"That's what happened."
At Navy Headquarters, Fleet Admiral Sengoku sighed helplessly. "Gion and the others' operation failed. Instead, it has put us in a passive position."
"So—"
The man known as Chaton, Vice Admiral Kaki, who stood alongside Momousagi as a candidate for Admiral, was practically gritting his teeth. "To deal with Fish-Man Island, we have to turn our own people into fish-men!"
"Because the battle will be fought in the deep sea, they have to be non-users like Gion and the others!!"
"Which bastard came up with this battle plan!!"
Kaki clenched his fists so tightly that they nearly bled. "Doesn't that mean Gion and the others will never be able to turn back into humans? They'll have to be fish-men forever!!"
"Even their descendants will become fish-men!"
Strictly speaking, they would be half-fish-men, like that bastard Bright.
That was what he thought, but Sengoku naturally could not say it aloud.
The Fleet Admiral, whose face was deathly pale from his injuries, paused. "This was the Five Elders' decision, and Gion and the others have already agreed to it."
"None of us wants to see them suffer like this. But you know as well as I do that ordinary methods simply cannot interfere with Fish-Man Island, located in the deep sea."
"We are the Navy."
Kaki fell silent.
When sacrifices had to be made, if soldiers like them did not walk at the forefront, then who else could be expected to sacrifice themselves?
If they did not step forward, then who could stand against Fish-Man Island, against Bright the fish-man who wanted to overturn the world?
"I understand Gion's thinking."
Kaki took a deep breath. "She is someone willing to spare no cost for the justice in her heart."
Chaton's pursuit of Momousagi was no longer news within the