(Timeskip)
Sal easily caught the spear, mentally calculated where it had come from, and tapped the tail of the white sea star.
"Shirahoshi, we're going. Do you remember what I told you?" Sal asked.
Shirahoshi looked at Fish-Man Island, and then further into the dimness. Fear flickered in her eyes, but she gathered her courage and nodded.
"Brother Sal said that if you want a bright future, you have to rely on yourself. I'm ready," Shirahoshi replied, grabbing a large, pre-prepared bag of things.
She swam out from Fish-Man Island. Sal, covered with a special water membrane, sat on her shoulder, holding a bag of oxygen foam in his paws. The twelve-meter-long Shirahoshi slipped through two layers of protective membrane, leaving behind Neptune's concerned gaze from the palace. It was the first time she was leaving her home island, and no parent could remain calm.
Soon, they reached the designated spot, where a faint light from Eve still lingered. Here, they needed to wait for Vander Decken IX to launch his weapon again.
Sal came up with a simple solution: by following the weapon, they would surely find him.
Two wanderers roamed the seabed. At a depth of ten thousand meters, besides the Sea Kings, various strange fish lived. If not for the technology of Fish-Man Island, it would have been impossible to freely move on the seabed at such depth.
Shirahoshi, full of curiosity, spun around, touched sea stars, and poked at peculiar little fish. One of them, only four meters long, dared to bite the princess, who had never seen anything like it. She screamed in fright and rushed to hide behind Sal.
"Brother Sal, the fish here are so mean!" she exclaimed.
Sal remained silent.
The King of the Sea, Poseidon, who could control the Sea Kings, was afraid of a fish smaller than himself. What else could be said? He just had to drive the fish away and calm the little princess.
"Don't worry, I'll protect you," Sal reassured Shirahoshi.
For safety, Sal maintained a powerful observation area using Haki. The Sea Kings, occasionally swimming by, couldn't help but notice him. The number of Sea Kings at the seabed was dozens of times greater than in the calmer areas.
[Character SSS-level Shirahoshi (Sea King Poseidon) is experiencing positive emotions towards the host, moderately friendly, reward 400,000 experience points].
The system message popped up again. It seemed they really had become good friends.
Fortunately, they didn't have to wait long. Less than two hours later, the weapon was launched again, and they continued to follow it.
In the dark, dangerous depths, without peak observation, it was a very complicated plan.
However, possibly due to Shirahoshi's status as the Sea King Poseidon, they weren't attacked by medium or large Sea Kings. Only a few foolish, low-level Sea Kings, driven by hunger, dared to attack but were easily sliced into pieces by Sal. The blood attracted other predators, but Sal was not worried—he could easily evade them. Moreover, in the depths, at a height of ten thousand meters, his strength had hardly changed.
It was difficult to notice the change between day and night in the dark deep-sea depths. Two days passed unnoticed. In a dream, Sal felt as if his body was wrapped in a soft sponge, and he instinctively tried to get out of it.
He was suffocating and opened his eyes. In front of him was Shirahoshi's neck and sweet face. She was clearly watching him sleep. Over the past two days, Shirahoshi had become sluggish.
As he tried to move, he realized he was sleeping between two plump breasts. No wonder it felt like he was wrapped in a sponge.
"How long have I been asleep?" Sal asked.
"Brother Sal has only slept for an hour. I wanted you to rest a bit more before I take you into my embrace," Shirahoshi replied.
Sal silently thought the girl was still young and naive. What does "in my embrace" mean? Fortunately, he didn't mind; otherwise, an elder wouldn't have endured such a test.
Soon, another spinning ax flew by. This time, after tracking, they discovered an astounding sight: nearby, like a ghost ship, stood a battered pirate ship.
It was the Flying Dutchman, the headquarters of the Pirates flying through the air.
Next to the pirate ship was an enormous humanoid creature—"Dainyudo" Wadatsumi, the pet of Van der Decken, standing at a height of 80 meters, taller than little Oz.
Under the hull of the ship was a large underwater volcanic cave. Red lava flowed along the seabed, illuminating the surroundings and significantly increasing the temperature. Roasted fish swam there, attracting other Fishmen to this deadly area.
Standing on Shirahoshi's palm, Sal said:
"Shirahoshi, ahead is the one who tried to harm you. Do you want to see him one last time? If not, I will handle it myself."
Rage blazed in Sal's eyes. He was very angry that he had spent two days searching.
Shirahoshi watched the movement of the ghost ship. From timid, she had turned determined. She wanted to be part of ending this nightmare.
"Brother Sal, please sit down. I want to meet him," she requested.
Shirahoshi pushed Sal into the space between two soft "pieces" and, ignoring his protests, hurried towards the pirate ship.
"Hey, hey, wait! ..." Sal tried to object, but he was pressed against the soft, slippery bodies and couldn't move.
At this moment, Van der Decken was lying on the deck, half-asleep. Suddenly, a beautiful face with pink hair appeared before him, and he jumped up in fright.
"Shira ... Shirahoshi, you're here, how did you find me?" he asked.
"I am here to see Van der Decken," Shirahoshi replied.
Hearing that she had come to him, Van der Decken, naively believing she had accepted his proposal, forgot the important question of how she had found him.
From the moment he learned that the six-year-old Shirahoshi was Poseidon, the King of the Sea, he had been writing her love letters, dreaming of marrying her.
A couple of years passed, and he realized his efforts were in vain. So he began insulting and threatening Shirahoshi, hoping Neptune would understand that the best way out was to marry her off to him. And now, he had finally achieved his goal.
Suddenly, a firm voice from Shirahoshi interrupted his dreams.
"Sorry, Van der Decken, I will never marry you," she declared.
"What... You rejected me? I want..." Van der Decken exploded with rage, ready to attack Shirahoshi, but suddenly, his gaze fell on Sal, who appeared in front of her chest. He thought that a man had emerged from between the two soft parts he had considered so obvious.
For the first time, a green fury ignited in his heart. He wanted to rage and roar.
Unfortunately, before he could do this, a figure rushed at him.
It was Sal, struggling to pull himself away from the "sponge." He didn't feel like talking to a dying man.
A knife flashed, and Vander Decken saw his body fall to the ground, as the world plunged into darkness.