Mermaid Bay: Forced Abstinence

"Mermaid-Mermaid-Mermaid!!"

"You lot, shut up!"

"And why even Sanji..."

Speechless, Nami watched as the Straw Hat Trio, now joined in, excitedly began dancing side-by-side... no, now there was Sanji too, and she felt completely uneasy.

"Ha, perverted kappa."

Zoro scoffed from the side. "Women will only slow me down the speed at which I draw my sword!"

With Roman leading the way, things certainly wouldn't turn out like in the 'original story': encountering a once-in-a-century underwater volcanic eruption, the legendary ghost ship 'Flying Dutchman,' and all sorts of lowly pirate crews...

Although the wide-area reconnaissance capabilities of doves are unavailable underwater, Roman's Observation Haki still boasts the greatest breadth of knowledge among the Straw Hat crew, easily allowing him to avoid these unnecessary troubles. Therefore:

"See that? That's the entrance to Fish-Man Island."

In the deep sea not far away, a huge double-layered circular bubble shield envelops an island, with an air layer between the two shields.

"Although it is located deep underwater, the island also has sky and clouds."

Roman began to explain things to everyone—except Nami.

"Because the giant tree 'Sun Tree Eve' that grows near Fish-Man Island can transmit sunlight from the ground to Fish-Man Island, located in the deep sea, has sunlight and changes between day and night. The local residents even describe this phenomenon as 'the blessing of the sun'."

"How amazing, the sunlight underwater..."

"Is this Fish-Man Island?"

"Beautiful scenery~~"

"Delicious~~"

"Beautiful lady~~"

?

·······

"You're the Straw Hat crew?"

At the entrance to Fish-Man Island, in the artificial circular harbor piercing through a giant bubble, the warriors belonging to the Ryugu Palace, upon seeing the Straw Hat crew Pirates' flag and Luffy's iconic Straw Hat, not only immediately allowed them to pass but also sent someone to inform the princes, Luffy to stroke his chin in rare thoughtfulness:

"Do they want to invite us to dinner?"

"That's obviously impossible, isn't it?"

Usopp immediately retorted, "We're pirates! It's a miracle they didn't capture us on the spot. Wait a minute..."

"Could it be that they're going to fetch reinforcements?!"

"Hehehe, who cares! Let's go to Fish-Man Island and see if there's anything good to eat~~"

Luffy, being the restless type, immediately jumped off the ship and ran off to prepare for an adventure. —Fish-Man Island isn't entirely underwater; it's a unique environment where half is seawater and half is air, filled with structures built from coral on the water's surface and various shell-style houses.

"I'm going too!"

Sanji, whose eyes had turned into hearts, jumped off the ship, followed closely by Usopp and Chopper.

"Fish-Man Island, the history of this country must be very interesting..."

Robin is also preparing to go on an archaeological expedition, Brook is equally eager to join in. So:

"This is a rare opportunity, let's all go to the island together."

Snap,

As Roman snapped his fingers, white doves flew out of his body and went in all directions.

"With me here, it's alright even if we don't leave anyone to guard the ships."

"This is such a convenient feature!"

Since Roman had taken charge, the entire Straw Hat crew, including Franky, disembarked and strolled along the streets filled with an underwater atmosphere. Like Sabaody, it was teeming with bubble civilization—various Bubble Car, bubble levitation devices, and:

"What is that thing? It's forming a pipe in the air!"

Seeing Luffy with his hand, Roman glanced at the rainbow-like pipes filled with seawater, where fish and starfish swam, and:

"Fish-Man ~~!!!"

A slender female Fish-Man swam through the pipe, her aloof attire, devilish figure, beautiful face, and short green hair—?!

"Keimi!"

"Hey hey hey hey?"

Just as Sanji's voice made the Fish-Man stop abruptly, causing him to bump his head against the pipe, Roman was already calmly explaining to the others:

"As you can see, this is a 'waterway' made of bubbles, suitable for Fish-Man and mermaids to move around in. — Of course, if you can hold your breath for ten minutes or more, you can try it too—"

"I'll give it a try!"

Thump,

"Ahhh, I can't swim~~ glug glug glug..."

?!

"Hahaha, Keimi, Kemi."

Watching Keimi and still laughing Luffy, Roman rubbed his temples, feeling his blood pressure spike for the first time in a long time!

Come on, can't you, a Devil Fruit user, at least respect the 'setting' of this world? You jump into the sea every day, and you still haven't drowned! Doesn't the ocean have any dignity?

"You've become even more beautiful, Keimi ~~"

Regardless, meeting an old friend in a foreign land is always a joyful thing. Moreover:

"Luffy, Brother Sanji, and... Roman, since we've met you here, please let me be your guide and show you around."

Back in the Sabaody Archipelago, the Straw Hat crew almost got wiped out trying to save Keimi!

We've been through thick and thin together, you could say.

"Hehehe, then I'll trouble you, Keimi ~~"

As Luffy readily agreed, Nami and Robin, holding Keimi's hands, walked along chatting about girly topics, and were having a pleasant conversation when:

"We've arrived. This is the 'Fish-Man Cafe' where I work—"

Keimi waved his hand grandly, and the seawater in front of him was filled with:

All kinds of mermaids!

"Dormitory."

Innocent type, alluring type, mature type... they all have angelic faces, devilish figures, and Fish-Man -like attributes! This definitely hits some people's XP (sexual desires), for example:

"Aaaaaaah!!!"

"Sanji is wailing and crying..."

Chopper watched with concern as Sanji cried and blood gushed from his nose. Even he, a well-informed doctor, couldn't understand this 'symptom'.

"I cried even more bitterly than when I left the Baratie."

Even Luffy, who is usually oblivious, looked worried.

Do you know what I've been through these past two years?

Sanji into tears.

"If it weren't for Roman sending... cough cough cough, I almost wouldn't have been able to hold on."

"Hey buddy, are you Keimi's friend?"

A mermaid swam over and generously took Sanji's hand.

"Stop crying, come dance in the sea!"

······

"I understand now, this happiness... Today is the anniversary of my death..."

Why are you so negative?

Usopp was stunned; someone had actually stolen his lines. This was simply—

Hahaha~~

Mermaids, all kinds of mermaids, and the mermaids here are top-notch in terms of both looks and figure! Sanji, who jumped into the water to play, was so engrossed in the fun that he forgot all about home and didn't even care about his nosebleed.

"I have no regrets about dying!"

"Roman, do I look good in this swimsuit?"

"Nice."

"You answered too quickly! You didn't even read it carefully."

"... Judging from the style, this is a two-piece swimsuit; judging from the material, it should be from the East China Sea; in terms of the protective area—"

Thump!

"Hoo hoo~~, Roman still doesn't know how to make girls happy."

Robin, now in a different swimsuit, chuckled, grabbed a bubble, wrapped it up, and jumped into the water, swimming over like a mermaid to comfort the sulking Nami. Roman was left behind, deep in thought about the swimsuit's defensive capabilities.

"That's great, they can all swim."

Luffy sat dejectedly on the shore. Although he vowed to become the King of the Pirates, eating Devil Fruit he was now completely unable to swim. He could only watch enviously as others went swimming, but thankfully, he had a bunch of people with him.

"Roman, quickly use your invincible Paper-Paper Fruit to think of a way..."

?!

"That's easy, I'll just wrap you in some Vivre Card and you can go into the water. But—"

Roman pointed to Chopper and Robin, who were happily splashing around in the water wearing bubbles.

"Why not just use these bubbles to isolate the seawater?"

"Sigh~~~"

"What a pity, even with bubbles, I can't go into the water."

Although Franky said it was a pity, there was no sign of disappointment on his face. The reason he couldn't go into the water was:

"Because I'm super~~ heavy!"

Franky, whose entire body is made of steel... no, many of his parts have been replaced with Wapol Metal, is like a weight falling into water—hard to the core!

"Hehehe, I'd drown if I went down there too."

"Even though I'm just a skeleton, I can still suffocate, yohoho~~"

"Hey, isn't that the Soul King?"

A large group of beautiful Fish-Man gathered around.

"Ah~~, it really is the 'Soul King' himself, I want his autograph!"

"Me too! I'm your fan!"

I've bought all your songs—

In an instant, the place turned into Brook's fan meeting, making Sanji so jealous he was unrecognizable! Just as everyone was having fun, a ship carried by a huge, long ribbonfish sailed towards them.

"The Neptune's Three Brothers have arrived!"

Amidst a loud trumpet blast, three mermaids emerged from the deck of this 'biological ship'.

"Is it the Straw Hat Pirates?"

On the left is a slender, yellow ribbonfish-like Fish-Man with a long tuft of red hair; on the right is a plump, brown-haired sunfish-like Fish-Man; and in the middle is:

"Fish-Man girls of the 'Gulf,' I've disturbed your time."

"Prince~~!"

With a dot on its forehead, shark-like teeth and gills, long, wavy blue hair, and a righteous appearance, the Fish-Man wielding a golden trident first nodded earnestly to the mermaids. Then it looked at Luffy and the others:

"I am the eldest prince of the Ryugu Palace Kingdom on Fish-Man Island. I have been ordered to invite you to the Dragon Palace as guests."

?!

"No way, they actually invited us to be their guests?"

Usopp was stunned. Luffy had the ability to make his words come true!

"Please wait a moment—"

Regardless, the prince of Fish-Man Island personally invited them; they should at least give him face, shouldn't they? Nami and the others immediately swam ashore. Only:

"I don't want this! This is paradise!"

Sanji, completely absorbed in the moment, refused to come out of the water, leaving the Straw Hat crew speechless and covering their foreheads.

How embarrassing...

"Chopper, use that move."

Chopper was horrified when Roman calmly gave the order.

"Mr. Roman, do you really want to use..."

"Otherwise, do you have a way to get Sanji out of this harem? -- This is for his own good; if he continues like this, he'll probably bleed all his nose."

The first crisis the Straw Hat crew encountered in the New World: the absurd situation of Sanji losing a lot of blood was something Roman had already planned for.

"Sanji, I'm sorry."

Chopper swam over to Sanji, who was lingering by the mermaid's side, and stomped down with a swift Sanji—

"Let's go."

Nami, Usopp, and the others looked worried as they faced Sanji in his 'wise man' mode.

"Are you really willing to do this..."

Sanji clasped his hands together, his face calm.

"Without those worldly desires."

???

"Chopper is terrifying..."

"Yes, there are actually such methods..."

"What kind of looks are those? Roman told me to do that!!!"

"They're gone."

Roman didn't care about the methods used; as long as it solved the problem, it was a good method. No matter how cunning or ruthless they were, they'd all become meek monks before Chopper's Hormone Gloves!

P. S.: I'm feeling a bit dizzy today, and I haven't been feeling well enough to write this...