Return to Fish-Man Island

"Okay, Princess Shirahoshi... or 'elder' princess, stop daydreaming. Haven't you noticed that your three older brothers are almost dead?"

Upon hearing Vegapunk's slightly amused voice, Shirahoshi immediately snapped out of her daze, exclaimed in surprise, and rushed to the seabed to retrieve her three older brothers.

The three Merman Prince were bombarded by the cannonballs thrown by Vander Decken IX and were seriously injured. If it weren't for the fact that people in the Pirate World are tough and resilient, and that the princes were trained, they would have been dead by now.

However, even though the three of them are still alive, their injuries are extremely severe, and they are barely breathing. It seems they are about to give up.

"What should we do? What should we do? No, my brothers' injuries are too serious. We have to go back to Fish-Man Island to get treatment!"

Shirahoshi was frantic, embracing her three older brothers as she prepared to head to Fish-Man Island. Vegapunk shook his head and said:

"Sending those three back to Fish-Man Island now would be like throwing lambs to the slaughter! Fish-Man Island has already been occupied by the rebels from Fish-Man District!"

"What?!"

Upon hearing Vegapunk's words, Shirahoshi was immediately stunned. Then, her eyes filled with tears, which flowed down her cheeks after a moment.

"Waaah... What... what should we do? Brother... Waaah!"

Looking at the torrential rain falling from the sky, Vegapunk twitched his lips. His tear ducts were too developed.

Legend has it that mermaids have the ability to turn their tears into pearls. If that's true, then Shirahoshi would probably cry out thousands of pearls the size of human heads every day.

"Okay, okay, stop crying!!"

Vegapunk waved his hand, looking troubled. He had never met a soft girl like Shirahoshi before, and seeing her crying like this made Vegapunk feel inexplicably soft-hearted.

Of course, this is because although Shirahoshi herself is huge, she looks like an extremely cute and gentle girl. For Mentsumi, who was also crying on the side, had already been knocked unconscious by the impatient Hancock.

"After considering it, I realize I owe you. Let me treat your three older brothers first!"

Seeing Shirahoshi pause slightly after being scolded, and then cry even Shirahoshi, Vegapunk sighed and spoke.

"Really?! Thank you so much! Thank you so much, handsome gentleman and beautiful lady!"

Upon hearing Vegapunk's words, Shirahoshi's face lit up with joy. She thanked Vegapunk while simultaneously bursting into tears of happiness.

Seeing Shirahoshi's tears flowing again, Vegapunk wondered to himself, "Isn't this Poseidon a bit too soft? With this personality, I don't know why those Sea Kings would recognize her as their queen."

Vegapunk doesn't believe that Poseidon's only ability is to command Sea Kings.

It's important to understand that those colossal Sea Kings possess intelligence comparable to that of humans. If Poseidon didn't have other special characteristics, those colossal Sea Kings might not necessarily be obedient.

Furthermore, even the Sea Kings have stated that Shirahoshi's power is not yet fully mature. If it's merely a matter of communicating with the Sea Kings, there's no question of whether the power is mature or not.

These thoughts flashed through Vegapunk's mind. Then, Vegapunk walked up to the three Poseidon, stretched out his hand, and under the stimulation of powerful Yang Chakra, the originally charred skin on the three Poseidon instantly cracked open, revealing their intact bodies underneath.

"Shirahoshi, watch out!"

The three Merman Prince, who had just regained consciousness, exclaimed in surprise, seemingly still unaware of what was happening.

Seeing her three older brothers regain consciousness, Shirahoshi's face instantly lit up with joy. She hugged them tightly and burst into tears of happiness.

"Brother, you're finally alright! That's wonderful!"

It took the three Merman Prince quite a while to realize what had just happened and that their lives had actually been saved by Vegapunk.

The calmest and most responsible of the three Fukaboshi, swam to the front and respectfully thanked Vegapunk:

"Vegapunk, thank you for helping the three of us and my little sister. If it weren't for you, all four of us siblings would probably have been in trouble this time!"

"Don't worry, only the three of you will suffer. With Shirahoshi's ability to control Sea Kings, Vander Decken IX daring to make a move against her is simply courting death!"

With a half-smile on his face, Vegapunk spoke to the Merman Prince. Upon hearing Vegapunk's words, the three Merman Prince's expressions changed drastically.

Fukaboshi forced a smile and hurriedly began to explain:

"Lord Vegapunk, are you kidding me? How could my sister have the ability to control Sea Kings? Those Sea Kings just now must have been a coincidence, right?"

"Hehe, you call it a coincidence, then it's a coincidence!"

Vegapunk waved his hand, then asked with great interest:

"What should we do next? Have you thought about it? As far as I know, Fish-Man Island and Ryugu Castle are now under the control of the Fish-Man in Fish-Man District."

"Even Neptune is now a prisoner, and he might be dragged out and beheaded any day now!"

No sooner had Vegapunk finished speaking than a wailing sound rang out. He glanced helplessly at Shirahoshi, who had started crying again, his face full of exasperation.

Fukaboshi's two younger brothers rushed to comfort their sister, while Fukaboshi herself bit her lip, looking troubled.

"Actually, you don't need to think so much. With Shirahoshi's abilities, as long as she summons more Sea Kings, quelling the chaos in Ryugu Castle will be a piece of cake."

Seeing the troubled Fukaboshi, Vegapunk chuckled and offered him a suggestion. Fukaboshi was actually moved by his words and showed a hint of interest on his face. However, when he looked up and saw Vegapunk's chuckling expression, it was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head.

"Um... Dr. Vegapunk... Sea Kings and stuff..."

"I understand, I understand, I know it very well. Isn't it just a mermaid princess who appears only once every few hundred years, and Poseidon who can control all Sea Kings?"

"You're afraid that revealing this information will attract the attention of the World Government, but now that the World Government is finished, there's no need to keep the news so tightly under wraps."

Fukaboshi forced a smile. Yes, he was no longer afraid of the World Government, but he was afraid of you!

Compared to the World Government, Vegapunk's reputation is slightly better, but not by much. After all, he is not the original Vegapunk, but a mad scientist who likes to develop all kinds of high-powered weapons, sell arms, and make secret deals with pirates.

It's easy to predict what this mad scientist will think when he meets Shirahoshi, the Poseidon. Fukaboshi certainly doesn't want his sister to become a test subject.

Unfortunately, it seems that even if she tried her best to hide it, the other party had already decided that Shirahoshi was the Poseidon. In fact, her attempt to conceal it was nothing more than a clownish act in the other party's eyes.

"Alright... Since Dr. Vegapunk has already recognized her, I won't hide it from you anymore. Shirahoshi is indeed the Poseidon of this generation, but her power is not yet fully mature. She cannot truly control all the Sea Kings. She can only summon some Sea Kings to come to her rescue when she is emotionally agitated."

"Furthermore, if we can't fully communicate with the Sea Kings, they might launch an indiscriminate attack on Fish-Man Island. In that case, it would be better to let Hody Jones take over Fish-Man Island!"

At this point, Fukaboshi hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said:

"If, if Lord Vegapunk were willing to lend a hand, that would be the best!"

Vegapunk glanced at Fukaboshi with a half-smile, but finally nodded:

"That's fine, but afterwards, I'd like to have Shirahoshi visit my Research Base."

Seeing Fukaboshi's face turn pale, Vegapunk continued with a smile:

"Of course, you can rest assured that I won't do any excessive experiments on her. At most, I'll just draw some blood for a physical examination."

"After all... if I really wanted to do something, wouldn't your Fish-Man Island be powerless to stop me?"

Upon hearing this, Fukaboshi opened his mouth, but ultimately remained silent.

"Lord Vegapunk, thank you so much for your help!"

"Lord Vegapunk, do you know what the outside world is like? I've heard that there's endless sunshine there, and all sorts of plants completely different from those in the sea!"

"Lord Vegapunk, now that we're in your Laboratory, what do I need to do? Do I need an injection? Do I need to take medicine?"

"Lord Vegapunk, I've heard that there are all sorts of different plants and animals on land, completely different from those in the sea! I've heard that land animals don't have scales, but instead have a lot of fur..."

Around the Flying Dutchman, a giant mermaid with a pink tail swam leisurely, her face full of curiosity, constantly asking questions.

Vegapunk chatted casually with the curious mermaid, not finding it boring at all, but it made Hancock was standing next to him, a little unhappy.

The mermaid before him was so beautiful that she was almost pitiful to look at. Her beauty was comparable to Hancock's cold and aloof beauty, and her pure, innocent, and carefree personality made Hancock feel a little jealous.

However, the group soon arrived at the outskirts of Fish-Man Island, and when they looked around, they found that Fish-Man Island was still in good order and there was not much rioting.

However, the soldiers who used to patrol Fish-Man Island have now been replaced by the Fish-Men Mutants from Fish-Man District. These people are all strutting around with high spirits. Although they don't look very good, they are much more robust and imposing than ordinary Fish-Man and mermaid soldiers.

Moreover, the Fish-Men Mutants are far stronger than ordinary Fish-Man. Even seasoned elites like the Three Merman Princes wouldn't dare guarantee they could defeat the weakest Fish-Men Mutants.

"Strange... how can there be so many of these bizarre Fish-Man? There are already over a thousand!"

The three princes were greatly surprised when they glanced at the Fish-Men Mutants. They knew that when they besieged the Ryugu Castle, there were only a few hundred of these Fish-Men Mutants. But now, there were more than a thousand of Monsters patrolling the outer perimeter. If that's the case, wouldn't there be tens of thousands of these strange Fish-Man in the entire Ryugu Castle?

Moreover, the Three Merman Princes also knew that these Fish-Man had only become like this because they had eaten the secret Energy Steroids of the Ryugu Castle.

However, in theory, the effects of this life-burning drug should only last for a few hours. Normally, shouldn't those Fish-Men Mutants have already gone soft?

Why are these Fish-Men Mutants not only not getting weaker, but their numbers have also increased so much? Speaking of which, the entire Tamatebako is so small, just how much Energy Steroids is inside?

"Alright, everyone, let's go in!"

Vegapunk glanced at Fish-Man Island, ignoring the ferocious Fish-Men Mutants, and gave orders to the group.

"Wait, shouldn't we make a plan..."

Before the three Fish-Man princes could finish speaking, Hancock gave a soft, cold snort. Her terrifying Haki made the three of them dizzy and almost faint.

By the time they reacted, Vegapunk had already controlled the ocean currents, splitting them to the left and right, revealing a road leading directly to Fish-Man Island.

Watching Hancock and Vegapunk walking leisurely ahead, and Shirahoshi following behind, slightly worried yet also Shirahoshi about the passage.

The three Merman Prince looked at each other, smiled wryly, and could only follow behind.

Moments later, as Vegapunk entered Fish-Man Island, a large number of Fish-Men Mutants emerged, surrounding Vegapunk and Hancock in layers upon layers.

The timid Shirahoshi was so frightened that she hid behind the two of them. The three Fish-Man princes gritted their teeth and stood beside Hancock and Vegapunk, confronting the thousands of Fish-Men Mutants.

In the various rooms of Fish-Man Island, some Fish-Man and mermaids peeked out, but although most of Fish-Man had already recognized the three princes and Princess Shirahoshi, few were willing to come out.

This is mainly because after Hody Jones took control of Fish-Man Island, he did not enact any bad policies. Basically, apart from the change of the ruler, the various laws and regulations were not much different from before.

Even for the Fish-Man, because of the downfall of the merman royal family, they actually lived better lives and were no longer discriminated against by those mermen.

Furthermore, the patrols by a large number of Fish-Men Mutants have greatly increased the sense of security on the entire Fish-Man Island. At least ordinary human pirates are definitely no match for the Fish-Men Mutants in the ocean.

Having secured absolute military power over Fish-Man Island and refrained from imposing any tyrannical policies, Hody Jones had essentially gained control of the Fish-Man Island.