Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Lost in the fog
Noir was startled and tried to change direction, but the fog, like a conscious beast, quickly engulfed his ship.
The surroundings turned into a white expanse. Noir hit his head in frustration; he had been too careless.
He thought that with Nami's god-level navigational skills, everything would be fine. But the sudden fog gave him a harsh reality check.
"This fog doesn't seem to be naturally formed," he thought. Having learned the basics of navigation from Nami, Noir knew a little about the sea.
In this thick fog, the currents seemed to follow a strange pattern. His compass was useless, its needle spinning wildly.
What worried Noir even more was that this fog, like a sticky substance, not only obscured his vision, but also dulled his heightened sense of the weather.
With his navigational skills sealed, Noir was helpless and could only rely on his haki to sense the environment.
There was indeed some activity, but it wasn't on the surface - it was underwater.
Boom!
A surge of power came from the sea, sending huge waves into the sky and lifting Noir's ship into the air.
Two ferocious sea beasts rode the waves, opening their bloody mouths to bite the ship from both sides.
Grabbing the railing, Noir fearlessly lunged at one of the beasts.
Drawing his Pure Heart Sword, he leaped over the sea beast, raised his blade, and slashed down with fierce sword energy.
A huge gush of blood erupted from the beast's head, and it roared in pain. Using its head as a springboard, Noir propelled himself toward the other beast.
"Let's test Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu's moves on you!"
With his black eyes gleaming, Noir swung his waist and feet in the air, grabbed his Pure Heart Sword backwards, and slashed at the beast's head.
"Ryūtsuisen!"
A terrifying sword light flashed, and the violent slash nearly pierced the sea beast's entire body.
Both beasts were badly injured and fell back into the sea. Noir gracefully landed on the deck, sheathing his sword.
As the blood spread over the water, Noir could feel more sea beasts being drawn to him through his haki.
"Damn," Noir muttered, staring at the sea below. It would be nice to have a crew to fight these beasts with him.
Instead, he was on his own, busy to the point of exhaustion.
A group of sea creatures, attracted by the blood, swam towards the ship. Just as Noir prepared to face them again, a clear whistle suddenly echoed through the dense fog.
As if responding to a command, the sea creatures immediately left Noir's ship and swam toward the source of the whistle.
Noir was stunned. Were the sea creatures so organized?
He decided to follow the beasts to find the source of the whistle. Whoever controlled the sea beasts could help him escape the fog.
But Noir overestimated the speed of his ship. The sea beasts swam frantically, and he soon lost them.
It wasn't a big deal, though. He was close enough to sense several figures in the distance with his haki.
There were many of them, and one of them had a particularly strong aura, though not as strong as Noir's, indicating a formidable fighter from East Blue.
Interestingly, their ship seemed to have been destroyed and all of them were in the water.
Suddenly, someone riding on something quickly approached Noir.
A man dressed like a native, riding a dolphin-like sea beast, raced towards him like a speedboat.
"Die, outsider!" The native, his face painted with red stripes, spoke in a savage tone.
He held a spear in his hand, and with the help of the sea beast, he swiftly climbed onto Noir's ship, aiming for Noir's head.
The barbarian's sudden attack infuriated Noir.
Did he think he could kill him so easily?
Noir scornfully caught the spear with his bare hands and crushed the shaft with a quick squeeze.
After destroying the weapon, he kicked the native in the face, causing his nose to bleed instantly.
"Damn!" The man knocked down by Noir lunged at him again, trying to strangle him with his hands.
Angered by this tactic, Noir activated his Devil Fruit ability.
His form grew larger, his grotesque bear face exuding a strong sense of intimidation. He grabbed the man with his massive bear paw.
Seeing Noir turn into a bear, the man's face showed fear as he shouted, "A bear?! You're a devil!"
Noir grinned and said, "A devil? You try to kill me without a word and call me a devil?"
With a powerful squeeze, a crunching sound was heard and the native howled in pain.
Nearly crushing the man, Noir threw him back into the sea, where his fanged, red-spotted, dolphin-like sea beast quickly rescued him.
As he fled, the man shouted, "Wait, outsider! Red Leaf Island will be your grave!"
Noir watched him disappear and sneered, "Don't worry, I'll find you soon!"
As he approached the group of humans, Noir could hear the sounds of battle. Were they fighting the natives as well?
As his ship drew closer, Noir finally saw the people in the water through the thick fog.
A group of humans riding red-spotted sea beasts held spears in their hands, eyeing their enemies like prey.
Four people were swimming in the water, near the wreckage of a ship that had probably been destroyed by the sea beasts.
Despite the ship's condition, Noir recognized it as a pirate vessel by the skull flag floating in the sea.
Among the natives was the man Noir had chased away. He whispered something to a leader-like figure who then became angry.
Ignoring the natives, who looked like clowns, Noir curiously examined the four pirates in the water.
A small crew of pirates, not new, but like Red-Haired's, each a tough character.
Among the four, the face of a young man caught Noir's attention.
Noir stared at him and murmured, "That face... those freckles, they look so familiar..."
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