The way for a ship to enter Fishman Island was not to descend slowly vertically, but to ride the downward current and rapidly reach its destination.
If they attempted a vertical descent, the ship would likely be destroyed by colliding with submarine volcanoes long before reaching Fishman Island.
The deep sea below ten thousand meters was filled with darkness that light could not penetrate. Without proper illumination, accidents were easy to encounter. However, installing lights would easily attract the attention of large sea beasts or Sea Kings. Without sufficient strength, this could lead to the ship's destruction.
Over the past 800 years, countless ships had been buried deep in the sea for this very reason, transformed into so-called ghost ships beneath the waves.
But such dangers were not worth mentioning to El's group.
The Pegasus didn't even need to turn on its lights. With the help of El's Observation Haki and Violet's clairvoyance, they soon arrived at Fishman Island.
Although the deep sea was dark—Violet couldn't see anything even with her clairvoyance ability—that didn't apply to Fishman Island. Near the island stood a massive sunlight tree called Eve, which absorbed sunlight and transferred it to its roots while simultaneously supplying air to the ocean floor through respiration.
Just as there was a cycle between day and night on the surface, Fishman Island—even at 10,000 meters below—also experienced day and night cycles.
As the only light source deep in that sea area, Violet found it easy to locate. So, with El manipulating the ship using his Float-Float Fruit ability, they arrived at Fishman Island in no more than an hour.
—
Passing through the gate that served as the entrance and exit, the Pegasus smoothly arrived at Fishman Island's port.
However, their arrival caused a huge sensation on Fishman Island—so much so that it disturbed King Neptune and even Whitebeard, who protected the island.
The asteroid-level super meteor that had fallen from outer space, along with the super tsunami that destroyed two islands and killed a hundred thousand people, had made El—who had entered the New World for less than a week—famous overnight. He had climbed directly to Pirate Emperor level, earning the epithets "World Destroyer" and "The Fourth Emperor of the Sea."
As the current user of the Float-Float Fruit and the most notorious Pirate Emperor, his every move attracted the attention of all parties—much like when Shanks visited Whitebeard in the manga.
News that they had arrived at Sabaody Archipelago had already reached the ears of Mary Geoise, Navy Headquarters, and other major forces. Everyone knew that El's group would head to Fishman Island and would likely return to the first half of the Grand Line within a few days.
The alliance formed by the Flying Pirates, Donquixote Family, and Beasts Pirates—creating the largest arms dealership in the New World—was no secret to the world. The pirate flag symbolizing the Flying Pirates had long been known globally.
That was why the arrival of the Flying Pirates at the port caused such commotion. It frightened budding pirates who had just come to the New World from Paradise; they fled the scene and returned to their ships to leave Fishman Island. At this moment, no one dared follow their greed with the idea that killing El in a sneak attack would make them famous throughout the world.
Even if pirates capable of reaching Fishman Island—10,000 meters below—were fools, they were fools with some self-awareness.
"Your Excellency!"
Without waiting for El's group to leave the port, a large blue whale shark-fishman led a group of fishman guards and appeared before them.
"You are..."
Looking at the fishman in front of him, El couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and tease him with a playful smile. "Jinbe, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. It seems your intelligence capabilities are quite impressive."
Whether this referred to the Whitebeard Pirates or the Ryugu Kingdom, before he had even entered the town, the other party was already waiting for him here. Apparently, news that the Flying Pirates would come to Fishman Island had been received very early. Such capability couldn't come from the Ryugu Kingdom, so El was more inclined to believe they had been notified by the Whitebeard Pirates.
After all, discrimination against fishmen by humans had persisted for hundreds of years, making it nearly impossible to place informants on the surface.
So when he read the changes in Jinbe's inner thoughts, El already had the answer he wanted.
"Your Excellency, welcome to Fishman Island." Jinbe respectfully saluted and bowed to El first, then took a Den Den Mushi from his kimono and handed it over before speaking.
"Fishman Island is Whitebeard's territory. After learning that you came here, he insisted on having a conversation with you."
Hearing Jinbe's words, Carina and the other girls were stunned for a moment. Then, seeming to think of something, their expressions shifted.
The next moment, the Den Den Mushi in Jinbe's hand suddenly rang and imitated Whitebeard's face while letting out a unique laugh. "Gu ra ra ra ra! Little devil, it's the first time we've spoken. I'm Whitebeard!"
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