Fish-Man Island, Coral Hill, Mermaid Café.
As one of the island's most popular attractions, this place should have been filled with laughter and lively chatter.
But now, inside and outside the café, there was only dead silence.
Ever since King Neptune issued the highest order to clear the area, it had been designated a Level-One Restricted Zone by the Neptune Army. All residents were forbidden to approach.
The café's owner, Madam Shyarly, sat alone in her usual window booth, idly smoking her pipe.
Her deep blue eyes gazed through the glass toward the distant royal harbor, toward the pure-white luxury ship radiating a keep-away aura:
"Nap-One."
"Two Marine Admirals… on vacation at the same time?"
Shyarly blew a smoke ring. Through the drifting haze, a trace of confusion and mockery appeared on her beautiful face.
"What an unprecedented farce."
As Arlong's half-sister, she instinctively distrusted humans, especially the Marines.
She absolutely did not believe those two, particularly the man who dared provoke even a Yonko face-to-face, the Haiiroyo Renzo, had come merely for sightseeing.
They must have a deeper, more terrifying objective.
Just as her thoughts churned-
The crystal ball before her, larger than a human head, suddenly-
Crack.
A crisp, faint fracture sounded.
Shyarly froze. Slowly, she lowered her gaze.
The indestructible crystal ball that had accompanied her for years… had split open.
A thin fissure spread across its surface like a spiderweb.
"How is this possible?!"
She hadn't even touched it.
This meant a fate so powerful that even the crystal ball could not bear was forcibly invading her foresight.
Boom!
The crystal ball exploded.
Countless crystal shards scattered outward, yet strangely, none fell. Instead, they floated in the air like diamond dust, spinning and recombining wildly.
Chaotic, fragmented images flooded violently into Shyarly's mind.
She saw it.
She saw the ancient ark, the Ship of Promise, Noah.
It was no longer sleeping in the depths of Fish-Man District.
It was rising.
Breaking through the island's massive protective bubble, piercing ten thousand meters of ocean, it slowly ascended toward a dazzling, blinding… true sun she had never seen.
She saw the island's people.
No longer living in a cage ten thousand meters beneath the sea.
They stood upon a vast blue ocean under sunlight.
They cheered. They cried. They embraced.
They were celebrating freedom.
She saw the ancient chains that had bound the fish-men for centuries, hatred and curse, shatter piece by piece the moment Noah rose.
And at the center of it all-
Not pirates.
Not the Revolutionaries.
Not some legendary hero.
A figure.
A gray figure lazily lying on a white cloud, wrapped in a blanket as if asleep.
A figure she had glimpsed earlier at the harbor.
Haiiroyo!!!
Thud!
Shyarly collapsed from the sofa, her entire body icy cold as she trembled violently, gasping for breath.
Fear?
No.
It was shock, ten thousand times stronger than fear.
This prophecy contained no destruction.
No death.
Only rebirth.
'That man.'
'That Marine Admiral.'
'He was the one who could lead the fish-men to escape their cursed fate… fulfill Queen Otohime's lifelong dream… and walk beneath the true sun.'
A savior?
"No… impossible… how could this be…"
Her worldview shattered completely.
A human. A Marine Admiral.
The savior of the fish-men?
The greatest irony in the world.
No, she had to tell King Neptune immediately.
She sprang to her feet, ignoring her pipe and the shattered crystal fragments. Bursting through the café doors, she shot toward Ryugu Palace like a blue phantom at unprecedented speed.
...
Meanwhile, Ryugu Palace, Main Hall
King Neptune squirmed anxiously on his throne, his massive body making it creak.
"How is it?! Fukaboshi!" he roared to his eldest son.
"Are they satisfied with the service at the Ryugu Baths?! Lord Haiiroyo isn't displeased, is he?!"
"Reporting, Father!"
Fukaboshi was sweating heavily.
"Latest report says Admiral Haiiroyo and Admiral Kizaru are currently soaking in the hot springs."
"Just bathing?! No other instructions?!"
"N-No… however…"
His expression turned strange.
"Lord Haiiroyo seems very satisfied with the five guides we arranged."
"Good! Good!"
Neptune collapsed in relief.
"As long as they're happy, not just five! Fifty! Five hundred if necessary!"
"Father! You're being improper!"
"They are still Marine Admirals."
"You don't understand!!"
Neptune suddenly sat upright and roared:
"That's THE Haiiroyo! And now he only wants to see mermaids, that's a blessing from heaven!!"
He would rather Renzo came to indulge himself than to carry out justice.
Just as the king and ministers were feeling relieved
"Your Majesty!!!"
A terrified scream rang from outside.
Shyarly burst through the guards and rushed into the hall.
"Shyarly?! You-!"
Neptune was shocked.
"Your Majesty!!"
Her voice shook as she shouted:
"The crystal ball shattered!!"
"What?!"
Neptune and the three princes turned pale instantly.
Her prophecies had never been wrong.
"I saw it…"
Her body trembled from shock and emotion, tears in her eyes.
"I saw Noah rise!"
"I saw our people standing beneath the real sun!!"
Neptune gripped his throne so hard that cracks formed in the coral.
"Otohime's dream…?"
"Yes!"
"The centuries-old curse is broken! We are liberated!!"
"WHO DID IT?!"
Neptune roared.
Shyarly raised a trembling hand and pointed toward the Ryugu Baths.
Toward the man currently enjoying his leisure.
"Him!"
"The Haiiroyo! The Marine Admiral, Renzo!!!"
"He is the one who will truly save Fish-Man Island and lead us into the sunlight…"
"...the Savior!"
The entire palace hall fell into absolute silence.
Neptune and his sons stood frozen like statues struck by lightning.
'A Marine Admiral?'
'A lazy, temperamental human monster who viewed everything as troublesome?'
'The savior?'
Neptune's lips trembled. His heart first surged with ecstasy, Noah, the sun, Otohime's dream
Then icy dread followed.
'Why him?'
'What did he want from Fish-Man Island?'
'What price would this salvation demand?'
.....
At the Same Time, Ryugu Baths, Moonlight Spring
Steam drifted through the air.
A heavenly singing voice echoed faintly.
"Ah…"
Renzo leaned against Monet's soft "wing pillow" and released the most comfortable sigh of his life.
Warm water.
Beautiful mermaids.
A caring secretary.
And peace and quiet.
He lazily opened one eye and murmured dreamily:
"Fish-Man Island really is a good place."
"Maybe I should just move the G-5 office here."
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu