Quelling the Unrest
For ordinary Fish-Man, the outcome of the battle between Neptune and Hody Jones is obviously not very meaningful.
Moreover, while Neptune's rule was deeply entrenched, Hody Jones also had considerable support among the Fish-Man. This situation led to a rather chaotic stance among the residents of Fish-Man Island, making it impossible for them to unite as one.
Looking at the thousands of Fish-Men Mutants standing in front of them, the three Merman Prince swallowed hard, and Shirahoshi was so frightened that she closed her eyes, with tears welling up in the corners of her eyes.
Little did they know, the numerous Fish-Men Mutants opposite them were also trembling with fear. Vegapunk, who stood before them, was the source of all the Monster Cells. Even though he did not use any ability to control Monsters, he still instilled a sense of extreme fear and panic in these Monsters.
If it weren't for Vegapunk secretly communicating with them telepathically, instructing them to stand directly in front of him, these Fish-Men Mutants would probably have immediately knelt down in worship.
Looking at the Fish-Men Mutants before him, Vegapunk glanced at Hancock beside him, and at the same time, secretly transmitted his voice to Hancock using electromagnetic waves:
"Hancock, it's your turn to shine! Go easy on me, this is all our power."
Hancock nodded slightly, a smile playing on her lips.
In the prison of Ryugu Castle, Neptune, who was counting the days on his fingers, suddenly heard a chaotic noise outside.
"What's going on? Has Hody Jones done something again?!"
Neptune was startled and quickly stood up, looking somewhat anxious.
Jinbe, who was sitting to the side with his palms facing upwards and Jinbe closed in meditation, raised his head, scanned him with Observation Haki for a moment, and then spoke with a strange expression:
"Humans have invaded Fish-Man Island! It looks like it's Dr. Vegapunk!"
"What?! Has Hody Jones really started a war against humanity?! Has he gone mad?!"
Jinbe shook his head and sighed:
"Hody Jones now commands an army of Fish-Men Mutants, so it's only natural that he'd become ambitious... Your Majesty Neptune, the medicine in the Tamatebako seems quite easy to imitate and manufacture."
Neptune looked completely bewildered. He no longer believed the words left by his ancestors, which said that the medicine in the Tamatebako was merely a way to burn life to gain power—but several days had passed, and the other party not only did not feel like their life was being burned out, but they had become more and more energetic!
They claimed that the method of making the drug had long been destroyed and that there were no conditions to manufacture it now. However, in the blink of an eye, the other party replicated more drugs and directly created an army of tens of thousands of Fish-Men Mutants!
His ancestors were spouting nonsense, which had ruined him, their descendant! Neptune, unaware that the medicine in the Tamatebako had long been switched, could only complain about his ancestors in his heart.
"Sigh! It's all my fault... If it weren't for my mistake, Hody Jones wouldn't have obtained the Tamatebako, and he wouldn't have shown such ambition now!"
Seeing Neptune's disheartened expression, Jinbe shook his head helplessly, a look of worry on his face.
Although Fish-Man Island has greatly increased in strength due to those Fish-Men Mutants, it is absolutely impossible for them to conquer humanity.
It's important to know that the total human population in the Pirate World is around tens of billions, which is almost a thousand times more than the number of mermaids and Fish-Man!
Besides the difference in numbers, the strongest humans are far beyond Fish-Man Island. Although the strength of Fish-Man is ten times that of humans, that only applies to ordinary humans who have not undergone any training.
Humans in the Pirate World have unlimited potential; with just a little training, they can catch up with the advantages of Fish-Man.
While the Fish-Man have greatly increased their strength due to the secret medicine, humans have also made rapid progress in technology thanks to Vegapunk, a technological genius. In comparison, the gap in combat power between the two sides has probably not narrowed, but rather the Fish-Man have fallen further behind.
If war really breaks out... the Fish-Man will probably be in a bad situation... not to mention that apart from Fish-Man Island, the Fish-Man have almost no strategic depth. If the enemy destroys Fish-Man Island, all the Fish-Man and mermaids will be scattered in all directions...
Jinbe was still pondering the Fish-Man problem when he heard a loud bang as the prison gate was opened.
Slightly startled, Jinbe and Neptune quickly looked up and saw that Neptune's three sons had already rushed into the prison.
"Fukaboshi, Hoshi, Manboshi? What are you doing here?!"
"What's going on outside? I think I hear the sounds of fighting!"
Upon hearing their father's question, the three Merman Prince exchanged glances, and Fukaboshi was the first to speak:
"Father, we've enlisted Dr. Vegapunk's help. They're currently fighting Hody Jones and his strange Fish-Man. We'll take this opportunity to rescue you!"
Neptune was slightly taken aback, but at that moment, the three Merman Prince opened the cell door and released Neptune and Jinbe.
In addition, there were many of Neptune's Ryugu Army in the prison. With the help of the three Merman Prince, all the Ryugu Army in the prison were soon released.
After gaining his freedom, Neptune didn't waste any time. He led a group of people straight out of the prison, where he immediately witnessed a scene that shocked him.
In the sky, Hancock stood atop it, her beautiful eyes faintly tinged with blue. A terrifying aura erupted from her, and powerful Chakra formed a huge golden energy ball that slowly rotated behind her.
On the ground, tens of thousands of merman Monsters roared and launched continuous attacks on Hancock. Water bullets formed by Fish-Man Karate appeared everywhere, but all the attacks disappeared in an instant after approaching within a dozen meters of Hancock.
Hancock merely pointed her gaze, and the giant golden sphere in the sky also shot out golden streams of light. With a thunderous roar, the Fish-Men Mutants were instantly blown to smithereens.
Each streak of light was enough to sweep away hundreds of Fish-Men Mutants. In the short few minutes that Neptune had just escaped from the prison, enough of the Fish-Men Mutants had been blasted by the golden streaks of light, coughing up blood and completely losing their fighting ability.
In reality, this was only because Hancock listened to Vegapunk and showed mercy; otherwise, these Fish-Man would have been doomed and would never have been unconscious.
"So powerful! Is this the strength of the Pirate Empress?! She's ten or even a hundred times more terrifying than those pirate monsters!"
"Even Whitebeard, Pops was known as the World's Strongest Man, paled in comparison!"
Jinbe's fish-like face showed surprise and even fear. He was convinced that Fish-Man were no match for humans. However, he never imagined that so many Fish-Men Mutants combined would be so vulnerable in Hancock's hands.
The stunning beauty standing in the sky is far too powerful, exceeding Jinbe's understanding of what constitutes a strong person!
In just a few minutes, the Fish-Men Mutants on the ground had been almost completely cleared away. Then, with an angry roar, a terrifying Fish-Man with a pure great white shark head and a height of seven or eight meters jumped out.
"That's Hody Jones? How... has he gotten so much stronger?!"
Jinbe stared at Hody Jones in surprise. The muscles on Hody Jones' body that flowed like mercury, and the Haki now wrapped around his fists, all indicated that the other party was no longer the defeated opponent he had been a few days ago.
With just one glance at Hody Jones, Jinbe could tell that Hody Jones's strength was definitely no less than his own, and in terms of physical attributes alone, he was several times stronger!
That's already close to the level of the Four Emperors Three Admirals. In just two days, how did Hody Jones become so strong?
For a moment, Jinbe was even a little bewildered and incredulous. Was the Energy Steroids from Fish-Man Island really that effective?
If it really had such an effect, I would have already persuaded King Neptune to release these Energy Steroids! If Hody Jones could become this strong, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that I could rival the Four Emperors and the Three Admirals if I took the Energy Steroids.
Why would Fish-Man Island still be flying Whitebeard's flag then? His own reputation will be enough to protect the entire Fish-Man Island!
In fact, Hody Jones, as one of Vegapunk's more important pawns, has consumed a lot of Vegapunk's Monster Cells. After devouring hundreds of Monster Cells, his strength has reached its limit—if he eats any more, he might just explode!
The enhancement capabilities of Monster Cells are not unlimited. Basically, the stronger the original strength, the more enhancements it can accept. However, if the strength is too weak and it consumes too many Monster Cells, it will naturally be burst out of its shell.
This is because Vegapunk's modifications made the Monster Cells much milder.
Otherwise, if it were the original Monster Cells created by Orochi, Hody Jones probably wouldn't have been able to eat even ten of them, and half of the ordinary Fish-Man would have been killed directly by the Monster Cells.
With hundreds of Monster Cells, Hody Jones's pure physical strength is enough to elevate it to the top level on the high seas. Even if it can't compare to the ceiling of Kaido, Charlotte Linlin, or Whitebeard, it is in no way inferior to the physical strength of Marine Admiral.
However, only his physical body has become stronger. Although Hody Jones has spontaneously mastered some rudimentary Armament Haki due to his powerful physique, with this level of strength, it would be wishful thinking to fight Hancock.
Hancock completely ignored Hody Jones, who was leaping towards her. Sure enough, as soon as Hody Jones reached within 30 or 40 meters of Hancock, a powerful gravitational force held his body in place, making him orbit around Hancock like a satellite.
"Get out of here, you stupid shark!"
Hancock gave a soft shout, and Hody Jones, who was spinning around her, was suddenly pushed by a powerful gravitational force, and like a shooting star, he crashed directly into the ground of Fish-Man Island, creating a crater more than ten meters deep.
"It's... over?!"
Neptune looked somewhat bewildered and asked with some confusion.
Jinbe nodded, his expression serious. "Indeed... it's over! Tens of thousands of enhanced Fish-Man were wiped out. The enemy's strength was simply too great!"
Neptune shuddered, looking at the dilapidated Fish-Man Island, and fell silent.
In the Ryugu Castle, Neptune returned to his throne, and his civil and military officials, who had been released from prison, were also seated in the palace.
In reality, Hody Jones didn't make things difficult for those people. Even when some civil and military officials were imprisoned, the documents that needed their attention were still sent to them. The thugs of Fish-Man District were good at fighting, but it was better not to make things difficult for them when it came to handling state affairs.
Not to mention that these Fish-Man also ate Monster Cells, making them even more irritable, which naturally made them even less able to manage these clerical jobs.
These people didn't suffer much in prison. In fact, even Jinbe and Neptune were treated quite well in prison. At least they were able to eat their fill every meal and were not tortured.
Looking at the intelligence he had gathered, Neptune looked rather embarrassed. During the days he had been imprisoned, Neptune had been constantly worried that Hody Jones and his gang would wreak havoc on the entire Fish-Man Island, which caused him to lose Tenten appetite and sleep.
When the results came out, it turned out that Hody Jones had actually done a pretty good job. Although he hadn't managed Fish-Man Island much, he hadn't caused any trouble either.
After he was removed from Fish-Man Island, it seemed that no problems arose. Everyone continued to live their lives as usual, and many Fish-Man even lived better lives because they were no longer discriminated against!
This put Neptune in an awkward position. It seemed that he was somewhat dispensable as king. Even if Hody Jones were to become king, it didn't seem like there would be any problem.
Aside from his mental lapse and desire to wage war against humanity, Hody Jones seems quite competent in every other respect.
Or you could say that the king of Fish-Man Island is just a figurehead and has never played any role, so as long as he's not the kind of person who can cause trouble, it doesn't matter who you put on the island.
Shaking his head, Neptune banished the somewhat embarrassing thought from his mind and looked at Vegapunk, who was sitting at the very front of the table.
As is customary in the Pirate World, a banquet is held after every major battle, and this time was no exception.
The last banquet in Ryugu Castle was disrupted by the Fish-Man's rebellion, so this time Neptune has spared no expense in providing all the delicacies of Ryugu Castle to reward Vegapunk.
Of course, it was also because Hancock had frightened all the high-ranking officials of Fish-Man Island, and because Hancock didn't seem to have a good temper at all, these people naturally did their best to please Hancock.