the Norton Pirates drew closer to the New World, Norton seemed to see his own country slowly taking shape.
After Rayleigh agreed to Norton's request, he found the Hundred Pearls the next day. Meanwhile, Kuro and Funing gathered a group of coating craftsmen from Sabaody Archipelago to coat more than 60 ships of the Norton Pirates.
A week later, the coating was basically completed.
During this time, no one caused trouble for the Norton Pirates.
The navy didn't dare approach the area where the Norton Pirates were located; they basically went around it.
After escorting all the Celestial Dragons back to the Holy Land, the CP agents disappeared. In this undisturbed environment, Norton and his group enjoyed a pleasant "vacation."
"All the ships have been coated and are ready to depart at any time. King, what's your opinion?"
Once everything was ready, Funing knocked on the captain's cabin door.
"Oh, it's Fu Ning. Come in."
Norton's voice came from the captain's cabin. Funing opened the door and entered the cabin, where she saw Norton chatting and raising a glass with an old man with long white hair.
"Mr. Raleigh...you're here too!"
Funing pulled up a chair and sat down next to Norton.
Rayleigh's identity is no longer a secret among the executives, and they are all quite shocked that the former world-renowned right-hand man of the Pirate King has gone into seclusion on the Sabaody Archipelago.
But after getting used to it, you don't really care anymore. After all, no matter how famous Hades is, it's all old news and people from many years ago.
This is a distant memory for people of today, especially for young people.
No matter how strong they are, they can't possibly be stronger than Norton. This is a common thought in the minds of most cadres.
Moreover, Rayleigh did not appear as an enemy, but as a retired, friendly old pirate.
It's worth mentioning that Steel Hand and Rayleigh seem to be quite familiar with each other. During Rayleigh's spare time while coating the White Pearl, he spent most of his time standing with Steel Hand.
It's not surprising, because according to Morgans' intelligence, when Steel Hand was young, he once stayed away from an island for several months in order to hunt down Jabba of the Roger Pirates.
As Jabba's friend and fellow shipmate, it's only natural that Rayleigh would get to know this woman who was so devoted to Jabba.
Norton had also been curious about this and inquired about the feud between Rayleigh, Steel Hand, and Jabba...
The reply was unexpected.
At that moment, Ridley, unlike his usual composed self, became gossipy and whispered in Norton's ear.
"That Jabba was a bastard when he was young, a notorious womanizer with a lot of romantic entanglements."
"When we landed on a certain island, we met a young Tsunade... although Tsunade's appearance back then wasn't much different from how she looks now."
"In short, Steel Hand is the only woman Jabba couldn't win over. He even made this vow because he was so annoyed by her pursuit..."
""
"You sunglasses-wearing bastard! I'll kill you sooner or later!" That's what Steel Hand said back then.
"After that, Jabba became a man who feared the name Steel Hand..."
""
The gossip of the old era made Norton chuckle, but after learning all this, he chose not to reveal it or make fun of Steelhand.
Given Steel Hand's current status on the ship and the extent to which he is hated, such gossip, once it reaches the executives, will definitely become common knowledge.
At that time... Norton was very worried that the rampaging Steel Hand might destroy the entire ship.
Let's return to the present.
"Miss Funing, I was just talking to Norton about Fishman Island."
When Rayleigh saw Funing, his smile became noticeably brighter. No matter what kind of man he is, he always has more patience for beautiful things.
"Where were we?"
"Let me think... Hmm, as far as I know, Fishman Island is currently being protected by that guy Newgate, and the order is being maintained fairly well..."
'
"The only thing to watch out for is the racists in Fishman Street, as you've already mentioned."
Norton interrupted Riley, one hand resting on the back of the red velvet chair, the other idly patting Funing's round and elastic thigh.
"Old man, don't worry, I won't make a move on Fishman Island. Unlike Big Mom, the country I want to build doesn't need so many different races, and I won't actively create conflict with the Fishman race."
"I will later incorporate the slaves I obtain from the human trafficking ring into my own fleet..."
'
"After that, whether they become my citizens after helping me establish a country, or leave my service and return to their hometowns, is up to them."
In his previous life, there was a saying that goes, "Those who are not of our kind are sure to have different hearts." Although it sounds a bit extreme, Norton felt that it was not entirely without reason.
Therefore, before the nation is established and its foundation is solid, Norton will not voluntarily accommodate any foreign races.
If the quantity is so small as to be negligible, then it's acceptable.
However, if it were like a certain coastal city in my previous life, where there were so many alien races that you would encounter several of them nine times out of ten when you walked out of the street, it would be extremely dangerous.
While Norton is not a racist person, that does not mean he accepts that outcome.
A country belongs to itself, and of course it should be built according to its own wishes.
"I see..."
""
Rayleigh nodded slightly, raised the glass to his lips, and took a sip.
"By the way, didn't you say that Roger's son was planning to challenge Whitebeard? I'm afraid someone on Fishman Island will try to stop him."
"If Roger's son is in danger, I hope you can look after him."
Upon hearing this, Norton laughed and said, "Of course! In my heart, Ace is already one of my crew members!"
After another peaceful day in the Sabaody Archipelago, Norton bid farewell to Rayleigh and Shakky before leading six thousand men to Fish-Man Island.
As the entire fleet sank to the bottom of the sea, the light gradually dimmed, revealing the depths and terror of the ocean.
Under the shadow of a massive school of fish, the enormous fleet sank past the "light-receiving layer," through the "light-receiving layer," and into the seabed at a depth of over a thousand meters.
The enormous black mist whale swam alongside the fleet, providing cover, so few bloodthirsty fish dared to approach.
Most of the Norton Pirates only learned today that Admiral Norton had such an enormous whale under his command.
Inside the White Pearl, next to Norton, Nami observed the recording pointer on her wrist.
"How is it?" Norton asked.
"The direction of navigation is correct; it is the right route, which is even further southwest than the pointer indicates."
The reason for this course of navigation is that even a straight route would be affected by ocean currents. If they were to collide with an underwater volcano before reaching their destination, the Norton Pirates would face certain death, with their ship destroyed and all crew members perishing.
Apart from the monster Norton and the mermaids and fishmen among the slaves, no one else could survive such a catastrophe.
Ultimately, the ocean itself is the most terrifying thing about sailing.
Fortunately, with Nami as a pillar of strength, Norton dared to send such a massive fleet to Fishman Island.
"Everyone should put on some clothes now! It's going to get cold!"
The deep sea water is cold because it cannot be heated by the sun. Even through the bubble membrane, many pirates with weaker constitutions began to shiver.
Moreover, the difference between deep and shallow seas is not just in temperature.
There are deep-sea currents in the lower layer of the ocean, which flow completely differently from surface currents.
Those ocean currents will surely connect somewhere, not only separating or merging to the west or east, but also rising and sinking, like a giant water dragon, continuously flowing to the four seas.
Moreover, because deep-sea currents flow very slowly on the seabed, it would take at least two thousand years for someone to return to the surface by the currents alone once they have dived into the ocean. As a result, there are many legends about the deep sea.
Terms such as "monster," "curse," and "soul of the dead."
The most famous of these words is "Davy Jones".
At this moment, Nami, Funing, and the other officers and pirates had all put on their clothes and coats, and Nami began to explain to everyone.
"We are now riding the downdraft that will take us from the surface down to the depths, so that we can reach the red earth continent that is connected to the deep ocean currents. You could say it's a series of connected islands, so there are summer islands and winter islands, and all four seasons exist there at the same time."
"We are now heading to the frigid climate zone of Winter Island, where there is another condition that causes the ocean currents to flow very downwards. And the necessary condition for forming a downward current is cold and heavy seawater."
"In frigid regions, there is sea ice, and when this ice forms..."
"6
"Alright, alright, anyway, it's just an incredible ocean current, right?" Norton couldn't take it anymore; he wasn't very good at this kind of knowledge.
Nami was furious, but when the enormous underwater waterfall appeared before her, she had no time to be angry.
The spectacular ocean current filled the field of vision, and below it was a pitch-black abyss where you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, making you worry that something terrible might happen if you fell in.
While the pirates were still hesitating, the Mist Whale, Big Black, had already dived into the underwater waterfall without the slightest hesitation.
So the fleet had no choice but to follow and enter the underwater waterfall, where they encountered a giant sea monster, the octopus, at the edge of the waterfall.
"It's...it's the Kraken!"
A legend has it that a giant sea monster exists in the deep sea in Beihai.
Its name is Kraken, and a single tentacle of it is larger than any ship.
Rumor has it that the Kraken attacks every passing ship, dragging it into the abyss of darkness.
Such legends have been passed down through generations in the land of Beihai. Almost all children and adults have heard such legends, or rather, they grew up listening to such legends.
Among the Norton Pirates were pirates who had defected from Sabaody Archipelago, some of whom came from the North Blue. They recognized the giant octopus sea monster.
However, it was just a side story, although to ordinary pirates, this giant octopus monster seemed terrifying.
But with Norton around, even the most terrifying monsters become less frightening, because Norton himself is the most terrifying monster. With just one punch, Norton defeated the sea monster, knocking it down into the underwater waterfall.
The Norton Pirates' fleet then entered the underwater waterfall, closely following the Mist Whale, Big Black.
Beneath the underwater waterfall lies terrifying darkness, the only light coming from unidentified jellyfish in the deep sea. They are like fireflies of the ocean, illuminating this eternal darkness.
In this darkness, more enormous silhouettes emerged: some belonging to strange, gigantic fish, others to the skeletons of unknown creatures, and still others to the wreckage of ships.
Faced with a completely unfamiliar and dangerous situation, troubles followed one after another.
"King! Several of the ships following behind have lost contact!"
The terrifying ocean has its own unique food chain, completely different from that on land. At this moment, a predator at the top of the food chain has its eyes on Norton's fleet.
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