Thunder – thunder…
The sky was covered with heavy clouds, and silver lightning twisted in their depths. Soon thunder roared, flashes flashed, and a storm swept over the sea. The wind roared, raising huge waves that roared against the surface of the water, creating their own symphony - a symphony of storm.
- Bang! - A blinding bolt of lightning streaked across the sky like a celestial thunderclap, momentarily illuminating the entire surface of the sea.
In the dim light of the night, a huge ship, the size of a hill, was struggling with the raging elements. Wave after wave rolled over it, tossing the vessel up and down as if it were a toy. Lightning twisted in the sky like wild whips, and the wind blew with such force that it seemed as if the sky was pouring whole rivers of water onto the earth. Before the eyes there was a continuous white veil, as if a huge curtain of water hung between the sky and the earth.
"Quick, full rudder to starboard!" shouted Sonic, waving his arms and giving orders to the sailors.
- Take down the sails, quickly!
- Go down and row by hand!
The deck was in chaos. Some sailors, shouting at the top of their lungs, were struggling to remove the sails from the masts. Others were trying to secure or move piles of things scattered across the deck. Everyone was busy with something.
"What a terrible weather… The power of nature is truly impressive," Sonic muttered as he wiped the rain from his face. He squinted, trying to see something in the distance through the thick curtains of rain, and added quietly, "I don't know if it's luck or bad luck, but the ship seems to have deviated from its course."
In the distance, the wind was kicking up huge waves, tens or even hundreds of meters high. This sight made the hair on Sonic's hair stand on end. The waves rushed towards the ship, growing higher and louder, as if an angry sea god had decided to unleash all his fury on them.
The World Government ship he was on was one of the strongest and most weather-resistant ships around, but even it couldn't handle this storm, and was tossed around like a toy.
Sonic originally planned to escape with the Gum Devil Fruit, find an underground broker, and sell it. This would make him a fortune, allow him to avoid direct confrontation with the RedHair Pirates, and even give him a chance to find out what the fate of this world would be.
But after thinking it over at night, he abandoned this idea.
The Gum Gum Devil Fruit was too important to the World Government. If Sonic escaped, it would also hurt his partner Who's who . Although they were not close friends, betraying him without reason would be despicable. Besides, Sonic still harbored the crazy idea of facing [Red-Haired] Shanks.
After all, this was a chance to see a true world-class power. If he escaped, he might live in that man's shadow for the rest of his life, just like Gecko Moriah, who once dared to challenge Kaido's [Hundred Beasts].
Moriah at least tried. He faced a real monster and lost. But it was no disgrace.
What about Sonic? He could find a thousand excuses: he weighed the pros and cons, retreated for strategic advantage, was wise and cautious. But he could not deceive himself. He was afraid.
It was too awkward to run away without even trying to meet the one he had heard about in his past life.
As Mushashi said in Drawing the Sword: "It is not shameful to fall under the blow of an opponent's sword, but it is shameful not to even try to draw your own."
Now that he had decided to break with the World Government and start a new life, he had to face the storm with courage. Otherwise, how could he resist the persecution of the government and the Marines? How could he face the CP agents, the Marine ships, and the overwhelming force of the admirals?
But this sudden storm changed their course, and now his plan to meet the monster could fail.
Sonic felt uneasy.
Doesn't he realize that after successfully completing this mission, the future might change, and that will scare him? Or is everything held together by the invisible hand of fate? Even despite the strength of the storm, he still couldn't escape the attack of the red-haired pirates, and that scared him.
Time passed, but they had already lost count of how long they had been sailing in this raging sea.
Suddenly, Sonic, who was driving, squinted. He thought he saw a light in the distance. He thought it was just his tired eyes, so he blinked a few times. But a second later, he froze in amazement.
On the horizon where the sea met the sky, a faint glimmer of light appeared, like a ray of hope.
- Light! Light ahead! - he shouted.
"Where is the light?" someone responded.
- There, ahead! Indeed, there is light!
- We are out of the storm zone!
At the same moment, the others on board noticed the light. Surprise and joy overwhelmed them, tears welled up in their eyes, and they cried out in delight. In an instant, as if they had received a charge of energy, they felt their exhausted bodies fill with strength. The ship accelerated and after half an hour finally left the storm zone. A small island appeared directly ahead.
"Phew..." Sonic breathed a sigh of relief and looked back.
The sea here seemed to be divided into two parts. Behind, thunderclouds raged, lightning flashed, rain poured down, and the waves rose to the sky. And ahead, it was quiet and calm. Seagulls circled overhead, the soft sunlight warming their bodies.
"Finally, some respite!" Who's who voice rang out.
Sonic turned around and saw whos who, wet and dirty, with seaweed in his hair, walking towards him with a gloomy look.
"How are things in the hold?" asked Sonic.
"Damn bad luck!" Who's who sighed. "I don't know how it happened, but there's a hole in the bottom of the hull. We patched it up temporarily, but it still needs repairs."
He reached into his pocket for his cigarettes, but they were wet with seawater. Throwing the pack overboard in irritation, he looked at the island and added quietly: "We'd better stop there for the night, otherwise we risk going to the bottom."