Launch

King POV

I thank myself for asking Edison for a borderline magical high-tech plain white shirt and jeans that help with this unbearable climate, have automatic temperature control, and last for a few years. This short and hopefully uneventful trip became much more pleasant because of them.

I don't think Metal Knight would ever come close to this level. I don't exactly remember him inventing something that is not either a weapon or a security measure to secure, contain, or protect his weapons.

Seeing the giant slabs of metal on my dudes that they call armor sitting in a ship made out of metal makes me feel sorry for them, but they don't complain about it somehow. Weirdos.

Come to think of it. Calm belt is really something. Just slap on magic metal, and monsters don't even bother you? Awesome.

I think we are leaking oil or something, I don't know why we have a reddish trail behind us. I can be wrong; I'm not a ship scientist, and nobody else mentioned it, so it's probably fine.

All I can say is that life really does get better when you are rich.

Well... Edison is. Also, these people are really just sea police, and the ship is government property.

I have to pump out the game as soon as possible. Better get back to beta testing.

RING RING

A bald head and stern expression appeared on the face of my wrist snail.

"KING. MEDIUM-SIZED VESSEL AHEAD. CURRENTLY SINKING AND ATTACKED BY SEA KINGS. ORDERS?"

There is no way you are fighting back against the Sea Kings in this position. People are going to be there as well, so no to using cannons. Maybe scare them away? What if they come for us? Is there truly no way?

Charge at full speed and try to save the survivors? Will the magic metal work if we bump into Sea Kings?

"...Distance? Numbers? Give me information."

"HALF A MILE. TWO SEA KINGS. THEY ARE FIGHTING EACH OTHER, BUT VESSEL HAS SUNK BY HALF. ORDERS?"

This is bad. Very bad. I'm in a literal warship with supersoldiers inside, and I can't do anything? The distance is far too great for this hunk of metal to reach it in time.

Just think of something, just think of something, just "think of something, just think of someth-"

"...UNDERSTOOD. COMMENCING HUMAN CANNONBALL. LAAAAUNCH!"

"The what?!"

3rd POV

The first Sea King was a mix of a hippo and a tiger, having a hippo head and a tiger torso. The second was a mix of an oversized koala and a hedgehog, appearing with long, protruding spikes on its back.

What does it eat if not eucalyptus? The world may never know.

Not five seconds later, four sequential loud sounds of explosions shook the area as four armed to the teeth with roaring chainsaws and claw-like curved spears, the Gray Guard flew straight at the attacked ship and its giant attackers with amazing speed despite their weight.

All four of them utterly missed the targets and fell into the water relatively close, not getting enough distance in the shot. They sank almost instantaneously with a big splash that alerted the Sea Kings, making fighting each other for food that much more viscous and fast because of a fear that others had already noticed fresh food on the surface of the water.

As they sank into the depths below faster than any rock would, the sounds of the chainsaws became quieter and quieter until they ceased completely.

Few seconds later, King swung the door to his quarters open, trying to locate the person he was just talking with. His eyes showed a mix of fury and disappointment. He appeared even more menacing than usual.

"What did you just do?"

Visibly shaken by angry King, dripping sweat and other liquids, the bald leader answered, still very loud:

"APOLOGIES. WE DIDN'T PRACTICE, NEXT SHOT OUGHT TO DO IT."

King placed his hand on his face, and he expressed his disbelief at what just happened.

"...you missed?..."

'Oh my god, they are going to drown if not eaten. Am I responsible?"'

King, still facepalming, turned his head to the side and said:

"Save them. Right now. Please?"

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE

King Engine amplified every word he said, making it so much more impactful. His entire face was focused on being calm, but his heart couldn't calm down at all and veins on his neck were visible, trying his absolute best to contain himself and his incredible distress.

Before the answer was given, the entire ship King was on rocked backwards, making King fall backwards right into his quarters and shutting the door behind him. He fell straight on that one bone in his ass, which made him silently hiss in pain but made King momentarily forget what just happened.

Most of the Grey Guard, besides those that were currently sinking or being loaded into cannons, observed a violent river of shadows that moved towards the scene of the attack. Water on the surface rippled, causing many waves to form.

Shadows were always twisting, seemingly randomly changing shapes and sizes within it, only to disappear halfway before finally reaching the target.

In the meantime, the distance between ships shortened significantly, letting people hear and see much clearer what was going on on the almost-submerged ship, which was more of a drifting wood pieces currently but was still recognizable with signs of regular Marines painted on the torn up sails.

A single person in black clothing was seen standing on the remains, persisting in trying to fend off the monsters using a musket as a bat, clearly showing tactical genius, but failing to reach the gigantic monsters of Calm Belt with this short weapon. It's been some time since the Sea Kings started fighting, and it's nothing short of a miracle more didn't come to join the fight.

On closer inspection, the person defending had a fully modified Marine standard issue uniform made to be black with golden elements, instead of blue. The only custom element was the shoes, which looked very expensive.

His eyes were filled with extreme anger, and his overall expression was intimidating. In the midst of the fight for his life, he smoked a handmade, absolutely normal cigarette that he held in his teeth. No person in this world could emphasize enough how much of a normal cigarette it was.

The thing is, he is eighteen years old only by his words, and he is built like a haul truck, standing at 6 feet 3 inches tall, his clothes barely ripping apart every time he swung his weapon. He is a little boy that King saved from the streets not even that long ago. And his name is Archont.

"FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU!"

He shouted repeatedly, his voice was raspy and very deep—the kind of deep you'd hear in Ford commercials.

Every time he screamed that phrase, he tried reaching any part of the enemy to hit without any success, making the next shout louder and the swing heavier. The wind produced by those was tremendous.

The sounds of chainsaws came back. From the depths of the Calm Belt, all four who were launched before from the almost metal ship revved up to the speeds that must cut and kill until it's done, playing the melody of destruction. Going from barely audible to crystal clear.

They didn't swim up on their own since, first, they ate devil fruit, and second, you have to be a monster to be able to swim in slabs of metal made by utter amateurs with scraps. They got much needed help from below to escape certain death and finally face the enemy monsters.

They have risen up, standing on the backs of literal Lovecraftian monsters that serve King. They were quite hungry for so much time that they resorted to cannibalism, reducing their numbers by half, which is still around thirty left, and Calm Belt was like an all-you-can-eat buffet.

Since the bottom of King's ship wasn't coated in kairoseki because of their presence under it, every Sea King saw King's warship, but none could withstand the ever-hungry horde of monstrous creatures, leaving nothing but drops of blood behind, guarding the ship day and night like nothing or no one ever could.

Archont finally noticed anything else but his assailants when he saw the warship in his sideview with a logo that represented King, being a K with a crown, as well as the rest of the newcomers right behind him approaching in his direction with alarming speed.

In the meantime, the first Sea King finally bested the koala and hedgehog mix by managing to hold the creature in place using the tiger's claws and utilizing its powerful giant hippo head to crush the head of its opponent and tossing it to the side. Humans are way too rare of a delicacy for any Sea King to not prioritize them, especially the feisty ones.

The corpse floated on the surface. And the Sea King finally went to eat the human, diving in the water halfway so its hippo was half-submerged to swallow Archont along with the boat.

"NO THE FUCK YOU DONT!" screamed Archont, who got trapped in the mouth of a hippo.

Just as that was happening, those four Grey Guards reached the target, super-jumped the monster, secured themselves with hooks onto him, and started using the chainsaws to reach the brain as soon as possible.

Rivers of blood exploded from it.

King's servant monsters began eating the lower half of the beast as piranhas. Archont managed to hold the mouth open as Sea King was experiencing terrible pain and couldn't have the same strength.

After ten seconds of intense chainsawing, they finally killed the beast, Archont somehow managed to hold the beast's jaw all that time.

Archont managed to fall out of the mouth into the bloodied waters, face first, but his body was injured and overworked, and so he was trying to move but it felt like he had nothing left.

Monsters that once served Cthuluhu picked him up and held him above the water as the Grey Guard rescued him.

King looked at the scene from the window of his own private quarters and saw the horrible scene of corpses and blood. He threw up.

(AN: I swear to god I forgot how stupid I wrote this story to be. Just how I like it. Who else can't wait for Meme D. Troll to confront King? The underworld government, what's that wacky thing?! Cthulhu? SURE. Space marines, but actually just marines and not at all in space? AMAZING.

Archont initially had two possible futures for the story. But I decided to turn him into a Jojo character. Who cares at this point? Go for broke.

Sorry for the long wait for the chapter, I write best when I'm sleep deprived, and I've been way too healthy for this to happen. I can ruin it if you want.)