After pressing the detonator, Ignis turned intangible and sank straight to the seabed.
It was as though he were traveling through another world.
The seawater could not touch Ignis, so neither its suppression of Devil Fruit Users nor the crushing pressure of the deep sea affected him.
If Ignis ended his intangible state, his body would touch the seawater, and he would lose the use of his power.
By the same logic, Ignis was invincible while intangible.
If he wanted, no one could hurt him.
If he wanted, no one could see him.
If he turned intangible in advance, even Seastone was useless. How could it suppress his Fruit Ability when it could not touch his body?
And so he passed through the sea, relying solely on his power to reach Fish-Man Island, more than ten thousand meters below the surface.
Fish-Man Island was Pluton Pirates territory, guarded by two senior officers and two thousand elite pirates.
Under the Pluton Pirates' rotation system, the officers currently stationed there were Lebeck the Silverback Gorilla and Rogers the Holy Shield.
One guarded the gateway to Fish-Man Island, where every passing Merchant Ship and pirate ship had to pay a toll.
A tariff, in other words.
The other guarded the vast area near the Mermaid Royal Palace that had been allocated to the Pluton Pirates.
This was the Pluton Pirates' base on Fish-Man Island, surrounded by deep-sea amusement parks, food streets, casinos, and more.
All these businesses belonged to the Pluton Pirates, who employed Fish-Man Island residents to run them.
Fish-Man Island was small to begin with, and the Pluton Pirates' vast holdings took up much of the residents' living space.
But the islanders hardly felt the loss, because peace had brought them far more in return.
As Fish-Man Island residents continued moving