Chapter 349: Daily Life - Underwater Current

"Alright, we did it!" Kaku said excitedly. "Hahaha, this kind of fish, aside from its delicious meat, even the bones can be used as valuable medicinal ingredients. We can sell the fish bones, and the money will buy us a lot of supplies."

"Do we really need money?" Enel said dismissively. "We still have a lot left from what we got from Germa, right?"

"You can't think that way. Money is something that gets used up eventually," Kaku said as if it was common sense. "We can't just keep spending without making more, or we'll end up broke and eating grass. Do you want that?"

Enel's mouth twitched, then he waved dismissively. "Whatever, as long as I get to eat meat. If this fish isn't as good as you said, you're getting a beating."

"Hahaha," Kaku laughed. "Don't worry, I won't mess around when it comes to food."

Because of the added weight of the deep-sea fish, the ship's ascent had slowed down considerably.

Just as Kaku finished speaking, the ship suddenly began to shake violently.

The ship, which had been rising steadily, started to drift towards the left side.

"Huh? What's going on?" Enel rushed to the left side of the deck. When he saw the long, twisting, white current in the distance, his eyes widened. "What is that?"

Kaku followed him, and when he saw the current, a flicker of surprise appeared in his eyes. "That's a Underwater Current?"

Enel looked confused. "A Underwater Current? What's that?"

Kaku frowned slightly and explained, "It's a massive white whirlpool current that looks like a dragon under the sea. If you get caught in it, you might end up in some random sea, or if you're unlucky, your ship could be destroyed, and everyone could die."

"Whoa, that dangerous?" Enel's mouth twitched as he looked back at the Underwater Current.

The ship wasn't supposed to be drifting towards that current, and the reason it was being pulled was the deep-sea fish they had caught.

Seeing the fish getting closer and closer to the Underwater Current, both Kaku and Enel knew that cutting the rope holding the fish would solve the crisis. But if they did, they wouldn't get to eat the rare fish...

"What's going on?" Takumi suddenly appeared at the cabin door, his voice full of displeasure.

Kaku looked back at Takumi, then pointed at the deep-sea fish and hesitated. "We ran into the Underwater Current. We could get away easily if we let go of the deep-sea fish we caught, but it's really rare to find one of these. It would be a shame to let it go..."

Takumi glanced at the fish and asked in a flat tone, "Is the fish good to eat?"

Kaku nodded. "It's delicious, and its nutritional value is five times that of beef!"

After a moment of silence, Takumi said, "Pull it in!"

"Roger that," Kaku grinned, and exchanged a glance with Enel. The two of them began to pull the rope attached to the fish.

With their combined effort, the fish slowly started moving away from the Underwater Current.

Just as they thought they were about to succeed, the Underwater Current suddenly twisted towards the ship.

"Huh? No way," Enel's eyes widened.

Kaku was also stunned.

Before Takumi could even react, the Underwater Current swallowed the deep-sea fish along with the ship.

When Fukaboshi and his brothers arrived, they saw Takumi's ship being consumed by the Underwater Current.

"Oh no," Ryuboshi said, his face turning pale. "How did they end up running into a Underwater Current? Are they going to die?"

"No, they won't die," Fukaboshi shook his head. "Madam Shyarly's predictions never fail. Since they are destined to be with us on the surface someday, they can't possibly meet their end here."

"What should we do now?" Manboshi asked worriedly. "If Shirahoshi finds out, she'll be really worried."

Fukaboshi sighed. "Let's go back and report to Father first. We'll keep it from Shirahoshi for now..."

On the other side...

The ship, caught in the Underwater Current, was tossed around as it spun violently along the current.

Takumi, Kaku, and Enel quickly grabbed onto whatever they could find nearby to keep from being thrown off.

Enel screamed the whole way.

Kaku laughed the whole way.

Takumi's expression darkened. At first, the feeling of being thrown around like a giant pendulum was unpleasant, but he eventually got used to it.

After being tossed around for dozens of minutes, the ship was finally thrown out of the Underwater Current.

However, they weren't on the surface yet—the ship was still drifting underwater.

"Hahaha, that was thrilling!" Kaku said, still excited.

Enel, pale-faced, snapped, "You must be some kind of masochist, Long Nose!"

Takumi glanced at the chaotic mess inside the cabin. He felt a pang of heartache when he saw the shattered wine bottles on the floor...

And the deep-sea fish Enel and Kaku had caught was still hanging from the back of the ship.

After a moment of silence, Takumi looked at the pleased Kaku, his voice cold. "If that fish isn't good, you're getting a beating!"

"Huh?" Kaku was stunned.

An hour later, with the help of the floating wood, the ship finally surfaced. The bubble surrounding the ship burst as soon as they emerged from the water.

Bathing in the bright morning sunlight, even though it was just past ten o'clock, Takumi already felt like taking a nap...

"Is this the New World?" Enel looked around at the seemingly calm sea, feeling bored. "Doesn't look much different from any other sea."

"No, you're wrong," Kaku said with a smirk. "The New World is much harder to navigate than the Grand Line. What you're seeing now is just an illusion of calm."

"An illusion?" Enel was puzzled.

Suddenly, a dark cloud appeared above the ship.

Before Enel could even express his surprise, lightning began flashing within the cloud.

Bolts of lightning rained down on the ship, striking the sea around them.

"Trying to show off with lightning in front of me? Foolish," Enel scoffed, easily absorbing the lightning.

But as soon as he finished, huge chunks of hail began falling from the dark cloud above...

The hail rained down indiscriminately, striking the ship.

"Uh, what is going on?" Enel looked bewildered.

Kaku shouted, "What are you standing around for? Start the ship!"

Enel quickly snapped out of it and used his powers to move the ship away from the stormy area.

Kaku drew his demon blade, Evil Spirit, and used his Tempest Kick technique to shatter some of the incoming hailstones that threatened to hit the ship.

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