Tilikum

"Am I... alive?"

Zeff, still clinging to the helm of his violently rocking ship, took a deep breath. For the first time in his pirate life, he felt true terror.

The Calm Belt, that seemingly tranquil zone flanking the Grand Line, had proven to be as dangerous as the most turbulent waters.

As the ship sailed away, Morgan watched with interest. "These pirates are more entertaining than I thought," he reflected, submerging once again into the depths.

As they dove... Suddenly, a colossal shadow darkened the water above him. Morgan raised his draconian head, his blue eyes gleaming with anticipation.

Before him rose a giant, a Sea King of titanic proportions.

Its body, a colossal version of an orca, stretched for more than a kilometer in length, rivaling the smallest islands of the East Blue. Its smooth skin alternated between deep black and bright white.

Its red eyes shone with ancient intelligence, fixed on Morgan. Giant fins and a powerful tail completed its imposing appearance.

"Hey," roared Morgan, his voice resonating in the depths. "Haven't you learned your lesson yet, Tilikum?"

Years ago, when Morgan was smaller and weaker, he had avoided confronting this colossus. But now, at 100 meters long and with considerable power, the situation was very different.

Tilikum let out a deafening roar that propagated for kilometers underwater, a clear declaration of war.

Morgan let out a laugh. "You want to reclaim your territory? Go ahead! Show me how much you've grown."

The sea surface began to swell. Waves hundreds of meters high rose, sending seabirds fleeing in panic.

Morgan launched his attack, his serpentine body cutting through the water like a missile. His claws closed on Tilikum's flanks.

Tilikum's teeth pressed against Morgan's steel-blue scales. For a moment, it seemed they would give way.

But Morgan hadn't come this far to be defeated now.

"ROAAAAR!"

A sound like a thousand storms erupted from Morgan's throat. The water around him seemed to explode, creating a momentary vacuum in the ocean.

It was the ability obtained by purchasing the lineage.

His oscillating power split the sea in all directions, as if an earthquake had erupted underwater.

The battle extended from the surface to the depths of the abyss. Two marine titans locked in combat that made the very ocean tremble.

Miles away, Zeff and his crew watched in astonishment at the horizon, where gigantic columns of water rose towards the sky.

What Morgan didn't know was that his legend was about to be born. Soon, in the first half of the Grand Line, stories would begin to circulate about the "Calm Belt Bandits," tales of fearsome dragon-shaped Sea Kings that terrorized pirates and marines alike.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity, the waters began to calm.

At the bottom of the sea, a new scene unfolded.

Morgan, victorious, was calmly devouring the remains of a 50-meter Sea King that had been caught in their battle. Beside him, Tilikum watched with a mixture of fear and resignation.

"Don't make that face, Tilikum," said Morgan, cleaning his teeth with a seaweed. "Consider yourself lucky. In my current state, devouring you wouldn't make me evolve. I need many more points for my next evolution."

Tilikum, surprisingly, seemed to understand. He nodded slowly with his colossal head.

Morgan was slightly surprised by Tilikum's wisdom. He knew that, like the Fishmen and mermaids, some Sea Kings developed intelligence upon reaching a certain level of power.

Fishmen, mermaids, and Sea Kings, despite their obvious differences, shared a common ancestor. They were, in essence, different branches of the same evolutionary tree.

However, while Fishmen and mermaids developed intelligence naturally, Sea Kings rarely did so. Only the most powerful and oldest came to acquire wisdom.

The Calm Belt had a hierarchy. Each zone had its own supreme lords, colossal Sea Kings. Morgan remembered from the anime, where Shirahoshi had summoned these Sea Kings on Fishman Island.

But even these paled in comparison to what lurked in the depths.

More than 15,000 meters below the surface, where the pressure would crush any human submarine, nightmare creatures dwelled.

He had witnessed beings capable of hunting the largest Sea Kings as if they were mere minnows.

An image was etched in his mind: a creature similar to an octopus, of incomprehensible size, that dwelled near an underwater volcano in the depths of North Blue.

Its mere existence had left him with a phobia of the deepest waters.

In fact, when he watched One Piece and they talked about Kaido, one of the Four Emperors, as the strongest creature, devouring him had become one of his main objectives.

But now, faced with the reality of this world, Morgan was painfully aware of his limitations. His strength in this part of the sea was considerable, but outside of it...

The risk of being captured, of ending up on the table of some world noble, was a terrifying possibility that always lurked in the back of his mind.

These concerns had kept him in the depths until now. But the call of the Grand Line was growing stronger.

"Grand Line..." he murmured, his eyes gleaming with anticipation. "It's a fascinating place. Perhaps it's time to explore a bit beyond these calm waters."

Tilikum, understanding Morgan's intentions, seemed excited at the idea of the sea dragon leaving.

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