Yes, I am from the surface. My name is Yami."
Yami sat on an oversized book and nodded at Shirahoshi with a smile.
Hearing Yami was really from the surface, Shirahoshi immediately lowered her head, looking at Yami with pleasant surprise: "Then, Lord Yami, have you seen the real sun, and the flowers and animals on land?"
"Mm, not only have I seen them, I have a small garden at home, and beasts dozens of meters tall."
Yami smiled and nodded, saying: "On land, there is a very magical island, where animals live who can talk and walk upright just like humans. The world calls them the Mink Tribe."
"Really? There are such magical animals on land?"
Shirahoshi imagined the Minks Yami described in her mind, her cute face full of yearning.
She didn't have the slightest doubt about Yami's words.
Shirahoshi's natural Observation Haki can not only tell if someone is good or bad, but it also functions as a lie detector.
Shirahoshi can tell if a person is lying at a glance.
Even without the lie-detecting function, the innocent Shirahoshi wouldn't doubt Yami.
Because in her eyes, Yami was a good person filled with goodwill towards her.
How could the words of a good person be fake?
Taking in Shirahoshi's expression, the corner of Yami's mouth lifted slightly, and he began to set the trap: "Not only those magical animals, I've even been to islands 10,000 meters in the sky. That is a place more beautiful and romantic than the surface."
"Really?"
Shirahoshi's attention was indeed captured. She then lay prone on the table, her sapphire-like beautiful eyes sparkling as she looked at Yami and asked: "Lord Yami, what do the islands in the sky look like? Are they different from the land?"
"Want to know?"
Yami didn't answer, just smiled meaningfully.
"Mhm, mhm..."
Shirahoshi nodded vigorously. The simple girl didn't notice anything amiss with Yami's smile.
But the next second, Shirahoshi was slightly stunned.
Yami just grinned and said: "Since you're so curious, then I'll take you to see it."
After speaking, Yami raised his hand and placed it on Shirahoshi's arm, which was resting on the table.
Immediately, the large and small figures vanished from the room in the Hard-Shell Tower, leaving only a giant shark sleeping in a baby's cradle.
This giant shark was Shirahoshi's pet—Megalo.
"Kyaa—"
Shirahoshi, who had disappeared from the Hard-Shell Tower, appeared under the azure sky, her body suspended in mid-air. She let out a scream subconsciously.
Just when Shirahoshi thought she was about to fall from the sky, her body suddenly fell into a warm embrace.
A giant figure was seen, holding the over-eight-meter-tall Shirahoshi in its arms.
Looking up at the giantified Yami, the fear on Shirahoshi's face was instantly replaced by pleasant surprise: "Lord Yami!"
"Look, the blue sky, white clouds, and the sun."
Yami held Shirahoshi in a princess carry, flying slowly thousands of meters in the air. Then he raised his head, directing Shirahoshi's attention to the sky.
"It's... so beautiful. Is this the sky and sun Mother spoke of?"
When Shirahoshi's gaze shifted from Yami's face to the sky, she was instantly stunned by the blue sky, white clouds, and clear weather.
Just like Carina and the other girls were stunned by Sky Island and Water 7, for Shirahoshi, a girl who had lived on Fish-Man Island since birth and was confined in the Hard-Shell Tower after age six, the sun and sky were beautiful sights she had only heard of but never seen.
Now, the young girl had finally seen the sky and was basking in real sunlight for the first time.
"Lord Yami, is that the sea and the land?"
Immediately, Shirahoshi's gaze moved from the sky downwards, looking at the boundless blue sea and the outlines of islands, and she couldn't help but ask with an excited expression.
"Yes, those are the land islands where humans live."
Yami nodded and smiled: "After we finish looking at the Sky Island, how about we go see what the land islands look like?"
"Can we?"
Shirahoshi's beautiful eyes first lit up, then as if remembering something, her small face suddenly turned pale. She quickly grabbed Yami's clothes and said in an anxious tone: "Oh no, Lord Yami, I can't leave the Hard-Shell Tower. Please send Shirahoshi back quickly."
"Don't be afraid, it's alright now."
Yami changed his carrying posture, patting Shirahoshi's delicate back gently a few times, and comforted her with a smile: "That Vander Decken IX who was always threatening you, I've already taken care of him. From now on, Shirahoshi doesn't have to hide in that Hard-Shell Tower anymore."
"R... Really?"
Shirahoshi stared blankly at Yami.
"Mm."
When Yami nodded, a layer of mist immediately welled up in Shirahoshi's eyes, quickly condensing into beads and falling, instantly soaking Yami's clothes.
"Wuwuwu..."
The young girl was seen crying in Yami's arms, her voice choked with sobs: "That's... That's wonderful. Shirahoshi can finally go pay respects to Mother."
Because of Vander Decken IX, Shirahoshi couldn't even attend Queen Otohime's funeral.
So, one of the girl's wishes was to go to the Sea Forest to pay respects to her mother.
Today, Shirahoshi not only saw the sky and the sun, but was also freed from her long-standing nightmare.
At this moment, Yami's body, which was already radiating a golden light in Shirahoshi's natural Observation Haki, instantly became as dazzling as the sun in the sky.
So much so that Shirahoshi stopped crying without Yami even needing to comfort her. She looked up at Yami with her bloodshot, beautiful eyes and asked blankly: "Lord Yami,... are you a god?"
Clearly, in Shirahoshi's heart, Yami was like a god.
Looking at such an adorable Shirahoshi, Yami couldn't help but pinch her small face and tease: "I'm not a god. I'm just a knight who happened to discover a trapped princess and decided to rescue her from her sea of suffering."
There was one sentence Yami didn't say: "I am not only your knight, but also your future master."
Famous pirate crews all have a pet as a mascot, and Yami's pirate crew is no exception.
Shirahoshi was not only his chosen maid, but also his pet.
"K... Knight?"
Shirahoshi stared blankly at Yami again, her gaze dazed.
By the way, the oversized book Yami was sitting on earlier was a specially made fairy tale book from the Ryugu Kingdom, meant to relieve Shirahoshi's boredom.
In these fairy tales, there was naturally no shortage of knights and princesses, and stories of heroes saving princesses.
As a princess, Shirahoshi, of course, also fantasized about a knight or a hero who could rescue her from the hands of a demon king.
So Yami's words were practically a straight ball, hitting Shirahoshi's heart directly.
Her already strong goodwill not only surged again, but slowly began to change in nature..
It's... so beautiful!"
On the beach of Angel Island, Shirahoshi gazed at the pure white sea of clouds, the only words of praise she could utter being just those few.
Today was, without a doubt, the happiest day for the mermaid princess since she was born.
Not only did she see the sky and the sun, and get rescued by the knight from her fairy tales, she could now even see the islands in the sky.
I believe that even decades later, Shirahoshi's memory of this day would still be extremely clear.
"There are even more beautiful places. Let's go take a look."
Yami, who had turned into a ten-plus-meter giant, held Shirahoshi like one would hold a small child, and flew with her towards Upper Yard.
Unlike with Hancock, Yami couldn't take Shirahoshi to Angel Island's "Lovely Street".
Otherwise, the commotion Shirahoshi would cause would definitely be greater than Hancock's.
Unlike Hancock, Shirahoshi's size simply couldn't be disguised.
Without the help of a Coral Bubble, it was difficult for Shirahoshi to move on land.
So, before helping Shirahoshi's fishtail transform, Yami either had to become giant-sized to carry her, or create a base and use his Fuwa Fuwa no Mi ability to support her.
In fact, Yami could go to Lovely Street right now to buy a Cloud Dial, create a cloud, control it with his Fuwa Fuwa no Mi, and then carry Shirahoshi around to sightsee.
But Yami didn't do that, because this was the time to raise her affection.
Holding Shirahoshi and flying slowly through the air, Yami let her carefully observe Angel Island, taking a long time before reaching Upper Yard.
At this moment, Yami suddenly looked down at Shirahoshi and said: "Shirahoshi, close your eyes."
"Okay, Lord Yami."
Shirahoshi, who was completely obedient to Yami, didn't ask why and obediently closed her beautiful eyes.
Boom—
Along with the roar of an invisible shockwave, a black dome of light suddenly expanded from Yami's body, quickly enveloping all of Upper Yard.
In an instant, the God's Guards who had moved back to Upper Yard from Angel Island all had their eyes roll back as they fainted to the ground.
But the animals of Upper Yard were not affected at all.
"Alright, you can open your eyes now."
Only after knocking out all the humans on Upper Yard did Yami speak to Shirahoshi.
"Lord Yami, is this a land island?"
Shirahoshi opened her eyes, looked at Upper Yard where they had arrived, and finally noticed a key point. She couldn't help but ask: "Why is there a land island in the sky?"
"Because this island was sent up here by the great power of nature."
"How amazing... The surface world is truly incredible!"
Shirahoshi said, in awe without fully understanding.
Flying into the forests of Upper Yard, Shirahoshi's gaze was quickly drawn again by the towering giant trees and the cloud paths built within the forest.
When she saw the various strange animals whose ancestors had mutated over hundreds of years due to the Sky Island environment, she let out continuous sounds of amazement.
Especially the giant python known as the Master of the Sky, which made Shirahoshi show a mix of fear and curiosity.
Immediately after, Yami took Shirahoshi up the Giant Jack, looking over the island from a higher place, and even saw the Golden Bell hidden atop the Giant Jack.
Shirahoshi had no concept of gold, but that didn't stop her from thinking the Golden Bell was very beautiful.
After taking Shirahoshi sightseeing in Upper Yard for a while, Yami used teleportation to bring her to the Sea Forest on Fish-Man Island, fulfilling the girl's wish to pay respects to her mother.
While Shirahoshi was paying respects to her mother in the Sea Forest, the Ryugu Kingdom was in an uproar.
Because when Megalo woke up, he quickly discovered his master was missing.
Thus, he immediately went out looking for people with an anxious face, quickly alerting Neptune, the three Neptune brothers, and Jinbe, who was on Fish-Man Island.
Right now, the entire Ryugu Kingdom and Jinbe were searching for Shirahoshi's whereabouts on Fish-Man Island, extremely anxious.
After all, in their understanding, Vander Decken IX was not dead.
If Shirahoshi had really snuck out, and Vander Decken IX happened to throw a weapon at that exact time, Shirahoshi would be in danger.
Therefore, they had to find Shirahoshi, who was in an unknown location, before Vander Decken IX could throw a weapon.
The search couldn't be too overt, lest Vander Decken IX had informants on Fish-Man Island, which would alert him.
The first place the three Neptune brothers and Jinbe searched was, coincidentally, the Sea Forest.
Because they all knew that one of Shirahoshi's wishes was to pay respects to Queen Otohime.
If Shirahoshi had really snuck out, she would definitely come here.
When the three Neptune brothers and Jinbe arrived at the Sea Forest, they didn't find Shirahoshi, but next to the Poneglyph, they saw Vander Decken IX's corpse.
After confirming the corpse was indeed Vander Decken IX, the three Neptune brothers and Jinbe all breathed a sigh of relief.
Although they didn'T know who killed this person, as long as this Mato Mato no Mi user was dead, they no longer had to fear Shirahoshi being killed by a flying unknown object.
But soon, they felt Vander Decken IX's death was too coincidental.
The body hadn't started to stink or decompose, meaning he hadn't been dead for long, perhaps he had only died today.
Could it be that Shirahoshi didn't sneak out alone, but was taken away by the person who killed Vander Decken IX?
Thinking of this, the three Neptune brothers and Jinbe immediately intensified their search.
Before long, Jinbe found Shirahoshi with his Observation Haki.
However, there was no trace of joy on the Shichibukai's face; instead, it was filled with solemnity.
Because in his perception, next to Princess Shirahoshi, there was an extremely powerful presence.
"Shirahoshi!"
At this time, the three Neptune brothers also found Shirahoshi.
Looking at Shirahoshi sitting on the ground, hands pressed together in a prayer gesture, the three Neptune brothers first breathed a sigh of relief, then shouted their sister's name loudly.
"My royal brothers!"
Hearing the familiar voices, Shirahoshi immediately opened her beautiful eyes. Seeing her three older brothers riding flying sea beasts, she waved with a pleasantly surprised face: "My royal brothers, it's been a long time!"
Although using "it's been a long time" for close family members felt very out of place...
...it was a fact that the four siblings hadn't seen each other in a long time!
The three Neptune brothers only had eyes for their sister and didn't notice the tiny Yami.
Jinbe only had eyes for Yami.
Looking at Yami, who had canceled his giant form and was standing next to Shirahoshi, Jinbe recognized this major figure at a glance. His expression became solemn, his eyes filled with wariness as he said: "Black Hole Yami, why has Your Excellency appeared here?"