The New World

[Fish-Man Island],

After the crew proceeded through the main entrance, they docked the ship at the port. Kai turned to everyone and addressed them.

"We will stay here until the Log Pose reset. You can do as you please in the meanwhile just don't cause any trouble" Kai mentioned, stepping off the ship to explore the island and find a mechanic for the recoating. Saga remained onboard to guard the Victoria Punk.

Bonney sought out a place to eat, Heat and Wire headed to the mermaid district in search of mermaids, Kid and Killer took a leisurely stroll to sightsee, Krieg and Gin utilized the time to spar and train, and Kureha stayed on the ship to tend to Wyper.

After a few hours of exploration Kai ended up northeast of Fish-Man Island, where the Sea Forest is located.

It is a place known as the ship graveyard since many sunken ships are dragged there by the ocean currents.

It is located on the Sea Floor and it has a lot of coral growing around it, more so than normal due to the light emitted by the Sunlight Tree Eve. It is also populated by all kinds of sea fauna, including schools of fish and pods of whales. 

Kai however was driven by a presence here. He walked past a small graveyard that contain several regular-looking graves, one of them belonged to the previous queen of Ryugu Kingdom Otohime before he went deep inside until he found a giant blue block of rock that bears ancient letterings in an unknown ancient language.

"A Poneglyph..." Kai muttered, recognizing the historical rock 'If I remember correctly, this one contain Joy Boy's apology for not fulfilling his promise to Fish-Man Island that he would someday bring their island to the surface, fulfilling Noah's purpose'

However Kai was more curious about the person who stole the Road Poneglyph that used to be here alongside this one.

"…'Man Marked By Flames', I wonder who he might be" Kai pondered before he heard the sound of footsteps approaching him.

"Oh, I didn't expect to meet a human here..." A voice spoke to Kai from behind. When he looked back, he saw a muscular merman with long, curly fair hair reaching down below his shoulders with tattoos resembling four-leafed clovers on each of his arms.

He was wearing a wide-brimmed hat on his head and what it appears to be glasses or safety goggles on his face. He also has an earring on each of his ears and a beaded necklace around his neck.

"And who are you?" The guy looked familiar to him, but he couldn't remember exactly who he was.

"Sorry, it was impolite for me to not introduce myself. I'm Den, I come here often for research purposes, but…I didn't expect to run into a human around here" Den introduced himself with a friendly smile.

'Yeah I think remember this guy now, Den...wasn't he like Tom's brother or something like that. I should ask him maybe he could help me with ship's recoating' Kai thought before he introduced himself as well "I'm Kai, a pirate"

"A pirate you say, what brings you to this part of the Island?..." He asked shifting his gaze to the Poneglyph "Could it be that you're interested in this historical object?"

"Kind of, what about you?"

"I'm a Sea Forest researcher, so I often linger around here. If you're looking for something around here you can let me know, I know this place more than my own house" he said, flashing a friendly smile. Den turned out to be more amiable than Kai would've had anticipated, given the uneasy relationship between humans and Fish-Men.

"Actually I'm looking for a mechanic to recoat my ship, I would appreciate it if you could help me with that" Kai said.

"You're going to the New World. there were several pirates who made it here the past few days, It's seems that the number of pirates has been growing a lot recently" Den stated with his arms crossed in front of him, he then added "It just happen that I'm also a coating mechanic, so I can work on your ship for a reasonable price"

"Money is not a problem, as long as you get the job done properly"

"Good, then if you don't mind showing to your ship"

"Alright, follow me" 

Kai and Den returned to the Victoria Punk, chatting about the cost and timeframe for the ship's coating. Saga, perched on the main mast, spotted them "You're back fast, Kai!"

"I've got someone for the ship's recoating," Kai replied, introducing Den to Saga.

"You said you can get it done in 3 days?"

"Yes, with my skills I can manage that" Den replied while nodding his head with confidence. Being the younger brother of Tom himself, he was very skilled at his job as well.

Normally coating ships is a procedure that take at least a week specially if it's a big vessel, but some skilled individuals like Den can do it in half that time.

"If that's the case, then I'll leave the Victoria Punk in your care. We'll comeback in three days" Kai said.

"Rest assured, I'll make sure nobody gets close to it while I'm working on it"

...

...

...

Three days later, the ship's recoating was completed, and the Log Pose was adjusted for the next destination. The latter task was accomplished on the first day, requiring only half a day for the Log to reset.

Throughout their stay, the crew faced no issues and simply relished their time until departure.

Currently all the crewmembers were gathered in the deck except Saga, Krieg, Gin and Wire who were busy loading the supplies into the ship, Heat was carrying a map and a New World Log Pose on his hand, it consists of three glass orbs with a directional needle inside each suspended by a thin piece of wire.

The three needles pointed in different directions.

"Strange, this Log Pose has three needles. Which one of them exactly do we need to flow?" Bonney questioned while shifting her gaze between the Log Pose and the map Heat was carrying.

Kai chimed in and answered "All three of them…we can follow all three of them, the choice is ours" he stated, approaching Heat and taking the map before placing it on the floor "The New World Islands are on completely different level than the ones in Paradise due to the fact that some of them might change or even completely hide their magnetic fields at random, which may leave us stranded if we rely on a Log Pose with only a single needle…"

Kai explained, he then continued "…To safely navigate through the New World, we need this kind of Log Pose with three needles. Each needle records the magnetism of one of three different islands simultaneously. This way, if we lose the magnetism of one island, we will still have two backup options, so we won't get stranded in the middle of the sea"

Killer nodded his head in understanding after hearing Kai's explanation "I see, so we can decide one out of the three islands that we want to sail to and we will only be forced to change our destination to one of the other two if the destination island change its magnetic field before we reach it, I understand now"

Kid who was listening in silence proceeded to join the conversation and asked, "So what are these three islands so we can choose from?"

Kai nodded toward Heat, who then sequentially indicated their location on the map with a series of pointed gestures "Raijin Island…"

"…Risky Red Island…"

"…and Mystoria Island."

Out of the three Kai only recognized Raijin Island, it was the same place that Roger and Urouge visited where lightning bolts continuously struck down the island.

'Hmm…Raijin Island sounds cool, but from what I remember there is nothing there other than continuous lightning bolts raining down on the island, I doubt there is any animals or people living in that place…' Kai pondered in his thoughts, considering the best destination to visit '…on the other hand, Mystoria sounds mysterious. It or Risky Red might end up being a good place for training, after all acquiring Haki is the top priority right now before doing anything else'

Kid scratched his head, unsure of where to go. Suddenly, a serious expression crossed his face. "I have decided!" he declared before breaking into a grin.

Kai raised an eyebrow hearing that, he could take a guess what he might say next.

 "Let's go with…"

"Middle!!"

"Pffft…Kahahahaha!!...Middle? What are you, a kid? Well, you technically are" Kai remarked mockingly.

"Huh?! Do you have a better idea then?!"

"Hoi Kid! You shouldn't decide at random like that, do you even know which island of the three is East?" Killer asked him.

"Doesn't matter we'll find out when we get there"

Killer helplessly turned to Kai "Sigh…You surely have a plan, right?"

"Nah…I like his idea" Kai said.

"You too?!"

"Where is the fun if you always know what's coming for you?"

"It's decided then, let's set sail to New World!!" Kid declared.

"Aye Aye Captain!!!"

"What's with the commotion" Wyper suddenly limped out from inside, holding his chest in pain while his face was very pale "You guys are gathered without me?" he asked with a grin.

"Ohh, you're finally awake! I thought you'll die before you even make it to the New World" Kai said to him.

"Very funny…how long have I been sleeping?" He asked.

"About a week I think"

"Hey brat, you shouldn't be moving yet. You still need time for your injuries to heal" Kureha approached him before she helped him move closer to the others.

"I'm fine…I just need to breath some fresh air and I'll be alright" he said before he looked outside. His expressions completely changed, it was the first time in his life he see a an awe-inspiring view like that "So this is the Fish-Man Island you guys been speaking about…it certainly beautiful"

"Too bad, we were just leaving…" Kai gestured with his hand to Den who was still nearby. Saga and the others were done loading supplies and everyone moved to their positions, they lowered the sails and loaded the canons in case they had to fight sea monsters.

When they were ready, Kai proceeded to give the signal to Den and the later started draining the air bubble underneath the ship, while the crew gradually dropped Kuuigosu wood chips outside the ship, before the Victoria Punk started ascending slowly.

The Kuuigosu is a very buoyant wood, used by coated ships to ascend rapidly from the depths of Fish-Man Island. Kai bought many blocks from it to increase the speed of their ascension.

…

The journey was shorter than before, and they managed to reach the surface in two hours.

SPLASH!! as the ship reached sea surface, the bubble that was surrounding it popped off immediately.

"Finally, the blue sky!!" Bonney said as she closed her eyes and slowly breathed in and out.

"This is the New World that everyone has been talking about, I hope it doesn't disappoint" Krieg remarked.

"They say that you'll face the ultimate nightmare here, so we better no underestimate it" Gin noted.

"The four strongest pirates in the world, the Four Emperors are the ones who rule this sea. From this moment onward we will have to either challenge their rule or join them" Killer stated.

"It's very obvious which option we're taking" Kai rolled his fist tightly until his veins bulged "I'll crush them one by one and become the Pirate King!!"

"Something is coming!" Bonney alerted everyone to the massive shadows emerging beneath the ship.

SPLASH!! BOOOOM!! Two enormous sea creatures surfaced, far surpassing the size of the Victoria Punk, a sizable ship in its own regard.

"Sea Kings?!!"

"They're so big!!!"

"There is nothing to be panicked about…" Kid said as he confidently walked to the ship's prow along with Kai.

"They're just some oversized fishes, they'll be dead in a few seconds" Kai added, transforming his right arm into clouds.

He proceeded to gather winds in the palm of his hand, which he made spun rapidly in multiple directions in order to contain them into a spherical shape with four large points around the central core, giving it the appearance of a fūma shuriken.

"Rasenshuriken!!"

VWOOOSH!! The attack gave off a loud screeching noise while flying towards one of the sea monsters at an incredible speed and slicing it in half.

Kid used his magnetic power to shape up a massive sword out of metal scraps before leaping off the ship, he soared toward the remaining sea monster. Swiftly dodging its attempts to devour him, Kid maneuvered to its side and dealt a decisive blow.

In a single forceful motion, he cleanly beheaded the colossal creature, painting the sea red with its blood. Kid then smoothly returned to the ship.

"Let's get going!!"