"Try not to hurt them, just incapacitating them will be enough."
"Don't worry, Boss. Leave it to me."
Sunbell gave a sharp shake of the arms gripping the weapons. The tremendous force transmitted through the handles made the guards unable to hold on; even their bodies were sent flying, crashing into the nearby wall and knocking them unconscious.
After that, Sunbell closed the gate by himself and stood guard in front of it.
Sebastian and Barbell, the two hulking figures, continued following behind Nereus, dealing with the soldiers who were gradually beginning to realize that something was wrong.
Their own strength allowed them to avoid killing the guards, merely knocking them out, and throughout the entire Ryugu Palace there was not a single person capable of stopping their advance.
Nereus could be said to have passed through unimpeded all the way to the final gate.
The heavy doors were like nothing in Sebastian's hands. Even though Neptune Army soldiers had sealed the gate from behind, he pushed it open with ease.
"Pontus, this should be our first time meeting, right?"
On the throne of Ryugu Palace sat a rather elderly male merfolk. Nereus hadn't really looked into his exact age. Just as he said, this was their "first meeting."
He had almost no prior dealings with this king.
Pontus held a trident in his hand and wore a crown shaped like a flower bud.
In terms of physique, however, Pontus was nowhere near as exaggerated in size as Neptune. Instead, he was closer to that of an ordinary human.
This kind of situation wasn't uncommon. Growth in these seas was notoriously unpredictable. Some people stayed child-sized for over twenty years, then became adults in the span of a single year.
Some were born as ordinary infants, yet within a few months could grow as large as Giants.
"Yes, our first meeting, but I've long heard your name. Coming uninvited at this hour, you're surely not here as a guest, are you?"
"Haven't you already guessed? The king of Fishman Island should be replaced."
Hearing this, Pontus let out a sigh, as if thinking that this was indeed how it would turn out. Meanwhile, the Neptune Army soldiers still tasked with guarding the palace looked utterly shocked.
"Mr. Nereus! Why would you do something like this?!"
"Yeah, why you of all people?! You're clearly Fishman Island's great hero. How could you…"
Although the royal lineage of Fishman Island has no notable achievements to speak of, they had also not committed any vile acts against the civilians on the island, essentially following the flow with little proactive governance.
But in the era of feudal monarchies, compared to those who stirred up public resentment with every whim, a policy of inaction was already considered a good thing.
Fishman Island's overall environment was relatively closed-off, and many people had long grown accustomed to this.
That royalty should naturally succeed to the throne was a deeply ingrained belief for many.
Yet Nereus also possessed extremely high prestige. Countless people on Fishman Island had benefited from him; many had friends or relatives whom Nereus himself had brought back, and his banner had brought a great deal of stability to the island.
Thus, seeing Nereus appear here now and openly declare his intentions threw many people into inner conflict.
"Enough. You may withdraw. There's no need for you to guard this place anymore."
"Your Majesty Pontus!"
"Go. No matter what tomorrow looks like, you young people should continue living on. Now then, Nereus, come speak with me alone. Someone as strong as you shouldn't fear an old man like me."
Pontus showed no sign of panic. Instead, he calmly dismissed the royal guards protecting him in the palace.
Though these guards wouldn't have been able to do much anyway, this still made Sebastian and Barbell regard him a bit more highly.
After all, remaining composed while facing Nereus was no easy feat.
"Boss?"
"You two go out as well. The approach may be crude, but I'd like to hear what our King Pontus has to say."
Sebastian and the Neptune Army soldiers left the hall one after another. As the large doors shut tightly, it felt as though the inside and outside of the room had become two completely different worlds.
"Nereus… perhaps I underestimated your ambition. Your original intent was Fishman Island, but if a pirate like you becomes king, what will Fishman Island turn into? Aren't you afraid of dragging it straight down into hell?"
"Fish-Man District turning from an orphanage into a lawless zone, the pirates committing crimes on Fishman Island. Aren't all of these the result of your 'incompetence'?
You've seen it yourself these past few months, haven't you? Barbell and Sunbell, leading just a few hundred people, are already enough to safeguard peace here.
Yet, the official Neptune Army, despite being in the deep sea, can't even form a reliable line of defense. Any random nobody passing by Fishman Island can take a bite out of it.
Even if I did nothing at all, just wrote my name on Fishman Island's gates, I'd be far more effective than your incompetent royal family."
There were powerful people who Fishman Island couldn't defeat, but there weren't many such powerhouses to begin with. Pirates were never a monolithic force, and Fishman Island's defensive capability should not have been this weak.
The royal family's ability to govern, no matter how poor, should not have been worse than street thugs like Hody Jones.
"As for my identity as a pirate… you being the legitimate king doesn't seem to mean much either. Fishman Island became an affiliated nation of the World Government 170 years ago, but how many times has the royal family participated in the Levely?
When has the World Government ever treated Fishman Island as an affiliated nation? The situation on Fishman Island can't possibly get any worse."
Pontus did not refute him. He couldn't find any grounds to do so, because everything Nereus said was true. The pirates under his command, viewed by the World Government as criminals, had in fact done far better than the Neptune Army.
"I don't have the ability to stop you. Your appearance itself already exceeds the designs of fate. But there is one thing you must know."
"What is it?"
"In history, there have been three weapons of immense power, each capable of destroying the world. People call them the Ancient Weapons. One of them is named Poseidon.
Poseidon can command the Sea Kings of the deep sea, and it is the king of all Sea Kings. And every so often, it is born on Fishman Island as Mermaid Princess.
Remember this: it is not that a Mermaid Princess becomes Poseidon. No matter who Poseidon awakens in, she will be Fishman Island's princess.
No matter what you intend to do, you must find Poseidon. You cannot allow her to fall into anyone else's hands."
That she bore the name Poseidon already explained everything. She was the true sovereign of the deep sea. It was only that, in the original timeline, that generation's Poseidon happened to awaken in Princess Shirahoshi.
When Merfolk and Fish-men produced offspring, the Fish-Type ability was random—it could be any Fish-Type at all. And this inheritance was closely tied to the inheritance of Poseidon.
In theory, any female Merfolk possessed the potential to awaken this power.
If it were another person, in another place, telling him this, Nereus wouldn't have found it strange.
But at this moment, facing an outright coup, Pontus's words instead gave Nereus an oddly unsettling feeling…
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