52: Chapter 52 The Rumble from Underground

Rumbling.

ship's massive steel keel scraped violently against the narrow underground rock walls, shaking loose large swaths of rubble that had been weathering for hundreds of years.

The light all around had faded completely.

Only the storm-proof kerosene lamps on both sides of the deck emitted a faint glow, illuminating the churning, white-foamed currents ahead.

The extreme cold in the air vanished in an instant.

It was replaced by a sultry, humid heat belonging to the depths of the desert.

Rice leaned against the scorching pig iron bulkhead of the engine room.

His white shirt was wide open, revealing his solid, bronze-colored pectoral muscles.

Beneath the texture of his skin, wisps of faint, bright blue electric arcs were squirming spontaneously, repairing the slight muscle soreness left behind from when he had forcefully confronted the Admiral Kuzan.

That was from Loguetown.

In the high-altitude storm above the execution platform, with a purely mortal body, he had torn the lightning power from the thunderclouds falling from the Nine Heavens and forcibly swallowed it into his body.

That heavenly thunder in Loguetown had not only failed to shatter the bones of Garp's Disciple, but at this moment, it had instead become the fuel that completely activated the cells of his entire skeletal structure.

"Captain, the blood flow velocity has returned to normal values."

Nojiko walked over in her black short boots. She closed the thick manuscript left by Dr. Kureha, her spirited eyes sweeping over the black blood scab on Rice's shoulder:

"The Winter Island Witch's bloodletting therapy is indeed effective. The lightning from Loguetown activated your cells, while the snake gall from Small Garden enhanced the defensive toughness of your flesh. Your current bone density has reached an inhuman level."

Rice didn't speak, merely clenching his five fingers and smashing his right fist heavily against the pure steel bulkhead. Bang.

A muffled thud. On the one-inch-thick steel plate, a clear, half-inch-deep fist print was left behind.

He hadn't used Haki. This was pure, activated physical strength.

In the navigation room on the second floor of the main cabin.

Nami held the mahogany steering wheel with one hand, while holding a charcoal pencil in the other, drawing a large black cross on the "Nefertari Royal Underground Secret Map."

"We have passed through the secret sluice gate on the West Blue. ship is currently traveling on the main underground thoroughfare of Alubarna."

Her voice echoed in the narrow cabin, carrying an unquestionable calmness.

After experiencing the interception by the Marine's highest combat power and witnessing Rice's black iron fist that stood above all else, the heart of this orange-haired girl had undergone a complete transformation.

As long as that man stood on the bow, this steel behemoth could tear through all the iron curtains on this great sea.

"Rice... thank you."

Princess Vivi sat to one side, her soft, sky-blue long hair hanging in front of her chest.

She looked at the underground map that represented the lifeblood of the nation, a fine layer of sweat seeping from her palms:

"Crocodile has controlled all the water sources on the surface and instigated a million citizens to fight to the death in the capital. But he would never imagine that we would emerge from right beneath his feet."

"Those agents from Baroque Works are used to plotting conspiracies in the dark."

In front of the rear cabin door, Paula, who had changed into a sharp, agile outfit, spoke coldly.

Her voluptuous body leaned against the doorframe, her hair tied back:

"But in the face of absolute crushing power, conspiracies are just children's mud toys. Crocodile has really kicked an iron plate this time."

Beside her, Mikita was toying with a pure steel scale weight in her hand.

After experiencing Rice's violent physical development last night and the life-and-death stimulation of facing Aokiji directly on the ice, her control over her own gravity fruit had become increasingly proficient.

Their lives now belonged to this white dove.

Moo——!!

From the depths of the stagnant pool ahead, the Sea Cow Mohmoo suddenly let out a roar filled with alarm.

The pure steel chains were pulled taut in an instant, the winch emitted a series of harsh metallic grinding sounds, and the forward momentum of ship slowed abruptly.

Rice stepped on the cold deck, walking step by step to the steel bow.

The glow of the kerosene lamp illuminated dozens of meters ahead.

He saw that the originally wide underground waterway ahead was completely sealed off by a massive bronze sluice gate, dozens of meters high, hanging down from the vaulted ceiling.

The surface of the gate was covered in green verdigris and countless dried, black underground moss.

Four pig iron chains, thick enough for several people to wrap their arms around, fixed the gate tightly into the granite rock walls on both sides.

Due to years of silt accumulation, a layer of hard sand and stone several meters high had piled up beneath this ancient sluice gate.

The path ahead was blocked.

"It is the Fault Flood Peak Gate built eight hundred years ago."

Vivi walked quickly to the railing, and after seeing the gate clearly, her face turned slightly pale:

"According to royal records, this gate requires a special royal key combined with the strength of dozens of giant sea beasts to be lifted. Crocodile gave up on exploring the underground waterway back then precisely because he couldn't forcibly destroy this place."

"A key?"

Rice stood at the bow. He looked down at the bronze gate, which was several feet thick and exuded the aura of ancient pig iron.

He slowly took a step forward. His bare feet stepped onto the very front of the steel ram.

"My fist is the key."

Boom.

The ink-black Armament Haki was unleashed without reservation, spreading wildly up his legs.

In an instant, it covered his entire torso. There was no unnecessary embellishment.

There was no external lightning. All the power was tightly compressed into the deepest joints of his right fist. That layer of black skin now presented a cold, hard texture that was almost metallic.

[Iron Body · Hard Fist · Mountain Crushing].

Rice twisted his waist and turned his body.

His right arm was like a heavy catapult pulled to its limit, slamming head-on into the huge bronze sluice gate ahead.

Rumbling——!!

A muffled physical sonic boom, strong enough to rupture the eardrums of an ordinary person, exploded in the dead-silent underground cavern.

Rice's black iron fist smashed into the center of the bronze gate without any fancy tricks.

The flow of time stalled for that one second.

Immediately after, a pale white circular physical shockwave spread wildly outward from the point of contact, increasing geometrically.

Crack!

The ancient bronze gate, several feet thick and something even Crocodile was helpless against, instantly showed a clear, terrifying fist print in the center, indented two feet deep.

Cracks spread wildly outward from the fist print, like a dense spiderweb.

Snap. Snap. Snap.

The four pig iron chains, thick enough to be hugged by several people, which fixed the gate, could not withstand the pull of this terrifying reaction force, and amidst the harsh sounds of breaking, they shattered into iron fragments that flew everywhere.

The entire massive ancient sluice gate, under Rice's single punch, exploded into countless rubble and bronze debris, falling with a clatter into the rushing water.

The underground torrent, which had been blocked for hundreds of years, followed the blown-open gap, letting out a roar like a trapped beast breaking free, dragging the white dove, ship, with it, and rushed straight into the next section of the waterway at an unstoppable speed.

Half an hour of extreme sprinting.

The waterway ahead gradually became wider, and the speed of the current slowed down.

ship sailed into a massive natural underground lava cavern, the size of several football fields.

From the top of the cavern, thick stalactites pointed straight down. And in the center of those rock crevices, a series of extremely dull, grand vibrations were faintly descending.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

These were the physical aftershocks transmitted from the surface, where the rebel army and the royal army were clashing, slaughtering, and trampling the ground in the yellow sand square of the capital, Alubarna.

This national tragedy, directed single-handedly by Crocodile, had at this moment completely entered its final, bloody stage.

"Did you hear that."

Rice stood at the bow, letting the dust falling from overhead hit his shoulders.

His violent black eyes were locked tightly onto a heavy granite fault directly above the lava cavern, which had cracked due to the earthquake.

Passing through that fault layer would lead to the main hall of the Alubarna royal palace.

It was that Sand Crocodile, who thought he was in control of everything and was standing on a high platform, looking down at the common people.

"Nami, stop the ship completely."

Rice unbuckled the belt of his jeans, fastened it again, and his knuckles emitted a series of crisp popping sounds:

"Paula, Mikita. Bring your strength, come up with me, and peel the skin off that Crocodile."

At this very moment.

In the gap of the granite fault directly above.

Plop.

A dispatch paper, stained with dried blood and bearing the top-secret orders of Baroque Works, fell eerily onto the center of the steel deck of ship, along with the vibrating rubble.

At the very top of the paper, a huge cross was drawn with a red pen. And the point of that cross was exactly the location—the burial point of two million tons of high-grade explosives beneath the Alabasta Royal Square.