"I... me?"
Hearing Uma's words, Shirahoshi appeared constrained. "You, you know my..."
She naturally knew her own specialness — when she witnessed her mother's death as a child, she had activated that ability of hers under immense emotional stimulation.
But since she was young, her Royal Father had told her — that power was too dangerous, and she absolutely must not tell anyone.
So now, being directly pointed out by Uma naturally made her feel panicked.
But amidst her panic, an uncommon dissatisfaction arose.
"Lord Uma, please do not say that."
"My Royal Father and brothers are not indecisive, and what you just said — my mother's wish..."
She wanted to argue — her mother's great wish was absolutely not foolish and naive.
But—
"The fact is exactly so. Whether I take back my words is not important."
Uma's expression remained very calm.
"Your mother, Queen Otohime, harmed the Fish-Man race to a great extent. This is a fact."
"On what basis do you say that!?"
Shirahoshi's delicate eyebrows stood up in anger.
"On the basis of the facts happening right now."
Uma didn't seem to mind briefly discussing these issues with Shirahoshi.
"Your mother, Queen Otohime, advocated coexistence with humans, and even planned to promote a plan back then to let the residents of Fish-Man Island migrate to the land."
He spoke softly of the actions of Shirahoshi's mother — that Queen Otohime who had a massive influence on Fish-Man Island.
"For this, she begged the Fish-Men to forgive the death of Fisher Tiger."
"For this, she personally protected the Celestial Dragons' fleet, even continuing to do so after being shot and injured by an islander."
He looked at Shirahoshi.
"With all due respect — these were indeed foolish actions."
"You... you..."
Shirahoshi was unprecedentedly angry — even though her personality and upbringing prevented her from saying anything unpleasant, her eyes were enough to show it.
This was not strange.
To Shirahoshi, her mother was a great person — even the spiritual mentor for her and her brothers' growth to this day.
They had all firmly believed in their mother's propositions, hoping to create a future for the Fish-Man race.
So she naturally couldn't accept Uma's words.
"Do... do you despise my mother so much!?"
She couldn't help but clench her fists.
But—
"Despise?"
The next moment, she heard Uma's words.
"No, I do not despise her."
Uma said calmly, seemingly just stating a fact. "On the contrary, I actually somewhat admire her."
Shirahoshi: "...Eh?"
She was confused. "But you clearly said my mother's propositions were..."
"Her wish was foolish and naive, but that has nothing to do with her personally."
Uma showed a bit of solemnity.
"She believed that Fish-Men must coexist with humans, so she made compromises for it, and ultimately even gave her life for it."
"She couldn't be considered a qualified politician, but she was an idealist who sacrificed everything for her vision."
He looked at Shirahoshi, his words very serious.
"I don't hate idealists."
Yes.
This was the evaluation of Otohime deep within Uma's heart.
Otohime had naivety and fantasies that shouldn't have belonged to her — she believed that as long as Fish-Man Island showed enough goodwill, and compromised by paying a sufficient price to follow human rules, humans would accept them into the wheel of the world.
But for Uma, who knew the truth of this world, he naturally understood how laughable that thought was.
The Celestial Dragons didn't even truly view humans as people, and that Lord Imu viewed everything in this world as His possessions.
The World Government — the ruler of this world — was fundamentally an evil entity covered in purulent sores.
Under such circumstances, it was absolutely impossible for the Fish-Men to truly integrate into the human order.
If they truly abandoned Fish-Man Island and migrated to the land, then extermination of their race would be a matter of time.
"On this sea, blind compromise cannot buy respect."
Uma looked at Shirahoshi. "But strength can."
"Of course the Fish-Man race can coexist with humans, but there are two prerequisites."
"First, humans must have sufficiently amiable, sufficiently rational decision-makers to cooperate with the Fish-Man race and allow the cultures and ideas of both sides to coexist and integrate."
"Second, the Fish-Men must possess at least the strength to protect themselves and command respect."
And the laughable part lay exactly here.
Because Fish-Man Island actually had such power — that was this Princess Shirahoshi before him.
As one of the Ancient Weapons, Poseidon, her power undoubtedly possessed the possibility to make the world wary.
But coincidentally, the day her power awakened happened to be the day Otohime died.
And after Otohime's death, King Neptune — perhaps out of faith in his wife's ideals, or perhaps out of protection for his daughter — did not deeply develop Shirahoshi's power.
This was also the source of Uma's words just now.
He didn't hate idealists — Otohime's ideals and thoughts were foolish, but she genuinely believed in and practiced them, and ultimately sacrificed her life.
But in the current situation, he was not very willing to bicker with King Neptune.
"The World Government will destroy the Sunlight Tree Eve and Fish-Man Island no matter what — regardless of what your Royal Father and brothers' plans are, and regardless of what efforts your mother made back then, none of it has any meaning now."
Uma looked at Shirahoshi seriously.
He knew very well that the true reason the World Government was making a move against Fish-Man Island this time was that Imu realized Star Lord's power, and therefore wanted to destroy the Sunlight Tree Eve in advance — this matter clearly would not be diverted by anyone's dissuasion.
The Five Elders, the Commander-in-Chief, the Fleet Admiral... none of them could stop this inevitable destruction.
Therefore—
"Princess Shirahoshi, the only choice you have... is war."
"Use your power to protect your people."
He looked at Shirahoshi.
This was also the reason he was willing to talk so much with her — this Mermaid Princess's personality was truly a bit soft, to the point where her control over her own power was not as effortless as Loki's.
In fact, judging from the content of the original story — this Princess would probably only erupt with her abilities under the stimulation of her potential at a life-or-death moment.
But what he needed now was not a beautiful but cowardly Mermaid Princess.
But an Ancient Weapon Poseidon who could truly master her own power.
"Didn't you want to go to the land to see forests and the true sun?"
He said in a deep voice.
"Show your power to the world."
"And then I can guarantee you will see the things you want to see — not just you. All Fish-Men can have the right to see them."
"..."
Seeing Uma's solemn and serious eyes, Shirahoshi fell silent.
After a long time, she finally spoke.
"What... what do you need me to do?"
Her voice still carried a bit of weakness, but she seemed to be trying her best to make herself appear less cowardly.
Seeing this, Uma finally nodded in satisfaction. "I will leave a copy of the specific plan for you."
"But before that, I need you to point the way for me — I still have a place I must go. Where is the Fish-Man District?"
10,000 meters deep in the sea, Fish-Man Island, Fish-Man District.
The so-called Fish-Man District is an extremely special location of Fish-Man Island.
Although nominally a part of Fish-Man Island, in reality, it is a deep-sea area located outside the massive bubble shield of the main body of Fish-Man Island.
Powerhouses such as the Knight of the Sea Jinbe and the Fish-Man Hero Fisher Tiger had once emerged from here.
But now, this place was filled with all sorts of outlaws among the Fish-Men, and was a hotbed of crime.
And at the edge of the Fish-Man District—
A giant ship, massive to the extreme, almost half the size of the entire Fish-Man Island, was quietly lying on the seabed.
Cold seawater flowed, but the immense water pressure of the deep sea couldn't affect the hull of this giant ship in the slightest.
It was Noah.
The ancient ark in Fish-Man Island's legends that would save Fish-Man Island.
But right now—
"Hey, hey, Hody... I heard recently that the humans on the sea surface aren't very well-behaved — they seem to be planning to make a move against Fish-Man Island. Haven't you not left the Neptune Army yet? Do you have any clues?"
On the Noah, a Fish-Man wearing a wide-brimmed hat and having four legs was asking this.
It's worth mentioning that although he was a Fish-Man, his body was actually covered with a Swim Coating — this was enough to show that he was an ability user.
He was Vander Decken IX, the descendant of the legendary Fish-Man pirate Vander Decken, and the user of the Mark-Mark Fruit.
"Ah... indeed."
Before him, a Fish-Man with thick muscles and curly black hair nodded.
He crossed his arms and said coldly. "Those lowly humans don't know what plans they are making — they are coating their warships, and I heard there are also some unusual movements over at Mary Geoise."
He grinned hideously, extreme malice flashing in his eyes.
"Truly laughable."
"What can the race of those lowly trash do — this is the seabed, the world that belongs to us Fish-Men!"
He arrogantly spoke words that could be considered absurd.
After all, anywhere on this sea, any child knows — humans are the race that rules the sea.
But Hody didn't think so.
He believed the Fish-Man race was the supreme race, while humans were lowly and evil trash.
Just thinking of the word "human" would cause uncontrollable anger to surge in his mind.
"That old thing Neptune actually truly broods over this."
He sneered. "But that's fine too — because of his order, that guy Jinbe has already left Fish-Man Island today and headed to Sabaody to gather intelligence. This is our chance."
Vander Decken's eyes lit up. "Jinbe left?"
Of course he knew the situation.
His cooperation with Hody Jones had been going on for a few years — he wanted to obtain the Princess Shirahoshi he loved, while Hody wanted to control Fish-Man Island and launch a war against humans.
One of them was hidden in the Fish-Man District, and the other was hidden in the Neptune Army. They had made many deployments and preparations over the years.
But the problem was, just a few days ago, the Seven Warlords of the Sea system was overthrown.
As the Seven Warlord of the Fish-Man race, the Knight of the Sea Jinbe chose to return to Fish-Man Island.
Boss Jinbe possessed extraordinary prestige throughout the entire Fish-Man Island, including the Fish-Man District. Coupled with his formidable strength, Vander Decken and Hody Jones had no choice but to keep a low profile recently, and even suspended many actions and arrangements.
Now, Jinbe had actually left Fish-Man Island?
"Yes — that idiot has that level of power in vain, yet he's worried that this incident is a disaster triggered by him hiding in Fish-Man Island, so he's eager to go investigate the situation."
Hody sneered. "From his attitude, if those humans are really coming for him, he will highly likely just leave Fish-Man Island... truly foolish!"
"No wonder Big Brother Arlong was unwilling to follow him back then."
His words carried disdain — to him, a Fish-Man like Jinbe who possessed power yet feared humans was the one he looked down upon the most.
But without a doubt—
"This is an opportunity."
He said in a deep voice. "We have prepared for so long, accumulated power for so long, and we can finally use it — I will immediately establish the New Fish-Man Pirates."
"If humans really intend to attack Fish-Man Island, the Neptune Army will inevitably suffer heavy losses. When the time comes, we can naturally take over the order of Fish-Man Island."
He grinned, revealing a malice-filled smile.
Right now, as a Fish-Man, he was actually genuinely anticipating Fish-Man Island being attacked by humans.
He could even imagine it — when that time came, the entire Fish-Man Island would inevitably be filled with hatred and malice towards humans.
That was exactly the sight he anticipated the most.
"When the time comes, I will hand Princess Shirahoshi over to you. As for Neptune and the three Princes... after expelling the humans, I will publicly execute them!"
"I will pioneer... an era belonging to Fish-Men!"
He spread his hands, his words full of excitement.
Then—
"Idiots."
He and Vander Decken heard a voice.
"?" ×2
But before the two could react—
VMMM!
An intense aura and pressure descended without any warning.
Hody Jones and Vander Decken instinctively raised their heads, and then saw it — at the bottom of this deep sea, where there logically shouldn't be any creatures besides Fish-Men and aquatic life, a figure exuding starlight all over, holding a book and wearing a horse head mask, had already stepped over from within the seawater.
"You..."
They naturally recognized that mask — just as mentioned before, Fish-Man Island's intelligence was much more well-informed than the Giant race's.
They instantly understood the other party's identity.
"The Zodiac—"
However, their words couldn't be finished.
Because just as they opened their mouths, Uma had already raised his hand.
"Sorry — I don't have time to listen to your yapping. In the current situation, I don't wish for there to be any destabilizing factors within the Fish-Men."
"So... goodbye."
BOOM!
He pressed his hand down.
At the same time, the surrounding starlight seemed to gain a life of its own, instantly collapsing inward.
Vander Decken, Hody Jones, and their subordinate Fish-Men around them didn't even have time to react before being directly wrapped and crushed by that countless starlight.
Even the blood flowing from their crushed bodies dissipated without a trace in a split second.
In just a moment, only Vander Decken's wide-brimmed hat remained on the spot.
Uma slowly landed on the Ark Noah.
He lowered his head, looked at the giant ship beneath his feet, and nodded in satisfaction.
(End of Chapter)
☆☆☆
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