One Piece: Building Amazon Lily, starting as a Celestial Dragon

"I'm heading off the island alone," Saint Dio said without preamble.

Neptune set down the documents in his hands and gave him a somewhat surprised look. "You're leaving the island, Lord Saint Dio? May I ask what for? If you need help, Ryugu Palace can send someone-"

"Personal business." Saint Dio cut off the rest of Neptune's words with that brief answer.

Neptune opened his mouth, but ultimately had the sense to close it.

He could tell that this Celestial Dragon was unwilling to elaborate, so he asked no further questions. He simply nodded, then summoned the captain of the Neptune Army guards and instructed him, "Find a reliable guard to accompany Lord Saint Dio off the island. Make absolutely certain of his safety."

The guard captain left to carry out his orders.

Then Neptune remembered something else and asked, "Oh, Lord Saint Dio, what do you intend to do with those pirates the Neptune Army captured earlier? The ones responsible for sailing your ship?"

Saint Dio paused slightly. Only then did he remember that he had indeed gathered a few pirates to sail his ship, but had left them in the space between the layers when he entered Fish-Man Island. Later, the Neptune Army had rounded them up and thrown them in prison. Had Neptune not mentioned them, he would have practically forgotten the matter.

"Where are they now?" Saint Dio asked.

"They're still in prison," Neptune replied. "If you need them, I can have them released immediately."

"No need." Saint Dio waved a hand. "Let them stay there for now. We'll take them with us when we leave."

Neptune nodded in acknowledgment. "Understood."

Just then, the guard captain returned with a Fish-Man soldier.

He bowed slightly to Saint Dio and introduced him. "Lord Saint Dio, this is Arlong, one of the guards in our Neptune Army most familiar with the surrounding waters. He will accompany you off the island."

Saint Dio's gaze fell on the Fish-Man. He had short black hair, a long, pointed, saw-shaped nose, and a mouth that revealed sharp fangs when it spread into a grin. Tall and powerfully built, he radiated a fierce air.

Saint Dio found that face somewhat familiar.

Arlong.

The sawshark.

Wasn't this the Fish-Man who would later establish the Arlong Pirates in the East Blue, commit atrocities for years, and finally be defeated by Luffy? He hadn't expected to run into him here.

But Saint Dio showed no sign of anything unusual, nor did he intend to dispose of him in passing as he had Hody Jones.

This Arlong still had a use in his later plans.

If he wanted to bring Nami under his command later, Arlong was an unavoidable part of the process.

Killing him now would only disrupt his future arrangements.

Saint Dio merely nodded lightly without saying anything more, then turned and headed toward the harbor.

Seeing this, Arlong hurried after him.

With Arlong as his guide, Saint Dio smoothly passed through the enormous bubble membrane at Fish-Man Island's official exit and reached the open sea.

As soon as he left the island, he blew on the coral branch again, producing bubbles. A transparent bubble membrane swiftly enveloped his body. With this waterproof coating, he could completely keep out the surrounding seawater.

He floated in the deep-blue water, a bottomless abyss beneath his feet and a faint glimmer visible overhead. All around him lay an empty, silent stretch of sea.

Arlong swam a short distance beside him, his triangular eyes flicking toward Saint Dio from time to time as he silently sneered, Humans are still humans. They need this bubble coating just to move around in the sea. They can't even manage something as basic as diving. Compared to us Fish-Men, born able to move freely through the sea, they're simply an inferior race.

For one brief moment, he even considered whether, if this human "accidentally" drowned here, he could report it as an accident upon his return.

But on second thought, this was a task King Neptune had personally assigned him. Even if it really were an accident, he would still be punished when he returned.

In the end, he still had to swallow his distaste and keep this human safe.

Displeased, Arlong simply swam a little way off, folded his arms, and adopted the air of someone waiting to enjoy a show.

He wanted to see how this human would travel through this vast sea without a ship.

Humans weren't like Fish-Men, born able to swim freely underwater. Surely he couldn't run through the deep sea on two legs?

Saint Dio ignored Arlong's sneering expression.

He surveyed the empty waters around them, then turned toward Arlong and asked, "Where is the Noah?"

Arlong froze, clearly not expecting this human to suddenly ask about that legendary giant ship.

He hesitated, but still raised a hand and pointed in a direction.

Saint Dio glanced that way, then kicked off and used Geppo.

He performed Geppo, one of the Six Powers, underwater. His feet stamped forcefully against the seawater, each step generating a counterthrust that propelled his body forward like an arrow loosed from a bow. His speed was astonishing, leaving a white trail of bubbles through the deep-blue water.

Arlong's eyes went wide.

So fast!

He had never expected this fair-skinned human youth to be capable of moving through the water at such speed in this manner.

What technique was that? Fish-Man Karate?

No, Fish-Man Karate doesn't generate force like that at all... Arlong's mind raced, but his body had already instinctively given chase.

He couldn't let this human out of his sight, or he would have no way to answer to King Neptune when he returned.

Yet Saint Dio was simply too fast. Arlong swung his tail with all his strength and only barely managed to avoid falling too far behind.

As he watched the figure darting ahead inside a bubble, most of his contempt had unknowingly faded.

Chapter 63: Obtaining the Mark-Mark Fruit

Saint Dio reached the waters where the Noah lay without incident.

After he passed through a stretch of dark water, a ship so enormous it was suffocating slowly appeared in his field of vision.

That was the Noah, the gigantic ark said to have been built by the ancient Fish-Man Race and Joy Boy.

Its size was staggering, at least half that of Fish-Man Island by his estimate. At that moment, it lay quietly tilted in the sediment on the seabed, its hull covered in a thick layer of dark-green seaweed and barnacles, like an ancient beast sleeping in the depths.

Floating in the water, Saint Dio looked up and surveyed the giant ship in its entirety, unable to help wondering whether it or the other legendary warship, Pluton, was larger.

In terms of sheer volume, the Noah probably had the edge.

However, one was an Ancient Weapon meant to destroy the world, while the other was an ark meant to save a race. They had never served the same purpose.

He thought no more of it. With a light leap, he passed over a section of seaweed-covered railing and entered the Noah.

Only after entering the ship did he realize a problem.

This ship was simply too big.

Finding one particular Fish-Man inside such an enormous vessel was no different from finding a needle in a haystack.

He couldn't help feeling some regret. Had he known, he should have asked Neptune to send a search party to help.

But he had decided to come personally because most of his subordinates were Devil Fruit Users who would lose their ability to fight upon falling into the water.

Now it seemed he had been somewhat overconfident.

Fortunately, Vander Decken IX apparently also found staying deep inside the hull too troublesome and had chosen a cabin near an exit as his dwelling instead.

Saint Dio soon noticed signs of human activity nearby: scattered liquor bottles, leftover scraps of food, and a crude hammock. All of them indicated that someone had been living here for a long time.

Arlong, following behind Saint Dio, also looked surprised at these signs of habitation.

He had patrolled these waters countless times and had never imagined that someone was actually living aboard this legendary ancient ship.

Just then, some unpleasant humming came from behind a half-open door. The tune wandered out of key, interspersed with indistinct muttering. Clearly, the singer was slightly drunk.

Saint Dio looked toward the sound and saw the door pushed open from within. An oddly built Fish-Man staggered out.

He had four legs and unusually developed trapezius muscles that bulged so high they propped up the cape draped over his back. He looked like a moving hill.

Like Saint Dio, he had a bubble membrane coating his body.

He held a liquor bottle, his cheeks flushed and his drunken eyes bleary. Clearly, he had drunk quite a lot.

When he saw Saint Dio standing in the corridor, his drunken face visibly froze for a moment. Then his eyes widened warily. "Hic... Who are you people?!"

"You're the octopus Fish-Man, Vander Decken IX?" Saint Dio asked directly.

Unexpectedly, the other man immediately bristled at those words and roared, his face and neck red, "I'm no octopus Fish-Man! I'm a Japanese bullhead shark Fish-Man! A Japanese bullhead shark! Get that straight!"

After shouting, he looked Saint Dio up and down, then suddenly grinned, revealing sharp teeth. "Hic... Still, finding this place means you've got some ability. How about it? Want to join my Flying Pirates? Stick with me, and I guarantee you'll live it up-"

"It doesn't matter." Saint Dio interrupted him. "You're going to die here today anyway."

Before he had finished speaking, he had already drawn Jörmungandr from his waist, its silvery blade tracing a cold gleam through the dim cabin.

"Wait, wait, wait!"

The sight of that silvery flash instantly sobered Vander Decken IX considerably. He hurriedly raised both hands and forced a fawning smile. "Don't, don't, don't! Let's talk this out! We can discuss whatever the problem is! Come on, let's shake hands and be friends first!"

Holding Jörmungandr, Saint Dio studied his eager manner. After a brief moment of thought, he extended his hand and shook Vander Decken IX's.

The instant their hands met, Vander Decken IX's lips curled into a smug grin.

He suddenly leaped backward, putting distance between them, and burst into a treacherous laugh. "Hahahaha! You fell for it! I ate the Mark-Mark Fruit! Once I've touched you, you can't escape!"

Laughing, he hurled the liquor bottle in his hand at Saint Dio with all his might.

The bottle traced a strange arc through the air and flew straight toward Saint Dio's face, as though it had eyes.

Saint Dio neither dodged nor evaded. He turned his wrist, and Jörmungandr's blade split the bottle cleanly in two.

The shattered glass flew past either side of his body, leaving trails of bubbles in the sea before slowly sinking.

He glanced down at the fragments and thought, It can't keep tracking once it's broken? It seems the Mark-Mark Fruit's tracking effect depends on the projectile remaining intact.

Taking advantage of this opening, Vander Decken IX had already turned and begun swimming deeper into the ship. As he swam, he pulled various weapons from behind him-iron axes, spiked flails, and short spears-and flung them backward indiscriminately without even looking.

Driven by the Mark-Mark Fruit's power, the weapons automatically adjusted their paths and attacked Saint Dio from every angle.

Saint Dio swung Jörmungandr at an unhurried pace, deflecting and shattering the incoming weapons one slash after another as he followed leisurely behind.

After several exchanges, he had essentially figured out how the Mark-Mark Fruit worked.

Marking, tracking; the projectile had to remain intact for the effect to work, and the tracking failed once it was destroyed.

Having learned this, he stopped wasting time.

He flicked his wrist. Jörmungandr's blade abruptly softened, then extended into a long, dark-green snake. Like an arrow loosed from a bow, it swiftly swam along the cabin ceiling, silently slipping through Vander Decken IX's blind spot.

Vander Decken IX was still swimming and tossing weapons behind him, laughing smugly, completely unaware of the green snake quietly approaching overhead.

Jörmungandr suddenly opened its mouth full of sharp teeth and bit into the bubble membrane surrounding Vander Decken IX.

With a soft pop, the bubble membrane burst.

"Wha-?!"

Seawater instantly rushed in, engulfing Vander Decken IX entirely.

He was a Fish-Man who had eaten a Devil Fruit. Although he could naturally breathe underwater, being a Fish-Man did not exempt him from the Devil Fruit's curse. Once submerged in seawater, his body instantly became limp and powerless, making even struggling difficult.

He desperately tried to move his limbs and swim toward the surface, but his body felt as heavy as lead. Seawater poured into his mouth and nose. His eyes widened, his face filled with terror and unwillingness, yet he couldn't even cry for help.

Saint Dio swam unhurriedly up to him and looked down at his futile struggles in the water.

Arlong caught up as well. Watching the Fish-Man gradually stop struggling in the seawater and slowly sink, he couldn't help swallowing.

A Fish-Man could actually drown... He had never imagined such a thing could happen.

Devil Fruits really are terrifying. I'm never eating one.

Only after Vander Decken IX had gone completely still did Saint Dio extend a hand, holding his palm above the corpse.

A brown ball of light slowly drifted out of the corpse and landed in his palm. When the light faded, a peculiarly shaped fruit appeared in his hand.

Its surface was covered in spiral brown patterns. Its shape somewhat resembled a mango, but its skin bore small, round depressions, like bull's-eyes on a target.

Saint Dio examined the fruit in his hand, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly, then casually tucked it into his clothes.

The Mark-Mark Fruit was his.

Chapter 64: The appearance of a giant octopus, Octopus Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Kraken form

Just as Saint Dio was examining the newly acquired Mark-Mark Fruit in his hand, a violent tremor suddenly came from beneath his feet.

Accompanied by a muffled crack of breaking wood, the deck beneath him abruptly shattered.

Countless rotten splinters scattered in every direction. An immensely thick, dark-purple tentacle suddenly thrust up through the broken deck, sweeping toward Saint Dio with a rush of water.

Saint Dio reacted extremely quickly, stamping the tip of his foot hard against empty space.

Geppo!