"Your Majesty Neptune, Your Queen Otohime, when you asked me, you already knew the answer in your hearts, didn't you? Doesn't the current vitality of the Ryugu Kingdom already speak for itself?" Sig said matter-of-factly.
Aside from its declining status within the World Government, the Ryugu Kingdom's other positive indicators have all increased.
As for the decline in the status of World Government...
Sig didn't see it as a bad thing!
In the past, because the slave-catching teams that came to Fish-Man Island all had official and legitimate identities, even if the Ryugu Palace had suspicions, it could only take precautions and find their weaknesses, rather than conduct a direct search, for fear of causing misunderstandings and escalating the conflict with "humans".
And now... even slave-catching teams connected to the Celestial Dragons will "disappear" when they approach the Ryugu Kingdom.
In the last two years, the Warrior of Fish-Man District have even taken the initiative to attack, not only in the Ryugu Kingdom, but also in the waters around the Sabaody Archipelago, intercepting and attacking slave-catching teams!
Of course, the "side effect" of doing this is that the Ryugu Kingdom becomes less "important" in the eyes of the World Government.
Sig even suspected that the reason Sengoku was still using the "Shichibukai" to win him over when the Shichibukai were already full was because he was preparing to remove Jinbe, who was Jinbe hanging out with Whitebeard...
Neptune tried to maintain his facade, but Otohime readily admitted, "Yes, it was my fault before... thankfully, Mr. Sig was there."
What the World Government prefers is that the slave-hunting teams operating under the guise of legitimate merchant caravans are restrained, and that the auctioning of their fellow fish-men in the Sabaody Archipelago will not elicit any objections. Instead, it will appease the vast majority of the Fish-Man Race and encourage them to accept the World Government's Ryugu Kingdom.
For this reason, the World Government once held the "Ryugu Kingdom" in high regard, and even Jinbe was "recruited" by them.
The Ryugu Kingdom, while outwardly Affiliated Nation of the World Government, secretly ruthlessly targets any "legitimate caravans" it discovers, even interfering with the auctions of Mermaid slaves "purchased" from other places in the Sabaody Archipelago, showing no regard for the World Government's procedural Justice...
Naturally, the Ryugu Kingdom was no longer favored by the World Government, and its status plummeted.
Especially in the last two years, the World Government has sent people to question them every time, and the Ryugu Palace has only given verbal responses and guaranteed that the attacks on legitimate caravans were definitely not by the Sea King Army, but by pirates.
However, it is becoming increasingly clear that this is a collaboration between the "legitimate" and "illegitimate" factions within the Ryugu Kingdom.
Even when CP9 came to investigate the hijacking of the fleet, a direct conflict almost broke out due to the protests from the Ryugu Palace... Ultimately, considering the special geographical location of Fish-Man Island, the World Government had no choice but to recall CP9.
Neptune was currently putting on an angry act, as if he was blaming Sig for giving bad advice that displeased the World Government... In reality, he was just "putting on an act," Sig naturally saw through it and didn't bother with him.
Neptune and Otohime both undoubtedly hoped for a bright future for the Fish-Man Race.
Only...
Otohime's previous expectations were completely misplaced; she had misunderstood the World Government's so-called "goodwill." Now, the scenes unfolding in the Ryugu Kingdom have undoubtedly brought Otohime to her senses.
She had previously hoped that Fish-Man Mermaid would open their hearts to each other and live in harmony with humans, even naively believing that the World Government was indeed pushing for this. However, it seems now...
The World Government simply wants the Ryugu Kingdom to keep the Fish-Man Race in check so they can continue to take whatever they want from them!
It was this realization that dealt a blow to Otohime, which led to Neptune's feigned "anger."
In fact, there was no need for Sig to explain; Neptune and Otohime understood perfectly well by now.
Especially after Hody Jones gained power and began secretly ambushing and killing various slave-hunting teams near the Sabaody Archipelago, he increasingly realized that... the World Government did not represent "humanity".
Because the Fish-Man Race among the freed slaves was very small—it was from that time that Hody truly began to understand what Sig had said.
More than 90% of slaves were "human beings"...
When Hody Jones Oldest One discovered that among the rescued slaves he had not found any of his own kind, but rather that most of them were humans, he felt a mixture of dismay and frustration, as he was fighting to rescue the Fish-Man slaves, not humans!
However, as Hody received more and more gratitude from the freed slaves, he gradually realized that in the war to liberate slaves, the enemy was the slaves and slave owners, the slave-catching teams, not the Fish-Man and humans.
After hearing Hody Jones's accounts of his experiences several times, Neptune and Otohime's impressions of the "World Government" began to waver.
Originally, they viewed the World Government as "humanity," so obeying the World Government in order to coexist peacefully with humanity seemed logical. But now...
Neptune and Otohime both understood that the future of the Fish-Man Race was indeed to live in peace with humans, but... not to live in peace with "slave owners"!
"But how long until the 'opportunity' you mentioned arrives?" Neptune asked, his voice filled with both anxiety and worry.
"Oh? The Great Knight of the Sea's trident, long unused, is it itching to wield it?" Sig teased.
"I wanted to prepare in advance so that I could lead the people to hide beforehand, so as not to be dragged into this by you!" Neptune retorted arrogantly.
"Don't worry, don't worry, we're almost there... How is Princess Shirahoshi?" Sig asked, turning to her.
Even Hody Jones was unaware of Shirahoshi's situation. Although Shirahoshi was not confined to the Shell Tower as in the original story, Neptune forbade her from approaching Fish-Man District, and even more so, forbade Hody Jones and his "villains" from getting close to Princess Shirahoshi.
"Don't you dare lay a finger on my daughter! Aren't you 'Sea King'? Figure it out yourself!" Neptune said irritably.
"Anyway, we can try to rebuild Fish-Man District now... I'm referring to the main body of Fish-Man District, the giant ship. When it's really needed, we'll probably have to move it to the sea even if we don't want to," Sig reminded Neptune.
Sig previously "predicted" Laugh Tale's location, thus completing his Promotion Ceremony of "prophet."
At this moment, Sig, with increasingly meticulous "deductive" prophecies, became more and more convinced that when the Nine Shadows Shine Together, a great change would definitely occur on Earth—a change that would exceed the limits that the "Cataclysmic Interrer" could cause, approaching the intensity of the "natural disaster" of Sequence 2, or even a change of a higher level!
Then Sig added with a sly smile, "When we get to the sea, there won't be Ryugu Kingdom anymore... and maybe there won't even be a king."
"If I don't have it, I don't have it. Even if I'm not the king of the Ryugu Palace, I'm still Great Knight of the Sea!" Neptune felt that Sig was deliberately trying to provoke him.
After chuckling to herself, Otohime asked Sig, "Are you going to keep your trip to the Ryugu Kingdom a secret?"
"Oh?" Sig looked at Otohime with some surprise upon hearing this. Did she mean she didn't want to "hide" it?
"I also want to try... using this to pressure the World Government again," Otohime said, her tone becoming more serious.
If the World Government finds out that Ryugu Palace has been in contact with Siegfried, it will surely spark many speculations.
"That's why I say I get along well with Otohime... Great minds think alike!" Sig deliberately looked at Neptune with a sarcastic tone.
Indeed, Sig wanted to add fuel to the fire...
"I feel that not only is there no need to hide it, but... I also want to hold a concert in the Ryugu Kingdom!"
Incidentally, Sig also wanted to finish playing the role of the "Ocean Songster," which he always felt was just a little short of complete.
Dongdong's new book, <The Card World's Word Spirit Master>:
Gai Picheng travels to a different world of swords and magic, only to find that the "battles" here are not quite right!
Gai Picheng: "Dean, why does time flow normally normally, but during battle it turns into a turn-based strategy game? You can only move when it's your turn?"
Dean: "What's turn-based strategy? You're asking why time doesn't flow normally during battle? How come Qidian Orphanage didn't even teach this...? Because the Goddess of Time is dead!"
Gai Picheng: "Dean, why do the results of cultivation manifest as cards, and why do we still need to draw cards during battles? Don't you think this is abrupt?"
Dean: "Hmm? Is there something wrong with this? How can we fight without drawing cards?"
On my first day of school, Awakening my fifth-tier main class—Keyboard Warrior (scratch that) Word Master!
Obtain the main class's basic deck...
Obtain 1 Demigod Card...
Gai Picheng: "Dean, what level of professional was your teacher, the great Sage of the East?"
Dean: "Fifth tier..."
Gai Picheng: "Dean, what rank of professional is that dragon knight you admire, the one who swept through the wine deer?"
Dean: "Fifth tier..."
Gai Picheng: "Dean, what level of professional are you again?"
Dean: "Fourth tier..."
Dongdong: The dialogue in the synopsis will not appear in the actual plot. Just take it as a general idea!