Meanwhile, ten thousand meters beneath Deep Sea, in Fish-Man Island, Fish-Man District.
Fisher Tiger leaned against an ornate yet cold coral wall, panting heavily, his chest heaving.
The new clothes he had worn were already tattered from his escape, stained with blood and grime.
Even after returning to the relative safety of Fish-Man Island, his broad, scarred hands still trembled slightly from being clenched too tightly.
His eyes held a mixture of relief at having survived, elation at successfully freeing his people, and a trace of unfathomable worry.
His escape from the Holy Land of Mary Geoise atop the Red Line had been a brush with death at every turn.
Relying on the Fish-Man Race's naturally formidable endurance and his powerful Fish-Man Karate, he had narrowly shaken off the World Government's pursuers time and again.
But what struck him as most bizarre was what happened when he finally plunged into the raging currents surrounding the Red Line and dove into the depths.
The World Government agents and Marine soldiers who had been hot on his heels all stopped at the shore.
They did not jump in after him. They did not even make any serious attempt to fire into the water, behaving as though they had received some explicit order.
They merely watched the sea coldly until his figure vanished into the deep blue waves.
"Why..." As Fisher Tiger recalled that scene, a question flashed through his mind.
Were they afraid of the Fish-Man Race's strength underwater? Had Deep Sea's unpredictability made them hesitate? Or... was there some deeper reason?
But at that moment, Fisher Tiger had no energy left to investigate.
Overwhelming exhaustion and an even heavier reality weighed on his heart.
He shook his head hard, setting those questions aside for the time being.
As far as he