Somewhere in the Grand Line...
Though the sky was crystal clear and not a single cloud could be seen, the sea below churned like a tempest. Towering waves, over ten meters high, rolled in one after another. Thunderous booms echoed relentlessly, shaking the air like distant cannon fire.
"Damn that bastard captain!"
Onboard the Chris, Oliver clung to the railing, sharp teeth bared in rage.
"If you don't understand how to use a new ability, don't mess around with it! Are you trying to kill us?!"
By the mainmast, Arlan was all but stomping his feet in fury as he hugged the mast for dear life.
"Captain, do something! We've got more than one ship this time!"
"Ahhh! We're gonna sink at this rate!"
"The captain's gonna be the death of us!"
"Someone save us, Captain!!"
"Captain, fix this before we all go down!"
Nine pirate ships rose and fell amid the roiling sea, a ragtag fleet struggling to stay afloat. Sea spray and saltwater crashed over the decks as hundreds of pirates clung to whatever they could grab, yelling and panicking in a chaotic chorus.
The source of the chaos? Aeridar's earlier "Seaquake."
Though it had indeed engulfed half the sea and obliterated a Marine reconnaissance vessel, Aeridar's grasp over his Devil Fruit powers was still far from perfect.
The aftermath was just as destructive, the massive tsunami he unleashed had triggered a premature tectonic upheaval beneath the sea.
The Chris Pirates had previously operated with just one ship. In moments , the captain and his officers could act in unison and power through almost any wave.
But now, joined by the White Mane Pirates, they were navigating with nine ships, spread out, vulnerable, and without support on the outer vessels.
All key personnel were aboard the flagship Chris. If they couldn't stabilize the situation fast, they risked losing half the fleet before they even reached their destination.
The cost would be unbearable.
At the stern, Aeridar turned his head with a snarl, shouting over the noise. Though clearly annoyed, even he looked grim, brows furrowed in deep concentration.
His earlier outburst had stemmed from being submerged for too long.
As a Devil Fruit user, the deep sea suffocated him, both physically and mentally. Straining under that pressure, he'd snapped, using the nearby Marines as an outlet. But a miscalculation had backfired spectacularly.
Despite having reached the late second stage of his Impact-Impact Fruit abilities, Aeridar had tried to mimic aspects of the legendary Tremor-Tremor Fruit, wielded by Whitebeard himself.
That recklessness triggered an unintended chain reaction, but it was a mistake he could still correct.
"So I accidentally triggered the tsunami energy buried in this sea region. Fine. Then I'll just redirect it."
He acted immediately.
Raising both arms, veins bulging like writhing dragons beneath his skin, Aeridar dropped into a low stance. With a sudden roar, he slammed both fists outward in opposite directions.
From each point of impact, fractures spread through the air like spiderwebs, thousands of jagged cracks, as though reality itself were shattering like glass. It was the sky breaking apart from force alone.
A deep tremor pulsed outward. Then the sea obeyed.
The surface surged, waves that were once ten meters suddenly ballooned to thirty or forty, rising like liquid mountains. But more importantly, their direction changed.
Instead of crashing toward the pirate fleet, the tsunamis rolled outward in all directions, radiating away as though a god of the sea had sent his army galloping across the waves.
Aeridar collapsed onto a triple-barreled turret, drenched in sweat, gasping for breath. His face had gone pale.
"Move... now... Full speed... forget the compass... just get out of this sector!"
Diverting the tsunami's force had drained more than ninety percent of his stamina and mental energy. Had his Impact-Impact Fruit not included quake-like properties, he wouldn't have managed it at all. Even burning away his life force wouldn't have sufficed.
Seeing his condition and hearing his command, Millie and Mina immediately sprang into action.
Millie climbed onto the turret and helped him down with trembling hands, while Mina sprinted across the deck to alert the crew.
"The captain's orders, set sail! Full speed ahead! We're leaving this cursed sea now! MOVE!"
Within minutes, the entire Chris Pirate Fleet was underway, nine ships surging forward at top speed to escape the wrath of the sea.
At the G1 Fortress, New World Entry Point, Marine Headquarters.
A colossal stronghold towered over the island, its entrance boldly marked with the letters "G1." Dozens of warships of all shapes and sizes lay docked in the sprawling harbor, bristling with flags and cannons, each vessel armed like a floating fortress.
"Something's wrong... This is G1, and the sea level's rising way too fast!"
The Navy observers had already noticed the anomaly, within just ten minutes, the water level had climbed several meters. That never happened here.
The island beneath G1 was one of the New World's rare stable zones. It didn't boast a tropical climate, but it also never saw typhoons or monstrous waves. Calm seas were the norm.
This kind of sudden surge? It felt like the prelude to a massive tsunami.
Thud, thud, thud, thud—!!
Footsteps pounded up the stairwell. A young officer, drenched in sweat and clad in a Justice-issue coat, burst into the top-floor office of the command tower.
"Admiral Sakazuki, sir! We've detected an abnormal rise in sea level!"
Seated behind the desk was a towering man in a red suit, his coat draped over his shoulders and marked with golden epaulets. A single rose was pinned to his chest, and beneath his Marine cap, his face was a sculpture of discipline and fire.
This was none other than Sakazuki, Admiral Akainu, one of the Marine Headquarters' three supreme powers and the embodiment of Absolute Justice.
"Calm yourself before you report, Commander. You're a Marine who upholds justice, aren't you?" Sakazuki said coldly, placing both hands on the desk with unwavering authority.
"M-my apologies, Admiral Sakazuki." The young Commander wiped the sweat from his brow, took a deep breath to steady himself, and finally began his report. "Approximately ten minutes ago, we detected a sudden and abnormal rise in sea level. If it wasn't the onset of a tsunami, then something massive must've triggered one elsewhere, its impact has already reached Fortress G1."
"A tsunami...?" Sakazuki narrowed his eyes. "Regardless of whether it's a tsunami or not, we must prepare for the worst. It's better to act and be wrong than to ignore it and suffer for it."
Having long been stationed in the New World, Sakazuki understood all too well the destructive potential of a super-tsunami.
He had seen islands swallowed whole by the sea.
With so many Marine warships currently docked at the port, any unexpected surge could lead to catastrophic losses, losses that could destabilize the hard-earned balance of the sea, which was only just beginning to settle.
No matter what, this kind of threat had to be taken seriously, even if it turned out to be a false alarm. Better safe than sorry.
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