"Sir, the temperature is starting to drop. Please put it on." At this moment, Lilith approached with a thick cloak bearing the flag of the Black Crow Pirates and handed it to Mio.
"Thank you." Mio accepted the cloak, draped it over his shoulders, and gave Lilith a warm smile.
"Sir, are you thinking about something?" Lilith asked curiously, sitting gracefully beside Mio with her legs bent to the side.
"Well, just some small things," Mio replied with a nod and a faint smile. "There are many things I want to obtain in the New World."
The New World—the true stage of the strong.
It was also a place teeming with powerful pirates.
Among those pirates were many individuals with special and formidable abilities. In fact, most of them had extraordinary powers.
Mio was envious. He couldn't wait to set foot in the New World.
"If it's something you desire, then it will definitely become yours—no matter what it is," Lilith said with a firm gaze and a gentle smile.
"Hahahaha, I think so too," Mio laughed, nodding in agreement.
Suddenly—
He turned his head slightly and looked into the deep sea below, raising an eyebrow in surprise. "Is that the guy we met before? Our little follower?"
"I think his name was Fergus?" Lilith said with a surprised look.
Erica walked over to the side of the ship, glanced down, and then looked back at Mio. "Sir, that pirate ship seems to be in trouble."
"Yeah," Mio said with a nod. He could see it clearly.
In the deep waters below, a current spiraled into greater depths. Next to it was a deep-sea reef zone. And right there loomed a huge, familiar creature.
The deep-sea monster—Kurakan.
This octopus-like sea monster was hundreds of meters in size, a massive creature known from the original storyline.
It was clearly very old—otherwise it wouldn't have reached such enormous size. Mio didn't expect to encounter it here, which caught him slightly off guard.
And the ship being attacked? It belonged to Fergus, the pirate Mio had met previously while dealing with Doflamingo. Fergus had called himself a loyal follower of Mio.
"Damn it, Captain, this monster is too huge! What should we do?"
"What do you think? Retreat, obviously! We're in the deep sea—I can't use my Devil Fruit power here!"
"Quick! Fall back to the Sabaody Archipelago. We'll try again in a few days!"
Fergus roared over the crashing waves.
Thankfully, the navigator on his ship was quite skilled, managing to maneuver the ship several times to avoid Kurakan's enormous tentacles.
But just then, a pirate shouted, "Captain! That ship—it looks like the Black Crow Pirates' ship!"
"What?" Fergus spun around and immediately recognized the vessel.
As a devoted admirer of Mio, Fergus was extremely familiar with the Black Crow Pirates' ship, the Black Glory, and had long committed its design to memory.
The moment he saw it, he was overjoyed.
"It's Lord Mio! I can't believe we've encountered Lord Mio in this part of the sea! It must be fate. I was born to be his follower!" Fergus exclaimed with fervent excitement.
"Captain, now's really not the time for idol worship, don't you think?" one of his crew muttered nervously. "We've got a monster to deal with. If you keep staring at your idol, you might end up being looked at by your idol—and your corpse will be the one they're staring at."
"Wait—don't panic. Lord Mio seems to be coming toward us!" Fergus shouted excitedly again. "Could it be… is Lord Mio going to defeat that sea monster?!"
If Mio had heard that, he would've given Fergus a big thumbs-up, because he had guessed correctly—though only partially.
Mio didn't intend to kill Kurakan. Rather, he planned to use the sea monster to guide them.
Kurakan likely knew the path to Fishman Island.
Sure, Mio could rely on Hanba to get there, but it would still be a hassle.
With a guide in the deep sea, they could reach Fishman Island much faster.
As for Kurakan's genes? Honestly, Mio had no desire for them.
They weren't particularly valuable. Kurakan's massive size aside, the deep sea was full of sea kings even larger than him.
Kurakan may have been famous, but in terms of strength, he wasn't particularly remarkable.
"Sir, shall I assist?" Erica stepped up beside Mio and asked calmly.
Although the ship was in the deep sea, a temporary bubble membrane surrounded it, allowing crew members to exit and move freely underwater.
Kurakan might've been massive, but to Erica, dealing with him wouldn't take much effort.
If anything, she thought Kurakan would make a good ingredient—there was plenty of meat, after all.
"Don't kill him. We need him to lead the way," Mio instructed.
"Understood," Erica nodded, then gracefully leapt from the ship's deck and descended toward the depths, her gaze cold and composed.
"It's Lady Erica!" Fergus exclaimed again in utter reverence.
Erica placed her right hand on the hilt of her blade—and then—
Boom!
A silver aura suddenly burst forth—not from Erica, but from Lilith above.
A surging, tangible Conqueror's Haki erupted from her, its silver hue forming a violent storm beneath the sea that swept toward Kurakan with overwhelming force.
Fear flooded the sea monster's eyes as it instinctively tried to flee.
"Stop."
A deep, commanding voice echoed across the seabed.
It was Hanba.
Despite the underwater setting, Hanba's thunderous voice was deafening.
Kurakan froze in place, turning his terrified gaze toward Hanba.
Over the past year, Hanba's body had grown to an enormous scale—no smaller than Kurakan.
Now, that towering form loomed over the sea monster as Hanba declared coldly, "If you don't want to die, lead us to the deep trench—the entrance to Fishman Island."
As soon as he finished speaking, Hanba reached out a colossal hand, grabbed Kurakan, and effortlessly lifted the massive creature into the water.
Despite all its flailing, Kurakan couldn't escape Hanba's grasp.
"So powerful… This is the strength of the Black Crow Pirates?" the vice captain of Fergus's ship muttered, awestruck.
Lilith's overwhelming Conqueror's Haki had knocked out most of Fergus's crew. Only Fergus and his vice captain remained conscious.
And what they saw next—Hanba's sheer might—left them trembling.
"As expected of Lord Mio," Fergus muttered, both excited and reverent.
"Wooo~"
Kurakan let out a low sound, nodding furiously with fear in its eyes. Clearly, it agreed to guide them to the trench entrance to Fishman Island.
Mio slowly rose to his feet and walked to the bow of the ship, grinning as he looked down at the subdued sea monster.
"Since you're willing," he said, "then lead the way. I'm very much looking forward to visiting Fishman Island."
His grin deepened.
"Especially… Fishman Street!"