Returning Home

Following his whale friends, Bright found a group of giant sea turtles. From the oldest among them, Bright learned the direction to Fish-Man Island.

His enthusiastic whale friends offered to escort him back.

Bright figured it was because he hadn't finished removing all the barnacles from them yet.

He didn't mind, though; the journey back wouldn't be lonely with his friends accompanying him.

And so, he set sail for home, riding on the whales.

At times he played in the water with whales big and small, and at other times, when they surfaced to breathe, he rode their spouting water columns up into the sky.

It was a short, but happy journey.

What could be happier than returning to one's homeland filled with anticipation, and meeting a group of good friends along the way?

However, this journey was indeed short. Punk Hazard was located near the entrance waters of the New World, not far from the Red Line, and Hag had even taken Bright a bit further.

So soon, that colossal red wall appeared before Bright's eyes.

"Truly magnificent."

Bright stood atop his whale friend, which was floating on the sea, gazing at the towering, sky-obscuring cliff face before him with a sense of awe.

He remembered the shock he felt as a child when he and Arlong secretly snuck to the surface for the first time and saw the Red Line.

Just as he couldn't forget the excitement of truly bathing in sunlight for the first time, or the amazement of seeing a real blue sky.

Fish-Men and Mermaids lived in this world, yet they could never truly reach it.

"Thank you."

Turning his gaze away from the Red Line, Bright crouched down and patted the giant whale's head. "It's time to say goodbye."

"Ang!"

The whale friends let out ethereal calls, one after another, non-stop.

"You don't want me to leave?"

Bright smiled. "Parting is common; just look forward to our next reunion."

"We'll meet again."

"Ang!"

The whales continued to call out reluctantly, but in the end, they bid farewell to Bright.

After bidding farewell to the friends he had met along the way, Bright jumped into the water and headed for the deep sea without stopping.

Fish-Man Island was already very close; he just needed to follow the Red Line all the way down and find the great cavern leading to Fish-Man Island.

As for how to find a cavern in the deep sea, he just needed to ask the fish living nearby for directions.

The deeper he went, the dimmer the light became. However, as a Fish-Man, Bright's pupils could adjust freely to the underwater light, so he didn't feel darkness.

But when he reached the deepest parts of the deep sea, all light was blocked by the water, and even Bright could see nothing.

It didn't matter, though; not knowing east from west wasn't important, he just needed to keep going down.

It didn't take long before Bright reached the bottom of the deep sea, at least ten thousand meters below the surface, the deepest part of the world.

Perhaps the physical condition of the Fish-Man and Mermaid races came from this; living in such deep-sea areas, they had to resist immense pressure, so their bodies naturally had to be strong.

Although it was pitch black, Bright's senses could still function to some extent. After asking a few fish for directions, he sped off in a certain direction.

Soon, he entered the massive cavern beneath the Red Line.

Here, faint light began to appear in the seawater, and even the surrounding water was a bit warmer than outside.

He was finally here.

Bright's heart filled with joy, and he sped towards the source of the light in the distance.

Soon, on the seabed far away, an island shrouded in sunlight appeared before Bright's eyes.

Light streamed down from above, and Bright knew it was sunlight transmitted from the legendary Eve Tree, which was the very foundation of Fish-Man Island's existence.

As he drew closer, the island's appearance became clearer and clearer.

A giant bubble enveloped the entire Fish-Man Island, keeping the seawater out.

Bright now stood at the outer edge of this bubble.

Normally, one had to enter Fish-Man Island through the main gate. Trying to directly penetrate the bubble was extremely dangerous.

But danger was for outsiders. For humans, it was dangerous, but for a native resident like Bright, it was actually more convenient.

He passed directly through the bubble and appeared in a wide-open space, with another blue wall further ahead.

This was the danger for outsiders who tried to break in directly.

Upon entering the initial air-filled area, the coating would peel off, and the ship would fall and shatter.

Even if they miraculously survived, the immense wall of water before them was a chasm that would drive them to despair.

But of course, this posed no obstacle to Bright.

Easily passing through the layer of water, Bright finally returned to the interior of Fish-Man Island.

"It's been so long!"

Bright couldn't help but stretch, taking a deep breath.

He wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but the air on Fish-Man Island felt sweet.

Unlike what ordinary humans might imagine, thanks to the Eve Tree's blessing, Fish-Man Island even had blue skies and white clouds; at least to the naked eye, it looked no different from the surface of the sea.

Bright looked around, confirming his location.

"Am I in the Sea Forest?"

Good, it was right on the edge of the Fish-Man District.

He found his direction and leisurely headed towards home.

The Sea Forest was a coral forest in the ocean, with a large portion of it extending beyond Fish-Man Island.

There were two very important things in this forest.

The Poneglyph that recorded Joy Boy's apology and the Noah, the promised ark.

However, Bright wasn't interested in either; he had seen them countless times since he was little.

He was eager to get home now.

Passing through layers of coral forest and crossing a hilly area, a cluster of dark, dilapidated buildings appeared before Bright.

The upper parts were exposed to the air, while the lower parts were submerged in water.

This was where Bright had grown up, the Fish-Man District.

"I'm finally back."

Bright's steps were light as he came down the slope and finally entered the district.

It had been almost four years since he left here with Brother Fisher Tiger.

The injuries on his face had completely healed; he wasn't returning in glory, but at least he wasn't returning in disgrace.

As soon as he arrived in the Fish-Man District, it immediately became lively.

Fish-men were everywhere on the dilapidated streets, gathered in twos and threes, chatting and bragging out of boredom.

The Fish-Man District had no industry, and the residents living there were always idle.

What he used to find boring now felt familiar and comforting to Bright.

"Are you--"

At this moment, someone finally noticed Bright. A Fish-man exclaimed in surprise, "Bright! Is that you, Bright?"

Bright glanced at him and smiled, greeting him, "Long time no see, Mark."

"It really is Bright!"

"The bad boy is back!"

"We heard you were taken away alone? What happened afterward?"

The Fish-men eagerly gathered around.

The Fish-man named Mark said happily, "Bright, Boss Jinbe and Brother Arlong were just talking yesterday about when you'd be back..."

"They're already back?" Bright was a little happy.

"Yeah, they returned yesterday. I think they're being summoned by Neptune right now?"

"Okay, I understand."

Bright smiled and nodded, "I'll go home and tidy up first. I'll treat you all to a meal when I have time."

"Hahaha, I won't be polite then." Mark laughed.

"Hey, what about us, Bright!"

"Right, right, don't play favorites!"

The Fish-men joked.

After a few final pleasantries with his old acquaintances, Bright headed in the direction of his home.

Although he was an orphan and had no inheritance, Bright had followed Fisher Tiger and Jinbe, so he owned a house in this district.

It was built above the water, a rare house in the dim Fish-Man District with decent lighting; it was a small one-bedroom apartment.

Familiar with the way, Bright arrived at his doorstep and took out his key, preparing to open the door, only to remember he had lost the key long ago.

Bright casually removed the door and stepped into his home.

"Hm?"

Unexpectedly, the room was very clean, and the furniture was neatly arranged, not at all like a place that hadn't been lived in for years.

The corners of Bright's mouth curved up, his eyes filled with nostalgia, "That guy..."

Walking into the bedroom, Bright opened the closet door. He was still wearing prison clothes.

As expected, the clothes in the closet were also neatly organized.

But when Bright tried to take out some clothes to change into, he realized that nearly four years had passed, and he had grown so much that his old clothes no longer fit.

"Let's go to the shopping street later, shall we?"

Bright muttered to himself.

Then he remembered that he was completely broke and couldn't even pull out a single Belly from his pocket.

He'd have to borrow some money from Jinbe.

Bright slumped onto the living room sofa, lazily closing his eyes.

It really was comforting to be back home.

Thanks to the readers '20200103210129900' and 'Super Single Dog' for their 100-point rewards, and thanks to 'Please Let Me Taste Lemon' for the 1500-point reward. Thank you, thank you!