Chapter 212: Dyna Stone
"What?! He's going to pop the bubble?!" Usopp exclaimed in fright.
"With that much water and the pressure of the deep sea..." Nami said as her face went pale. "It'll crush us all to death in an instant." Robin said with an unconcerned smile on her face.Nôv(el)B\\jnn
"How can you say that while smiling, Robin?! We're going to die!" Chopper cried whilst lightly tugging on the hem of Robin's skirt.
"Maybe not..." Nami muttered then looked like she had an idea. "Old Man Money Bags! Tell everyone to get into the water!"
King Neptune was lamenting the fact that there was no way to reach the palace and stop these madmen within the ten minute time limit, but he was shaken from his despair by Nami's words. "What do you mean?"
"Hody and his goons were planning to use Shirahoshi to call sea kings to destroy the bubble, right? They must have had a plan to survive it then! They were planning to dive into the water to mitigate the impact of the coming disaster on their bodies!" Nami explained.
King Neptune widened his eyes in realization. He immediately began to address the people with his booming voice full of authority, meanwhile the three princes fanned out to spread the word.
Most of the people who got the message trusted the royal family enough to listen to them, however there were still a lot of people who didn't listen or simply weren't within earshot to hear the message. Needless to say, if the bubble were to pop, a lot of people would die without the ability to resist. Ten minutes just wasn't enough time to form an effective evacuation.
"We need to get under the water, guys! Hurry and use the Bubbly Coral and dive under!" Nami tried to convince some stupidly stubborn members of her own crew, including the captain.. Luffy, Sanji, Zoro, Franky, Usopp, and even Merry stood on the deck of the Thousand Sunny seemingly with no intentions to move from the spot.
"If the bubble pops, the Sunny might be damaged beyond repair. She's my masterpiece! If the Thousand Sunny dies here, then I'll die with her as penance for my lacking skill!" Franky spoke seriously.
"Baaah." Merry bleated sadly, but resolutely.
"Merry says that she won't leave her friends behind." Chopper translated. He then slapped his cheeks and made an expression of resolve. "And I wouldn't be a man if I did either!"
"What am I going to do with you guys..." Nami lamented. "Wait a minute? Aren't we missing someone...?"
"Killing me?" Cherry said mockingly.
Garcelo realized something was wrong. Even having been pierced through by a dozen
weapons, Cherry was seemingly unfazed.
"You don't have what it takes to kill me." Cherry spoke matter of factly.
*Crunch*
The sound of metal being crushed beneath tremendous pressure was heard and all the Neo Marines felt their weapons suddenly come loose. No, they didn't come loose. They were broken as Cherry tensed her muscles around them. A technique that was usually employed to trap a blade inside a stab wound had sundered them instead.
Garcelo didn't panic. After all, there was still the-
"Poison too? You guys are ruthless. Magellan's was worse, though." Cherry said with a mocking smile as if she knew every thought in his mind.
*Crunch*
This time it was the sound of crushed bones, as Cherry squeezed Garcelo's hands with her own. A bolt of lightning shot out of Cherry's back and passed through the heads of each of the Neo Marines aside from Garcelo. They were accustomed to resisting electric shocks as they were on Garcelo's squad, but his electricity didn't compare to genuine lightning.
Having their brains short circuited, they instantly toppled over unconscious. A credit to their toughness as that would have killed lesser men.
Garcelo's eyes were full of hate. Not a burning hatred, but frigid and cold like a violent blizzard. He took some distance from Cherry, something that in hindsight Cherry would realize she shouldn't have allowed.
He opened his coat with his almost useless hands. There he revealed an explosive vest and took its detonator into both hands to hold it firmly enough to actually trigger it. Cherry scoffed. She was unafraid of whatever petty explosive he had prepared. It could not hurt her. She approached him with slow even steps, the mocking smile having never left her face.
Garcelo looked her dead in the eyes as his expression distorted to show the roiling madness within him. For just an instant, his eyes glanced at the cannon as he pushed the button. Cherry jerked her head around in horror just in time to hear the smallest explosive go off from inside the cannon, followed by a bright pink light shining out of it.
And Cabernet was standing right next to it as she had pointed it away from Fishman Island.