Half a month later.
Fish-Man Island, Ryugu.
Along a wide corridor, Mr. Sephiroth, encased in a spherical bubble to keep the seawater out, walked unhurriedly behind Neptune.
"How is Queen Otohime's recovery progressing?"
"Thanks to Mr. Sephiroth's surgery, Otohime is now able to get out of bed. I will certainly remember this great kindness of yours... In the future, if you ever need my help, please don't hesitate to ask. I will do my utmost to assist you!"
Will you give me your daughter Shirahoshi too? Mr. Sephiroth first thought, then spoke in a half-joking, half-serious tone:
"Is that so? Then, when I truly need your help in the future, you mustn't go back on your word!"
"Hahaha! No problem, just say the word when the time comes..."
Walking and chatting, the two quickly arrived at the entrance of a tall tower, known as the Hard-Shell Tower. It was the most sturdy building in the entire Ryugu Palace, impossible to breach even with continuous bombardment from cannons.
Suddenly!
A giant axe flew in from outside Ryugu Palace, cutting through layers of seawater, and with a "bang!", it directly struck the huge wooden door of the tall tower. The axe blade was deeply embedded in the wood, pinned firmly in place.
Mr. Sephiroth feigned ignorance, pretending to be surprised:
"What's going on...?"
"This is a pirate named Vander Decken IX. He is attacking my daughter, Shirahoshi... Ever since the Gyoncorde Plaza incident, he suddenly started proposing to my daughter. How could I possibly marry my daughter to a pirate? So I sent people to capture him. Unexpectedly, that guy declared that since he couldn't have my daughter, he would destroy her! Thus, he began launching terrorist attacks on my daughter every day... For Shirahoshi's safety, I could only have her temporarily stay in the Hard-Shell Tower. Otohime was worried that Shirahoshi would be scared alone, so she moved into the tower with her to keep her company."
"I see... Since a pirate is causing trouble, I, as a Marine, cannot just stand by. Where is Vander Decken's base? I'll help you catch him!"
Hearing this, Neptune immediately looked delighted, and he said with a smile:
"Hahaha! Thank you so much! I received the latest news that that guy has a temporary base in a house in Fish-Man Street..."
As they spoke, Neptune had already reached out and gently pushed open the Hard-Shell Tower door, creating a gap.
After Mr. Sephiroth entered the tower, Neptune closed the door again to prevent Vander Decken from throwing weapons and attacking Shirahoshi again.
Inside the Hard-Shell Tower, there were two large beds and some furniture.
Queen Otohime, with white bandages wrapped around her chest, lay on a large white bed, with Shirahoshi standing beside her.
"Mr. Sephiroth, thank you for saving Mother earlier."
Saying this, Shirahoshi, who was only six years old and over five meters tall, softly bowed towards him, expressing her gratitude.
What did you eat to grow so big at six years old?!... I mused inwardly, then responded with a smile:
"You're welcome. After all, I happened to be there, so I just casually saved Queen Otohime."
"Shirahoshi, Mr. Sephiroth just said he's going to capture Vander Decken.
With his strength, you'll probably be able to leave the Hard-Shell Tower soon and won't have to worry anymore!" Neptune said cheerfully.
"Is that true?"
Hearing this, Shirahoshi's face immediately lit up with joy, and two adorable dimples appeared on her cheeks from smiling.
"Of course, that guy Vander Decken is truly too crazy...
How could I possibly let him attack the cute Princess Shirahoshi every day!" I said with a smile.
Suddenly hearing someone call her cute, Shirahoshi couldn't help but shyly lower her head.
"Mr. Sephiroth, I am truly indebted to you in every sense of the word...
For this, I offer you my most sincere thanks!"
As Queen Otohime spoke, she struggled to get out of bed, then nodded and bowed slightly towards him.
Considering that he had directly spent hundreds of years of accumulated lifespan to save her, I accepted her thanks very calmly.
"Hmm!?... Queen Otohime, after your injuries recover, are you still planning to continue giving speeches advocating for Fishman migration to the land...?" I asked carefully.
"Yes, everyone is now just one step away from migrating to the land!" Otohime nodded slightly.
"There are some things I think I should tell you... Life on land is not as wonderful as you imagine. Fish-Man Island is as peaceful as it is now mainly thanks to Whitebeard's protection and the special geographical location of this island. Once you move to the land, you will lose the natural defense of your geographical location, and the number of those coveting Fishman slaves will increase dramatically, while Whitebeard's deterrent power cannot make everyone wary. At that time, more and more Fishmen will be captured and sold as slaves... Hmm! Among them, the Celestial Dragons are probably the most loyal buyers."
"No, the Celestial Dragons have already signed a friendship agreement with us Fishmen..."
"Which Celestial Dragon signed it...?"
"The head of the Donquixote Family."
Hearing this, my tone couldn't help but carry a hint of sarcasm:
"The Donquixote Family...? They are just one of the nineteen Celestial Dragon families in Holy Land Mary Geoise. That agreement is good if it can even restrain the Donquixote Family! If you want to restrain all Celestial Dragons, you should seek the signature and confirmation of the Gorosei's families, not the Donquixote Family, who have no authority among the Celestial Dragons! However, I guess the Gorosei didn't pay you any attention, right?"
"..."
Mr. Sephiroth's words hit Queen Otohime's most unwilling-to-face problem.
She had once requested to meet the Gorosei in Holy Land Mary Geoise, but those five high and mighty Celestial Dragon authorities only replied:
"Busy with official duties, no time for a meeting!"
The Gorosei's meaning was clear; they simply didn't want to bother with her...
Thus, Otohime could only settle for the next best thing, spending several days to barely persuade the current head of the Donquixote Family, obtaining their signed letter, hoping to increase the possibility of Fishman migration to the land at the World Conference in the future.
Facing Mr. Sephiroth's repeated blows, Otohime was silent for a moment, then clenched her fists, and a light called hope appeared in her eyes:
"After we Fishmen migrate to the land in the future, we may face many difficulties, but I believe that one day, Fishmen and humans will achieve peaceful coexistence..."
"Peaceful coexistence...? Setting aside external factors, let's talk about internal factors! Fish-Man Street is filled with many Fishmen who hate humans! Take Hody, for example; to stop you, he even attempted assassination half a month ago. So imagine, if those Fishmen who are hostile to humans migrate to the land, will they also adopt similar methods to Hody to intensify the conflict between Fishmen and humans, causing a war between the two races?!"
"..."
Hearing these words, Otohime fell silent again.
Indeed, Hody didn't hesitate to shoot and assassinate her to provoke conflict between Fishmen and humans.
If those Fishmen who hate humans also carry out assassinations against the royalty and nobles of other countries after migrating to the land, the consequences would be unimaginable!
A full-scale war between Fishmen and humans would likely break out immediately!
"Also, I want to ask a question: how many residents does Fish-Man Island have?"
Queen Otohime subconsciously replied:
"Around five million..."
"Five million people... The only country in Paradise that can stably exceed the population of your Fish-Man Island residents is the Alabasta Kingdom! May I ask, would that country be willing to accept so many foreign residents!? Aren't they worried about being supplanted? Furthermore, how do you plan to acquire the land for five million people to live on? Which country would so easily cede its land to you?"
"..."
Under Mr. Sephiroth's series of questions, the hope in Otohime's eyes gradually extinguished. She collapsed weakly onto the bed, not knowing how to refute.
After a long time, two lines of tears flowed from Queen Otohime's eyes, and she choked out:
"I just hope that everyone can live under the sun, without being confined to this dark and sunless seabed, enduring limited resources, and living impoverished and difficult lives..."
Fish-Man Island is located ten thousand meters deep in the sea. If not for the sunlight and oxygen provided by the Sun Tree Eve, which can be used to grow food, Fishmen wouldn't be able to survive long-term ten thousand meters deep in the sea by relying solely on deep-sea plants.
But...
The sunlight and oxygen that the Sun Tree Eve provides are also limited!
The current population of Fish-Man Island is already approaching the red line...
If this continues, Fish-Man Island will sooner or later face significant internal conflicts, and launching a war to seize living space will be inevitable!
Therefore, Queen Otohime has been working tirelessly to solve the matter of Fishman migration...
She hoped to resolve this huge hidden danger through peaceful means before the contradictions completely erupted!
"Queen Otohime, if you can solve Fish-Man Island's internal problems and ensure that the migrating Fishmen won't cause trouble, I can indeed let you live under the sun and provide you with a suitable place to live. Of course, you also need to pay a corresponding price..."
Hearing this, Queen Otohime's eyes instantly widened, staring at Mr. Sephiroth with disbelief.
She never expected that after repeatedly shattering her hope of migrating to the land, he would actually give her hope again...
"Is this true!?"
"Of course it's true... However, the place you will migrate to isn't the land above the sea, but the land above the sky. Furthermore, your migration doesn't need to be discussed at the World Conference; it only needs my agreement!" Mr. Sephiroth said with a smile.
Sky Island has been undergoing cloud-filling and land creation projects for seven or eight years, expanding its area by six or seven times. Aside from mineral resources, it has basically achieved complete self-sufficiency in various daily necessities!
But...
This also caused a problem. While being vast and sparsely populated was secondary, the most important issue was the shortage of workers for the Dial factories!
Although Isaac had already created industrial robots capable of military production, they weren't very helpful for the Dial farms. Coupled with the fact that Mr. Sephiroth had been implementing a closed-door policy on Sky Island, minimizing information exchange with the outside world as much as possible to prevent its existence from being detected by the World Government.
Or perhaps...
The World Government had actually already detected the existence of Sky Island, but considering its easily defensible and difficult-to-attack terrain ten thousand meters high in the sky, they hadn't yet decided whether to send troops to attack...!?"
The sales of Dial products have been increasing year by year. To fully promote Dial tools worldwide, Mr. Sephiroth has been considering how to steadily expand the scale of the farms and increase the population of Sky Island.
Now, Otohime's Fishman migration plan was a great opportunity for him!
Firstly, he could allow Fishmen to migrate to Sky Island as dispatched labor, expanding the industrial value of Dial tools.
Secondly, it gave him more opportunities to plot for the ancient weapon Poseidon... Shirahoshi!
"Land above the sky...? How can there be land in the sky..." Queen Otohime murmured.
Neptune thought for a moment, then said with slight surprise, "Mr. Sephiroth, are you talking about Sky Island? I once heard from my friend Roger that there is a Sky Island ten thousand meters high in the sky."
"That's right! The divine kingdom of Sky Island is my territory. Even if you want to migrate several million people, I have enough space to accommodate them." Mr. Sephiroth smiled and nodded.
As long as there were enough people and enough soil, the cloud-filling and land creation project could continue indefinitely. There was more than enough land!
As if thinking of something, Mr. Sephiroth added, "Of course, I will only allow Fishmen who are not hostile to humans to migrate. As for those with malicious intentions, I must refuse!"
Although Otohime perceived through Observation Haki that everything the young man said was true, she couldn't help but frown and ask, "Uh!?... Mr. Sephiroth, aren't you a Marine? Why do you have your own territory...?"
"As a Marine, what's wrong with having a side business? Is there a problem?"
"..."
Next, Mr. Sephiroth discussed other related matters with Otohime and Neptune before leaving the kingdom.
Fish-Man Island, Fish-Man Street. Inside a wooden house wrapped in a bubble, Vander Decken sat on a chair, hunched over a desk, writing a love letter for Shirahoshi.
As an Op-Op Fruit user, he could use his fruit ability to make thrown objects fly towards a person he had touched. Furthermore, unless the object hit the target or was intercepted, it would not slow down during flight!
Ten days ago, in Gyoncorde Plaza, he took advantage of the chaos to touch Shirahoshi's arm, marking her with his ability, allowing all the objects he threw to fly towards Shirahoshi.
He initially threw love letters, but after being rejected, he started throwing various weapons.
Just after Vander Decken finished throwing the axe, he suddenly felt that he should give Shirahoshi a chance to turn over a new leaf. After all, Shirahoshi was his future bride; he should be more tolerant and magnanimous...
Just as Vander Decken was letting his thoughts wander and writing the love letter, a black bat wrapped in a bubble flew through the window of the wooden house at an extremely fast speed, with a "whoosh!", into the house.
While Vander Decken was momentarily stunned, a spatial folding door suddenly opened in his wooden house, and a silver-haired young man holding a Saber stepped out from within.
"Who are you...?"
"The one who's going to catch you!"
"Why are you catching me..."
Vander Decken hadn't finished speaking when Mr. Sephiroth lunged forward, punching him in the face and knocking him unconscious.
Then, Mr. Sephiroth directly hoisted Vander Decken onto his shoulder and walked into the spatial door, disappearing from the wooden house...