The savory aroma of grilled seafood and the sweetness of the broth filled one of the main dining halls of Ryugu Palace.
The enormous table was almost completely filled. Royal servants kept streaming in, carrying trays laden with meat, rare seaweed, and various other luxurious dishes.
Neptune sat in his chair, his eyes still slightly red. Across from him, Fisher Tiger clenched his massive hands on his knees, his jaw tightening as he held back his emotions.
In the midst of the banquet, Gunko sat with her shoulders trembling slightly. Her dress, dirty and torn in places, made her look fragile. She bowed her head, letting her wavy blue hair cover part of her face.
"Our ship was attacked at the border of the entrance to the New World," Gunko's voice sounded hoarse and trembling, weaving a lie crafted with flawless precision. "I was just a servant. Those pirates… they killed my master. They slaughtered the entire crew. And I…"
She stopped mid-sentence, taking ragged breaths as if holding back a profound trauma.
"They locked me in the ship's hold for days. They said I could be sold for a high price in Sabaody. I have nowhere to go home… my hometown is too far away, and I'm afraid other pirates will find me if I sail alone."
Fisher Tiger let out a harsh sigh. As a fish-man who had witnessed pirate raids on fish-man islands to capture his fellow countrymen, stories of slavery and kidnapping always managed to ignite his anger. "Damn pirates. They're truly a plague on these seas."
Neptune nodded in agreement, looking at Gunko with pity. "You're safe now. The Ryugu Kingdom won't let slave traders or pirates lay a finger on you."
Gunko slowly looked up. Her trembling hand rose to her face, then slowly removed the bandage that had been covering her mouth and part of her cheek.
As the bandage fell, the entire room fell silent for a moment.
A nearly flawless face was revealed. Her skin was pure white. Her nose was small and upturned. But what stood out most were her eyes—her right eye a bright cyan, while her left was as red as blood.
That color difference didn't make her look strange; rather, it added to her captivating aura. There was a natural grace in her posture that was hard to hide, a charisma typically reserved for a princess of a kingdom.
"Thank you…" Gunko whispered, a single tear falling perfectly from the corner of her eye.
Seven, Sakazuki, and Borsalino, sitting in a row on the other side of the table, simply stared at the woman.
"I have to admit, she really is beautiful," Borsalino murmured softly, tilting his head. "Her aura doesn't look like that of an ordinary servant."
Sakazuki snorted softly, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. Although he was only ten years old, his adult-like build made him look very intimidating. "Beauty has nothing to do with justice. Out here on the open sea, an innocent face often hides the sharpest blade."
Seven set his kelp tea cup down on the saucer. He turned to his two younger siblings. Without a word, he leaned forward.
Seeing the signal from their older brother, Sakazuki and Borsalino leaned forward as well. The three of them bowed their heads, forming a small circle like soccer players planning a formation in the middle of the field. The scene looked a bit absurd in the middle of the palace's grand dining hall.
"So, what do you guys think?" Seven whispered casually.
"Just drop him off at the nearest Navy base when we get to the New World," Sakazuki hissed bluntly. "His identity is unclear. If he turns out to be a spy from the New World pirates, he'll just be a burden and a security threat on our ship."
Borsalino touched his chin, his round glasses reflecting the light. "You're being too tense, Sakazuki. Precisely because he's suspicious, letting him go like that is an untactical move. What if we bring him along? By keeping him under direct supervision, we can monitor his every move. If he really is a rat, he'll die on our own ship."
Seven looked at his two younger brothers in turn, then nodded slowly. "Good analysis. We'll go with Borsalino's approach."
The three of them sat up straight simultaneously as if nothing had ever happened. Seven looked at Gunko, who still wore a sorrowful expression.
"We are the Navy," Seven said in a calm, unreadable tone. "If you have nowhere to go, you can come with us. As long as you're under my watch, no pirate will lay a finger on you. Of course, you'll have to work to earn your keep on the ship."
Gunko's heterochromatic eyes widened slightly before she bowed her head deeply. "Thank you… Junior Admiral. I'm willing to do any work."
Behind her flowing blue hair, the corners of Gunko's lips turned up slightly. Her plan was going too smoothly.
The banquet continued. Neptune and Tiger resumed their conversation, while Sakazuki and Borsalino began to devour the piles of meat on their plates. Seven chose to return to sipping he tea. He didn't touch the wine that had been served at all.
However, behind the calm of he face, Seven's consciousness was directly connected to he mental space.
"Something is wrong with that woman," Matatabi's elegant yet cold voice echoed in Seven's mind. The blue fire cat gazed upward, as if piercing the boundaries of space and time.
"It's not just wrong," Son Goku interjected, the giant red-haired monkey snorting roughly. "I don't sense the aura of a normal human life from her body. There's a strange energy enveloping her soul."
"That's a contract," Shukaku replied with a wide grin. "A spiritual bond. Something—or someone—has placed chains on that woman's soul. And the end of those chains leads to a place far, far away."
Seven continued chewing his food slowly. "Let her be," Seven replied telepathically. "A rat that deliberately walks into a lion's den is digging its own grave. If she's a pirate, a slave trader, or a government lackey… I'll snap her neck myself."
In the mental space, the Bijuu exchanged glances. They needed no further prompting. Their instincts were triggered. Someone was trying to plant a spy near their master.
"Let's see who's holding the other end of this chain," muttered Matatabi.
Instantly, the five Bijuu who had awakened focused their chakra. That massive spiritual energy gathered into a single point. They didn't attack physically. They crept upward through the invisible threads of the contract binding Gunko.
In a split second, the Bijuu's consciousness shot through the ocean floor, pierced the surface, climbed the walls of the Red Line's clouds, and finally arrived at a single coordinate.
---
The Holy Land of Mary Geoise.
It wasn't merely tracking; the Bijuu used that connection to send a warning. A spiritual projection that pierced directly into the mental defenses of the figure at the end of the chain.
Far above the ocean's surface, inside Pangaea Castle.
A vast room had been left to grow wild with all manner of plants, trees, and exotic flowers. The Flower Room. Sunlight slipped in through the gaps in the glass dome, creating a peaceful atmosphere in stark contrast to the outside world.
A slender black shadow walked leisurely along a path.
The shadow's hand extended gracefully, allowing a blue butterfly to alight on its fingertip.
However, Imu's steps suddenly halted.
The air in the Flower Chamber suddenly felt frozen. The butterfly on her finger fluttered away as her shadowed fingers unconsciously slipped.
Inside the mind of the world's ruler, a vision exploded without warning.
Imu was pulled into a boundless void. Not the ocean, nor the sky. Only darkness. And from behind that darkness, nine shadows of giant monsters slowly rose, surrounding him.
Nine pairs of enormous eyes, each of a different shape, opened simultaneously, staring straight through her soul. The spiritual pressure from those nine beings was so heavy, as if it could crush the sky itself.
Then, an overlapping voice echoed directly into Imu's mind.
'We see you.'
The vision vanished as quickly as it had come, leaving Imu standing frozen in the middle of the Flower Chamber.
Silence once again enveloped the room. Only the sound of leaves rustling softly could be heard. Yet for the first time in hundreds of years sitting upon the Empty Throne, the ring-patterned red eyes of the world's ruler widened slightly.
Imu bowed her head, gazing at the butterfly fluttering before him.
Her intuition was correct; she had finally found the key to maintaining her power and no longer needed to fear their threats.