Chapter 295: Freestyle Swimming Is the Way to Go
Hawkins was already 28 years old this year, but he hadn’t been a pirate for very long. As a Devil Fruit user, he only started to make a name for himself after acquiring his Devil Fruit ability.
However, his pirate crew had now become a force to be reckoned with in the North Blue. Along with Trafalgar Law and X·Drake, these three crews were currently vying for dominance in the North Blue, seemingly competing to see which one would be the strongest pirate crew in the region.
As for the Grand Line, all three crews aspired to reach it. It was a paradise for adventurers, a trial ground for pirates. The countless legends of the Grand Line constantly lured pirates to challenge it.
Hawkins was well aware that it wasn’t just him—the Heart Pirates and the Drake Pirates felt the same way. Deep down, every one of them was thinking that once they were ready, they would set sail for the Grand Line.
In fact, when he heard the term “Calm Belt,” Hawkins felt that he was already prepared and could set foot on the Grand Line at any time.
But the result of his recent divination had set off alarm bells in his mind.
A 50% chance of death loomed over him and his crew. That meant a single decision could cause the entire crew to collapse.
Such a powerful enemy shouldn’t have come from the other two pirate crews…
Just as he was thinking this, the lookout on the mast suddenly shouted, “Captain! There’s something ahead!”
Hawkins looked up, following the direction the lookout was pointing, and turned his gaze. His heart jolted—the direction the lookout indicated was exactly south.
The Calm Belt!
This revelation immediately caught the attention of everyone on Hawkins’s crew. They stopped what they were doing, moved to the ship’s railing, shaded their eyes, and peered ahead.
Though the distance was considerable, they couldn’t see anything on the sea surface!
But just as they thought the lookout might have been mistaken, a massive splash erupted from the distant sea!
A huge Sea King, resembling a sea serpent, burst out from beneath the surface, then crashed back down with a thunderous roar.
Judging by its movements, the Sea King seemed to be hunting. Though they couldn’t tell what it was after, its appearance churned the sea ahead into chaos.
The members of Hawkins’s crew were stunned speechless. They had seen Sea Kings before, but never one this massive.
“Captain!” one pirate snapped back to reality, panicking. “That must be a Sea King from the Calm Belt! Somehow, it’s wandered into our North Blue! We need to get out of here!”
Hawkins nodded and shouted, “Turn the helm! We’re getting out of here! Hopefully, that thing won’t linger in the North Blue after it’s done hunting.”
For a moment, Hawkins thought that the 50% chance of death for his crew might come from this massive Sea King. Remembering that a single decision could mean life or death, he immediately chose to flee.
But just as his ship completed its turn, a loud, mournful cry rang out. The crew turned around in terror to see that the Sea King rampaging on the surface had been cut in half!
Something had sliced through this Sea King!
Boom! The severed section of its body, weighing at least a dozen tons, crashed into the sea, sending up a huge spray.
Witnessing a massive Sea King being killed left Hawkins’s crew frozen in shock, staring blankly at the area where it had died.
With the Sea King’s death, the sea finally calmed. Only then did they notice a small wave line moving slowly toward them.
“It’s a person!” the lookout screamed in terror. “There’s someone swimming in the sea!”
Hearing this, the crew shuddered. There were no other ships in sight in this area. Where had this swimmer come from? Could the giant sea serpent Sea King have been hunting this swimmer?
“Captain? Should we still leave?” a crew member asked Hawkins.
“…” Hawkins couldn’t answer that question easily.
Without a doubt, the Sea King had been killed by this swimmer. If this person was the enemy predicted by the divination, then leaving immediately would be the logical choice.
But here was the problem: “a single decision” could be interpreted in many ways. Who knew if leaving was the right or wrong choice?
What if the swimmer heading toward them was looking for a ship to ask for help, and they sailed away, ignoring him? Would that sow the seeds of future trouble?
“Stay here!” Hawkins thought it over and finally made this decision.
So the others fell silent, their eyes fixed on the water line drawing closer.
As the line approached, they saw that it really was a person, swimming quite fast.
Seeming to notice the ship ahead, the swimmer picked up speed and headed straight for them.
“What should we do, Captain? Let him aboard?” another crew member asked Hawkins.
“Pull him up!” Hawkins said. “We’ll only know if he’s friend or foe once we see him.”
Soon, the swimmer reached the ship. Hawkins’s crew lowered a rope ladder, and the man climbed aboard.
“Damn! Finally, a ship!” the man said, plopping down on the deck and panting heavily.
Hawkins studied him. The newcomer was a young man, bare-chested, with a samurai sword at his waist and a bandage with a bell wrapped around his right wrist. His wet hair was tied back in a ponytail.
“Who are you?” Hawkins couldn’t help asking. “Did you kill that Sea King?”
“Oh, yeah, that was me!” the young man waved a hand. “That bastard was sneaky. It followed me from the Calm Belt, lurking behind me the whole time, and only attacked when I was about to leave. I almost got careless and eaten by it!”
“The Calm Belt?” a crew member asked in disbelief. “You swam all the way from there?”
“Swam about half the way,” the young man said. “My ship didn’t make it in the end.”
“You… you’re lying!” another pirate exclaimed. “The Calm Belt is at least a hundred kilometers wide! Even if you started swimming halfway, that’s still over fifty kilometers! How could you swim that far?”
“Yeah, it was tough,” the young man laughed. “If I swam too slow, some Sea Kings would keep eyeing me…”
The pirates exchanged glances. They didn’t believe the young man’s words, but something about his tone made them feel like he really had swum that far…
Hawkins spoke up again, “You still haven’t answered me. What’s your name?”
The young man paused, then said, “Ah, it’s better not to say my name… By the way, you’re a pirate crew, right? You look familiar!”
Without a doubt, this swimmer from the Calm Belt was Ian. Though he had decided to cross the Calm Belt, he had underestimated its dangers. His small boat, named the “Friendship,” had capsized as expected in the Calm Belt. (Of course, the name was given after it sank, a bit of self-mockery.)
The reason it capsized was that he had encountered a group of giant Sea Kings. They hadn’t attacked him; he had just been unlucky enough to sail right over one’s back when it surfaced, lifting him into the air.
While airborne, Ian fell, but his boat stayed on the Sea King’s back. Somehow, the small boat slid down the creature’s smooth spine, and when it reached the tail, a light flick sent it shattering into pieces.
Ian couldn’t exactly demand compensation from these Sea Kings. He was actually relieved that this giant Sea King was relatively gentle and hadn’t noticed him, so he quickly swam away.
For the rest of the journey, Ian swam the entire way. Thanks to Rayleigh’s training, his swimming skills were excellent. Combined with the endurance he had built up training under Fujitora’s gravity, he had enough stamina to cover the distance.
Along the way, he was attacked by some Sea Kings. Not all of them wanted to eat him—some were just curious, wanting to see what this little bug was. But they caused him plenty of trouble.
Those that attacked were killed by Ian. The curious ones, he had to play along with until they lost interest and left.
But that sea serpent Sea King had been different. It had lurked silently underwater, following Ian, and only attacked when he was about to leave the Calm Belt. Caught off guard, Ian was almost swallowed whole, but he reacted quickly and escaped before its jaws closed. Then he fought it.
After killing it, Ian spotted a ship ahead and swam toward it. Fortunately, they hadn’t fled in fear.
But once aboard, he realized this was also a pirate ship. What surprised him even more was that he recognized Hawkins, a future Supernova!
Ah, right. Hawkins was a pirate from the North Blue. But he probably wouldn’t head to the Grand Line for another year, becoming one of Luffy’s “classmates”…
Ian didn’t know much about Hawkins, but he at least recognized the man. He figured his luck wasn’t too bad, running into someone he remembered in the North Blue.
Still, recognizing him didn’t change the fact that he was a pirate. Ian wasn’t about to be polite to pirates, so he said to Hawkins, “I appreciate you saving me, but sorry, I’m commandeering this ship for a while!”