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— — — — — — — — — — — —
Chapter's Events:
— — — — — — — — — — — —
"… That's one biiiig merman…" said Usopp.
"I think I prefer mermaids to mermen, myself…" added Brook.
"That's one weird-looking shaggy old dude…!"
Pappag grabbed Luffy's cheek, who had just yelled that out loud:
"Show some respect, guys!!! You're supposed to bow!!!"
"That's a cute whale!" Nami smiled as she looked at the huge whale carrying King Neptune.
…
"Does he have some business with those humans…?"
wondered the crowd of fishmen surrounding the area.
…
"Megalo, you are sure these are the humans in question?" Neptune seemed to be talking to a shark beside him.
"Huh? That shark… we saw it back before we reached the island…" said Nami, surprised at its appearance here.
"Hey!! StrawHat humans!! I hereby invite you to join me in Ryugu Palace!!!"
King Neptune extended his invitation, causing both Caimie and Pappag to scream in shock.
"R-R-R… Ryuuguu Palaceeeee?!!!"
…
[The depths, near the fishman district "Noah"]
"Is that the fastest you can row?! They'll find us at this rate!!"
The pirate ship tried to advance at full speed, but they didn't know that Hody Jones was already ahead of them.
"It's not easy navigating deep-sea currents, you know!!"
"I knew we should have had the ship fitted with a paddle wheel!! We'll never survive the new world like this…"
"… Huh…? Captain!! There's something up ahead!!"
"Hody Jones!!!" The pirate captain recognized him instantly.
"H… He's found us!!!"
"What the…?! He… He's wearing handcuffs!!!"
"Jahahahaha!" laughed Hody Jones wickedly as he stared at the pirate ship.
— — — — — — — — — — — —
Here on Fishman Island, an eerie silence settled in that moment. Ryugu Palace wasn't the only quiet place in the kingdom—this contagious silence had spread throughout the entire land.
After all, the Sea God had appeared. The king of Ryugu Kingdom, Neptune himself. And his appearance in the manga, 18 years later, was completely different than now.
The current Neptune stared at his manga counterpart, speechless for a few minutes.
"To think His Majesty would look this majestic in the future! How wonderful!"
"Your Majesty, you look so handsome!"
praised both the right and left ministers with dignified expressions, despite feeling embarrassed by the Straw Hats' earlier comments about the king's appearance.
Neptune's expression twitched as he recalled what the Straw Hats had said upon first seeing his counterpart.
"Looks like that shark named Megalo is a pet from
the palace. Apparently, rescuing him by chance made my counterpart feel grateful and he invited them to the royal palace."
Neptune grasped the essence of events in an instant—there was no need to think too hard about it.
Neptune smiled, seeing that his counterpart's stance toward Luffy and his friends wasn't hostile or even indifferent—in fact, it was quite positive.
…
"So Neptune himself descended to invite Luffy and his friends to Ryugu Palace. What a wonderful coincidence caused by that pet shark."
commented Fisher Tiger, also watching Neptune's first appearance.
"So the events will shift to the royal palace from here, right?"
added Jinbe with a smile.
Hody Jones also wanted to comment on the scene, but the next moment in the same chapter made him hold his tongue—his counterpart was undeniably the star of the next scene.
"He destroyed the pirate ship just as expected…"
"Without even using his hands…"
"So this energy steroid is responsible for such a terrifying power boost? What? It doubles a fishman's strength with each additional pill?!"
"The side effects must be devastating."
"I wonder who made it!? Is it one of Vegapunk's inventions!?"
"It drains the user's life away. I doubt Vegapunk would put his name on such a weak invention…"
Fisher Tiger's eyes narrowed as he looked at what Zeo, one of the New Fishman Pirates, had said about the consequences of taking these energy pills…
It wasn't the side effects of the pills that caught the attention of Fisher Tiger, Jinbe, and Arlong, but rather the plan that Zeo spoke about—which changed their expressions all at once.
"So… the New Fishman Pirates are planning a rebellion… to overthrow Neptune…"
"My name… being used again as a pretext…"
Fisher Tiger's mood darkened as he saw his name mentioned again by Zeo.
"And mine too…"
Not just him—Arlong also felt something was wrong.
"How do you plan to bring an end to the harsh history of our race? Tell me, huh?"
Jinbe felt anger bubbling up inside him as he immersed himself in the current manga scenes.
He wasn't angry because Hody Jones destroyed human pirates, but because of what he said:
"For we will seize Fishman Island, centre of the world, from the hands of that worthless 'God', Neptune!!! And we will haul the humans down into the blackest depths!!! We will prove once and for all that fishmen are the one true master race!!!"
Jinbe repeated the words his counterpart had shouted, as he glared at Hody Jones, who was trying to avoid his gaze.
"Incredible… looks like they really want to rebel…"
"How do you plan to make the fishman race superior to humans? With performance-enhancing pills?!"
"Seems like the New Fishman Pirates will end up worse than the Arlong Pirates…"
…
Marineford:
Sengoku tapped his desk as he looked at the manga pages where pirates announced their grand ambition.
"Hmmm, looks like this arc will be full of interesting battles," said Sengoku.
"Tsk, even the fish want to rule the world now."
snorted Sakazuki, eyeing Hody Jones and his crew with disdain.
"Hoi hoi~ Is he trying to scare the New World with an example like this?! So scary~"
commented Borsalino with almost no expression.
"They're certainly ambitious… This strange pill's effect is suspicious. I wonder who its creator is."
mused Zephyr with curiosity.
"Arara—this world is full of oddities. It never ceases to amaze me."
said Kuzan, a chill mist leaving his lips.
"Can you guess how many chapters this Hody Jones will last, Sengoku?"
asked Tsuru.
"If I'm not wrong, I'd say once they get their butts kicked by the Straw Hat Pirates, they'll probably die from the side effects of those suspicious pills."
"I see, that sounds like a solid guess."
"It makes sense for them to be defeated by Luffy and the crew."
"That's what we've come to expect, after all."
"But… this arc doesn't seem to be that simple. There's something hidden waiting to be revealed—perhaps some great secrets will come to light…"
"I'm not comfortable with this at all… The ship called Noah… and also the history of Fishman Island… These are all taboo topics to investigate…"
"I wonder what the stance of those at the top will be regarding this—"
Before Sengoku could finish his sentence, the Den Den Mushi on his desk began to ring.
"As expected, they won't just sit back and wait…"
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Upcoming chapter titles (spoilers):
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Chapter 923: Caribou Kidnaps the Mermaids!
Chapter 924: The Fated Meeting of the Two Rulers!
Chapter 925: Vander Decken IX's Obsession!
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