Translator: PapaSmurf0700
"The people of this island are fools. Every last one of them."
Huddled in the darkness, Hody Jones tipped a handful of Energy Steroids into his mouth and swallowed. As the monstrous, artificial power surged through his veins, his voice was a low, venomous hiss.
"To believe the lies of humans so easily... The 'Wildfire Army'? The 'Spark Alliance'? It's all just human deception! They are filthy, despicable creatures!"
He stood, and with a casual wave of his hand, the water around him churned with violent force. He turned to the other members of the New Fishman Pirates, his voice rising to a fanatical roar.
"The life of our hero, Fisher Tiger, trampled underfoot by humans! The will of Arlong! The dark, painful history of our people! All of it ends with us! Our generation will be the one to finally deliver justice!"
"I will personally tear apart every human who dares to remain on Fishman Island! I will let their mangled corpses float to the surface as a message of terror to the world above!"
"We will seize this island, the very center of the world, from that worthless King Neptune!"
"We will drag all of humanity down into the dark abyss of the sea!"
"We will make them understand that the Fish-Men are the supreme race!"
As Hody's speech reached its crescendo, the surrounding crew members erupted in a frenzy of savage cheers.
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"Whoa! Is this the Ryugu Palace? It's so cool!"
Chopper gazed up at the magnificent, opulent palace before them, his eyes wide with pure, unadulterated awe. Bai Ye couldn't help but nod in agreement. If Skypiea, ten thousand meters in the sky, was the ultimate expression of imagination, then Fishman Island, ten thousand meters below the sea, was the ultimate expression of splendor and luxury. The lifelike, eastern-style dragon that coiled majestically around the palace spires reminded Bai Ye of the myths from his previous life.
"We're finally here! I'm gonna eat so much meat!"
Luffy, more excited than anyone, leaped from the back of the shark that had carried them and sprinted full-tilt toward the palace gates.
"Hey, Luffy! Don't be so reckless!" Nami shouted after him, though it was a pointless effort.
"Hahaha, King Neptune won't mind such things," Jinbe said with a relaxed chuckle.
The crew followed Jinbe into the palace, where they were brought before the king of Fishman Island himself. Neptune, a massive coelacanth merman over twelve meters long, was an imposing figure.
As for his appearance, Luffy summed it up perfectly: "He's a weird-looking uncle with a really shaggy beard!"
"Hey! Show some respect! You should address him as King Neptune!" Pappag, the starfish, leaped onto Luffy's shoulder, pulling at his cheek with a sweatdrop of pure panic on his face.
"Hoh hoh hoh! It matters not," Neptune boomed, his strange laugh echoing through the hall. Wearing a crown and holding a massive trident, he was not the least bit offended. "As the benefactors who have done so much for Fishman Island, the Straw Hat Pirates are our most honored guests."
"Heh heh, this uncle's a nice guy," Luffy grinned, then immediately got back to the most important topic. "So, uncle, where's the meat?!"
"Honored guests, a feast has been prepared for you in the banquet hall. Please, follow me," the Right Minister, a seahorse merman, announced.
"Wait just a moment!"
Just as Luffy was about to bolt for the food, Sanji stepped forward, stopping everyone in their tracks. He took a long, dramatic drag from his cigarette, exhaled a plume of smoke, and spoke with deadly seriousness.
"Excuse me, but where is she? The legendary Mermaid Princess, whose beauty is said to make even the Pirate Empress, Boa Hancock, feel inadequate?"
Seeing the confused looks on everyone's faces only strengthened his resolve. He turned to Neptune, his voice filled with desperate passion. "Meeting the Mermaid Princess is my lifelong dream! To realize this dream, I, Sanji, would gladly die!"
WHAM!
In a flash, Nami was behind him, a furious expression on her face as she drove her heel into his head, slamming him to the floor.
"I have had enough of you! Go to hell, you idiot cook!"
"Yohohoho! The lovely mermaid princess, I too would like to—oomph!"
Just as the atmosphere reached peak awkwardness, Robin smoothly intervened, clamping a hand over Brook's mouth before he could make it worse.
"Please pay them no mind," Bai Ye said, stepping forward with a strained smile. "My crewmates are just..." He trailed off, searching for the right words. "...passionately expressive. I assure you, they mean no harm to the princess."
After a moment, Neptune spoke again. "It is not that I wish to keep my daughter from you. You are heroes to this island and deserve the highest honors our royal family can offer. But my daughter's situation is… special. In fact, the reason I asked you here so urgently concerns her."
He gestured toward the hall. "Please, go and eat first. Once you have rested, I will explain everything."
Hearing this, even Sanji calmed down, and the crew proceeded to the banquet hall. The food was a unique spread of seafood, though as Camie had once explained, merfolk don't eat fish or sea creatures, subsisting mostly on shellfish—a concept that had once sent Luffy into a rage ("How can shellfish be meat?!").
Fortunately, Fish-Men do eat fish, and thanks to Jinbe's influence, the royal chefs had prepared a feast with plenty of meat dishes to satisfy the crew's voracious appetites. This, however, created its own problems, as Zoro and Bai Ye had to remain constantly vigilant against Luffy's lightning-fast, rubber-limbed food raids.
When the banquet was winding down, Neptune finally began his story.
"Around two hundred years ago," he started, his tone somber, "merfolk and fish-men were considered nothing more than fish by the world above. We were hunted and discriminated against."
The tale surprised Nami and the others.
"It was only when we joined the World Government that we began to have normal interactions with humans. But even then, the discrimination continued. In some ways, it grew worse, as some humans resented that we, whom they saw as mere fish, now held the same status as them."
"In our long and troubled history," Neptune continued, a sad look in his eyes, "two key figures emerged who tried to change the hearts of both our peoples."
"One was my wife, Queen Otohime."
"The other was Jinbe's former captain, the great hero, Fisher Tiger."