Chapter 112: Hunt
Chapter 112: Hunt
Thankfully, Dis knew to hide from anyone not in-the-know that they brought aboard ship, and Jinbe was as good as his word in remaining silent about her presence or the specifics of the ship. Equally fortunately, Kuina had kept the ship ready for a quick departure, just in case something went wrong with negotiations. The result was that they were undocked and out into the Deep Sea less than twenty minutes after leaving Hard-Shell Tower.
Jinbe was once again at the helm as they cut through the dark of the Deep Sea, with Kaya next to him guiding the path with half-lidded eyes. Luffy himself stuck with their other two guests in the form of Hancock and Fukaboshi. He was pleased Hancock hadn’t insisted on bringing her sisters, or the Prince any of his guards. He likely would have allowed it, but he wasn’t exactly eager to have more strangers aboard the Discovery than required. Their ship had a few too many secrets to ever be pleased about that idea.
“So, Fukaboshi, what can you tell us about this Vander Decken? Other than the fact he’s a fishman with a ship and the Mark-Mark Fruit.”
Fukaboshi turned from staring out at the black of the sea at the question, considered carefully for a moment, then nodded.
“The first thing to know, I suppose, is that Vander Decken IX is a Bullhead Shark Fishman with a slightly unusual mutation, having four legs. This makes him fairly easy to identify, even if you’ve never seen him before. Some theorize the mutation is the result of him being the eighth descendent of the original Vander Decken. It isn’t commonly known, but Fishman and humans can have children together, as happened with his ancestor. It happens so rarely that some people assume his mutation is a long-term result of that fact.”
Luffy blinked, and even Hancock stopped staring out at the sea to glance at the Prince in surprise. Luff did remember the story of the Flying Dutchman, but had to admit to himself that he hadn’t quite put two and two together. He actually had known that there were ‘hybrids’ of various types. Yet, he was also aware that, with the exclusion of merfolk where it was a straight 50/50 chance, it was more typical for hybrids with fishmen to resemble the other race involved. A giant and a Fishman would produce a Giant with some mild Fishman characteristics, a human and a Fishman a human with one or two extra features, etc. Of course, if the second Vander Decken had a child with another Fishman…then that happened seven more times to get to the ninth, what would the effects be? Could that result in weird mutations? He shook the curious train of thought off as Fukaboshi continued.
“Onto his personal strength next, I suppose. As you know, fishmen average around ten times stronger than humans, a characteristic shared with merfolk, though we tend to be built more for speed than raw power. In both cases, it is assumed to be the result of developing in the Deep Sea. We must be that strong to survive the pressure down here, after all. Regardless, what you might not know is that the ‘average’ is just that. An average. Some types of fishmen are significantly stronger, including virtually all Shark-lineage fishmen.”
That did explain the difference between Arlong and his subordinates. Luffy had never really considered it too carefully, but Arlong had been head and shoulders above his crew. For that matter, Jinbe was another Shark-type, though Fisher-Tiger hadn’t been. Given how wildly different humans in this reality could be, strength-wise, Luffy hadn’t put much thought into it. But it would make a certain amount of sense if the likes of Jinbe and Arlong, at least, had started with a stronger baseline. Fisher-Tiger was, conversely, likely the Fishman equivalent of someone like Garp, who became monstrously strong without that advantage.
“Add in Decken’s long experience as a pirate, and you can expect him to be personally formidable. That said, he has a unique vulnerability for a fishman, since he’s eaten a Devil Fruit. This means he can’t swim, though he can still breathe underwater, and can use a Flutter Kick Coating to move about in the water. From what little we’ve been able to learn about him, his ship, the Flying Dutchman, has a single coated deck as well. This deck is for him to move around in, and one way to defeat him would be to collapse the bubble there when he’s not expecting it. Though the fact most of you are human means doing so at this depth would result in only I and Jinbe being able to go in after him. The rest of you would be crushed unless you use your own coatings…and many of you have Devil Fruits of your own, besides.”
Luffy grimaced at that last bit. He would function at about eighty percent these days even underwater, though if he could handle the pressure was another matter entirely. After him, the closest to overcoming the water weakness of their Devil Fruits was Nojiko. She’d been working at it the longest, aside from himself, and could operate roughly sixty percent functionality fully submerged. The rest of the crew’s Devil Fruit users varied wildly. Brook and Perona were the low end, having barely gotten a handle on it at all with less than twenty percent functionality. Kaya was the other high end, having managed almost fifty percent due to her talent for all things spiritual helping things along.
Thankfully, they weren’t entirely screwed down here in the water. They did have access to Flutter Kick coatings, even if those were always at risk of popping. Better yet Kuina, Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji were unaffected aside from the pressure, having been given emergency bubble devices to provide air helmets. Pagaya was even better news, as they had taken the time to test his armor at Deep Sea pressure on the way down to Fishman Island and it could handle it. Something that had impressed both Luffy and Jinbe. They were certainly reduced in effectiveness down here, but they were far from helpless.
“Beyond Decken are his crew. Most are of middling strength for fishman…but there are two standouts. The more dangerous is ‘Monk’ Wadatsumi, a giant tiger blowfish fishman. In some ways, he’s more dangerous than his Captain. His immense size makes him extremely powerful, being easily able to tow the Flying Dutchman, throw ships and buildings alike like toys…and most likely pop the Discovery’s bubble fairly easily if he’s of a mind to do so.”
Yikes. Okay, that was a potential problem, yes. Though less of one for them than most. Luffy had made sure that everyone had emergency bubbles in case of pressure loss, and the Discovery could reestablish a coating if given enough time. He’d also ordered Dis to seal off a few rooms full of air with Adam Wood and additional bubble coatings. If they lost the coating, the crew who couldn’t handle the pressure could retreat there, so long as they saw it coming.
“The other isn’t really a crewmember, so much as a tamed giant anglerfish that they use to help move the Flying Dutchman around. Named Ankoro, it should only be a problem if it manages to ambush the ship and gnaw the bubble into popping. Your coating is of very good quality, so it won’t pop easily, even to Ankora’s teeth.”
Luffy immediately dismissed that threat, even as he was sure Hancock was doing the same. With as many Observation users as they had onboard, it was incredibly unlikely they would be ambushed successfully. Which, speaking of that…he focused on his Observation and nodded.
“The range is still extreme, but I’m picking up people. Kaya, any idea of the range? I’m not used to how the water affects my range yet.”
He glanced back at her to see her shake her head.
“Sorry, Captain. The ‘thread’ doesn’t get any stronger closer to the ends, and I don’t think I can use my own Observation at the same time as I’m doing this. Not yet, anyway.”
Luffy nodded, waving off her apology.
“In that case, get ready for a fight everyone. Pagaya, get into your armor. I think you’re going to be our biggest surprise asset here, since you can operate in the depths easily.”
The older man nodded seriously, and immediately began doing so, with Nojiko helping him. His Crytal Armor had been brought out on deck earlier, and it only took him twenty seconds or so to get sealed in with Nojiko’s help. Hancock, who was looking a bit surprised that Luffy had apparently outranged her in Observation, sharpened with an intent expression right about the time Pagaya was properly suited up. She spoke up with a sharp nod.
“I can sense them faintly now. At least the two that must be the Monk and pet anglerfish. Roughly another kilometer and a half out, perhaps a bit more. I’ve visited Fishman island often enough to have a feel for the ranges down here.”
Okay, Luffy could admit he was impressed. While most of the others simply perked up and started making their own preparations, he made it a point to note that Hancock’s Color of Observation might actually be better than his own. He knew his Devil Fruit boosted his range at least a little, with only Kaya’s natural sensitivity ever having been able to sense as far. For Hancock to pick them up barely half a minute after he had, she was very good. Any idiot that thought she became a Warlord purely on the back of her Devil Fruit clearly needed a reality check.
“They are going to see us coming. The Discovery’s lights are too potent to pretend otherwise.”
Despite the warning, Jinbe didn’t move to dim those lights from the controls next to him. A good call as far as Luffy was concerned. Even if Decken tried to run, which Luffy didn’t think was likely without knowing who he was up against, the Discovery could almost certainly outpace his ship. As such, being able to see their enemy was more important than stealth. A few moments after Jinbe’s warning there was abrupt movement and agitation among the group he was sensing, making Luffy speak up.
“They’ve spotted us. Less than a minute until we’re on top of them. Slow us Jinbe or we’ll overshoot.”
Jinbe didn’t respond verbally, instead outright reversing the engines. Given Luffy estimated it would caused them to come to a stop within less than a dozen meters of the enemy, he must have been able to sense them now too. That was all he had time to think, however, before the largest enemy was moving straight for them. It took only a few seconds for Wadatsumi to appear within their pool of light, a confused expression on his giant face. Before he could say anything, the Prince did.
“Wadatsumi of the Flying Pirates! You and your Captain are under arrest for attempts on Princess Shirahoshi’s life! Surrender yourself quietly!”
The giant Fishman, who did sort of look like a Monk, blinked dumbly.
“Waaa? No! You foolish! Me squish!”
Wadatsumi punched out…and found Jinbe already in front of his fist.
A shockwave from Jinbe’s blow knocked the Monk backward several staggering steps, even as more Flying Pirates began to swarm out of the ship just barely visible in the gloom behind him. Luffy was about to used a burst of Conqueror’s to take care of the chaff, only for Hancock to pose and somehow draw every eye to her? Even he was affected for a brief moment, before whatever she’d done slipped off his gathered Haki. The Fishmen weren’t so lucky as she winked at them, then fired a wide beam that swept across them, turning every last one of them to stone.
Shaking his head, Luffy redirected his gathered Haki to armament just in time to catch a massive flying battleaxe as it pushed through the bubble and tried to slam into the pilot house. He caught it easily, flexing his fingers to shatter it with next to no effort. All eyes turned to an angry looking Fishman, using a fully-coverage coating to move around in the water, and matching the description of Captain Decken.
“Who dares?! I’ll kill all of you for interrupting my writing a new poem for my fiancé!”
Wadatsumi had recovered easily and was engaged with Jinbe for the moment, but Fukaboshi had shot out after Decken the moment he appeared, face twisted in a snarl. Decken wasn’t a push over, though, and saw him coming. He pushed sideways in the water…then ignored the Prince as he was sideswiped by their pet giant anglerfish zooming in out of the darkness. Fukaboshi appeared to be fine, accounting well for himself against the sea beast, but it did meant that the two locals that could go out there without bubble coverage were tied up. Luffy honestly suspected his Hybrid form could take the pressure and debated internally for a moment if it was worth revealing his ability to mostly function in water…when Pagaya preempted him.
His Crystaline Power Armor dove out through their bubble and into the water, multiple dials activating to provide propulsion, and Luffy decided to wait and see. Pagaya had spent a lot of time and resources on his armor but had, so far, not really engaged in any true fighting with it. Plenty of sparring had proven it was extremely capable, but that wasn’t the same thing as seeing it in a real battle. Luffy drew his revolver and charged the internal rails. He’d already loaded it with a solid tungsten slug he suspected could handle not instantly disintegrating in water, so he kept the charged shot on target in case he needed to intervene.
Pagaya’s armor had changed quite a bit from the base model they’d first seen in the Crystal City. Instead of a uniform glowing blue which had been hyper focused on channeling lightning energy as a way to counter Enel, Pagaya had taken full advantage of having Luffy and Nojiko around. His version of the power armor used that same glowing blue crystal as a power core and threaded energy relays, but placed additional advanced alloys of metals Luffy had provided to more heavily armor his suit. Numerous small dials had been included to allow it to super jump, absorb impacts, and emit various types of elemental attacks. That last he did now, releasing super-heated plasma he’d extracted from Luffy’s lightning and stored in a Dial on the shaft of the lance he was using as a main weapon. It flowed off the tip, focused by carefully grown crystals that…frankly produced what might as well be a lightsaber blade a good half meter long.
Yes, Luffy was absolutely jealous. Why do you ask?
Frankly, it looked both terrifying and badass, the former of which Vander Decken clearly agreed with as he took one look at it and bolted. He might not be able to touch the water directly without being weakened, but the full-body Flutter Kick Coating Decken was using allowed him to swim almost as fast as a normal fishman would have without it. Pagaya charged in pursuit, but the Captain of the Flying Pirates proved he hadn’t just been running away as he kicked a piece of jagged rock on the seafloor, grabbing up a massive piece of stone and swinging for the fences as Pagaya zoomed in.
Against most opponents in the water, that might have worked.
Against Pagaya, who was well used to three-dimensional movement from Sky Combat, it did jack shit as the old man barrel rolled over the top of the chunk of stone. Closing with Decken, he shot something from the palm of his free hand. A wave of force from a Dial, maybe? Whatever it was, it hit Decken and sent him slamming into the seafloor, where he barely rolled out of the way of Pagaya’s spear as it flashed forward and stabbed deep into the rock where the pirate had just been. Decken slapped Pagaya’s armor with one hand, making Luffy’s eyes narrow as he realized the pirate had likely just ‘Marked’ Pagaya. Sure enough, as he scrambled free, he began throwing everything from weapons to bits of coral at Pagaya, whose attempts to dodge them failed when the bits and pieces just curved back to follow him.
Luffy hummed, watching with interest as Pagaya’s armor shifted from glowing blue to glowing purple, and the impact force of everything that struck him just seemed to vanish. There was likely an upper limit to that trick, probably when whatever impact or similar Dial it was connecting the force to was overfilled, but in the moment it worked to rob the debris hitting him of any force. That seemed to take the pirate captain off guard, and he wasn’t given a chance to recover as Pagaya’s speed doubled for a brief moment, bubbles surging from places around his armor as it used it’s Dials for thrust. In that instant, the older man sliced through the bubble Vander Decken was using to protect him from the water…
Whatever it was Pagaya’s spear was charged with, it was enough to completely pop that bubble from that slice, which rapidly rendered the pirate helpless as the water came into contact with him. The weakness of water didn’t stop automatic functions, so a Fishman like Decken wasn’t in danger of drowning, but he was still rendered helpless. Popping seastone cuffs from a compartment on his armor, Pagaya quickly secured the man and began towing him back toward the ship. A quick glance at the other two ongoing fights showed what Luffy had already been aware of from his Observation. Jinbe had rather firmly ended his fight with the Monk and seemed to be lecturing him, while Prince Fukaboshi had outright slain the giant anglerfish.
His own crew looked…mostly disappointed, honestly. Though he noted the intrigue on the face of Hancock as she eyed Pagaya’s armor. Well, the disappointment was fair enough. Luffy hadn’t expected a serious fight, really, but having the whole fight handled by just four people, only one of them even from their crew, was a bit disappointing. Honestly Hancock disabling the bulk of the pirates in one move sort of made the whole thing a bit anti-climactic. Sighing, he gestured to the statues she’d made of the Fishmen and directed his crew, ignoring Decken for a moment as Pagaya shoved him into the bubble.
“Grab the statutes. As much as I wouldn’t mind just leaving them, considering they worked for this pedophile, we really should let King Neptune render judgment. We are allies operating in his territory at the moment, after all.”
Hancock frowned for a moment at that, then nodded. She likely wasn’t used to anyone else having any say over whether she turned her victims back or not. Thankfully, she seemed to recognize the truth of what he’d just said. She was in the waters of another ruler, one which she was actively allied with, and had effectively ‘captured’ pirates within that ruler’s territory. Not handing them over for local judgement would be something of an insult to their ally. Personally, Luffy had subtly pushed that angle in case there were any among the group that didn’t quite deserve permanently being turned to stone…or shattered as a couple of unfortunate statues already had been due to the other fights sending debris their way.
Now all that was left was waiting for his crew to gather up the statues, and for Jinbe to finish admonishing Wadatsumi…which seemed to be working? Luffy wasn’t sure what was going on with that, but assumed Jinbe had good reason for taking that approach. Well, whatever, as soon as everyone was gathered, they would return to the King and let him render his verdict…
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A/N 1: The fighting might not have been overly impressive...which is because I went back over the entire Fishman Island arc in the manga to get a feel for Vader Dickface's power level and...wasn't impressed. He's more serious nuisance than serious threat to them at this point. Which is why I took the chance to FINALLY show Pagaya actually fighting for once. It's never quite worked out for him to do so, since he's not one to put himself forward for it and the ship almost always needs a minder. I like the results, I think, even if the fight was pretty short.