"Hahaha... What's wrong with treating her like this? What, are you so worried about your princess?"
Hody laughed loudly, his voice echoing throughout the entire battlefield.
In an instant, countless eyes turned towards this direction.
When Fukaboshi, Neptune, and the others saw that their beloved sister and daughter had been captured by Hody, they panicked and rushed over.
"Princess? What princess?" Sanji, who had just kicked a Fish-Man to the Sanji, asked curiously, but then he immediately realized something. His expression turned to one of utter horror.
In this country, the only ones who can be called princesses are...
Could it be... that the legendary mermaid princess is standing behind him right now?
The mermaid princess who claims even the world's most beautiful woman pales in comparison?
Sanji felt as if his heart was about to jump out of his chest, pounding uncontrollably. The next moment, as if he had made up his mind, Sanji suddenly turned his head.
The moment Sanji saw Shirahoshi, his eyes were completely filled with Shirahoshi figure, leaving no room for anything else.
The fish's tail trembled slightly from crying, its body was pale pink, and there were two huge, surging masses.
Everything was so beautiful!
But when he saw Hody holding a serrated knife to Shirahoshi's neck, the love in his eyes vanished instantly, replaced by boundless rage.
Flames enveloped Sanji, causing the surrounding Fish-Man to involuntarily take a few steps back.
"Bastard! Unforgivable! How could they treat the Little Mermaid like that!"
With that, Sanji charged toward Hody, but was stopped by Jinbe halfway there.
" Sanji, don't be impulsive! Princess Shirahoshi is still in his hands. If he does anything to harm her, we're doomed!"
Hearing this, Sanji calmed down a bit and looked at Hody with resentment, saying, "Damn it!"
As the Straw Hat Pirates gradually approached, Hody showed no panic, for he had his trump card!
As long as Shirahoshi's life was in his hands, he had absolutely no fear!
He refused to believe that the Straw Hat Pirates could kill him before he could even react.
His knife was only 0.01 centimeters away from Shirahoshi's throat. At that distance, even a slight tremor of his hand would have killed Shirahoshi, so...
The advantage lies with him!
Looking at Neptune's anxious face, Hody couldn't help but burst into laughter again, and said to him:
" Neptune, don't you feel powerless? Just like when Queen Otohime was killed ten years ago! Hahaha..."
"By the way, I have some news for you: the one who murdered your queen ten years ago, and the one who is about to kill your daughter now, is me!!"
"What?!!"
Neptune and the others wore expressions of horror, and the other Fish-Man on the battlefield stared at Hody in disbelief.
"Hahaha... Isn't it unbelievable? After all, you've always thought a human killed him, but you didn't expect it to be me!"
"That's right, I'm going to kill this traitor who dreams of befriending humanity!"
"Everything was my plan, hahaha..."
Hody laughed wildly, his eyes filled with madness.
" Hody..."
Neptune gritted his teeth and uttered Hody's name. Had Hody not revealed it today, he would never have known that the one who killed his queen was not human, but one of their own.
" Hody, you're really crazy!" Jinbe ugly.
Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Hody reacted as if he had been provoked, and roared:
"I'm not crazy!!"
"You are the ones who are insane! You Fish-Man and mermaids who dare to try to befriend humans, you are a disgrace to our race!"
"Humans are all evil! The ones I admire... are Fish-Man like Arlong who are hostile to humans and don't respect them, not you cowards!"
Hody roared, his voice filled with intense excitement.
"So the person you admire is now dead, and your death is not far off!" Sanji said calmly, looking at Hody.
"I know, I've always known!"
Hody wanted to say something more, but Shirahoshi, who was next to him, covered her face and cried.
"I knew you killed my mother several years ago, but she told us not to hate the murderer, so I've kept this secret in my heart all this time!"
"If the truth is revealed, it will definitely have a certain impact on the kingdom, which is not what Mother wants to see!" Shirahoshi said while crying.
" Shirahoshi..."
Neptune looked at his crying daughter and murmured softly.
"You endured so much? To follow your mother's dying wish, you kept silent even after knowing who your enemy was!"
As he spoke, Neptune seemed to have made a decision, his eyes becoming incredibly resolute as he looked at Hody and said:
" Hody, what will it take for you to release Shirahoshi?"
As a father, he absolutely would not allow his kind daughter to be harmed in any way!
"Huh? What did you say? You released Shirahoshi? Hahaha..."
" Neptune, don't make me laugh. Didn't you hear what I just said?" Hody grinned maliciously.
"What did you just say?" Neptune murmured unconsciously, then, as if remembering something, he suddenly looked up, his face filled with utter panic.
"Could it be that..."
Hody felt incredibly pleased to see Neptune's panicked expression.
"It seems you've remembered. Yes, I was talking about the person who was about to kill your daughter—that was me!!"
Do you think I'll let Shirahoshi go?
"Death? Do you think I'm afraid of that? It's worth it to trade my life for the Little Mermaid's!"
" Neptune, you can't do anything, you can't change anything, you'll live your whole life in regret!"
"Hahaha..."
Hody laughed loudly, then picked up his serrated knife and slashed at Shirahoshi grin.
" Shirahoshi!!!"
No one expected that Hody would act so suddenly, giving everyone no time to react.
As the knife drew ever closer, Shirahoshi couldn't help but close her eyes.
"Pfft!"
The sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh rang out, followed by a spray of blood. But it wasn't Hody's knife striking Shirahoshi; rather...
"Cough cough!"
Hody coughed up blood and struggled to look down at his chest, where a knife had pierced his body.
"Who... who is it?"
Hody couldn't help but spit out another mouthful of blood. Shirahoshi heard Hody's voice and, since she hadn't felt any pain for a while, couldn't help but open her eyes.
The first thing you see is Hody swaying, a knife stuck in his chest.
"A great opportunity!"
Sanji roared, his figure darting out and arriving beside Shirahoshi, kicking Hody away...