After Akainu left, Neptune looked at Otohime with lingering fear. Even as an outsider, he could clearly sense the killing intent Akainu had revealed. Otohime, at the center of the storm and able to read others' thoughts, must have felt it even more keenly.
"Otohime, are you all right?" Neptune lifted Otohime in both hands.
"I'm fine!" Otohime was still shaken.
As the princess of Fish-Man Island, she had always been well protected by Neptune and had suffered little harm. The worst she had faced had been slander from others during her speeches.
But just now, she had truly felt the threat of death. She was not afraid of dying, but she still had an unfinished mission—to lead the people of Fish-Man Island onto land, so that they and their descendants could live beneath the sun forever.
Rather than merely relying on the giant tree growing near Fish-Man Island, Sunlight Tree Eve, to carry the sunlight from the surface down to Fish-Man Island.
It was precisely because of Sunlight Tree Eve that Fish-Man Island, despite being deep beneath the sea, had skies and clouds, sunlight, and the changing cycle of day and night. The local residents even described this phenomenon as the sun's blessing.
People often longed for things they could see but could not touch.
The residents of Fish-Man Island longed for sunlight in just this way.
And this longing had not formed in a day or two. It had existed since Fish-Man Island was first born, passed down through generations by word of mouth, becoming ever more deeply rooted.
Because every fish-man who went outside would, upon returning, describe to friends and family how wonderful the world beyond was.
Of course, it was not all wonderful. There were even more cruel truths, as well as racial discrimination.
If