Chapter Seventy-Nine: The Asura Mends the Heavens (Part Two)

"Tagger, I swear, the one who caused trouble this time wasn’t me—it was... our future number one swordsman in the world, 'Hawkeye' Mihawk!"

Inside the Dragon Palace of Fishman Island, Tagger was about to tell his friends Neptune and Queen Otohime that he was planning to join the “Sky-Slayers” Pirates, to follow Chu Yi and carry the Sky-Slaying will across the four seas. Who would have thought, Mihawk’s earth-shattering sword suddenly disrupted Tagger’s thoughts. Worrying about the safety of Fishman Island, Tagger hurriedly left the Dragon Palace and dashed toward Chu Yi and Mihawk’s location.

At that very moment...

Chu Yi, who was ready to spar with “Knight of the Sea” Jinbe, seemed to sense Tagger’s anxiety. Seeing Mihawk’s tremendous sword slash tearing through the sky above Fishman Island, even causing cracks to appear in the protective bubble that shielded the island from the depths, Chu Yi couldn’t help but sigh inwardly: Mihawk’s ability to cause trouble was truly a degree higher than his own.

Then, as he watched the cracks above Fishman Island slowly widen, Chu Yi gave a helpless smile.

“Mihawk, I’m glad to see your swordsmanship improving, but when you strike, can’t you at least check where you are?”

Dodging Jinbe’s attack with a flash of “Shave,” Chu Yi appeared beside Mihawk, who was still gripping his sword, and said with a wry smile, “This is Fishman Island. It’s not like any other island on the Grand Line. If you’d done that on another island, I’m sure your sword would have cleaved the sky itself. But here, the ‘sky’ is the very bubble that protects the island. If you break it, you’ll be in big trouble!”

“Trouble?” Mihawk, for the first time, didn’t look confused. He simply asked, “What kind of trouble?”

“Look there...” Chu Yi pointed at the bubble above, where the cracks were slowly spreading. The wry smile on his face faded, replaced by a grave expression. “Your sword just put cracks in Fishman Island’s protective bubble. Since we’re deep under the sea, the pressure outside is immense. If the bubble gives way, seawater could pour in and flood the island.”

“Still, I imagine this isn’t the first time Fishman Island’s faced something like this, and the bubble probably has some ability to repair itself. Mihawk, all we can do now is hope the bubble’s self-repair can withstand the pressure. Otherwise... we might all end up buried ten thousand meters under the sea, together with Fishman Island!”

“Oh...”

“What do you mean, ‘oh’?” Chu Yi demanded.

“Oh just means oh,” Mihawk replied calmly.

“Aren’t you worried at all?” Chu Yi was exasperated. “Or do you think, with your sword skills, you could survive ten thousand meters below the sea?”

“Of course I couldn’t,” Mihawk shook his head and smiled. “But you’re here, aren’t you, Chu Yi? If you could bring us here, I figure you can protect us too. So I don’t see any reason to worry.”

With that, Mihawk gently set his broken wooden sword on his knees, sat down quietly, and began to digest his insights from the recent battle.

Without a doubt, this was an important step for Mihawk—one that would determine whether he could truly become the world’s greatest swordsman.

A sword that could shatter the heavens!

The ultimate realm of the great swordsman!

As long as he continued to advance along this path, Mihawk would gradually leave the other great swordsmen behind, proving his claim to be the world’s best.

So, to Mihawk, nothing was more important than absorbing the understanding he’d just gained.

After all, Mihawk was obsessed with the sword.

And besides, if trouble did come, wasn’t Chu Yi the one shouldering it all? Wasn’t that his job?

But as for Chu Yi...

Looking at Mihawk’s calm, confident manner, Chu Yi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Fine. If the sky falls, I’ll hold it up. No need for Mihawk to worry.

Though he felt a strange satisfaction at being relied upon by the future world’s top swordsman, being the one to take the blame was still a little irksome.

Chu Yi cast Mihawk a sidelong glance, then looked up at the damaged bubble above Fishman Island. To his relief, it was indeed beginning to repair itself. He breathed a little easier; perhaps Mihawk’s blunder wasn’t something he needed to worry about after all.

But as Chu Yi’s gaze shifted to Jinbe—and he was about to resume their interrupted duel—

Suddenly!

Jinbe’s ashen face made Chu Yi’s heart skip a beat.

“Hey, Jinbe! The bubble on Fishman Island can repair itself, right? It’s just a small crack. No need to be so tense!”

“Shut up, you bastard!” Jinbe snapped, his nerves stretched to the breaking point. “What do you know? Not long ago, Fishman Island was caught in a battle that already weakened the bubble’s ability to regenerate. We’d just managed to repair the cracks, and now your friend’s gone and damaged it again. Do you realize you might have doomed us all—every last soul on Fishman Island?”

“So you’d better pray—pray that the bubble’s self-repair can withstand the pressure from outside. If not...

“Hmph!”

Jinbe glared at Chu Yi with furious eyes. “Then you can share our grave, and die with Fishman Island!”

Wait—Fishman Island was attacked recently?

Who would dare!

As Jinbe finished his angry tirade, Chu Yi wasn’t thinking about whether he’d die with the island—he was silently wondering who would have the audacity to provoke Fishman Island.

Although Chu Yi only knew a few of the strongmen on the island—Tagger, Jinbe—they weren’t enough to intimidate the world on their own. But aside from the fact that both the World Government and the Navy protected Fishman Island, there was also King Neptune’s friend, Whitebeard, who was currently the island’s greatest patron—a deterrent that would make most villains think twice.

But Jinbe wouldn’t lie. If there had been a major battle, it must be true.

So as Chu Yi pondered who could possibly have the strength and the nerve to stir up trouble here, his first thought was of the two who, together with Whitebeard, would one day be known as the “Four Emperors.”

What interests could have driven two of the Four Emperors to challenge Fishman Island—and Whitebeard? As Chu Yi speculated in his heart, Jinbe’s pupils suddenly contracted.

A sharp crack rang out—the fissures in the protective bubble, under the ceaseless assault of the ocean’s pressure, suddenly widened!

Moments later, the surging seawater, as if it had found a vent, began to pour through the breach in the bubble and cascade down onto the heart of Fishman Island.

“It’s over... It’s over... We’re all doomed!”

In the world of pirates, even the Four Emperors, the three admirals, and the Seven Warlords were sometimes powerless in the face of natural disasters.

Now, as the sea poured through the cracks, it would only be a short while before Fishman Island was completely submerged, drowning most of its residents. Worse still, as the water level rose, the combined pressure from inside and out would only increase, making it even more likely that the bubble would shatter entirely.

Then, ten thousand meters beneath the sea, Fishman Island would be helpless against the crushing ocean depths.

To remain intact in the deep would be the best possible outcome.

The worst? Without its protective bubble, Fishman Island would vanish from the world forever.

Just imagining such devastation—the island lost, its people all but dead—filled Jinbe with hatred for the two responsible: Chu Yi and Mihawk. If protecting Fishman Island and its people was beyond his power, then...

He would at least take down the culprits who brought disaster upon them!

With that thought, Jinbe clenched his fists, ready to charge Mihawk and deliver a punishing blow.

But just as Jinbe was about to rush forward, he caught sight of Chu Yi, who was taking a deep breath.

The next instant—

With a resounding boom, as Chu Yi pressed his palms together, a tremendous repulsive force surged upward, slamming into the top of the bubble and—astonishingly—blasting all the seawater back out!

“What... What was that?”

To see Chu Yi use his “Almighty Push” to repel the invading seawater was something Jinbe had never imagined. In all the world, only a Tremor-Tremor Fruit user—the man who was Pirate King’s lifelong rival, Whitebeard himself—could do such a thing.

But here, Chu Yi had done it. Jinbe’s shock was profound, and he silently wondered who this man really was.

Yet what puzzled Jinbe even more was that, after resolving the crisis with his “Almighty Push,” Chu Yi began to rise slowly into the air, as if he intended to head for the breach above.

Chu Yi’s strange actions immediately put Jinbe on high alert.

So, as Chu Yi floated upward, Jinbe barked in a cold voice, “Hey! What do you think you’re doing?”

“What am I doing?” Chu Yi replied with a faint smile, pointing to the shattered bubble above. “My friend just split open your sky, didn’t he?”

“So, to make amends for his mistake, let me...

...patch the sky for you, Fishman Island.”