Sudden Attack of the Mermen

"Now that you've eaten your fill, can you talk to me? It's pretty boring being alone.

Actually, I felt like the three of you looked familiar from the start. What are your names, and how did you get caught?"

Hancock ignored Wood's questions. Although he had provided them with food, it didn't change the fact that he worked for the Celestial Dragons.

However, just because Hancock didn't answer didn't mean Mary and Sonia wouldn't.

Hancock was more mature, being twelve years old, but Mary and Sonia were still children.

In their eyes, Wood had given them delicious food, unlike the bad guys at the auction. Furthermore, Wood looked kind and amiable, not like a bad person, so they answered his questions without thinking.

"Big brother, we were kidnapped from the Nine Snake Pirates and brought to Sabaody Archipelago by human traffickers.

My name is Mary, and my older sisters are Sonia and Hancock. Can you let us go?

If we return to the Kuja Kingdom, we'll repay you..."

"Mary, he's with those bad guys. Don't think he's a good person just because he gave you a little food!"

Before Mary could finish speaking, Hancock beside her snapped.

The three sisters had been kidnapped precisely because they trusted people too easily, which made Hancock deeply distrustful of everyone around her now.

However, Hancock didn't notice that when Wood heard Mary state their names, he froze in place.

Mary and Sonia were one thing, but the name Hancock was legendary to anyone who had seen One Piece!

The Pirate Empress Boa Hancock, known as the most beautiful woman in the world, a Paramecia-type Love-Love Fruit user, and one of the future Shichibukai. She possessed both strength and beauty.

No wonder Wood had found them familiar earlier. He had run into someone important!

According to the timeline, Hancock and the others were indeed brought to Holy Land Mary Geoise around this time.

They were then abused by the Celestial Dragons for several years until the Fish-Man hero Fisher Tiger climbed Holy Land Mary Geoise bare-handed. Finally, after freeing the slaves, the three managed to escape Mary Geoise amidst the chaos and return to the Kuja Kingdom.

Hancock, now twelve years old, wasn't yet the "most beautiful woman in the world" in her full glory, but her face already showed the makings of a stunning beauty.

As for Mary and Sonia, while not as striking as Hancock, they were still quite attractive. Wood couldn't understand why the two of them would look so disfigured twenty years later...

While Devil Fruit could cause some physical changes, the appearance of Mary and Sonia after twenty years had deviated from the normal human form.

Upon realizing the three sisters before him were the future Empress and her sisters of the Kuja Kingdom, Wood had intended to try and gain some favor.

However, before he could speak, the brigantine they were on suddenly began to shake violently!

The sea was calm, and the weather was normal. Unless they had hit an underwater reef or encountered some other anomaly, such a phenomenon was impossible.

Gion had scored full marks in navigation at the Marine Academy, and with the sea charts, it was impossible to make a mistake like sailing into a reef area.

Therefore, the violent shaking of the ship could only be caused by external forces.

"Wood, our ship's hull is under attack. They're likely after the mermaids who were captured.

If the hull is breached, forget about us, but everyone else will surely die here."

There were no other ships around, and anyone capable of breaching a ship's hull... even without Gion explicitly stating it, Wood could guess they were likely Fish-Men.

Fish-Men and Merfolk were both species that lived in Fish-Man Island. Fish-Men had fish faces and human bodies, making them generally ugly and ostracized by humans.

Merfolk, on the other hand, had human upper bodies and fish tails, and were universally considered highly attractive, often kept as pets by the wealthy in this world.

Merfolk possessed the fastest swimming speed in the world. While Fish-Men, with their human-like bodies, weren't as fast as Merfolk with their tails, they possessed considerable combat ability.

The most common method Fish-Men used to attack human ships was to breach the hull, sending the ship and its occupants into the sea.

Because once in the water, they, the Fish-Men, were invincible!

Fish-Men always considered humans an inferior species because they couldn't breathe underwater, unlike themselves, who could move freely on land and in water.

From a biological standpoint, the evolution of Fish-Men was indeed higher than that of humans.

After all, they were amphibious and possessed intelligence equivalent to humans. The mere fact that they could breathe underwater proved that Fish-Men were better adapted to the world's environment.

Wood and Gion had only been sailing away from Sabaody Archipelago for a short time. Even if the ship sank, with their strength, they could return to the island using "Geppo".

But what about the others on the ship? Regardless of their individual strength, their hands and feet were bound by chains and they were locked in a large iron cage.

If the ship sank, everyone except the mermaid who could breathe underwater would likely die!

This was probably the Fish-Men's original objective. They chose to attack now because even Fish-Men couldn't endure the stamina required to cross the vast ocean.

Furthermore, apart from the mermaid on board, the Fish-Men didn't consider the slaves or the escorts as their own kind, so their deaths wouldn't elicit any sympathy.

Feeling the ship shake continuously, Gion didn't hesitate. She immediately took off her outer clothes, revealing a bikini that gave Wood quite a eyeful, and prepared to jump into the sea.

Fighting Fish-Men in the sea was undoubtedly an act of extreme foolishness, but Gion had no better solution in the current situation.

"Let me go. You stay and protect the people on the ship."

Seeing Gion about to jump into the sea, Wood took off his shirt first. Before Gion could speak, he leaped off the ship into the water.

Humans had very low visibility in the sea, and Fish-Men were incredibly fast underwater. Wood, who had mastered Kenbunshoku Haki to a certain extent, was indeed more suited to go into the water and fight the Fish-Men than Gion.