章 432: More than "just" a whale
It was decided that the Polar Tang would stay on the surface until they escaped. The whale would have a much greater advantage if they were submerged.
The Heart pirates took turns keeping watch from outside, and Zoro had elected to remain out there as well until the situation had passed. He knew that he wouldn't be able to do much good on the inside of the ship anyways.
To be honest, only the weaker and more easily frightened members of the two crews were actually that worried. Zoro, Law, and the two adult samurai possessed enough power individually to fight one on one with any sea king and this whale was purportedly not one.
The primary issue was protecting the submarine, and that was hardly an uncommon occurrence on the Grand Line.
All in all, they didn't take Baha's warning any more seriously than any other sea king attack.
A grave mistake.
"Captain! We have contact!" the sonar operator cried out.
"From which direction?" Law asked calmly.
"From directly below us!" the man shouted in answer.
"That isn't good…" Law raced up to the top deck.
It coming from directly beneath them was the worst possible direction it could come from. That meant the submarine itself would get in between the defenders and their adversary.
The only way to fend off an attack from directly beneath the ship was to jump into the water and go there. Sadly, Zoro was the only viable option for this scenario besides Franky, but the latter had to conserve his fuel until the other half of the Straw Hats met back up with them, as Wano wouldn't be able to resupply him with cola. The rest of their powerhouses were devil fruit users and as such quite incapable of swimming.
Well, Robin could swim now since Cherry taught her the body puppeteering technique, but she found it pretty much impossible to puppet any significant number of limbs that she bloomed with her devil fruit whilst she was underwater.
"Zoro-ya!" Law burst into the top deck.
"I know," Zoro was already leaping into the water.
Law didn't need to ask how Zoro knew the whale was coming. Even now, they could both feel the impending attack with their observation haki.
It was almost hard to believe that the whale wasn't purposefully advertising its attack with how intense it was.
"Shame, that…" Baha said, still tending to his pipe.
"What is?" Law asked.
"Fer such a young man to die…" Baha spoke as he blew out a smoke ring, seemingly unperturbed by the imminent threat by the very animal that killed two of his crews and took his leg for good measure.
Zoro swam quickly beneath the submarine, holding one drawn sword in his teeth and the other two still sheathed on his waist. He knew that he didn't have much time, as the beast was unnaturally fast for its size.
He had a shorter distance to go, however, so he managed to get in place just in time. He drew his other two blades and prepared to intercept the great white whale with all his might.
Pushing aside the errant thought that he'd have to treat his swords later after this exposure to seawater, he felt the whale's intent sharpen just as it started to come into Zoro's view.
Zoro reared back and swung down with enough strength and haki to split the beast in half.
*SWOOSH*
At the last second, the whale changed direction. Zoro's strike only glanced along its side, then the whale whipped him with its massive tail as if it was unaffected by water resistance.
The unexpected and fierce counterattack left Zoro unable to dodge. The blow knocked half the air out of his lungs before he could stop it and his was launched a few hundred meters away from the submarine.
Zoro shook off his dizziness and took stock of his situation. Fortunately, he still had his swords in hand and mouth, as any swordsman worth his salt would keep his weapons in a deathgrip unless he was soundly defeated.
A wall of white swam up beside him with an eerie swiftness. A gigantic black eye stopped as it became level with him.
In that inky black abyss, Zoro found no compassion and endless malice. He understood then why the old man seemed to hate the whale, as the whale seemed to hold all of humankind in utter contempt.
*CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK*
Zoro almost let go of his swords as his hands came up to clasp over his ears. The clicking sound that emanated from the whale was louder than anything that Zoro had ever heard. Louder than anything he could ever have imagined.
The sound shook him to his core. He could feel his innards vibrate in time with each click, his body offering no more resistance than the water around him did.
Zoro thought he saw a bright flash before his body was sent careening again, thankfully this time by a powerful current. Soon after, he felt a hand grab him by the sash and he was dragged back to the submarine.
Zoro sputtered and gagged as he was plopped down onto the top deck of the Polar Tang. Soon he noticed that the water dripping from his head was mixed with blood.
"Zoro-ya, I need to check you over," Law said.
"What about the whale?" Zoro groaned.
"Gone for now, but don't worry about that. You got hit point blank by the whale's sonar, which is apparently many times louder than my ship's sonar. Thankfully it only came in short clicks rather than a sustained blast, or you would be talking to me right now," Law spoke seriously as he hoisted Zoro up onto a stretcher.
"I can walk just fine," Zoro complained.
"Maybe, but you won't be doing anything of the sort until I have a look at your insides," Law left no room for argument.
Zoro muttered and grumbled curses, but he knew better than to argue with a doctor after his dealing with Chopper. That little reindeer could be more stubborn than anyone else on the crew when he wanted to be.
"Color me surprised; he actually survived," Baha commented, eyebrows raised as he watched Zoro get carted off.
"Zoro is tougher than he looks," Usopp said with a defiant look.
"He looks pretty tough as it is, but he survived so I guess I have to give it to 'im," Baha agreed.
"Wish I had one of them flashy doohickeys when I was huntin' the big bastard," Baha said, turning to look at Franky. "Gave 'im a scare, you did. He'll be back, though."
"And we'll be SUPER ready!" Franky declared loud enough that the people left on the deck wondered if he had sonar too. "For the record, I DO have sonar!"
"It seems that we underestimated the whale," Robin said.
"I knew ye all would. Me huntin' crew didn't take 'im seriously either, until he brought that big tail of his crashin' down on top of 'em and turned most of the ship into splinters," Baha took a puff on his pipe. "Yer lucky. Ye've learned yer lesson and lived to tell the tale."
Baha blew a smoke ring, then a smaller smoke ring through the first. "If we don't all die anyways, that is."
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