While Dragon and the others were busy preparing for the First Meeting of the Four Seas Alliance and continuing to maintain stability at sea, Xie Wen and his Palico Research Commission stopped working alongside them.
Because...
They had to help the Fish-Man Race move.
It sounded rather grim, but precisely because of Imu's earlier attack and the chaos stirred up by pirates, many islands had been "emptied out." Even though the buildings on those islands had suffered some damage, moving there was still easier than developing an entirely new island.
Their only difficulty was that, once they left Fish-Man Island's vicinity, bubbles could only be used at the Sabaody Archipelago. This was fine for fish-men, but rather troublesome for male merfolk and young mermaids who could not yet transform their tails into legs.
Fortunately, with technical support from Ai Haibara Meow and Edison, this problem was soon resolved as well.
However, when it came to choosing the final location, King Neptune found himself torn again...
Because King Neptune had no intention of abandoning the original Fish-Man Island. After all, there was still a Poneglyph and Noah there for them to watch over... though with Imu and the Celestial Dragons dealt with, these things only had value for historical research now.
Moreover, some members of the Fish-Man Race still distrusted humans, while others disliked being above water and only wanted to stay on the seabed. Thus, King Neptune actually preferred choosing a nearby island, making it easier for people to travel between the two.
Another consideration was that, if they moved far away and were attacked by bold pirates or slave traders, rescue might not arrive in time. Those islands had been "emptied out" precisely because they lacked powerful protectors and were too far from Revolutionary Army territory to receive timely