Chapter 340
The Ship of Desire for Freedom
Chapter 340 Wish - The Ship of Freedom
Shamrock's expression suddenly changed.
That's because his Observation Haki, enhanced by the power of the abyss, had reached its peak and told him that the changes around him were not some kind of natural phenomenon.
And
Thump! Thump! Thump!
As the drumbeats resounded, a distinct sense of disgust emanated from the power of the Yuanshi Contract on his left arm.
That is
"The Drum of Liberation!?"
Accompanied by Shamrock's exclamation.
He then saw the scene revealed in the starlight that burst forth from the darkness of the deep sea.
It was a giant ship enveloped in starlight.
That was the giant ship that had once been glimpsed briefly in a report by the World Economic News Agency.
That's the 'Easter'.
But at this moment, the Esther has changed somewhat since it first appeared in Elbaf.
Its enormous hull, formed from the 'Abyss', remains as magnificent as ever.
However, in the center of the ship, there is another small boat that seems to exist as the 'core'.
Of course, although the small boat was quite tiny compared to the enormous size of the Esther, it was undoubtedly a giant ship comparable in size to an island when viewed on the open sea.
If any other fishmen were present, they would recognize the ship that forms the core of the ship.
That was the giant ship that had existed on Fishman Island for eight hundred years, the ark 'Noah'.
At this moment.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The continuous drumbeats also came from within Noah.
Each resounding drumbeat seemed to generate some powerful force from within Noah—a force that stirred the seawater, churned the waves, and propelled the Esther upwards.
And it is precisely at this moment.
"Boom!"
Fishman Island, which had already been facing complete collapse since the beginning, began to fall rapidly downwards.
Then they were lifted up by the starlight from the giant starship below.
Meanwhile...
Fishman Island.
"This is it."
Ryugu Castle has a huge port—located at the border between Ryugu Castle and the main island of Fishman Island—called 'Sea King Port'.
At this moment, King Neptune, along with all the surviving merfolk, as well as the demon merfolk who had been knocked unconscious or forcibly controlled, were all gathered here.
Accompanying them here were giant warriors and heroic spirits summoned by Loki's abilities.
The fish-men's faces still bore the lingering fear of their ordeal.
In fact, at the very moment when Yangshu Eve died completely and the foundation of Fishman Island collapsed, they really thought they were doomed. If Fishman Island fell, the huge inertia caused by its sinking into the deep sea would likely cause the fishmen, who were not afraid of the deep sea environment, to fall into the deeper sea and die along with Fishman Island.
Neptune even considered ordering his people to flee as much as possible.
But in the end, he still chose to believe what Jabba told him.
Or to be more precise, he trusted his daughter's choice.
Fortunately, it now appears that his choice was not wrong.
The only thing he didn't expect was
"You told me to gather everyone at Neptune Port, saying a ship would come to pick us up."
He looked at Jabba: "But you didn't tell me it would be a ship like this."
He looked down at the enormous, unbelievably massive, magnificent starship that resembled a continent, his words filled with disbelief.
Even though there was no coating, the starlight seemed to serve the same purpose as a coating.
And
"Why was Noah on that ship? How was it embedded in there?"
Neptune clearly had many doubts.
But soon, his doubts were answered to some extent.
because
"Buzz!"
Neptune can see it.
The moment the falling Fishman Island touched the twinkling starlight on the Esther, the shimmering starlight spread along the island's surface.
This caused the island's foundation, which had been collapsing due to the loss of Eve's support, to stop collapsing immediately.
To Neptune's even greater surprise, the entire island was beginning to heal itself in an incredible way, and then quickly merged into the deck of the Esther.
However, a moment later, the Fishman Island that once existed here seemed to have become 'part' of the Esther.
The two events unfolded so quickly that Neptune didn't even have time to react before it was completely over.
"Don't be surprised, King Neptune—go and appease the people."
A voice came to his ear.
Neptune instinctively looked down and saw a person wearing a horse-head mask standing on the massive mast in the center of the Esther, which resembled a mountain peak.
"The Twelve Astrological Phases!?"
Along with Neptune's exclamation, Shamrock's clenched teeth and whispered.
His gaze was fixed on the figure wearing the horse-head mask: "Look at that mask, it's 'Wu Ma'. So that's it, the matter of Elbaf is indeed related to the twelve constellations."
Both what Loki had previously revealed and what he was seeing now were enough to illustrate this point.
As expected, the events in Elbaf were related to the Twelve Constellations. The giants had completely joined the ranks of the Twelve Constellations, and the Star Lord had already extracted the power of the 'Seed of Heaven'.
but
“Eve of the Sun Tree—the ‘Seed of the Sea’ has been reduced to the remains of the deep sea.”
Shamrock spoke sternly, raising the Seven Deadly Sins, which he held tightly in his hand, high above his head.
"You who have usurped God's authority deserve the same fate!"
"Hellish Music - Refined Fall - Chewed by a Thousand Dogs!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Shamrock brought his longsword down.
This time, the blade of his rapier displayed not just three dog heads—the layers upon layers of dog heads constantly converging numbered in the hundreds!
Each of their heads was brimming with immense power, and they were gnawing at the Esther below.
Shamrock was certain that this blow would be enough to destroy any island, because its power even surpassed that of the previous strike against Eve.
He wants the Esther to vanish into nothingness today, along with Eve.
But
"Buzz!"
At the same time that dog-headed slash struck the 'Ester'.
"Thump!" "Thump!" "Thump!"
Shamlock was horrified to see that, from the incredibly massive island ship, accompanied by the inexplicable drumming, the ark 'Noah' embedded in the center of the island ship was suddenly emitting light.
The light seemed to protect the Esther, instantly neutralizing Shamrock's slash.
So much so that in the end, Shamrock's attack didn't even leave the Esther with the slightest scratch.
"!!!"
Upon seeing this, Shamrock frowned.
It's from 'Ark'.
He seemed to realize what was happening at that moment.
But clearly, he didn't have time to react.
Because at this very moment
"Moo!" *N
The enormous sound that had occurred before rumbled back again.
But unlike before—this time, the roars coming from all directions were clearer and more dangerous.
Soon, within Shamrock's sight—countless enormous shadows emerged one by one in the dark depths of the sea, amidst the shifting starlight!
Each of those silhouettes was comparable to a mountain, although not all of them could match the size of the 'Ester', which was almost as large as a continent, but the largest of them was infinitely close to that size.
"Moo!"
Their cries and roars gradually awakened the seabed—the so-called seabed was originally their territory.
They were enormous, unbelievable creatures.
"Deep Sea. Sea King?"
Surrounded by beasts, Shamrock's expression changed drastically.
That's right. The colossal creatures that appeared before him along with the Esther were none other than the true rulers of the oceans of this world.
Not a pirate, not a navy officer, not even a human.
They are 'deep-sea kings'—each one is over a thousand meters long, and a single flip can destroy an island or a kingdom.
At this moment, there were more than just one or two deep-sea sea kings surrounding Shamrock and looking at him with hostile eyes.
Shamrock knew perfectly well what that meant.
All deep-sea sea monsters are the kings of the ocean, and under normal circumstances, they must each have their own territory.
There is only one force in the entire ocean that can gather them together and launch an attack against him.
"Poseidon, the Sea King!?"
Shamlock's gaze had already turned to the top of the Esther below.
Sure enough, he only noticed it then.
A beautiful merman princess with pink hair slowly swam to Wu Ma's side.
"it turns out."
Therefore, Shamrock's expression was more solemn than ever before—this meant that not only Uranus, but now even Aquaman was...
However, he didn't have time to react.
In the next instant, the countless sea kings moved.
They surged forward, and then came a relentless barrage of attacks!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The giant tail swept across, the giant head crashed down, and the giant mouth opened wide.
"Just a few sea kings"
Seeing the attacks launched by the kings of the deep sea, Shamrock grew even angrier.
Just as he was about to retaliate.
Where are you looking?!
From behind him, a roaring sound suddenly rose from the ocean currents.
"!!!"
Shamrock's pupils suddenly contracted—what had just happened was so fast that he had even overlooked a crucial point for a moment.
When he turned his head, he saw Loki laughing wildly as he shattered the ocean currents.
"Primordial World - Starfall!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the giant hammer 'Iron Thunder', accompanied by thunder and starlight, struck Shamrock directly.
At the same time, the attacks unleashed by the countless sea kings also struck Shamrock's body.
Under such an attack, even the body of the holder of the 'Abyss Servant Contract' could not be repaired in a short time—he was blasted down and headed straight for the distant deep sea below.
"Pah, that's great!"
After finally sinking Shamrock with a single blow, Loki spat out a curse.
He did not continue the pursuit, and after that attack, he decisively turned around and headed towards the Esther!
“Well done, Princess Shirahoshi.”
Wu Ma smiled and looked at Bai Xing beside him.
"No, no, it's Lord Wu Ma."
Upon hearing this, Bai Xing lowered her head somewhat shyly.
But then she couldn't help but exclaim in amazement, "It's incredible! I never imagined that you could wield the power of 'Noah' and even help me master my 'ability'."
"Thanks to you, Fishman Island is..."
Her words were full of admiration.
Wu Ma gently shook his head.
"I only did some trivial things."
As he spoke, his gaze fell upon Shirahoshi and the 'Ark' Noah, which had become one with the Esther, standing beneath his feet.
And what he said at that moment was also the truth.
In fact, his original reason for going to Noah's Ark was very simple—his original plan was simply to go there and deal with Hody Jones and Vander Decken, who were destabilizing factors on Fishman Island.
Incidentally, he also wanted to confirm whether Noah, as Joy Boy's creation, had anything special about it.
And as it turned out, his guess was correct.
[The bloodline factor creation 'Noah' has been discovered]
[It embodies the 'desire and the ship of freedom']
The fish-people firmly believe that one day their race will gain freedom, and the ark will carry them to the seas where flowers bloom, the sun shines, and the air is fresh, so they can coexist with all other races.
[Ships built with this wish can only be propelled by the power of 'Wish and Freedom,' allowing them to sail freely on the seabed and surface, and will never be destroyed by external forces.]
Yes.
The so-called 'Noah's Ark' was indeed a ship.
But at the same time, it is more than just a ship.
As mentioned before, in this world, desire is the source of power.
When enough desires and lineage factors converge, incredible creations can be born.
Devil Fruits are like that.
The same is true of Noah's Ark.
It is proof of the agreement between the fish-men and Joy Boy—the promise of that symbol of 'freedom' that one day he would lead the fish-men to the surface of the sea, to live under the sun like other races.
Thus, the ship also acquired its own 'power'.
It must be powered by the liberation drum of the Nika fruit to start, and it can never be sunk.
After learning all this, Roy decisively chose a fruit and loaded it into Wu Ma's last fruit slot.
[Fusion Fruit LV5]
It can fuse with any non-living thing, preserving its original characteristics while making it a part of itself.
With the help of this fruit, he connected Noah and the Esther together.
Combined with the massive amount of bloodline factor energy he just obtained from Yangshu Eve, he can further activate the power belonging to 'Poseidon' within Bai Xing's body.
That's how this scene came about.
The Esther no longer needed to conceal its presence and could freely appear before Shamrock.
Neptune will protect it, and the waves will raise its sails.
As Wu Ma said, while he contributed to all of this, the main reason lay in...
"It was the choice of the merfolk that created this miracle."
He recalled what the giant tree had told him not long ago and responded softly.
As he spoke, he slowly raised his hand.
His gaze no longer lingered on Shamrock—during Loki's fight with the other man, he had essentially confirmed Shamrock's identity.
The other party is Im's agent, with a contract almost equivalent to that of the original twenty kings.
That represents being of the same lineage as Im, truly 'immortal'.
Although it was shot down into the deep sea, it will certainly not die easily.
Wu Ma asked himself honestly, and he really didn't know what to do with this guy with the 'special contract'—continuing to pester him would not only be a waste of time, but would also likely give Im time to react.
That didn't fit his original 'plan'.
"The next step is more important than fighting Shamrock right now."
Upon thinking of this, Wu Ma also looked at Bai Xing.
"Then, Princess Shirahoshi—please bear witness."
"In accordance with the agreement between our leader, the Star Lord, and Eve of the Sun Tree, the Esther will carry the fish-men to the surface of the sea."
"And to announce to the world the arrival of a new era."
(End of this chapter)