To Fish-Man Island

After the end if the Summit War of Marineford, the aftermath was cataclysmic, and the world reacted in different ways to Whitebeard's death. There are those who celebrated the legend's last words that claims that the One Piece is real, and there are those who were happy that Whitebeard is finally dead.

Many of the emperor's previous territories in the New World became the target of pirates, and much like his old rival Gol D. Roger, his death brought forth a new wave of pirates that aspires to travel the Grand Line and find the One Piece.

His death marked the start of the "New Age" where the new generation are the ones who will take the lead of the new era and bring change to the world in the future, and the ones at the spotlight as of this moment is the 'Worst Generation'.

The 'Worst Generation', a term referring to the fourteen infamous pirates who emerged immediately before the beginning of the Summit War of Marineford.

They consist of the twelve super rookies in addition to the previous Warlord Crocodile who were present at the Sabaody Archipelago just before the war, and then Blackbeard, who gained the title following his victory over Ace during the Duel on Banaro Island.

They are notorious for the bold actions they committed against the World Government and have bounties of over 100,000,000 Berries. There are even some who believe that one of the members will become the next Pirate King.

Sometime later…

Once the war was over, Kai led the crew back to Sabaody Archipelago for the last time in order to coat the Victoria Punk and set sail to the New World.

Kureha was worried about Chopper's well-being during that time, but Kai assured her that if the Straw Hats were dead the world government would not hesitate to declare it and take credit.

Kai visited Shakky's bar again and met Rayleigh who told him to move the ship to Grove 42 and wait for his arrival, and after waiting for a while Rayleigh finally showed up.

He was carrying several tools with him, most likely related to the ship's coating procedure, including oversized paint brushes "Nice ship you got there!…" He addressed Kai who was standing at the edge of the deck and leaning on the rail.

"Thanks"

Kid who just emerged from the cabin approached Kai and curiously glanced at the figure that was going to work on the ship's coating. When he saw Rayleigh, his eyes widened and surprised and he quickly turned towards his brother with a shocked face "The fuck?!!...Dark King Rayleigh was the one you hired to do our ship's coating?!! Why didn't you say anything about that?!!"

"I didn't think it was that important to mention" Kai casually replied.

"What the hell do you mean by 'not that important'?!...a living legend is working on the ship, and you think it's not important?!"

"Sorry for keeping you guys waiting…" Rayleigh approached the Victoria Punk with a smile "I didn't think you were a fan of me, Eustass 'Captain' Kid, that's you right?" he jokingly said.

Kid snorted, raising an eyebrow "Who the hell is your fan? I just respect what you and your captain achieved" Kid said with serious expressions.

"Oh, I see…"

"Don't pay attention to this idiot and just do your thing" Kai said.

"I have some business to attend to later, so I'll quickly finish your ship's coating" He stated while putting down the tools he was carrying before he started examining the ship closely.

"I don't care, as long as you don't fuck up the coating because of that, I don't wanna die halfway to Fish-Man Island" Kai said.

Rayleigh chuckled at Kai's words before replied "Hahahaha! Rest assured, I'm the best mechanic in the whole of Archipelago, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that…you can bet your life on me when it comes to this job"

"Betting is not my thing, but I'll take the words of 'Dark King' Rayleigh for granted" Kai said before he jumped off the ship and landed beside him "How long would it take to get it done?"

"Hmm…" Rayleigh stroke his chin while estimating the time it would take for him to finish the job "Considering the ship size…I say three days" he stated, raising three fingers.

"Good, then I will leave the Victoria Punk in your hands"

Everyone left afterwards and went to search for a place to stay at for the next few days. Though, Kureha stayed behind to take care of the injured Wyper and Killer.

…

Three Days Later,

Nothing major happened during the time that the ship was getting coated, and the crew also tried to stay low until they enter the New World since attracting attention will be the worst thing to do after the events that happened in the island a few days ago.

The crew also bought the supplies and necessary things that they need for the journey.

Currently everyone was gathered near the Victoria Punk, ready to leave the Sabaody any moment.

"Wow!! It looks so cool!" Bonney exclaimed in excitement while looking at the coating surrounding the ship like a bubble-like membrane "So this is how we sail under water. I can't wait to see Fish-Man Island!"

"Hey Heat, I heard there are beautiful mermaids living down there" Wire said, getting excited from that thought.

Heat shared his excitement hearing the word mermaid "For real! I can't wait to see them, may be I could get myself a mermaid wife…what about you Killer?!" Heat asked, turning to Killer who became a little better after resting the past few days, unlike Wyper who still hasn't awakened yet.

Killer's upper body was swathed in bandages. He grinned from behind his mask, observing Heat and Wire's enthusiasm. They had always been the carefree jokers of the group since childhood "Faffaffaffa! You two never change"

"Not bad old man, I guess you can do more than just fighting" Kid commented while looking at the ship with satisfaction.

"I'm glad that you're satisfied" Rayleigh responded before turning to the two red haired captains "Are you ready to go under water? The journey to Fish-Man Island is known to be notoriously difficult, only a few ships manage to survive" He stated with a serious face.

Kai grinned before he answered "It's not about being ready or not, but we have to do it. If we can't survive this little journey, then we never had what it takes to become the crew who will travel the entire Grand Line and find the One Piece…but I'm very confident that I will make it there, so I'm not worried at all"

"I see…you're a dreamer"

"Like I always say, a good dream is better than a shitty reality…Anyway, thank you for your work…" Kai turned to Gin and signaled with his hand and the latter brought a small bag full of money and handed it to Rayleigh "…there is some extra tip for you"

"Thanks, this will be enough for a while"

"We should get going now. Heat do you have a New World Log Pose on you?" Kai turned to Heat and asked him.

"Yeah, I got one with three needles"

"Well then…set sail!!"

Everyone boarded the ship afterwards, when they were ready Kai gave Rayleigh the signal and he started draining the air bubble underneath the ship that was keeping it from sinking into the coating, giving the inside of the ship a supply of air while it started going down.

"We're sinking!!"

"Relax and enjoy the journey" Kai calmly said while standing at the front with his arms crossed.

It only took a few seconds for the Victoria Punk to completely sink and the only thing that was around it was the sea water.

"Killer, you sure want to take the helm? You can rest since you still haven't fully recovered yet" Saga approached him. Even though he wasn't as skilled as Killer who've been responsible for the helmsmen duty in the crew for years, but Saga learned enough during his years as a marine to be able to replace him if needs to.

Killer shook his head "I'm fine, I got it" he said.

"Heat, Killer, our destination is 10,000 below the surface" Kai informed the two. Heat as the navigator guided Killer in using sea currents to navigate the ship underwater, it was the same as using the wind on the surface to navigate the ocean.

Fish-Man Island is an underwater island which dwells 10,000 meters below sea level in a giant hole that goes under the Red Line at the bottom of a deep trench, so reaching it is extremely hard and it would be impossible without the use of a Log Pose that points directly towards it all the time.

"From flying up to Sky Island to sailing down to Fish-Man Island, it's truly a wonderous world that we live in" Kid commented while enjoying the view around him, from beautiful coral reefs to fishes swimming beside them, it was a sight you don't see every day.

"It's fascinating, I'm really glad I came along with you…" Kureha admitted while looking at the breathtaking view with a smile "…Guess you weren't wrong when you said that I won't feel bored if I join you, kid"

"This is just the start…we still haven't seen anything yet"

The ship kept diving down for a while after that until they reached a depth where the sun light could barely reach their location and the place started getting darker as they go. However, their journey was still smooth and they haven't encounter any trouble with the sea creatures yet.

"It's very quiet down here, it's almost creepy" Killer remarked.

"…"

Everyone went silence after that. Kai was scanning the water around them as he felt something swimming nearby 'Is it a sea king?' he thought, but it didn't show itself nor approach the ship.

Kai suddenly heard something like a voice spoken, he turned to Kid who was standing near him and asked him "Hmm?...did you say something?"

Kid and everyone looked confused at that question "Huh?...No one spoke, everyone have been silence"

"Really…?" Kai shrugged it off 'I guess it was my imagination' However it didn't even pass a couple of minutes before the same thing happened again.

"The hell was that?! Who's talking?!" This time Kai became serious, and he immediately reached for his sword "I'm very sure that I heard something out there…" Kai turned back to the rest and asked them again "I'm very serious, if this is your doing say it now"

Everyone shook their heads in response 'What the hell is going on then? Could it be some Fish-Man playing with us?' Kai presumed.

"Bro, did you smoke some shit before we left?" Kid questioned while looking at Kai dead in the eye.

"Fuck off…I'm not joking"

"You might be tired, maybe you should take some rest" Kureha suggested.

"No…I'm fine" Kai was sure that he heard something, but he shrugged it off again and it didn't happen after that.

…

Kai however wasn't imagining things as the few sea kings that were swimming near the ship left afterwards.

<Yes, I remember>

The sea kings were referring to the time when Gol D. Roger visited Fish-Man Island a few decades ago.

…

A few hours later,

The journey went well, and the crew reached an incredible depth until they were suddenly got swiped by an aggressive underwater current. Thankfully the bubble roof held out until the ship safely escaped the current.

"Phew…that was very dangerous right now!" Bonney took a deep breath in relief.

"Good thing this bubble managed to hold out" Kid said.

"It's made to withstand extreme water pressure beneath the sea so you don't have to worry, unless it gets punctured in too many places at once it should be fine" Kai stated, before Killer brought their attention to something.

"Everyone, look over there!"

When looking ahead, their eyes fell upon something unbelievable and awe-inspiring, it was an entire island underwater encased in a giant bubble.

Currently, the Victoria Punk reached the lowest point in the ocean, the ocean floor and although it should normally be completely dark, the place was so brightly lit they could see everything clearly.

The source of that light was the Sunlight Tree Eve which absorbs the sunlight and transfer it to its root.

"We still haven't even entered the New World and things are already getting crazier" Kid said.

Kai however couldn't take his eyes away from the island in front of him, if you asked him in his previous life, never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined that one day he would wake up in the One Piece World and experience what he's experiencing right now.

"Let's go in!"

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