"He still hasn’t come back yet..."

Chopper, transformed into his giant form, looked up at the sky and said, "I wonder how Luffy and the others are doing over there."

"Luffy and the others will definitely be fine."

Franky, who had just defeated Electus, stepped out of General Franky and said with a laugh, "They’re probably figuring out how to deal with Noah right now."

In his opinion, someone like Hody was no match for Luffy.

"That’s true..."

Usopp, however, looked up at the sky with concern. Even though Luffy was with them, they were still in the middle of the ocean!

Thinking this, Usopp sighed quietly.

He hoped those two were alright.

"Hey, all the officers have been defeated!"

The members of the New Fish-Man Pirates looked nervously at the Straw Hat Pirates in the distance and said, "Should we keep fighting?"

If even the officers couldn’t beat these guys, then what chance did they have...?

"Fight what?!"

A Fish-man nearby said, "They’ve already lost. What’s the point of us fighting?"

The most important thing now was to escape from here!

"But Captain Hody hasn’t returned yet..."

Hearing this, the members of the New Fish-Man Pirates fell silent.

That’s right, Captain Hody hadn’t returned yet.

If they were caught trying to escape... they’d be dead for sure!

After all, that guy wouldn’t show any mercy to his own people!

"Dammit, what should we do then...?"

The Fish-men, having lost their will to fight, wore expressions of despair.

They couldn’t fight, but they couldn’t not fight either. What were they supposed to do?

Zoro, who had been observing the situation from afar, said calmly, "Looks like we don’t need to keep fighting."

Now, they just had to wait for Luffy and the others to bring back news of their victory, and these guys would completely give up.

Meanwhile, Sanji calmly lit a cigarette and said, "Given the current situation, even if they wanted to fight, they couldn’t."

After Meiser’s earlier attack, only about 20,000 fighters remained in the plaza.

And after a series of battles, that number had dwindled to just a few thousand.

If they really wanted to fight, it wouldn’t take long for the Straw Hats to finish them off.

"How boring. I haven’t had enough fun yet," Perona pouted.

Still... even though she said that, Perona didn’t attack the enemies who had lost their will to fight.

Just then, the plaza’s broadcast system crackled to life again.

"Zzzzt..."

"Citizens of the nation, hello. This is Prince Fukaboshi," he said. "I have very important news to share with all of you."

"Just moments ago, the captain of the New Fish-Man Pirates, Hody Jones, was defeated by the Straw Hat Boy."

"And Noah has been returned to the Fish-Man District by the Straw Hat Crew’s Jinbe."

"So... we’ve won!"

Listening to Prince Fukaboshi’s words, the people in the square fell silent for a moment before erupting into thunderous cheers.

"Whoa!!"

"Great, the Straw Hat Crew won!"

"This is wonderful!"

"We don’t have to leave our homeland... this is truly wonderful!"

The Fish-men wept with joy, their emotions growing more intense by the moment.

As for the members of the New Fish-Man Pirates scattered across the square, they now wore expressions of relief.

"So Hody has finally been defeated..."

"That’s great..."

This way, even if they surrendered, they wouldn’t face retaliation from that demon!

Thinking this, the Fish-men exchanged glances before tossing their weapons to the ground, making their stance clear.

After doing so, they wasted no time and dashed toward the square’s exit, intent on leaving the area as soon as possible.

As for the defeated officers of the New Fish-Man Pirates?

Who cared about them!

"Finally, it’s over..."

Looking up at the broadcast, Neptune’s expression gradually relaxed.

This was truly wonderful.

Just then, the Left Minister approached with a Den Den Mushi and said, "Your Majesty, we have received a report from the guards of Ryugu Palace."

"Just moments ago, they discovered the kidnapped Merfolk girls at Ryugu Palace," the Left Minister continued.

"Such a thing actually happened?"

Neptune’s eyes widened immediately. "How are they? Are they injured?"

"No."

The Left Minister shook his head. "Though their consciousness is somewhat hazy, they are indeed unharmed."

"That’s a relief."

Neptune sighed in relief before asking, "Do they remember what the culprit looked like?"

"Yes."

As he spoke, the Left Minister produced Wet-Hair Caribou’s Wanted Poster and added, "It was this man!"

"They clearly remember this man as the one who did it."

"So it was this bastard." Veins bulged on Neptune’s forehead. "Damn it..."

If not for this scoundrel, how could they have wronged the Straw Hat Pirates?

That damned Caribou!

"Can we find him?" Neptune asked.

"No."

The Left Minister shook his head again. "Our people searched their Pirate Ship, but all they found was a wrecked vessel. The crew had vanished without a trace."

"What about his subordinates?"

"Also unknown."

Neptune fell into deep thought. Why would his subordinates disappear as well?

Could they be hiding in some secret location on Fish-Man Island?

It wasn’t impossible.

"By the way, there’s one more thing," the Left Minister spoke again. "The Treasure Vault of our Ryugu Palace has been opened, and all the treasures inside have disappeared."

"All of them?"

Neptune’s eyes widened. "Including the Jewelry Box?"

"Yes..."

"To think the thief even stole that..." Neptune frowned.

This truly exceeded his expectations.

"Your Majesty, what should we do now?"

"Announce this to the entire kingdom," Neptune declared. "We must clear the Straw Hat Pirates’ name."

At this point, Neptune paused, then spoke with a complicated expression, "We were wrong..."

They had pinned this matter on the Straw Hat Pirates without investigation. They were indeed in the wrong.

So... what needed to be done must be done!

"What about the thief?"

"Left Minister, we nearly lost a kingdom just now," Neptune sighed. "So let the thief go."

"I understand."

With that, the Left Minister turned to arrange the matter.

Meanwhile, Neptune looked toward the plaza with a troubled expression, murmuring, "I hope you can forgive this old fool..."

"Hey, everyone,"

Chopper stared at the fleeing members of the New Fish-Man Pirates in the distance and said, "They’re starting to run away."

"After all, they’re just a mob," Franky remarked. "Without Hody’s intimidation, they naturally collapsed."

Judging by the fish-men’s behavior, these guys had gathered together solely because of Hody’s reputation.

But now Hody was defeated!

So... they had no reason to stay any longer!

"It seems we don’t need to keep fighting," Usopp said.

That was fine—it saved trouble.

After putting his slingshot away, Usopp turned to Franky and asked, "Franky, how long would it take to coat our ship here?"

"A few hours should be enough," Franky replied.

"That fast?"

Usopp looked at Franky in surprise. "It took three days on Sabaody Archipelago, but here on Fish-Man Island, it only takes a few hours?"

The difference was that big?

"Well, that’s what Den said," Franky shrugged.

"Maybe it’s because Fish-Man Island’s environment is special?" Nico Robin speculated.

In terms of humidity, Fish-Man Island was far more extreme than Sabaody Archipelago.

So she thought it was likely an environmental factor.

"It definitely is the environment," Nami said. "I can clearly feel that the humidity here is much heavier than on Sabaody Archipelago."

"We’re ten thousand meters under the sea—of course it’s heavy," Zoro rolled his eyes.

This was obvious at a glance. Why make it so complicated?

Hearing this, Nami gave Zoro a speechless look. So now he was being clever, huh?

Why didn’t he have this cleverness when he got lost?

"What’s that look for?"

"Nothing."

Nami calmly shifted her gaze away, deciding not to argue with a certain directionally challenged person.

"Is the battle finally over..."

Glancing at the fleeing crowd in the distance, Jimbei fell silent for a moment, then turned and ran toward the exit.

"Where are you going?"

"Before His Majesty the King gives the order, I won’t allow anyone to leave this plaza," Jimbei said without looking back.

With that, the man dashed off in a flash.

"He really is a dedicated guy," Usopp remarked.

"Otherwise, why do you think he’s so respected?" Nico Robin said with a smile.

On Fish-Man Island, Jimbei was highly revered by the fish-men.

This time, Usopp didn’t say anything more, but nodded, agreeing with Nico Robin’s words.

"Hey, Chopper."

Perona, floating in mid-air, looked at Chopper with confusion and said, "Why haven’t you shrunk back yet?"

"The battle is already over."

The enemies have already started fleeing, so why maintain such a large form?

"I can’t help it. I can only return to my normal size when the time is up," Chopper said helplessly.

"Time up?"

"Mhm."

Chopper nodded and explained, "After taking my special Rumble Ball, my body can stay enlarged for three minutes."

"Only after the three minutes are over can I return to my original size."

"I see."

Perona tapped her lips and then said, "So, that Rumble Ball of yours allows you, as a Devil Fruit Ability User, to gain stronger power?"

"Yes."

Upon hearing this, Perona thought for a moment before asking curiously, "Would it work if I took it?"

If it could make her stronger, it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try.

"Well..."

Chopper’s expression turned hesitant. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Most likely not."

"Why?"

"Because I’m a reindeer who ate the Human-Human Fruit," Chopper said helplessly.

"Then I understand."

Even without further explanation from Chopper, Perona understood what he meant.

She was a Paramecia-type ability user, so that thing called the Rumble Ball would be useless to her.

After all, that stuff only works on Zoan-type ability users or animals!

Once she realized this, Perona decisively gave up on trying that strange medicine.

"Chopper’s method won’t work for you," Zoro chimed in. "So you’d better focus on training honestly."

"Hmph, I don’t need you to tell me that."

Perona snorted lightly, then turned her back to Zoro.

Zoro: ?

Wait, what did he do to upset her this time?

Seeing this, Nico Robin’s face immediately broke into a peculiar smile, though no one knew what she was thinking.

A moment later—

"Ah!"

"Finally back to normal size..."

Chopper, now restored to his usual size, smiled, then turned to rejoin his companions.

But before he could take a step, he suddenly collapsed to the side.

Seeing this, Perona immediately descended and caught Chopper, asking, "Hey, what’s wrong with you?"

"It’s nothing, just exhaustion."

"I see..."

Perona first sighed in relief, then, as if noticing something, her eyes lit up. "You’re so soft, Chopper, just like a plush toy!!"

"I’m not a plush toy, you..." Chopper said weakly.

Unfortunately, such words had no effect on Perona and only made the Ghost Girl even happier.

"This feels amazing!"

Why hadn’t she noticed this before?

Thinking this, Perona picked Chopper up and flew back toward the others.

"Chopper?!"

His companions looked at Chopper anxiously. Why had he suddenly ended up like this?

"Hey, Chopper, what’s wrong?" Brook asked worriedly. "Are you injured?"

"No."

Chopper, being held by Perona, said weakly, "It’s just that after using that enhancement, my body will be weak for two or three hours."

"During this time, I can’t walk, but... treatment is still no problem."

After saying that, Chopper took a breath and continued, "Is everyone unhurt? If anyone is injured, tell me."

"You should treat yourself first," Zoro said helplessly.

Even in this state, he’s still thinking about treating them...

And Sanji, after confirming that Chopper was fine, immediately revealed his true nature.

"Dammit, I’m so jealous of Chopper."

Watching Chopper being held by Perona, Sanji immediately shed tears.

He also wanted to enjoy the fragrant, soft embrace of the Ghost Girl!

Nico Robin, who had taken in all her crewmates’ reactions, chuckled and said, "It seems everyone is fine."

Defeating nearly a hundred thousand people without a single injury... truly worthy of their Straw Hat Pirates!

"No, I’m seriously injured!"

Suddenly lying on the ground, Sanji wriggled and said, "Miss Robin, I also unleashed a big move just now and am now completely exhausted, so..."

Before he could finish his sentence, a white ghost passed through his body.

Then...

"I... I’m just scum..."

Sanji, hit by Perona’s Negative Spirit, looked utterly dejected.

"You should just die already," Zoro said disdainfully.

"What did you say?"

Provoked by Zoro, Sanji instantly snapped out of the ghost-controlled state, then sprang up and headbutted Zoro, saying, "You want to fight?"

"Moss Head!"

"Huh?"

Hearing this, Zoro immediately widened his eyes, veins bulging on his forehead as he said, "Who’s afraid of who, you bastard!"

"Just when that last fight wasn’t satisfying enough, I’ll use you to sharpen my blade!"

"Bring it on!"

"Bring it on!"

After roaring at each other, the two started fighting noisily beside the Thousand Sunny, leaving the Fish-men on both sides dumbfounded.

"Huh... why are they fighting?"

Aren’t they crewmates?

Could it be internal conflict?

"Hey, Straw Hat Crew, stop fighting!"

"Yeah, the battle is over, don’t cause trouble!"

Hearing the voices from both sides, Nami’s veins immediately bulged on her forehead, and she flashed in front of Zoro and Sanji.

"Both of you, quiet down!"

"Thump!"

"Thump!"

Fists wrapped in Haki struck both their heads, knocking them out cold!

"Strong... the powerful Miss Nami is so captivating too..."

"Hey, why hit me?"

"Hmm?"

Hearing Zoro’s words, Nami glared fiercely, her expression seeming to say: What, you got a problem?

Zoro:

"Tch, not worth arguing with you," Zoro said, turning his head away.

He made it sound so convincing.

Nami snorted at his words, not bothering to argue with the guy.

"Wh-what a terrifying woman..."

Seeing Nami easily knock out two strong fighters, the surrounding Fish-men realized something.

That is... could this woman be the third-in-command of the Straw Hat Pirates?

So strong!

As if hearing their thoughts, Nami subconsciously glanced in their direction.

"Eek!"

The Fish-Men who noticed Nami’s gaze immediately took a step back in fright.

Nami:

"Am I really that scary?" Nami complained. "I’m just a weak-looking woman, after all."

Why were these guys reacting like this?

"Weak woman?"

Usopp glanced at Zoro and Sanji, who had been knocked to the ground by Nami, fell silent for a moment, and then retorted, "You’re not exactly what I’d call a weak woman."

What kind of weak woman could take down powerhouses like Zoro and Sanji with a single punch each?

"Hmph, that’s because they deserved it."

Usopp: ...

Well, that might be true, but you’re definitely not a weak woman.

Forget it, saying any more would just earn me a beating, so I’d better keep quiet.

Thinking this, Usopp calmly nodded, as if agreeing with Nami’s words.

Just then, Hody swam over with Neptune and the others, arriving above the plaza.

"King Neptune?"

Seeing Neptune appear here, the surrounding Fish-Men looked puzzled and said, "Does His Majesty have something to announce?"

Otherwise, why would the king come here while still injured?

Meanwhile, the members of the New Fish-Man Pirates below nervously watched the suddenly appearing Neptune, their faces covered in cold sweat.

"Hey, do you think Neptune plans to kill us all...?"

"I don’t know."

"No, we need to get out of here!"

Staying here any longer would make it easy to get killed!

"I said, no one is allowed to leave the plaza without the king’s permission," Jimbei stated.

Hearing Jimbei’s words, some quick-thinking Fish-Men immediately took out Coral Bubbles and whispered, "Let’s go, we’ll escape using the bubbles."

"Good idea—" But before they could act, Jimbei’s attack flew straight at them.

"Water Shot!"

"Boom!!"

With a single strike, a massive crater was blasted into the ground!

"Huh?!"

"This is..."

"I said, no one is allowed to leave!" Jimbei declared. "If anyone tries to escape using bubbles, I’ll shoot them down!"

"Believe me, I have the strength to do it!"

As he spoke, Jimbei swept his gaze over the people before him, his threat unmistakable.

"This..."

Feeling Jimbei’s imposing aura, the Fish-Men and pirates immediately retreated several steps in fear.

Then, the Fish-Men pleaded, "Boss Jimbei, please just let us go..."

"We had no choice, Boss Jimbei."

"That’s right, we only listened to Hody because we were afraid of him and his crew. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have come here."

Many of them had been threatened by Hody into joining, or they wouldn’t have come at all.

"I said, no!" Jimbei replied firmly.

"Then can we at least leave?" A human pirate ran up to Jimbei and said, "Fish-Man Island was saved this time thanks to human pirates, so... we can leave, right?"

Seeing the hopeful look in the other’s eyes, Jimbei fell silent for a moment before saying, "There’s no need to get so worked up. I never said I was going to execute all of you and put your heads on display."

"Then why won’t you let us go?"

"Then we must wait for the royal family of Neptune to make a decision," Jimbei said. "Of course, if you are not satisfied, you can try to force your way through."

"But if you do... you will have to face my wrath!"

With that, Jimbei’s gaze sharpened, and his presence became even more terrifying than before.

Seeing Jimbei standing there, the crowd subconsciously retreated a few steps, their expressions turning fearful.

Should they try to force their way through?

This was the question in many of their hearts.

But as soon as they thought of Jimbei’s strength, they abandoned the idea. After all... staying didn’t necessarily mean they would die, but trying to force their way through meant they would definitely be beaten to death by Jimbei!

Having realized this, the people obediently returned to the square.

Seeing this, Jimbei showed a satisfied expression.

Regardless of the circumstances, the ruler of this kingdom was King Neptune. Therefore... no matter the outcome, that lord had to be the one to make the final judgment!

"What is that old guy doing now?" Chopper asked, looking curiously at Neptune in the sky. "At a time like this, shouldn’t he be recovering from his injuries?"

"He is the king of this country; he has to stand up and say something eventually," Nico Robin said.

After all... this country had just experienced a rebellion!

Just then, Neptune’s voice rang out over the broadcast.

"Citizens, there is news that I must share with you all," Neptune said. "Just now, we found the kidnapped merfolk girls."

"According to their descriptions, the culprits who kidnapped them were not the Straw Hat Crew."

"Therefore... we were wrong."

"It was our mistake to label the Straw Hat Crew as human traffickers without conducting a thorough investigation. This was our failure."

"I am sorry, Straw Hat Crew... we have wronged you."

Hearing Neptune’s words, the Fish-men standing on the higher ground immediately broke into smiles.

"I knew the Straw Hat Crew didn’t take part in the kidnapping... That’s wonderful!"

"Ahahaha, I felt from the beginning that they had nothing to do with this. Now it turns out I was right~"

"Stop lying!"

A Fish-man standing nearby spoke up with a sour expression. "Can you really lie to yourselves like that?"

"We were all doubting them before!"

"This..."

Hearing this Fish-man’s words, the expressions of the others immediately became somewhat awkward.

Because... what he said was true.

"Well... actually, we believed in them all along, right?" one Fish-man laughed awkwardly. "Right?"

"Ahahaha..."

"Stop lying!"

A Fish-man child shouted angrily, "That’s not what you were saying back then!"

"Exactly! It’s so cunning of you to say such things now!"

"Yeah!"

Hearing the children’s words, the expressions of those Fish-men became even more embarrassed.

That said, for them to admit such a thing...

"Let’s admit it." A shark Fish-man spoke with his eyes closed. "Let’s admit that we all once suspected them."

"Just because they are humans... that is why we suspected them."

Hearing this Fish-man’s words, the other Fish-men closed their eyes in pain.

It was true. Simply because the Straw Hat Crew were humans, they had suspected them.

"Sigh..." Hearing the conversations of the people below, Neptune let out a helpless sigh.

In the end, the prejudice the Fish-man race held toward humans was still too great.

He only hoped that this time, the Fish-man race could change their view of humans.

Only then... could Queen Otohime’s wish be fulfilled!

At that moment, Prince Fukaboshi’s voice came from the sky.

"Father, we have returned!"

"The three princes!"

Seeing the three princes returning safely, the Left Minister and the Minister of the Right immediately looked emotional. It was wonderful that they had returned safely.

A smile also appeared on Neptune’s face as he said, "Welcome back."

After a pause, Neptune continued, "Where is Hody?"

Hadn’t it been said that Straw Hat Boy had already defeated him? Why was there no sign of that fellow?

And what about Vander Decken?

"Hody and Vander Decken are both dead," Prince Fukaboshi said, shaking his head. "So we buried them both in the Fish-Man District."

"Is that so..."

Neptune’s expression became complicated. He hadn’t expected those two to be dead already.

"Is Vander Decken dead too?!" the Minister of the Right exclaimed excitedly.

"Yes."

Prince Fukaboshi nodded and said, "In order to make the Noah crash directly into Fish-Man Island, Hody took action and killed Vander Decken."

"So that was why the Noah began to descend..." the Left Minister murmured. "That fellow Hody really was ruthless enough."

To destroy Fish-Man Island, he was actually willing to take everyone down with him... He truly was a terrifying individual.

Fortunately, he failed!

The Minister of the Right, meanwhile, widened his eyes and said, "It’s good that he’s dead!"

"Without that guy around, Princess Shirahoshi will no longer need to live inside the Hard Shell Tower!"

"Yes."

The Left Minister also realized this, his eyes filling with tears as he said, "Princess Shirahoshi can finally live freely!"

Ten years... ten whole years!

From this day forward, Princess Shirahoshi was completely free!

Tears also shimmered in Neptune’s eyes. As Shirahoshi’s father, he was the happiest of them all.

If it weren’t for the fact that they weren’t at home, he would have hugged his wife’s portrait and had a good cry.

’Otohime, do you see this?!’ Neptune thought excitedly. ’Our daughter is finally safe! Not only that, but from today on... the relationship of the Fish-man race will take a step forward!’

"Father..."

Seeing their father with tears in his eyes, Prince Fukaboshi and his brothers immediately felt a twinge of heartache.

Their father had been carrying far too much on his shoulders...

"It’s nothing, I just thought of some things." Neptune waved his hand and then continued, "Where are Straw Hat Boy and Meiser?"

"They are behind us," Prince Fukaboshi said, pointing toward the sky. "Meiser is still treating Straw Hat Boy, so they can’t swim too fast."

"So they let the three of us return first."

"Is Straw Hat Boy alright?" Neptune asked with concern.

"Don’t worry, he’s fine," Prince Fukaboshi smiled.

Lord Meiser’s Medical Ninja Technique is very powerful; it probably won’t be long before he heals Straw Hat Boy.

"I didn’t expect that Meiser to actually know medicine as well," the Left Minister remarked with emotion. "He really is even more formidable than I imagined."

Who would have thought that a man who could change the terrain with a wave of his hand was also a ship’s doctor?

Truly incredible!

"Indeed." The Minister of the Right also nodded in deep agreement, then looked at Prince Sharlie with curiosity. "By the way, Prince Sharlie, how did Meiser move the Noah away?"

He had only heard the King say that the man used his ability to do it, but he didn’t know the specifics of how it was done.

"This..."

Prince Fukaboshi hesitated. How could he explain it?

"We should discuss this after we return," Neptune said, sensing his eldest son’s thoughts. "Once we’re back at Ryugu Palace, we can talk about this matter personally with them."

After saying that, Neptune turned to look at the Minister of the Right and continued, "Spread the word. Prepare a grand banquet. We must properly host the Straw Hat Pirates."

"And... properly apologize to them."

"Understood!"

His attention successfully diverted, the Minister of the Right nodded and turned to take out a Den Den Mushi to make the arrangements.

Neptune let out a sigh of relief upon seeing this, then smiled and winked at Prince Fukaboshi, his expression seeming to say: "Your old man did a good job, didn’t he?"

Prince Fukaboshi was stunned for a moment, then broke into a smile.

So... Father also knows what’s going on.

Well, if he thought about it, the observation tower above Ryugu Palace would have allowed him to see the situation at the time, so it was only natural for his father to know that Lord Meiser was still alive.

Thinking of this, Prince Fukaboshi smiled along with him.

"Father."

"Hmm?"

"After the banquet is over, let’s have a good talk with him~"

"Of course."

Neptune looked toward the sky with a profound gaze and said, "Of course we must have a good talk."

After all... that man is the Blood-Eyed Ninja!