One Piece: Madness of Regret-Chapter 31: Rain, Storm and Whales. Again!(4)

'Detecting multiple leviathan-class life forms. Are you sure what you're doing is worth it?'

Fuck.

It was Subnautica vibes all over again—except this wasn't a game. This wasn't some deep-sea horror through the screen. This was real. And my first encounter with a leviathan-class wasn't in the safety of a submarine. It was on foot. In the dark. With no escape.

I would be shitting myself right now or maybe pissing myselfif I had actually eaten something.

But there was nothing in my stomach to lose. Just the cold, gnawing realization that I had walked straight into this thing's trap.

It was fishing. Its bioluminescent lure, swaying, glowing acted like a beacon to the ones that were foolish enough to follow it. And like a moth I followed it.

Like an idiot.

Like prey.

A moth to a leviathan.

On the bright side, Leviathan won't actively hunt me. I am simply not worth the effort. The sheer energy it would take to open its monstrous mouth, let alone swallow me, would burn more calories than my entire body could provide.

Fuck. Why am I feeling depressed?

Was I hoping the Leviathan would hunt me like I was worth the effort? No. No. Its just the depression of being alone and all the jack shit happening to me, that's speaking. All the exhaustion, the isolation, the sheer, relentless absurdity of my situation. That was the depression talking, not me. At least I hoped so.

It's not like I have any ways to hunt or hurt the Leviathan. A single flick or shift of its fins and this brotha gone. I would either be crushed to meat paste and left uneaten or I would be flying without wings in the sky to fall to my death. One sweep from its tail and by the lords above and below, I hope to have an instant death. Not being able to feel would be a blessing if I survived a hit.

I was still far from the Leviathan. A lot farther. The previous lightning told me a lot. The bait, the lure, its light it uses is quite far away from its face or rather the eyes. I would make a guess of 40-90 meters. A rough estimate.

Now the question, Do I approach it? Wrong question. Why the fuck should I go there? Yes its the right question. So why should I go there? There is light, yes. But also a Leviathan that uses the said light to lure preys. I could get some answers on where I am or rather what I am on.

Counter argument, there is a Fucking Leviathan.

Logic screams No. But its not like I listened to logic when I ventured in the dark. Fuck it. I will either thrive or die.

And somehow, the logical part of me was willing to make a compromise. It wanted to go, but logically. Fine. That worked in my favor.

Let's think.

Let's think. Leviathan are fast. Especially fish class Leviathans in waters. But the Anglerfish Leviathan is still, aside from little movements. So, its stationary and doing something. Eating I guess. Even if it is fast.

Bigger creatures take time to move. The larger the body, the longer time it react. Even with quick burst, there would be a delay and some easy tells in their action.

If I could measure the time delay between its action, its movement. I could use it as a window to observe.

Not like I have any good thing to do in the dark.

The light shifted again. The Leviathan was eating. Or tearing something apart. Time to count.

I could feel the tremor happening in intervals. Steady intervals. Rhythmic. Predictable. I counted. One. Two. Three.

The lights dipped downwards and shook left to right. Twenty. Twenty one. Twenty two.

The lights sank further, drifting slightly farther away. Forty seven. Forty eight. Forty nine.

The tremors stopped. Eighty five. Eighty six. Eighty seven.

The light came to a still, swaying up and down with movement. Slow, deliberate sways. I presumed it with the movement of chewing, swallowing. One hundred eighty nine. One hundred ninety. One hundred ninety one.

The light came a little closer. The Leviathan was coming closer. A lightning strike behind me split the sky open. I could see it. The full scale of it. I could see the metallic gleam of its eye capture catching the reflection of the lightning. I didn't lose the count. Three hundred fifty four. Three hundred fifty five. Three hundred fifty six.

The lightning lingered longer than usual. Seconds stretched unnaturally, giving me an extended look. I could see the part where the Anglerfish bit. It had a white, yellow color. There were bite marks on the ground and a hint of red. The moment flickered away before I could decide.

The light went as quickly as it came.

Then came the thunder. Loud, Strong. It dwarfed everything. It engulfed everything. Even my heartbeat. I didn't stop me count. Three hundred eighty two. Three hundred eighty three. Three hundred eighty four.

The light moved as high up in the morbid rain. It was opening its jaw for a bite. Five hundred fifty nine. Five hundred sixty. Five hundred sixty one.

The light came down. The Leviathan was taking a bite. A big bite. Five hundred eighty eight. Five hundred eighty nine.

Then came the tremors. The Leviathan had bitten and was now moving its mouth, trying to rip a part of the ground. The very ground I stood on. Six hundred thirty one. Six hundred thirty two.

The tremors were coming to a stall. Six hundred seventy nine. Six hundred eighty.

I could see the light move down and go back.

So six hundred eighty second give or take few. So I have around 11 minute between every bite.

Eleven minutes to make my peace with whatever that's to come.

So I ran. I ran counting. Every second that passed. I was a little closer. A little closer to the light.

Two hundred and eighty five second later. I was near panting and maintaining count. But near enough to see the Pale yellow light reflect in the Leviathan pitch black eye.

It was... majestic.

The way its metallic eye gleamed in the dim glow, the way the soft, sickly yellow light revealed only glimpses of its monstrous form. The jagged teeth that caught what little light touched them, the sheer enormity of its presence every inch of it was terrifying, grotesque, and yet undeniably magnificent.

I lost count.

I didn't even realize it until the silence in my head screamed. Where was I? Two hundred eighty? How long did I stare at it? Fifty second, A minute? A minute it is.

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So, Three hundred forty second.

Three minute left.

I forced myself to look at the ground below me. Illuminated by the light from the lure.

I could see it. Scratches. Deep, jagged grooves. Teeth marks. Imprints where fangs had sunk in and torn apart flesh. Ripped-out chunks.

Flesh. I was standing on a living body.

A far-fetched theory but I had a inkling to it. When I saw barnacles latch on to the ground. I had noticed but ignored it. But now, seeing wounds, ripped chunks instead of cracks or erosion.

I am on a body.

Question is what body? And since the Leviathan is feeding on it. Was it dead? And how big is it? Even from the slope I climbed I could see it was a few kilometer wide and that was what I could see.

How the fuck did I go from Pirates of the Caribbean to some Cathedral to Subnautica?

Don't tell me I am in some kind of ecological dead zone? The Crater edge? The void?

My breath quickened. My heartbeat pulsed.

No. No. Think. I should not be in the game. A similar world but not the game. There were no Anglerfish Leviathan in the game. And Logically Anglerfish is a deep-sea predator. It should not be in the surface. Subnautica world would kill the species that can't adapt.

The Leviathan in front of me is big but just as ugly and weird looking as the Anglerfish in the depth. So, it should mean, It is a depth loving creature. The light blub, its lure just confirms it. It needs the lure to attract prey in the dark deep below.

The fact that's it is even in the surface is a miracle and a case of the rarest of the rare. So, this world should not be Subnautica. Because this Anglerfish defies logic. And Subnautica adheres to Logic. The most adaptable wins.

So, I am not in Subnautica. A good news.

Bad news. The creature in this world doesn't follow logic.

Sigh, I won't be surprised if I see a Reaper Leviathan fly in the sky to chase me. Goddamnit, I set up another red flag.

Man, I would take the Cathedral than this whatever this is.

The Light grew brighter and brighter. I could feel the water current move as the Leviathan moved. Fuck me sideways. I lost count and got too deep in my thoughts.

The Leviathan has come to eat.

I ran. I ran as fast as I could.

And Double Fuck me sideways and horizontal, I slipped.

I slipped and my whole fucking body suddenly seems to not respond to me. I couldn't climb up. I couldn't run. I was stuck there crawling a little further from the Leviathan. I could see it. The Leviathan. I could see it much more clearly than the time the Lightning strike.

Its lure close to me. I felt the heat. It was hot. Scorching hot. Something I felt that shouldn't be possible.

I took a deep breath. I analyzed everything that I could and the stuff that I couldn't.

I couldn't run away nor could I fight it.

I am dead either way.

At least I wish to die satiating my curiousness. Not for answers but for the curious kid in me. I observed the Leviathan. Its light now bright and hot. Scalding hot.

I stood on my legs. I walked near it. I could hear sizzling near it. The rain evaporated the moment it fell near it. The ground it went near to dried.

How beautiful, it is.

The way it works. The way it functions. I could keep on looking and looking and not tire. I could keep finding new facts of it day by day.

The light lure approached near me. I too walk in its direction. A moth to a flame, huh.

I stood there in front of the light. A respectable distance away. Just enough to not burn. I wanted to see it. I wanted to see it eat. If I die so be it.

I could see the Anglerfish. A Leviathan. Its black eyes full of metallic gleam. Its teeth sharp, pointy and many. I waited for it to take a bite.

But no, The Leviathan didn't take a bite. No, it stood there watching, waiting. It was looking in my general direction. No.

It was looking at me.

It wanted me to do something.

It wanted something from me.

I could feel it.

Not this fucking bullshit again. Why the fuck does a Leviathan want something from me?

What do I even have that the Leviathan would want? My severed fingers in my pocket, the hole in my skull. Me as a snack. The two bricks from the Cathedral. The blood I ate.

I don't know. So, I tested. I took out my severed finger. It didn't react. I showed my skull. It didn't react. I walked a step forward. It didn't react.

I took out the two bricks from the Cathedral. It reacted.

The Leviathan reacted.

It wanted the brick.

Should I give it?

Hah, Why ask? When I already know the answer.

'I pinky promised the kids I would bring food.'

Can't lose the only two part of the answer to return there.

'No' I spoke to the Leviathan.

It understood and It roared.

A fucking fish roared.

I was shocked to say the least. I felt like Animal planet bamboozled, hoodwinked, led me astray and flat out deceived me.

It roared once more.

Was it the lightning strike behind me or the small motion sensor in me that activated itself. I could see an even bigger Leviathan jump from the water below the Anglerfish and swallow it whole.

I barely had time to process what happened. One second, it was there roaring. The next—gone. Devoured whole. Just like that.