A short while later, the conference room door opened again. Finn tucked the Den Den Mushi back into his coat and strode inside.
The room was still silent. Everyone stared at him with expressions that could only be described as strange.
Finn quickly returned to his seat, slamming his hand on the table for emphasis. "As an Admiral of the Marines, I, Rodriguez Finn, will not allow the Marines' moral standards to decline to this point. Enough. Let's drop this matter. I'm tired of hearing about it."
Fleet Admiral Kong stared at Finn for a long, uncomfortable moment, then said quietly, "Since Admiral Finn is so adamantly opposed, we'll table this matter. There's no need to discuss it further."
Admiral Sengoku nodded. "Agreed. Let's pretend it never came up."
After all, within the Marines, Finn was in charge of the economy. He had significant authority over financial matters. And beyond that, the man was shameless enough that arguing further would be pointless.
"Let's move on to the next topic," Sengoku said, his tone shifting. "Crocodile's candidacy for the Seven Warlords of the Sea…"
At the same time, in Water 7, Smoker hung up his Den Den Mushi, staring at it in confusion. He scratched his chin, his expression deeply puzzled.
Beside him stood Spandine, who watched him curiously. "Lord Smoker, does the Admiral have orders?"
"Yeah," Smoker said, still looking dazed. "Take care of things here in Water 7 for me. I need to head to the North Blue immediately."
"The North Blue?" Spandine blinked, then nodded. "Don't worry, Lord Smoker. It's just hiring shipwrights. I'll handle it. When you return, they'll be ready to go."
After a brief pause, Spandine asked, "Did something major happen in the North Blue?"
"Not exactly," Smoker said slowly, his brow furrowed. "But the Admiral told me to buy amber-lead…"
He gave Spandine a strange look. What's that about?
Spandine looked equally confused. Amber-lead? Why?
Still, neither of them hesitated. Orders were orders. They didn't need to understand the reasoning. They just needed to follow through.
At the end of Sea Circle Calendar year 1507, Sakazuki was officially promoted to Admiral at Marineford. His codename: Akainu.
With Sakazuki's promotion, the issue of Finn's codename, which had been shelved for several years, was brought up again. It seemed the Marines intended to standardize the Admiral codenames moving forward.
Before this, there had been no consistent naming convention. Admiral Sengoku was known as "The Wise General, Sengoku the Buddha." Admiral Zephyr had been "Black Arm Zephyr." Finn was "The Violent Tiger," among other titles.
When Finn had first taken office, there had been discussions about assigning him an official codename, but the matter had been tabled. Now, with Sakazuki's promotion and his new codename "Akainu," the issue resurfaced.
Fleet Admiral Kong proposed reassigning codenames to both Sengoku and Finn, but Sengoku immediately declined, saying Finn should receive his codename first.
Finn didn't particularly care. Just like before, he told them to discuss it among themselves. Once they decided, he'd pick one.
At the beginning of Sea Circle Calendar year 1508, Smoker, operating as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and Donquixote Doflamingo of the North Blue collaborated in secret to acquire amber-lead on a massive scale.
At the same time, Admiral Sengoku and Fleet Admiral Kong formally proposed to Mary Geoise that the Fishman and Mermaid slaves held there be released, in order to ease relations with Fish-Man Island beneath the sea.
The World Government rejected the proposal.
Shortly after, Admiral Rodriguez Finn departed from Marineford and traveled to the Sabaody Archipelago. In one sweeping operation, he dismantled the slave trade there, liberating a large number of captured innocents. He then personally escorted a group of freed Fishman and Mermaid slaves to Fish-Man Island.
That same year, Crocodile became the fourth member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, following White Hunter Smoker, Tyrant Bartholomew Kuma, and Hawk-Eyes Dracule Mihawk.
For a time, the seas churned with turbulence. The already chaotic situation grew stranger by the day.
Ten thousand meters beneath the surface, beneath the Red Line, lay Fish-Man Island.
Finn's warship glided slowly into port at Coral Hill.
This was Finn's first time visiting Fish-Man Island. Whenever he'd entered or exited the New World, or traveled anywhere else, he'd always gone through Mary Geoise. Many times, he'd simply flown directly using his Devil Fruit powers.
The journey down had been nerve-wracking. The threat of shipwreck in the deep sea was always present. But in the end, they'd arrived safely.
The Neptune royal family had naturally received word that Admiral Finn would be visiting Fish-Man Island personally. Before his arrival, they'd already taken down the Whitebeard Pirates' flags that had been flying over the island.
It would have been foolish to leave them up. Openly displaying a pirate flag when a Marine Admiral arrived would be an insult to Finn's face. If he took offense and destroyed the island, they'd have no one to complain to.
Besides, according to recent reports, Finn and other Marine officers had shown considerable goodwill toward Fish-Man Island. The Marines had even clashed with the World Government over the issue. There was no reason to antagonize him.
As soon as Finn disembarked, he was greeted by the sight of Coral Hill. Beautiful mermaid girls, rarely seen on the surface, were everywhere, their tails shimmering in the filtered light.
It was true what they said. Mermaid girls were naturally beautiful. In their youth, the concept of ugliness simply didn't apply to them.
Despite the bustling atmosphere of the port, the mermaids and Fishmen who watched Finn and his Marines wore expressions of fear and resentment.
The fear came from their identity as Marines. The resentment stemmed from their identity as humans.
"Admiral, have you been to Fish-Man Island before?" Hina asked quietly, standing beside him.
Finn shook his head. "Never."
"Hahaha, then we're the same this time!" Hina said cheerfully.
Finn ignored the girl, whose brain occasionally misfired, and turned his attention to the group approaching them.
The leader was tall, nearly the size of a giant, but clearly a male Merman. Though he looked younger than Finn had imagined, recognition was immediate.
King of Fish-Man Island. Great Knight of the Sea. Neptune.
Beside Neptune walked a Mermaid with a delicate, almost fragile frame. There was no doubt in Finn's mind, this was Queen Otohime, one of the few people on Fish-Man Island who held genuine goodwill toward the human society above.
Finn's expression turned slightly strange as he looked at the two figures, one massive, one small.
How do Merfolk even reproduce?
Don't their legs split when they reach adulthood? So they give live birth, right? Which means they probably have reproductive behavior similar to mammals, right?
So… how did Neptune, this giant, manage to… without causing serious injury? Or suffocating her?
And how did Queen Otohime give birth to those massive children?
It was a perfect illustration of the cultural gap between the surface world and Fish-Man Island. Even a high-ranking Admiral like Finn didn't understand the customs and biology of Fish-Man Island.
If someone like him was this ignorant, what about ordinary people on the surface?
They spread rumors that the people of Fish-Man Island were cannibals, that they carried diseases. The more those lies circulated, the deeper the mutual suspicion and fear grew, further severing any chance of understanding between the two sides.
Fear, after all, came from the unknown.
But Finn wasn't afraid. Though he was full of questions, he wasn't foolish enough to blurt them out like some idiot asking if someone needed to use the bathroom.
As Neptune and Queen Otohime approached, Finn pushed the confusion from his face and smiled warmly. "Your Majesty Neptune, Queen Otohime. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Admiral Finn," Neptune replied with a smile. "Welcome to Fish-Man Island."
Though Neptune harbored wariness and hostility toward surface-dwellers in general, the Marines had liberated slaves from Fish-Man Island at the Sabaody Archipelago. They'd also publicly denounced the World Government at Mary Geoise and shown considerable goodwill toward Fish-Man Island.
Beyond that, the Marines were powerful. Even if Neptune had ulterior motives, he wouldn't dare disrespect Finn.
Queen Otohime, by contrast, approached with open enthusiasm. She grasped Finn's hand warmly. "I've been in frequent communication with your Fleet Admiral Kong through letters and Den Den Mushi. I can sense the Marines' goodwill toward Fish-Man Island. I also heard from Fleet Admiral Kong that these efforts were all your suggestion, Admiral Finn. Thank you so much. Without the Marines' help over the years, I wouldn't have accomplished anything here…"
Finn smiled and returned the handshake gently. "I'm deeply ashamed, Your Majesty. This is what the Marines and I are supposed to do. It's a disgrace, frankly. Fish-Man Island joined the World Government two hundred years ago and became a member nation. But until now, neither the World Government nor the Marines have been able to properly protect Fish-Man Island. You've suffered so much hardship and injustice. I'm truly sorry."
Neptune, who'd been feeling slightly guarded, softened at Finn's words. His impression of the Admiral improved considerably.
The port wasn't the place for extended conversation, so after welcoming Admiral Finn, Neptune and Queen Otohime led Finn and his entourage toward Ryugu Palace.
As they walked, Finn's gaze drifted to one of the guards beside Neptune.
A large, blue-skinned Fishman. Sea Knight. Jinbei.
Jinbei hadn't yet become a pirate. Fisher Tiger's incident hadn't happened yet. Currently, he served as Captain of the Ryugu Palace Guards, Neptune's personal bodyguard.
His strength was formidable, and he was one of the few moderate Fishmen among a generally rough and volatile species, someone capable of suppressing his baser instincts.
Jinbei was one of Finn's primary objectives for this visit. If he could convince Jinbei to join the Marines…
Crocodile had disrupted Finn's carefully laid plans for the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Now, Finn was working to patch the holes.
If Jinbei could be recruited as a Marine officer before becoming a pirate, then when Fisher Tiger's incident eventually occurred, it could serve as an opportunity for Jinbei to join the Seven Warlords as a Marine representative. The Marines would gain another seat among the Warlords, and relations with Fish-Man Island would be further stabilized. It was a win no matter how he looked at it.
Jinbei, for his part, was deeply confused. He was just a minor figure, nowhere near Finn's level of status. So why did this Marine Admiral keep staring at him with that smile?
Is this guy… a pervert?
I'm a man. And a Fishman at that.
He doesn't even care about that!?
Are all humans this depraved?
Still, this wasn't the time to address it. Before entering Ryugu Palace, Finn flashed Jinbei what he thought was a friendly smile and nodded.
But in Jinbei's eyes, that so-called "friendly" smile was deeply disturbing.