As the massive Sea Kings retreated into the ocean's depths, Fish-Man Island's greatest crisis finally ended. Throughout the underwater kingdom, terrified residents emerged from their hiding places, embracing one another in relief and celebration that they had survived another day.
With Tom's miraculous intervention resolving the immediate danger, Shirahoshi gradually calmed down under everyone's gentle comfort.
"Shirahoshi, my precious daughter, I swear you'll never suffer such injustice again," Neptune whispered, holding his child close while his voice trembled with protective fury.
"Father," Shirahoshi said between fading sobs, "when I woke up, I heard Decken said that Hody Jones killed Mother."
"What?!" Neptune's shock was profound. The revelation that his wife's true murderer had been someone from within their own kingdom cut deeper than any external threat.
Jinbe, who had been restraining Hody during the conversation, felt equally stunned. Princess Otohime had been someone he'd deeply respected, and learning the truth ignited a righteous anger within him. Without further hesitation, he ended the fight with Hody in two decisive strikes.
"Hody, tell me the truth - did you murder Princess Otohime?" Jinbe demanded, his voice cold with judgment.
"History is written by the victors," Hody replied with bitter laughter, blood trickling from his mouth. "Yes! I killed that naive fool! That human was just a convenient scapegoat! Gyahahaha!"
With his crimes finally exposed, Hody abandoned all pretense and reveled in his confession.
The confirmation hit Jinbe like a physical blow. His hands tightened involuntarily, and Hody's broken form went limp.
"King Neptune," Jinbe said, dropping to his knees before the monarch, "this failure is mine to bear. I failed to properly guide those who followed Fisher Tiger. I failed to maintain order in Fish-Man Street. Please, punish me as you see fit."
Neptune looked down at the kneeling fighter and simply sighed deeply.
"Jinbe, this responsibility isn't yours alone. Hody was once a member of our Royal Army. If anyone should bear the greatest responsibility, it's me."
The king gently helped Jinbe to his feet, his expression mixing grief with determination.
"Jinbe, Otohime devoted her life to building bridges between our people and the surface world. She always told us both to set aside our prejudices and look toward the future. Let's honor her final wish together, shall we?"
Neptune clasped Jinbe's hands as he spoke, his words carrying the weight of a shared covenant.
"I... I pledge to work toward Princess Otohime's dream with everything I have," Jinbe replied solemnly.
Given the magnitude of the day's events, Gustave and his crew didn't overstay their welcome, returning to Marineford to allow Fish-Man Island time to process and recover from the crisis.
Several days later, when the underwater kingdom had restored its normal operations, Neptune personally invited them back for a proper ceremony.
"In recognition of your heroic actions in saving both Princess Shirahoshi and Fish-Man Island itself," Neptune announced before his assembled court, "I hereby declare Gustave and his friends eternal friends of our realm. Whenever you have need, Fish-Man Island will provide assistance without reservation."
Along with this declaration, Neptune presented each of them with an ornate medal crafted from deep-sea pearls and precious metals - a token that would grant them unrestricted access to the underwater kingdom for life.
During a private audience, Neptune also revealed Shirahoshi's true nature to the group.
"My daughter possesses a power spoken of only in legends," he explained carefully. "She is what ancient texts call 'Poseidon' - one capable of communicating with and commanding the great Sea Kings."
Most of the group looked confused by this revelation. Po tilted his head thoughtfully, while Luffy's expression clearly conveyed his primary question: Can you eat it?
"Poseidon can speak to and control the giant Sea Kings," Neptune clarified, though he seemed puzzled by their lack of amazement.
The truth was, Tom's linguistic abilities had somewhat diminished the legendary impact of this news. After all, they'd just witnessed him convince an entire fleet of Sea Kings to withdraw through nothing more than conversation.
Over the following weeks, Gustave and his crew made several additional visits to Fish-Man Island. Partly to bring Shirahoshi exotic land plants and animals she'd never seen, and partly to allow Tom to attempt teaching the Sea King language to the island's scholars.
Unfortunately, linguistic talent for the ancient tongue proved incredibly rare. Despite Tom's patient instruction, only Shirahoshi showed any aptitude for learning it.
We're back where we started, Gustave mused with mild frustration.
Of course, since Shirahoshi could already command Sea Kings through her innate abilities, learning their language might seem redundant. However, as a child still struggling to control her powers, understanding their communication could provide crucial stability and growth.
Time passed peacefully, with Gustave's group splitting their time between Marineford and Fish-Man Island for another month. After confirming that neither the Beast Pirates nor the Whitebeard Pirates showed signs of renewed aggression, they finally prepared to depart for Water 7 to commission their new ship.
On their departure day from Marineford, the farewells were notably emotional. Kizaru seemed genuinely distressed - though primarily because his source of free gourmet meals was disappearing. The female Marines were equally upset to lose Po and Tom's company, particularly Tom, who had somehow become incredibly popular among the Marine women.
Shortly after leaving Marineford's waters, Jinbe caught up with them carrying a special parting gift.
"What's this?" Gustave asked, accepting the carefully wrapped big bundle.
"A branch from the Treasure Tree Adam - one of Fish-Man Island's most precious resources," Jinbe explained. "When King Neptune learned you were building your own ship, he insisted on contributing the finest materials available."
Gustave was genuinely moved by the generosity. "This is incredibly valuable..."
"King Neptune said this is how friends support friends. Considering how you saved our entire kingdom, no treasure could adequately repay that debt," Jinbe replied warmly.
With such perfect shipbuilding material now in their possession, Gustave had no choice but to accept the magnificent gift gratefully.
After parting with Jinbe, their course was set for Water 7.
Gustave found himself in remarkably high spirits during the journey. Not only were they approaching the world's premier shipbuilding city, but they now possessed the finest possible materials for their ship. Combined with his steadily growing strength, the future looked brighter than ever.
Perfect weather accompanied their voyage, prompting Gustave and Po to set up lounge chairs on deck for some relaxation under the sun.
Tom, who was managing the helm, felt distinctly left out watching his friends enjoying themselves. After confirming their heading toward Water 7, he secured the rudder and dragged his own chair over to join the sunbathing session.
Ace and Luffy observed the three adults lounging contentedly and clearly wanted to participate.
"Someone needs to maintain watch duty," Gustave pointed out reasonably. "We can't all relax simultaneously - what if we encounter trouble?"
"As for who gets watch duty and who gets to rest... how about you two decide it fairly?"
"Luffy, since you're not quite as strong as Ace in a straight fight, why don't we use rock-paper-scissors to determine the winner?"
Both brothers agreed to this solution, though the outcome was predictably one-sided. Luffy's luck proved even worse than his combat skills - despite multiple attempts and some creative interpretation of the rules, he consistently lost to Ace.
With characteristic good humor, Luffy climbed the mainmast to serve as their lookout while Ace joined the adult sunbathing session.
Unfortunately, Gustave had forgotten one crucial detail about Luffy's heritage - the boy had inherited Garp's tendency toward random naps at inappropriate moments. While Gustave, Po, Ace, and Tom dozed peacefully under the warm sun, their designated lookout was nodding off in the crow's nest.
Under normal circumstances, the ocean's vastness made ship collisions nearly impossible. However, favorable winds had increased their speed considerably, while another ship was approaching from the opposite direction.
This second ship flew the distinctive flag of the World Government and was bound for the same destination - Water 7.
Two ships with the same goal sailed toward each other across the vast blue expanse, guided by fate toward an inevitable encounter that their sleeping crews remained blissfully unaware of.