Chapter 56: Garp's Day of Depression
In the slightly cold seawater, Su Xiao bit down on a respirator as he slowly descended into the depths.
The long blade in his hand cut through the water, sending out streaks of blade aura. After Dragon-Slaying Flash was promoted to Legendary rank, the cutting power of the blade aura had increased several times, showing just how important a sharp weapon was to Su Xiao.
Clang.
A pale blue blade aura sliced through the seawater, directly entering the warship above.
The warship was slowly sinking. After the blade aura cut in from below, it flew out from the deck moments later, severing several ropes and also a fair-skinned arm.
Creak~
The sound of wood grinding became more piercing. On the swaying deck, a female Marine suddenly felt a chill in her arm. She instinctively raised her arm, and warm blood splattered across her face—but it wasn't her blood.
"Jo, Jolie?"
Hearing her companion's shout, the Marine whose arm had been severed instinctively turned her head. She knew her arm was broken, but the pain hadn't set in yet.
When the female Marine turned around, she saw her friend covered in blood, with a deep gash across her chest and abdomen that reached her internal organs.
Swish. Another blade aura cut out from the deck.
"What... is going on?"
The female Marine stood on the deck in a daze. From the attack on the warship until now, at most ten seconds had passed, yet in that short time, the warship they were on seemed ready to sink at any moment.
Although these female Marines were well-trained, they were only following orders. Without their commander stepping forward, they didn't know what to do. If it were pirates, they would have fled immediately, but they would also try to save themselves first.
"The enemy is in the sea! The prisoner has escaped!!"
A roar rang out from a burly female Marine. She gave off only one impression—tough, a woman as strong as a bear.
Hearing this roar, the female Marines on the deck quickly drew their weapons, formed ranks, and prepared to jump into the sea to capture the enemy.
With a sharp crack, wood splintered as Vice Admiral Tsuru appeared.
Stumbling, Vice Admiral Tsuru almost crawled out of the cabin. Her clothes were soaked with seawater. As a Devil Fruit user, escaping from the sea was no easy task.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Vice Admiral Tsuru coughed up several mouthfuls of seawater. After taking a few deep breaths, the weakness gradually faded. She looked up and surveyed the deck, immediately noticing those about to jump into the sea to fight.
"Don't jump!"
Vice Admiral Tsuru shouted, but it was too late. Three female Marines had already leaped into the air.
Water splashed as the three female Marines hit the water. The moment they entered, one of them screamed and vanished beneath the surface.
Vice Admiral Tsuru quickly rushed to the railing and ordered a lifeboat to be lowered. Soon, the two remaining female Marines climbed onto the lifeboat.
Just as everyone thought the third Marine had died, she burst out of the water with a splash, gasping for air with a terrified expression.
"There are... sharks underwater."
"!"
The two female Marines on the lifeboat turned pale. Don't think sharks in the One Piece world are weak. Most of these sharks have Sea King bloodlines. Though not large, they are exceptionally ferocious.
Were there really sharks in the sea? Of course not. After choking on seawater, that female Marine's vision was blurry. What she actually saw was Bubu Wang. Bubu Wang's white fur made her mistake him for a shark with a Sea King bloodline.
A white shadow flashed underwater, and no one dared to go in anymore.
The warship slowly sank. Since they were only escorting Su Xiao, there was only this one ship at sea. Once it sank, it would be a disaster for these Marines. The only good news was that no more slashes were coming from below the hull.
By now, Su Xiao had no time to cut the ship. Someone was fiercely pursuing him underwater.
In the seawater, Su Xiao stomped his foot, sending out layers of ripples. His body suddenly accelerated, shooting straight toward the seabed.
About ten meters above Su Xiao, Garp was also cutting through the water at high speed, heading straight for Su Xiao. Garp was clearly a bit faster.
Gurgle.
Bubbles surged from the respirator in Su Xiao's mouth. He looked up at Garp above him and, seeing the man getting closer, immediately turned in the water and made a few slashing motions toward Garp.
Blade aura cut through the seawater, creating fine ripples as it shot straight at Garp.
Garp side-kicked the water beside him. With a muffled thud, he shifted sideways by over ten meters, dodging the incoming blade aura.
Although Garp dodged the blade aura, the distance between him and Su Xiao widened again, infuriating him.
Su Xiao had a respirator and could breathe underwater, but Garp didn't. He could only hold his breath.
Under normal circumstances, Garp could hold his breath for half an hour, even an hour, underwater. But while chasing Su Xiao, the oxygen in his blood was consumed rapidly. Within five minutes at most, Garp would need to surface for air.
Now, Su Xiao and Garp were about 100 meters deep. The water pressure here was already strong, the limit for a normal person without a diving suit. But for Su Xiao and Garp, this level of pressure was acceptable.
Su Xiao dove deeper, with Garp chasing behind. Whenever Garp got close, Su Xiao would slash out a large amount of blade aura.
Underwater, Garp couldn't withstand the blade aura head-on. If he used Haki to defend, the blade aura wouldn't hurt him, but who knew how far he'd be knocked back.
What drove Garp crazy was that he surprisingly couldn't catch up to Su Xiao while underwater.
When they reached 260 meters deep, Garp clearly felt the increased water pressure and the growing tightness in his chest.
Boom, boom, boom...
Muffled explosions came from above. Hearing this, Garp immediately thought someone was blowing up the ship again.
Just as Garp turned to give up the chase, a blade aura slashed toward his back.
What made Garp so angry he rolled his eyes was that Su Xiao actually surfaced, clearly meaning to fight him.
Although the oxygen in his lungs was running low, Garp still moved toward Su Xiao. At that moment, Su Xiao stomped the water and dove deeper again.
Garp wasn't a high-intelligence powerhouse, but he wasn't stupid either. He already understood what Su Xiao was trying to do—this guy was waiting for him to run out of oxygen.
Realizing this, Garp didn't hesitate. He turned and swam toward the surface.
Clang.
The sharp sound of a blade rang out. Hearing this, Garp instinctively turned and raised his arm in front of him, covering it with Armament Haki.
Electric arcs surged across the surface of Dragon-Slashing Flash. The gleaming blade struck Garp's arm.
Swish. The blade cut through the Armament Haki's defense, leaving a wound at least four centimeters deep on Garp's arm. For an arm, a four-centimeter-deep wound was already severe. Any deeper and it would reach the bone.
The sharpness of the Legendary-rank Dragon-Slashing Flash couldn't be blocked even by top-tier Armament Haki. This was Su Xiao's heavily invested unique ability—sharpness.
If you can't even break through the enemy's defense, no matter how flashy your abilities are, they're useless.
PS: (Five more chapters coming. I said six updates yesterday, and I'll deliver six, even if it's a bit late.)