Shoulder to Shoulder with the Sun!

These roots of the Sunlight Tree Eve, although they are indeed its roots.

But their enormous size, whether it was the three-meter-tall Vidal or the even taller twelve-meter-tall Neptune, made them look more like towering tree trunks with black vertical stripes connecting the top and bottom.

Their home, Fish-Man Island, floats between these 'tree trunks'.

On Fish-Man Island, there was that incredibly dazzling golden ball of light, and at that moment, a small black shadow was 'slowly' approaching it.

"Huo Ai!"

At this moment, the coelacanth Fish-Man wearing a golden crown and holding a golden trident leaped out of the bubbles on the 'Phoenix-Tail Carriage', jumped onto a blue whale that had arrived just in time, and came to the front of the Neptune Army, shouting at the dark figure.

"I am Neptune, the King of the Ryugu Kingdom on Fish-Man Island!"

"Naval personnel on the warships, halt immediately and await my questioning!"

His angry roar shook the surrounding seawater, creating a series of ripples that spread outwards; the sound was terrifyingly loud.

However, the warship remained unmoved by the Fish-Man king's orders and continued to do as it pleased.

This made Neptune and the Right Minister and other Neptune Army soldiers behind him look grim.

"Then don't blame me for being impolite; I'll take you down first!"

Neptune could no longer contain himself. Even though he was extremely reluctant to take action against the Navy, the importance of the Sunlight Tree Eve to Fish-Man Island outweighed his fear of the Navy.

Stop it!

"Yes!!"

The Right Minister raised the crescent-shaped longsword in his right hand, rode on the giant sea fish beneath his feet, and charged out first, followed by the 'fish boats' with the Neptune Army soldiers standing on their backs.

Although the warships were some distance away, this was the open sea, and there was no ship that the Fish-Man Race couldn't catch!

[Bang bang bang]

Just then, hundreds of thick, long wooden pillars suddenly sprouted from the surface of the trunks of the two Sunlight Tree Eves, connecting and intersecting with each other in almost ten seconds to form a huge wooden net that completely sealed off the sea area above the 'Ryugu Palace'.

Even the residents of Fish-Man Island, located below Ryugu Palace, could faintly see thin black lines appearing in the sky.

"This! This is!"

King Neptune's expression changed drastically upon seeing such a shocking scene. "Who exactly are the sailors on those warships?"

"Wood? Just split it!"

Not far away, the dutiful Right Minister, though also startled by the scene, immediately revealed a ruthless expression on his seahorse-like face.

"Chop it down!"

Before he finished speaking, the first person swung his knife at the wooden post that looked more like a prison fence than a net.

[Clang--]

The moment the longsword with its crescent-shaped blade touched the wooden pillar, a metallic clang rang out. The blade trembled violently from the impact, and the Right Minister felt a sharp pain in the web of his hand gripping the hilt. He staggered backward, narrowly avoiding falling off the fish's back.

At the same time, the Neptune Army's soldiers on the bodies of more than a dozen giant fish nearby attacked the wooden pillar in front of them with their steel harpoons, their faces flushed, but apart from the clanging of metal, they had no effect whatsoever.

"Damn it, what the hell is this thing?!"

"This isn't wood, it's steel!"

"My hands are numb; they're definitely harder than steel!"

The Neptune Army soldiers began to curse and rave, falling into a typical state of impotent rage.

However, the Eve roots on both sides ruthlessly told them that these were indeed just pieces of wood, but due to Vidal's manipulation, they had been enhanced by the power of the Woods-Woods Fruit.

The true form of Sunlight Tree Eve is actually comparable to gold and iron.

Otherwise, it would have been impossible for it to cross the Red Line and, under the terrifying water pressure at a depth of 10,000 meters, still be able to take root on the actual seabed.

With the added boost from the Woods-Woods Fruit, even if Vidal didn't further imbue his surface with Haki, no one on Fish-Man Island could destroy these wooden nets at this point.

Perhaps Jinbe, the "Knight of the Sea" in his prime in the future, will be able to do it.

As for the 'Neptune' King Neptune present at the scene...

"Mermaid Contortion - Super Current!!"

With a deafening roar, Neptune, towering twelve meters tall, spread his massive, bare arms, grabbed the omnipresent seawater in front of him, and transformed it into a high-pressure, massive current, which he then unleashed towards the seemingly overwhelming wooden net.

This ocean current, enveloped by a fierce energy, appeared remarkably distinct despite being submerged in seawater; its shape was visible to the naked eye alone.

The normal seawater along the current seemed to be subjected to extreme compression and explosion, and the violent force, with a terrifying sound like thunder, crashed violently into the dozen or so huge and thick wooden pillars.

[Boom--]

A truly overwhelming force came into view. Under the violent impact, cracks began to appear on the surface of the wooden pillars that were directly hit, much to the delight of the Neptune Army. They were just waiting for this hateful wooden net to be completely shattered.

Even after the high-pressure ocean current exhausted its power and turned into ordinary water to merge into the sea, it did not break any of the wooden pillars. And those dense cracks healed and recovered rapidly before their incredulous eyes.

It seems that even 'Sea God' and 'Great Knight of the Sea' won't do!

Instantly, the entire arena fell silent, the atmosphere becoming extremely oppressive, and everyone could only watch helplessly as the Marine warships rose higher and higher.

Just when Neptune and the other Fish-Man were at a loss, a line of positive-colored text appeared on the surface of a wooden pillar in front of him.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt Sunlight Tree Eve."

Neptune unconsciously uttered it aloud, which made him look incredibly conflicted. Although he was reluctant to believe it, he had no choice but to accept it because of his powerlessness, and his mood inexplicably relaxed a little.

"The ability to control trees... if I'm not mistaken, it must belong to that disciple of the Sengoku Admiral, right?"

Neptune's worries lessened considerably upon thinking about this. He had met Sengoku several times when he attended the Reverie before and had some understanding of his character and personality.

He wasn't a bad person, so his disciples must be about the same, right?

At this moment, this was the only way he could console himself, staring intently at the silhouette of the warship, gripping the golden trident tightly in his hand.

On the other side, on the deck of the warship, Vidal also let out a long breath.

"It seems we've managed to keep them calm."

His actions were purely out of desperation, a way to persuade the Fish-Man Race.

Although, legally and by rules, this Sunlight Tree Eve does not belong to Fish-Man Island, and she has no reason to have their consent.

After all, this tree didn't grow inside Fish-Man Island, nor was it planted by the Fish-Man Race.

Fish-Man Island simply moved here a long time ago and now enjoys the sunlight transmitted by the Sunlight Tree Eve and the oxygen produced by the tree roots during their respiration.

Can you say that just because the people of a place enjoy the sun's light and heat, the sun belongs to that place as its private property?

Nonsense!

However, Vidal could understand Neptune and his companions' feelings, since their 'sun' was too close to humans, and the possibility of it being destroyed was quite high.

This is like someone actually trying to get close to, or even touch, the real sun in the sky.

The same principle applies to the sun: even if it doesn't belong to any power, it will still be blocked by everyone.

But while I understand, Sunlight Tree Eve involves Vidal's core interests, so it's impossible for him to stop there!

At most, he'll be offered some slight reassurance like this, and then continue doing what he wants, shoulder to shoulder with the 'sun' in the sea.