Pieces on the Board!

The battle that took place at Ryugu Palace was not known to many people. Although the commotion from the fighting had affected all of Fish-Man Island, ordinary civilians did not dare approach the area, aside from the Marines.

The fish-men had lived on this island for so long that they had seen far too many conflicts. They understood that some spectacles could be watched, while others could not.

After all, their lives were their own.

However, the people of Fish-Man Island soon sensed that the island had changed once again.

After the battle that had shaken Fish-Man Island, the Marines who had often appeared on the streets for patrols had all vanished.

Magellan, Sabo, and the others led their subordinates away from Fish-Man Island overnight and returned to Marine Headquarters, without lingering on the island at all.

King Neptune, who had disappeared from public view for many days, also reappeared before the people. He made a brief appearance in the square before Ryugu Palace, soothing the unsettled public.

Several days later, news spread from Ryugu Palace that Queen Otohime and the two princes, Prince Hoshi and Prince Tenshi, had died of illness.

Neptune concealed the true cause of his family's deaths from the public, claiming that his queen and two sons had succumbed to illness. He did not reveal what the Celestial Dragons had done inside Ryugu Palace.

This decision was not difficult to understand. Neptune had done so to preserve his dignity as a "king."

If the people of Fish-Man Island learned that Neptune's queen and princes had been killed by outsiders right under his nose, then Neptune, as king, would have no face or dignity left at all.

A king without dignity could not rule his people.

But this attempt to conceal the truth could hardly be called