The church bells echoed melodiously.
Wearing a pure white wedding dress, Hancock looked at the man standing before her, her face filled with happiness.
At that moment, a woman dressed in a maid outfit suddenly appeared between the two, raising her right hand.
Hancock's expression changed. "Is this an attempt to steal the groom?"
...
Bang!
The sudden gunshot threw the crowd into chaos and also snapped Hancock back to reality.
Reddy glanced back at the maid shielding him from behind, the corners of his lips curling upward.
A bullet clattered to the ground from the maid's raised right hand.
Reddy was well aware that Fish-Man Island had supremacists among its people.
These extremists had even dared to assassinate Queen Otohime, who was deeply loved by the citizens, let alone an outsider like him, a mere human. Therefore, he would never enter Fish-Man Island without taking precautions.
"Dr. Reddy!"
Jinbe and Prince Fukaboshi were shocked.
At the same time, the two quickly exchanged questioning glances.
Was this your arrangement?
Seeing that Jinbe shared the same suspicion, Prince Fukaboshi immediately shook his head.
Although he had agreed to Jinbe's plan to use Reddy to persuade his father, King Neptune, he had not yet made any arrangements.
This assassination attempt bore too many similarities to the one that had taken his mother, Queen Otohime's life.
"Find that assassin!"
Prince Fukaboshi, reminded of his deceased mother, angrily ordered his guards to search for the assailant. Then, he turned to Reddy with an apologetic expression. "Dr. Reddy, I'm sorry…"
Reddy raised a hand to stop his apology and smiled. "It's fine. I'll handle this assassination attempt in my own way."
With that, he snapped his fingers.
A portal opened in the air, and the clones filed out one after another.
"I want them alive."
At Reddy's command, Pyo and the other clones immediately fanned out, forming a semicircle as they swiftly closed in on the direction from which the gunshot had come.
Prince Fukaboshi's expression changed. He was about to speak but was stopped by Jinbe.
Jinbe's mood was complicated.
He knew Fish-Man Island had supremacist extremists, but he had never imagined they would be so brazen as to attack an Emperor of the Sea.
More importantly, he had only mentioned Reddy to King Neptune and a handful of others.
Yet, those despicable individuals had prepared an assassination attempt so quickly, clearly indicating they had already infiltrated Ryugu Palace.
Otherwise, how could they have obtained the information so swiftly?
"Perhaps I was wrong."
Jinbe felt disheartened as he reassessed his understanding of these extremists.
Indeed.
He had already roughly guessed the identity of the assassin.
For these fellow fish-men who also hailed from Fish-Man District, he had always turned a blind eye, never interfering too much.
He had assumed they were all talk, at most inciting ignorant citizens to pressure King Neptune.
But now, these arrogant fools were pushing Fish-Man Island into the abyss.
The panicked crowd scattered in all directions.
The convoy was forced to stop in the square.
Hancock paid no attention to the assassination attempt. Her eyes were fixed only on the maid standing behind Reddy, her gaze filled with wariness.
The man I love wouldn't be assassinated so easily.
But this woman is a real threat.
At that moment, Reddy was slightly surprised.
The clones reported that the assassin had already fled the scene and was nowhere to be found.
The clones conducting the search were still looking for leads.
King Neptune, accompanied by his two ministers, hurried to the square. Seeing Reddy unharmed and surrounded by his three sons, he secretly sighed in relief before nervously approaching.
"Father!"
Prince Fukaboshi, furious, wanted to point out the similarities between this assassination and the one that had killed his mother, but King Neptune silenced him with a look.
"I deeply apologize, Dr. Reddy."
Thanks to Queen Otohime's relentless efforts, Fish-Man Island had rejoined the World Government as a member nation. King Neptune, having attended multiple Reveries, had grown accustomed to compromise and adopted a humble stance.
"This was merely the foolish act of some ignorant fools."
King Neptune first defined the assassination as such, then tactfully stated that Ryugu Palace would take responsibility for capturing the assassin and would give Reddy a satisfactory explanation.
"The assailant is very familiar with the environment here."
Reddy stuffed his hands into his pockets, scanning the square.
This was the same square where, in the original story, Queen Otohime had collected signatures from the citizens. The surroundings suggested it was the very spot where she had been assassinated.
"Hody Jones…"
Reddy sighed inwardly.
Queen Otohime had also been an idealist, tirelessly striving for peaceful coexistence between fish-men and humans.
It was her persistence that had won the support of the Celestial Dragon, Mjosgard, who brought back a signed agreement from the Celestial Dragons approving friendly relations between fish-men and humans.
In Reddy's view, Queen Otohime was a naive woman, but he couldn't deny that everything she had done was for the sake of the next generation of fish-men.
She had hoped the next generation wouldn't have to live 10,000 meters under the sea, that they could grow up happily under the sun.
In the end, Queen Otohime had been assassinated by Hody Jones.
King Neptune noticed Reddy's silence and the "meaningful" smile that followed, sending a chill down his spine. He hesitated, wanting to shift the blame but fearing it would further anger the man before him and bring disaster upon Fish-Man Island.
Princes Fukaboshi and his brothers also broke into a cold sweat, worried Reddy might lose his temper.
"Do you want to fulfill Queen Otohime's dying wish?"
Reddy's sudden question caught King Neptune and the three princes off guard.
"Yes!"
Prince Fukaboshi was the first to react, answering without hesitation.
The other two princes quickly nodded in agreement.
King Neptune, however, hesitated.
He hadn't expected Reddy to be so direct, nor had he anticipated the mention of his late wife, Queen Otohime.
Reddy smiled. "I promised Jinbe I would unconditionally help raise Fish-Man Island to the surface, allowing your people to live under the sun. But this goes against Queen Otohime's dying wish."
The three princes fell silent.
Raising Fish-Man Island would indeed allow the next generation to grow up under the sun, but Queen Otohime's wish wasn't so simple.
The core of her wish was peaceful coexistence between fish-men and humans.
"Would you like to engage in deep cooperation with me?"
Reddy abruptly changed the subject, leaving King Neptune and the three princes stunned once more.
Even Jinbe was taken aback.
King Neptune, recovering, cautiously asked with a glimmer of hope, "What kind of deep cooperation?"
Reddy replied, "First, cooperative education. I'll provide the teachers, you provide the location, and all children of the appropriate age will be allowed to attend."
The root of fish-man supremacism lay in the long-standing discrimination they faced from humans, particularly in Fish-Man District.
Reddy had no interest in discussing why King Neptune allowed Fish-Man District to exist. Instead, he saw this as an opportunity to conduct a small experiment.
By targeting the next generation of fish-men, he aimed to reshape the unstable beliefs of children from Fish-Man District, gathering valuable experimental data to accumulate technical knowledge for building an ideal society.
As for the fully indoctrinated supremacists, Reddy considered them excellent test subjects, perfect for replenishing the prisoner population in the underground prison of the Punk Hazard research facility.
By eliminating these extremists and correcting the children's beliefs… Reddy believed this was the most suitable future for Fish-Man Island.
"Is there more?"
King Neptune's mood was complicated, as he vaguely guessed Reddy's second proposal for deep cooperation.
Reddy stated frankly, "Second, it's better to endure short-term pain than long-term suffering. Fish-Man Island needs a thorough purge."