The Navy Set Sail for the Deep Sea, and the Fish-Men Gave Their Allegiance to the Empire!

Summer, Haiyuan Year One.

Half a year had passed since the Hua Empire's founding and coronation ceremony.

Over those six months, the Four Blues had grown ever more prosperous under the Empire's governance. Liu Bei toured the Four Blues, restoring the land with Xerneas's life force. The national policy of equal land distribution and tax exemption reached every island, and popular support for the Empire was rock-solid. Bai Qi oversaw all military affairs, drilling a million soldiers day and night, while eight hundred main warships ranged across the Four Blues. The Hua Empire's prestige had long since spread across the entire sea.

With the Four Blues secured, Chen Yu finally turned his gaze toward Fish-Man Island, ten thousand meters beneath the Red Line-the strategic chokepoint connecting the Four Blues, the Grand Line, and the New World.

That day, during the grand court assembly in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Chen Yu sat upon his imperial throne, his Imperial Robe draping down. His gaze swept over the assembled officials below as he spoke calmly, yet with unquestionable resolve:

"Fish-Man Island lies directly beneath the Red Line. Apart from the Reverse Mountain route, it is the only passage from the Four Blues to the Grand Line. It will also serve as our bridgehead when we march upon the Red Line and extend our reach into the New World. Its strategic significance needs no further explanation."

"For centuries, the fish-men and merfolk of Fish-Man Island have suffered oppression at the hands of the World Government and the Celestial Dragons. They are treated as outcasts, reduced to slaves, and forced to offer merfolk as tribute to the Celestial Dragons every year. The slightest resistance brings utter destruction upon them. The pirates of the Grand Line regard Fish-Man Island as easy prey, committing arson, murder,