"Bang!"
Hody's body crashed heavily to the ground with a dull thud.
Hody struggled to look behind him where he had been standing. He wanted to see who had ambushed him and ruined his plan to kill Shirahoshi, otherwise he would die with regrets.
However, the truth was... there was no one there!
Only a few swords flew through the air, heading towards Shirahoshi at an extremely fast speed.
The flying swords were exactly the same as the one on his chest. Judging from this, if nothing unexpected happened, the real target of the attack was actually Shirahoshi, and he just happened to be in the path of the attack.
This means that... he wanted to kill Shirahoshi, but in the end, he blocked the knife that was coming at Shirahoshi.
How utterly absurd!
This situation reminded Hody of someone, and hatred flashed in his eyes. With his last ounce of strength, he roared:
" Vander Decken IX, you bastard!!"
After saying that, Hody's head lolled to the side and he passed out. Although he wasn't dead yet, he was not far from it.
On Shirahoshi's side, the group ignored Hody and instead formed a circle to continuously defend against various things attacking Shirahoshi, including all sorts of weapons and other items—basically, everything imaginable!
Neptune arrived beside Shirahoshi at this moment, helping Shirahoshi fend off attacks while speaking with a grave expression:
" Vander Decken IX, that despicable bastard! Shirahoshi has only been out for a short while and he's already being threatened like this!"
"Who is that? You mean he caused all these attacks? Where is he now? Why can't I sense him with my Observation Haki?"
Sanji asked after kicking away a table that was flying towards him.
" Vander Decken IX is a demon, a demon who prevents Shirahoshi from moving freely on Fish-Man Island!"
"He started writing to Shirahoshi when Shirahoshi was very young, saying he wanted to marry Shirahoshi. Then he constantly harassed and threatened her, and later even attacked Shirahoshi, trying to kill her!"
"These objects flying towards us are all his creation. He's Devil Fruit User, which allows him to launch anything he touches at a 'target' he sets up until that person dies!"
"That's why I've always insisted that Shirahoshi stay inside the Hard-Shell Tower, to prevent any accidents from happening to Shirahoshi!"
"As for where he is now, I don't know either. He's probably somewhere very far away!"
Neptune spoke at length, essentially explaining the situation involving Vander Decken and Shirahoshi.
A minute later, thanks to everyone's concerted efforts, nothing continued to fly towards Shirahoshi, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this.
Neptune glanced at Shirahoshi's tear-filled eyes, a pang of guilt rising within him. However, instead of immediately comforting Shirahoshi, he bowed deeply to Luffy and the others, saying:
"Thank you so much, Straw Hat Pirates!!"
"Thank you not only for saving my daughter, but also for saving the entire Fish-Man Island; otherwise, this island would have been in danger!"
"Good mermaid uncle, it's nothing. You treated us to so many snacks, it's only right that you help us out!" Luffy laughed heartily.
"Yes, Your Majesty! Even if it's for nothing else, we won't stand idly by, even for the sake of those beautiful mermaid ladies on this island!" Sanji said calmly after taking a drag of his cigarette.
Chopper and Usopp: "This is your real purpose, isn't it?!"
"Hey! What are you doing? The war isn't over yet, Hody still has ten or twenty thousand men under his command!" Zoro said calmly.
Hearing this, Neptune chuckled and said, " Hody and his officers have already been defeated; the remaining Fish-Man are nothing to fear! Watch me!"
Having said that, Neptune walked to the front of the group, looked at the Royal Army and Hody's men still fighting on the battlefield, took a deep breath, and shouted:
"Stop! Hody and his men have been defeated. Aren't you going to surrender? Lay down your weapons now, and I might be lenient with you. Otherwise, things won't be so simple!"
As soon as Neptune said this, rustling conversations immediately broke out on the battlefield.
"What! Boss Hody Yamato his team have all lost?"
"How is this possible? Hody and his team are clearly so powerful!"
"..."
After a period of conversation, they finally recognized the fact that Hody had been defeated, and then...
Everyone moved in unison, dropping their weapons and raising their hands high.
One of the Fish-Man said, "Actually... I've never agreed with Hody's ideology. Joining them was just a way to undermine them from within!"
"Hey, you too? I thought I was the only undercover agent!"
"Oh? So you're all undercover agents! What a coincidence, me too!"
"..."
Seeing the many Fish-Man lay down their weapons, Neptune smiled and said with a sigh of relief:
"It's finally over!"
Just as Neptune was about to say something, a voice came from somewhere.
"The end? No, no, no! It's not over yet! King Neptune, my... good father-in-law!"
The moment the sound rang out, Neptune's relaxed expression tightened again, and he hurriedly looked in the direction from which the sound came.
A giant Amplifying Den Den Mushi was slowly crawling towards them, with an ordinary Den Den Mushi Amplifying Den Den Mushi its back.
This combination allows the sound transmitted from a regular Den Den Mushi to be transmitted to Amplifying Den Den Mushi, so that everyone present can hear the owner's voice on the other end of the Den Den Mushi.
"You are... Vander Decken IX?"
Neptune asked, his face grim.
"Of course! Who else could it be but your good son-in-law?" Vander Decken's lewd voice came through the Den Den Mushi.
Upon hearing Vander Decken's voice, Neptune could no longer contain himself and roared, " Vander Decken, what exactly do you want?"
"Are you only satisfied when you've completely ruined Shirahoshi's life? Can't you just leave her alone?"
"Oh dear, what do you mean by messing up Shirahoshi's life? I wanted to give her a happy future, okay?"
"However... you bunch of troublemakers have prevented my plan from succeeding! If it weren't for you, I would have gotten Shirahoshi long ago!"
"Vander Decken said through gritted teeth, his voice filled with hatred, but he quickly regained his composure."
"Well! It doesn't matter now! Since I can't have Shirahoshi, I'll just kill her, then she'll be mine, hahaha..."
"Don't even think about it! As long as we're here, you won't be able to harm a single hair on Shirahoshi!" Fukaboshi said, clenching his fist.
"Really? Why don't you look up at the sky before you say these things?"
Vander Decken's voice instantly gave everyone a bad feeling, and they all looked up.
The next moment, everyone's expression changed drastically as they looked up at the sky in disbelief. Neptune stammered:
"This... this is..."