Arlong's Vision, Neptune's Invitation

"It's all thanks to me!"

A little girl's smug voice came from the other end of the Den Den Mushi.

"Is that so? Then that's truly amazing, Nana," Bright said, sitting on a tattered stool, his voice full of praise.

Just a few minutes before he dealt with Hody, the whereabouts of the kidnapped mermaid girls were found.

It was an incredible coincidence.

Bright had asked Aladdin to send some Fish-men to help protect the Mermaid Cafe, and Aladdin had immediately complied.

A few sharp and strong Fish-men were quickly dispatched to the Mermaid Cafe to serve as guards.

The mermaid ladies, who had been in fear all night, finally felt at ease.

As dawn broke, their fear and anxiety gradually dissipated. The mermaid ladies wanted to return to their apartments to change their clothes; girls are vain, after all.

The Fish-men decided to send some of their own to escort the mermaid ladies back.

But would this journey be without trouble?

After all, the situation was tense right now.

Normally, such a problem could only be verified by oneself, but there was Sharly.

Sharly performed a divination for the Fish-men.

It was this divination that completely turned the tide.

Sharly saw that the Fish-men rescued the imprisoned mermaids.

Although they still didn't know where the mermaids were being held captive.

But because of the nature of prophecies, which are bound to come true, this meant that no matter what the Fish-men did, they would inevitably rescue the mermaids.

The Fish-men were greatly encouraged. They immediately notified Jinbe, and then they escorted the mermaid ladies back to their apartments.

At first, nothing unusual happened when they simply arrived at the mermaid apartments, but Little Sister Nana wanted to check if her friends were alright.

And so, the turning point occurred.

Nana's friend lived in another apartment in Mermaid Bay, not too far away.

But it was in this apartment that the Fish-men discovered something strange.

Humans and Fish-men were fighting.

And it was a fight to the death.

"Hody wanted the humans to kill those mermaids," Jinbe's voice came from the other end of the Den Den Mushi. "But the humans were unwilling."

"Although they were coerced at first, when they actually saw so many mermaids before them, they couldn't bring themselves to do it, and thus conflict arose."

"So, should we thank human greed for this turn of events?" Bright said casually.

Although it ended a bit anticlimactically, the matter had finally come to a satisfactory conclusion.

"Bright, you stay in Fish-Man District for now. I'll be right there," Jinbe said from the other end of the phone. "Someone wants to see you."

Bright could probably guess who it was. "Okay."

Hanging up the Den Den Mushi, Bright stood up. Hody's three subordinates were completely unconscious. After taking only a few pills, they had taken Bright's merciless lightning strikes head-on and then received two kicks from Bright. It was unlikely they would be able to open their eyes anytime soon.

Bright walked into the dilapidated house.

"Brother Arlong, you're still alive, right?"

He squatted down beside Arlong.

"Can't die for now."

Arlong, still lying in the hole on the ground, slowly sat up.

Enough time had passed for him to recover some strength.

"Is everything resolved?" he asked.

"Mm."

Bright nodded. "The mermaids have been rescued, and the humans who cooperated with Hody have been arrested."

"Tch, I never thought that Hody would go this insane!" Arlong gritted his teeth when he mentioned Hody. After all, if Bright hadn't arrived in time, he would have been dead. "To cooperate with despicable humans to harm his own kind, what a scumbag!"

You have no right to say that, Brother Arlong.

If I hadn't stopped you, wouldn't you have cooperated with humans too?

Bright smiled.

However, if it were Brother Arlong, while he is indeed greedy, he wouldn't resort to persecuting his own kind to achieve his goals.

"Bright!"

Arlong's emotions suddenly surged with excitement. "I finally understand!"

Bright raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Understand what?

"No wonder you dared to boast so much, no wonder Jinbe said those things!"

Arlong, ignoring his injuries, grabbed Bright's arm. "You're too strong!"

Just now, he had witnessed Bright's power firsthand!

Overwhelming strength!

Hody hadn't even been able to retaliate!

The gap wouldn't be too large even compared to Jinbe, would it?

This kid is only seventeen years old!

"If it were you, if it were you," Arlong's voice was filled with ecstatic fervor, "you could make humans never dare to be arrogant in front of us again! You could establish an unprecedented Fish-Man Kingdom!"

He believed it wholeheartedly now.

"Hahahaha! But that's still too far off!"

Arlong said excitedly, "How about we start by unifying the entire Fish-Man District?"

Brother Arlong, your train of thought is really jumping around.

Bright thought to himself.

"With my and Jinbe's support, we can take over the Fish-Man District in the blink of an eye! What Tiger accomplished, you can too!"

Arlong's plan was clear. "After all, hundreds of thousands of Fish-Men live here. If we can consolidate all the strength here, overthrowing Ryugu Palace won't be a problem!"

Why are we suddenly talking about overthrowing Ryugu Palace?

"Then we can unite the strength of the entire Fish-Man Island. That way, when you become even stronger, who in this deep sea will dare to challenge us?"

Arlong was laughing wildly.

"Then we can take it a step further, leave the deep sea, advance to the surface, and establish a great Fish-Man Kingdom the world has never seen before! Make the humans pay!"

Step by step, gradually.

Brother Arlong, I didn't realize you were a strategist.

Bright couldn't help but smile.

"We'll talk about that later. Let me help you with your injuries first."

It wasn't just Arlong; the others were also badly injured. Hody had held nothing back.

When he was with the Sun Pirates, Bright had learned some emergency medical treatment from the ship's doctor, Aladdin, and it was proving useful now.

Almost as soon as he finished treating Arlong and the others, a voice came from outside.

"Bright!"

It was Jinbe.

Bright walked out of the house.

A giant whale floated in the sky.

On the whale's back, a massive figure met Bright's gaze.

Not unexpected.

Jinbe jumped down from the whale's head.

"Are you alright?"

He asked.

"I'm fine."

Bright shook his head. "But Brother Arlong and the others are seriously injured. I've given them some basic treatment, but more needs to be done by Brother Aladdin."

"Good, they're already on their way."

Jinbe nodded. "But Hody actually beat Arlong and them this badly? Is he that strong?"

Bright picked up a large bag from the side. "I confiscated this from Hody and his men just now."

After being struck by lightning, he wasn't sure if it would still be effective.

Jinbe took the bag and opened it, revealing some kind of medicine he didn't recognize. "What is this?"

"This, isn't this Fierce Medicine?"

A head popped out from the side, looking down into the bag from above Jinbe.

Neptune's face changed drastically. "This is a secret treasure hidden in the Tamate Box!! A medicine that can greatly enhance the user's strength!"

"Is this the legendary item?"

Jinbe nodded. "That's why Hody became a soldier! Was last night's disturbance meant to create an opportunity for the theft?"

"In any case, well done, young man," Neptune said with a smile to Bright. "If it weren't for you, there would have been a major disaster."

Bright simply nodded casually.

"Bright, Neptune specifically came to find you," Jinbe said with a smile. "He wants to talk with you."

"Is that so?" Bright looked towards King Neptune.

Neptune said earnestly, "Jinbe told me some things about you. He said you would be the future of Fish-Man Island. So, what do you say, young man? How about joining the army? Jinbe is no longer here, and the army needs someone to lead them forward."

This proposal isn't bad.

If I could control the army of Fish-Man Island, perhaps I could directly initiate a peaceful transition.

"Before I answer that, I have a question," Bright said. "What are you going to do, King Neptune?"

"After this incident, what are you planning to do? You can't always wait until you discover humans have kidnapped mermaids before taking action, can you?"