On the vast seas of the first half of the Grand Line, Laboon carried Bege and his crew towards the Florian Triangle. Their next destination was to find Brook.
"Godfather, there's fog ahead, and I can't see where it ends. Are we approaching the Foggy Sea?" Hank, sitting at the bow, pointed towards the mist drifting across the ocean surface.
"The Foggy Sea, also known as the Florian Triangle. It's likely. Everyone, gather on the deck." Bege's expression was serious. The Florian Triangle was no place to take lightly. This area was perpetually shrouded in thick fog, obscuring the sky and making it extremely easy to lose one's way. And that wasn't even the most terrifying part. The weather and currents within the Foggy Sea were chaotic. An unlucky encounter with a whirlpool could easily lead to shipwreck and death. At least a hundred ships mysteriously vanished in this area every year; it was no joke.
What made this sea area truly terrifying wasn't its current state, but what it would become over twenty years later, after Gecko Moria entered and established his base here.
A portion of the ships that entered this area were likely destroyed by Gecko Moria, with the pirates aboard having their shadows stolen to create zombies.
Bege had already altered Moria's destiny, so those future events would not occur.
Everyone assembled on the deck. Bege instructed Laboon to continue forward. The deeper they went, the thicker the fog became. The sea suddenly became turbulent, a fierce wind howled, huge waves rolled, and a torrential downpour began.
An ordinary ship would have struggled to maintain stability in such conditions. But Bege's crew didn't need to worry. Laboon pulled the ship swiftly towards the depths of the fog.
Suddenly, Laboon let out a low growl and made a sharp ninety-degree turn, carrying the ship in a different direction. Laboon's speed increased even further.
The sudden turn and acceleration caught everyone on deck off guard. They tumbled to the ground, bumping against the ship's railings.
"What's wrong with Laboon?" Hank gripped the railing, asking.
"It's a whirlpool! There was a whirlpool ahead," someone with sharp eyes spotted the whirlpool that had formed in their previous path. That was why Laboon had made the emergency turn, to avoid being sucked in.
Laboon carried the ship around the whirlpool and continued deeper into the fog.
After half an hour, they encountered several more whirlpools. If not for Laboon's ability to sense the changes in the currents, avoiding them would have been a significant challenge.
They entered a calm area, where the fog had completely blotted out the sky, leaving not a single ray of sunlight. The entire sea area was eerily silent.
"It's not even night yet, but the fog makes it so dark it's creepy," Modi said gravely.
"Yeah, I heard this is a haunted sea. They say there are living skeletons here," Moria added.
"Our target this time is that living skeleton," Bege said with a chuckle.
"Haunted... ghosts... ghosts... Ah! Why did we come here?" Hank, upon hearing Modi and Moria's conversation, displayed a look of genuine terror.
"Hahaha, Hank! You're afraid of nothing, and you're scared of ghosts?" Sam pointed at Hank, bursting into laughter. The others joined in with good-natured chuckles.
"Who says I'm afraid of ghosts? I'm not scared at all! Where are the ghosts? Come on out! I'll destroy them with one swipe!" Hank, embarrassed by the teasing, straightened up and put on a fierce expression, only to be startled by a prank from Sam, shrinking back to the edge of the ship and shivering. This scene made everyone laugh even harder.
Bege gazed at the fog-shrouded sea, his brow furrowed. The fog limited visibility to only a hundred meters. Moreover, the Foggy Sea was vast. Finding Brook here would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.
"Brook loves to sing. We'll just have to keep moving and try to find him by his singing. I hope it doesn't take too long," Bege thought to himself.
"Godfather, there's a lot of stuff floating on the surface," one of the disciples said. Bege looked at the sea. The surface was littered with broken masts and other debris from ships that had met their end in this area.
They continued forward, and suddenly, a dilapidated ship emerged from the fog, drifting with the current. The ship was in terrible condition, covered in moss, with a tattered pirate flag hanging from the mast.
It was a pirate ship that had been lost in the Foggy Sea many years ago.
"Go check the ship to see if there's anyone alive, and look for any treasure," Bege instructed Modi. Modi nodded and called a few disciples to board the ghost ship.
"Bege, everyone on the ship is just bones. But there's a lot of gold inside," Modi said with a smile. Several disciples returned to the deck carrying two large chests. When they opened the chests, a golden gleam shone out; they were filled with all sorts of gold. The other chest was valuables and treasures.
"These two chests are probably worth around 100 million Berries. If we cleaned out all the ghost ships in this area, we could probably make a huge fortune," Bege chuckled, sending the two chests into his internal castle.
The ship sailed for a while longer when Laboon suddenly stopped, letting out a loud roar. The sound was filled with anxiety and fear. His massive body turned around, roaring at Bege.
"Laboon is scared. A Sea King has appeared. Prepare for battle!" Bege, seeing Laboon's distress, understood instantly. This was how Laboon behaved when encountering a Sea King.
Bege held his longsword and stood at the railing, ready for action. Everyone on deck drew their weapons, staring intently at the sea.
Suddenly, a massive tentacle erupted from the water and wrapped around Laboon, pulling him towards the depths.
Bege moved in a flash, slashing the huge tentacle in two. The severed tentacle was larger than the ship itself.
An enraged roar came from beneath the sea. The surface began to churn violently, and four enormous tentacles shot out of the water, slamming towards the ship.
Bege instantly severed one. Modi and Moria followed, cutting off two more tentacles. However, Hank and the others couldn't block the last one, and the massive tentacle smashed towards the deck.
Laboon bit down on the tentacle. It narrowly missed the deck, but collided with the mast, cabin, and railing, smashing them and sending debris into the sea.
Suddenly, the ship shook violently. The deck splintered and shattered as a gigantic tentacle pierced the ship's hull like a colossal spear. The ship was instantly ripped in two.
"Damn it!" Bege cursed under his breath. Fortunately, none of the crew were injured.
The sea churned violently, and a colossal creature emerged from the depths. Its body was thick and long, at least a hundred meters in length. Its head was obscured by the fog.
However, a hundred meters up, two red eyes the size of houses stared down at Bege and his crew.
Dozens of octopus-like tentacles writhed on the surface of the water, surging forward to completely surround them.
"Attack! Take it down quickly!" Bege roared.
"One Sword Style – Demon Ape Slash!"
"Shadow Spear!"
"One Sword Style – Thousand Blade Wind!"
Bege, Moria, and Modi attacked simultaneously. A massive, vertical slash of sword energy ripped through the air, severing the tentacles in its path.
A black spear made of shadow pierced through two more tentacles.
A gust of furious wind sliced two tentacles into pieces.
The Sea King howled in pain. Its two red eyes rapidly descended, and Bege finally saw its true form: a snake-like head.
Bege sheathed his longsword, then drew it with overwhelming force. A giant dragon of sword energy soared into the sky, striking the creature's head directly. The massive head exploded instantly, scattering a rain of blood across the sky.