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After speaking with King Neptune, Rob returned to Ohara, where he could relax, draw more chapters, and stack more volumes.
This had always been his biggest concern, more important even than caring about the demons on the other side of the world or the one who controls them, Imu.
"It seems this arc isn't very popular…"
Rob muttered as he looked at the scattered, meager Art Coins he received from time to time.
Sigh~ "If things continue like this, I won't be able to create a second game world anytime soon."
The greatest obstacle to creating a Game World by converting it from anime or manga was Art Coins. He needed at least a billion.
Of course, not all worlds were as complex as One Piece, which required a trillion Art Coins just to lay its foundational systems—but even so, creating a new world was still immensely expensive.
"Should I create another manga or something? Maybe that's what I need to do."
After a long pause of thought, Rob decided to set the idea aside for now and focus on what was already in hand.
"Daddy… do the New Fishman Pirates hate humans?"
A small head peeked in from beside the door, staring curiously at Rob, who instinctively smiled at the sound.
Rob adjusted his drawing glasses and looked warmly at Robin.
"Come sit by your dad—"
Before he could finish his sentence, a delicate hand appeared out of nowhere in his lap and quickly transformed into Robin's full body, which vanished from the doorframe in a flurry of petals and reappeared on his lap.
"Hehehe~ What do you think of my new skill? I can teleport instantly!"
Rob gently patted Robin's head and said, "My daughter is the most talented person in this world. Even Luffy can't compare to you."
Robin was already nine years old now. She was still the eyes through which he saw the world, still the most important treasure in his life, the daughter who gave meaning to his grey existence.
"You've grown, my little one…"
Rob smiled as he ran his fingers through her hair, bringing her indescribable joy. This was her favorite thing: when her father gently stroked her hair.
"You asked me if the New Fishman Pirates hate humans, didn't you?"
"Well, of course. This entire volume is built on racial hatred between fishmen and humans. So yes, the New Fishman Pirates deeply hate humans."
"Why's that, Dad? Wouldn't it be better if everyone just lived in peace?"
"At the root of it all… are the Celestial Dragons, of course."
…
— — — — — — — — — — — —
Chapter's Events:
— — — — — — — — — — — —
[The Fishman District, 'Noah']
"This is our only chance! Everyone get on board!!"
The pirates scattered in panic, footsteps pounding through the district.
Deep in the Fishman District, the enormous ark Noah appeared. Its massive size dwarfed everything around it.
"All hands, man the oars!! Set sail!!"
"Silence!! Silence!!"
Meanwhile, another pirate ship was fleeing.
"Hurry it up!! Hurry!!"
"We're never coming near Fishman Island again…"
"Forget the Mermaid Café—it's over!!"
"Ehhh?!"
"All right! We're out—and they didn't catch us!!"
Aboard the ship, the captain—Crab-Hand Gyro, with a bounty of 73 million—gritted his teeth in frustration.
"Ridiculous… First the Kraken, then a sea monster swarm… and then they tell us submit or die?! What were we supposed to do?!"
"Just get us past the Red Line!!"
"Forget it already!!"
"But… the Mermaid Café…"
"We're lucky we're even alive! Move it!!"
…
Back in the district, the New Fishman Pirates watched them escape.
"They ran again… Humans never learn."
"Want me to rip them up?"
"Let them run! Hahaha! Another example won't hurt…"
Hody Jones, their leader, leaned forward.
"I'll take care of them!!"
One of his men, Ikaros, stepped up.
"No, wait—IKAROS!!"
"Roger that!!"
"Prepare a bubble," Hody ordered.
But then, without warning, he grabbed a handful of Energy Steroids and swallowed them all.
"What—!?"
"Gahhh!! You can't take that many! That drug's too strong!!"
Hody's body trembled. Muscles bulged. Veins popped.
"NGGGHHHH—GGGAAAAAHHH!!"
His transformation had begun.
— — — — — — — — — — — —
Water Seven:
Shipwrights had gathered inside the Art Store, staring wide-eyed and slack-jawed at the page. They were all fixated in stunned disbelief at a ship.
"That's not just a ship—it's an island-sized ark! My god!"
"Noah?! How was this massive ship even built?!"
"Who built something of this sheer scale—and for what purpose?!"
"I used to think Enel's Maxim was the only marvel of ship engineering that could never be rivaled… but look at me now—Maxim is nothing compared to Noah!"
"It looks ancient… and desolate. It must date back to the Void Century and the Ancient Kingdom!"
"Shhh! Quiet! There might be a Cipher Pol agent among us—they don't like hearing anything about the Void Century!"
"Pffft, seriously?! If they don't like it, then let them go fight Lord Rob, who's been revealing that stuff bit by bit!"
"Man, you've got guts… Anyway, what a magnificent ship!"
"Magnificent indeed. Hundreds of thousands of expert shipwrights must've worked on it. And for its frame to be that durable, it must be made entirely of Adam Wood."
"My god… Elbaf must've bled a forest for this ship!"
The shipwrights of Water Seven had only one thing on their minds at that moment: the colossal ark Noah. They couldn't care less about the fleeing human pirates about to become fish food, nor the New Fishman Pirates and their leader who seemed to be popping power pills.
…
Silence fell over the readers on Fishman Island—all eyes focused on a important group of fishmen.
"So Hody Jones and his pals are the New Fishman Pirates… but why do they feel inherently evil?!"
"Did this manga just make me judge my entire race as villains?"
"Oh no… I've been brainwashed. Clearly, the human pirates are the bad guys!"
"They're just fleeing for their lives… but if they were stronger, would they have destroyed the New Fishman Pirates instead?"
Since the readers here were fishmen themselves, their hearts naturally leaned toward the side that represented them—even if that side were pirates.
After all, the manga world was a pirate world. Unlike the real world, where the Great Pirate Era ended before it even began—even with a current Pirate King and several legendary pirates, they had little impact on the broader world ruled by bounty hunters and background demons… whose grip, in turn, was weakening under Rob's influence.
"What did he just take?!"
Fisher Tiger looked on curiously at the pills Hody Jones had just stuffed into his mouth before screaming wildly, bloodshot eyes bulging…
He had a bad feeling that what Hody Jones had just taken wasn't as good as it looked.
"Are those stimulants? I thought Hody Jones would be a strong successor to Fishman Karate… turns out he's just a paper tiger."
Arlong said this in disappointment. He hadn't expected the one to inherit his will to rely on such weak means to gain power.
"This can't be… something must be wrong!"
Hody Jones shouted in disbelief. He didn't want his counterpart to look so ridiculous in front of the island's population, and especially not in front of the district's leaders, including Arlong, Jinbe, and most importantly… Fisher Tiger.
Those three were powerful symbols to him.
"Don't be disheartened, Hody… what your counterpart does has nothing to do with you. The same thing happened to me."
Arlong gestured for Hody Jones beside him to relax and stay quiet.
After all, he couldn't be blamed for anything that appeared in the manga version of his counterpart—even if that counterpart would go on to destroy Fishman Island and endanger their entire race. It had nothing to do with him.
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Upcoming chapter titles (spoilers):
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Chapter 922: King Neptune's Appearance!
Chapter 923: Caribou Kidnaps the Mermaids!
Chapter 924: The Fated Meeting of the Two Rulers!
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