The mist of the Moonlight Spring slowly dispersed.
Wrapped in a soft bathrobe and supported by Monet, Renzo drifted back into the grand banquet hall of Ryugu Palace with the languid air of someone completely satisfied after eating and drinking his fill.
Kizaru followed behind him as usual, hands in his pockets, humming some unknown tune with that same sleazy expression.
The hall had already been cleared of alcohol.
In its place was something far more serious.
A true dessert banquet.
King Neptune, who had only just endured the shock of the savior prophecy, was forcing himself to stay composed while personally attending at the main seat.
"Admiral Haiiroyo! Admiral Kizaru!"
His voice was still booming, but a faint tremor could be heard underneath.
"This is Fish-Man Island's finest! Using the best ingredients gathered from across the deep sea, our royal head chefs have specially prepared… a full dessert course for the two of you!"
What appeared before Renzo no longer resembled food.
It looked like an ocean of art.
A jelly extracted from ten-thousand-meter-deep bioluminescent algae was stacked into a crystal-clear glowing coral mountain.
"Pearl milk pudding," made from the roe of deep-sea banana fish and syrup bubbles spat by bubble seahorses, bounced happily on the plates, each pearl trembling like it was alive.
There was also a multi-layered shell mille-feuille several meters tall, every layer filled with different sea-fruit creams whose aroma was almost overwhelming.
In addition:
Sea-King spinal pudding, electric-eel chocolate sticks, anglerfish jam pastries…
Countless bizarre, colorful desserts filled the hundred-meter banquet table. The number and variety were almost terrifying.
"My, my… this is quite… extraordinary~"
Kizaru bit into an electric-eel chocolate stick and exaggeratedly praised it.
"The taste is… sooo sweeet."
Renzo, however, had completely fallen.
He didn't even bother using utensils. He grabbed a sponge cake bigger than his torso and buried his face into it.
"Mmm, so good!"
His muffled voice came from inside the cake, filled with happiness.
"Monet! This! This pearl pudding! It's amazing! Better than anything I ate in Sabaody!"
"And this glowing jelly, it melts in your mouth! I even feel mentally refreshed!"
Seeing his enjoyment and satisfaction, Neptune and the three princes felt relieved.
"As long as you like it! Please eat as much as you want! If it's not enough, we still have reserves in the kitchen!"
Neptune wiped sweat while forcing a smile.
"Mm…"
Renzo finally lifted his head from a sea-urchin ice cream, his face covered in colorful cream.
He let out a satisfied burp, leaned back against Monet's wings, and squinted as if savoring the aftertaste.
The entire hall fell silent.
Everyone watched him nervously.
Even Kizaru stopped eating, as if waiting for something.
"Your Majesty," Renzo lazily spoke.
"Y-Yes! Lord Haiiroyo! What are your orders?!"
Neptune's massive body jolted as he instantly bowed ninety degrees, his voice echoing throughout the palace.
"These desserts," Renzo licked cream from the corner of his mouth, "are good."
"I-I'm glad you like them! Truly glad!"
Neptune nearly cried. This admiral's preferences were impossible to predict.
"Mm."
Renzo nodded and spoke as if stating something obvious.
"So I've decided."
"From now on, Fish-Man Island will provide me this level of top-quality dessert every month."
Buzz
Neptune's mind went blank.
Behind him, the Left and Right Ministers nearly fainted.
It came.
Of course it came.
Madam Shyarly's prophecy still echoed in their ears.
The savior had not yet been confirmed, but the tribute demand had already arrived.
Neptune's body trembled violently.
"E-Every… month?"
His voice was hoarse.
In his mind appeared another massive, greedy figure-
One of the Four Emperors: "Big Mom," Charlotte Linlin.
'This Marine admiral…'
'Could it be…'
'He was going to demand monthly dessert tribute just like Big Mom?!'
Despair flooded Neptune.
The Yonko's threat still loomed, and now an even more terrifying Haiiroyo had appeared.
Why was Fish-Man Island's fate so tragic?
But suddenly.
Neptune grasped what he believed to be the only opportunity brought by Shyarly's prophecy.
If the Haiiroyo really was the savior…
Then perhaps…
He clenched his teeth and made the boldest decision of his life.
Thud!
His massive body dropped to his knees, forehead slamming onto the floor.
"LORD HAIIROYO!!!"
The tragic roar startled even Renzo.
"What are you doing? Why are you kowtowing? I'm not giving you New Year money."
Renzo frowned.
"Lord Renzo!"
Neptune looked up with tears streaming down his face.
"You… you also want desserts?!"
Renzo's expression darkened.
"Of course. Something this delicious, obviously, I want it."
He seriously wondered if this king had brain problems.
"B-But… but…"
Neptune seized the chance and shouted with all his strength:
"We truly cannot produce any more!!"
"Oh?"
Kizaru's glasses flashed with interest.
Renzo's good mood immediately soured.
He hated people refusing him, especially when it involved eating or sleeping.
"Can't produce it?"
His voice dropped, and the air temperature seemed to fall.
"Yes!"
Neptune committed completely.
"The Yonko Charlotte Linlin!"
He cried out, "In the name of 'protecting' Fish-Man Island, she forces us to pay ten tons of desserts every month!"
"If we fail to deliver, or if the taste displeases her-"
"She will send her pirate crew to destroy Fish-Man Island!!"
"Lord Haiiroyo!"
Neptune sobbed.
"We truly have no extra production to prepare another tribute for you! Please, spare Fish-Man Island!"
Silence filled the hall.
The three princes clenched their fists, eyes red but powerless.
Renzo, who had been lazily leaning on Monet, slowly sat upright.
He placed down the half-eaten shell mille-feuille.
"Ten tons?" he asked softly.
"Y-Yes…"
Neptune closed his eyes in despair.
"For only ten tons of desserts," Renzo said calmly, "she wants to destroy this place?"
"…Yes."
"Heh."
Renzo suddenly laughed softly. The sound made Neptune's body turn cold.
"An old hag," Renzo said as he drained a cup of bubble-seahorse syrup, "dares to compete with me for snacks?"
Neptune's eyes widened, not understanding.
Renzo slowly stood.
His bathrobe fluttered without wind, and the suffocating gray aura that had vanished in the hot spring once again enveloped Ryugu Palace.
"Lord Renzo! T-This is our agreement with Big Mom!" the Right Minister tried to explain.
"Agreement?"
Renzo scoffed.
"So noisy."
He waved a hand, silencing everyone.
He looked around the luxurious palace, glanced at the nervous mermaids outside the windows, and finally at the desserts he hadn't finished.
"Listen carefully, Neptune."
Neptune trembled instinctively.
"I'm here!"
"From now on," Renzo said casually, "Fish-Man Island belongs to me."
"…?!"
Neptune, the princes, the ministers, Kizaru, Monet, everyone froze.
"Big Mom?"
Renzo curled his lip in annoyance.
"What is she supposed to be?"
He pointed at the desserts.
"These are mine."
He pointed outside at the frightened mermaids.
"The mermaids here are mine."
He recalled the Moonlight Spring.
"The hot spring too."
"So-"
He spread his hands and concluded lazily yet tyrannically:
"This is my territory. Got it?"
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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