"What happened next? What was the final result?"
A bubble floated in the air. Shyarly sat sideways on it, her long fish tail swaying lazily as she flipped through a magazine in her hands and asked casually.
Bright walked ahead, holding a rope tied to the bubble in one hand and a bundle of ropes in the other. Those ropes were connected to a cluster of bubbles floating in the air, each holding something inside. "A crushing defeat."
His raw strength had indeed been enough to contend with Brother Jinbe, but once Brother Jinbe started using Fish-Man Karate, everything changed.
Powerful techniques could alter the balance of strength. In that regard, Bright had been completely crushed.
Jinbe had only used his Armament Haki to defend against the lightning attacks, not to attack, yet Bright had already been defeated.
"But why do I feel like you're not disappointed at all?"
Shyarly lowered her magazine and turned to look at Bright.
"There's nothing to be disappointed about."
Bright chuckled. "I'm already very satisfied."
At least now, he had a rough idea of where his strength stood.
If he went all out above the sea, he could probably barely match a Vice Admiral from Navy Headquarters.
Of course, he would be among the weaker Vice Admirals. Forget someone like Garp—even compared to elite Vice Admirals like Doberman Onigumo, he was still far inferior.
But that was hardly something to be disappointed about.
A few months ago, he had still been completely unable to match Hag.
The power contained within that fruit, along with Kaido's bloodline, had brought him an enormous boost.
Not to mention that as his various abilities gradually matured, he would grow stronger at an astonishing rate.
"Were you always someone so easily satisfied?" Shyarly asked in surprise.
"Because I'll become even stronger from here on out."
Bright said, "There's something, Shyarly."
"I'm not good at fighting. I can't help you train." Shyarly lowered her gaze back to the magazine and spoke casually.
"I never expected that."
Bright's mouth twitched. From childhood until now, Shyarly had never fought even once. With Arlong and Bright around, she had never needed violence as a weapon.
"Brother Jinbe is going to guide my training, so I won't be able to provide security for you for the time being."
"Do whatever you want." Shyarly flipped through her book, looking unconcerned. "Just don't come crawling to me when you're too broke to eat."
"Hey, hey, that's cold. Aren't we childhood friends?"
Suddenly, there seemed to be some commotion ahead.
A crowd had gathered together.
Thanks to his height, Bright easily spotted the figure in the center of the crowd, speaking loudly.
"...Please sign the petition! Three years from now, at the Reverie, we must show the world Fish-Man Island's resolve to relocate!"
A slender woman with brilliant golden wavy hair, dressed in a long robe patterned with orange fish scales, stood atop a raised platform and delivered her speech loudly.
"We have only encountered a small number of prejudiced humans! Most humans know nothing about us. Fear and hatred solve nothing—we should take the initiative to reach out to them!"
"She still hasn't given up."
Shyarly closed her magazine and looked at the distant woman with a touch of emotion. "She's been giving speeches nonstop ever since we were children, hasn't she?"
She could see clearly as well, since she was sitting atop a bubble floating in midair.
Besides, including her fish tail, Shyarly was actually much taller than Bright. She stood nearly five meters tall.
Bright said nothing, merely listening quietly to the uproar ahead.
"Even if you say that, Queen Otohime, we can't agree!"
"That's right! Brother Fisher Tiger died because of humans! Because humans refused to give him blood!"
"How can we trust the humans who killed Brother Fisher Tiger?"
The woman's name was Otohime, the wife of this country's king.
She had been giving speeches like this for many years. Her lifelong dream was to move Fish-Man Island to the surface and allow Fish-Man Island and humanity to coexist peacefully.
However, while the fish-men and merfolk surrounding her were not particularly hostile, their resistance was obvious.
"Bright, did Brother Fisher Tiger die because he refused a human blood transfusion?" Shyarly looked at Bright.
"Yeah."
Bright nodded. "To conceal Brother Fisher Tiger's cause of death, Brother Arlong lied to the humans. The newspapers reported the wrong story."
If he remembered correctly, that had directly led to the law forbidding fish-men and merfolk from donating blood to humans.
In the future, it had nearly caused Sanji to bleed to death after seeing a mermaid.
"Did that idiot Arlong do something unnecessary again?" Shyarly said with a headache. "Stopping him from going out to sea was really a good decision."
"It wouldn't have mattered either way."
Bright spoke casually.
This incident would not have significantly changed the relationship between humans and Fish-Man Island.
If anything, the fact that Arlong had not directly revealed that Brother Fisher Tiger had saved humans only to be betrayed by them and die was already him showing restraint.
"Let's go. We've bought most of the daily necessities. Time to head back."
Bright said.
"You're not going to watch any longer?"
"There's no need. It's meaningless."
You're too naive, Queen Otohime.
Freedom and respect had never been something one could gain through pleading and compromise.
She and Brother Arlong were practically two extremes.
After seeing Boss Shyarly back to the café, Bright was preparing to return with the daily necessities they had bought.
"Bright, you can come help out at the shop between training sessions. At the very least, I can provide you with three meals a day and basic living expenses."
Bright was deeply moved.
"Shyarly!!"
"Don't make such a disgusting expression."
The next day, training officially began.
Bright got up early. After helping Shyarly prepare some ingredients and eating breakfast there, he headed to Jinbe's residence. Once he met up with Jinbe, they went deep into the Sea Forest.
Training naturally required a more open space.
Most of the Sea Forest lay outside Fish-Man Island's bubble, deep beneath the sea.
However, many of the exposed areas were covered by enormous bubbles and contained air.
Bright and Jinbe chose one such place.
"You're ready, Bright!"
Jinbe stretched his limbs, smiling broadly.
He believed that the man before him was Fish-Man Island's future.
"I've been looking forward to this for a long time."
Bright said seriously, "We can begin whenever."
"Good! That's the spirit!"
Jinbe nodded slightly. "Training in Haki is never easy!"
"Haki is a power hidden within our bodies. I don't know exactly how it works, but that doesn't matter. All we need to do is draw that power out from within ourselves."
"And the method of drawing it out may be a little rough."
A rare, strange smile appeared on Jinbe's face. He raised his hands, invisible ripples winding around them. "So, Bright, are you truly ready?"
Bright smiled. "Come at me with everything you've got, Brother Jinbe!"
If he feared even this, then what was the point of talking about becoming someone as strong as Whitebeard or Kaido?
Having endured countless battlefields and still charging forward bravely—this was how the strong were made.
Bright had already steeled himself.
Next, Jinbe first explained how he had felt when he learned Armament Haki, telling Bright how to sense its presence and how to work to draw it out.
Then came the real training.
"Then, Bright, take this!"
Before you continue