"Not ordinary?" Rog looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"
Kaguya glanced at him and said, "Nothing. Thank you for the offer, but I have other matters to attend to. I'll be leaving now." She turned and started to walk away.
But she hadn't taken more than a few steps when the sound of blades being drawn rang out—clang, clang. The people around her raised their weapons and surrounded her.
Kaguya raised an eyebrow and turned around. "What's the meaning of this? If this is your idea of a send-off, it's really not necessary."
Rog strode forward, a mocking grin on his face. "You really think you can leave now?"
"Hahahaha—!"
Laughter erupted from the group. Their eyes gleamed as they stared at Kaguya like hunters eyeing prey, some even salivating.
"Didn't expect to find such a premium catch. What a score!"
"Yeah! I fought tooth and nail to get here and didn't even see a single fishman, and now someone just walks into our lap. Lady Luck, huh!"
"A girl like this would go for at least ten million berries."
"Ten million? Easily a hundred million!"
"Never seen a woman this beautiful… I can't wait."
Rog walked up, all pretense of hospitality gone. His burning gaze felt like it could pierce through her, and he wore a twisted grin. "Sorry, miss, but it looks like my men have decided you're not going anywhere."
Kaguya twirled a lock of her pale hair around one finger, smiling faintly. "So you're planning to kidnap me?"
"Kidnap?" Rog shook his head. "No, no, you've misunderstood. We have no such intentions. It's just—"
His eyes locked onto hers. "You now belong to me. You're my slave."
"Belong to you?" Kaguya echoed playfully.
"That's right," Rog said, excitement flickering in his eyes. "Don't try anything foolish. If you cooperate, we'll go easy on you. But if you resist, we'll have to use… harsher methods."
He pulled out a cold, gleaming iron chain and spun it in his hand.
"You're planning to sell me to the human traffickers?" Kaguya asked, amused. "You do realize slavery is strictly forbidden, right? If caught, you'd be executed."
Long ago, when Kaguya had been on Fishman Island, she had issued a law: any form of human trafficking was a capital offense. It was to be punished by death.
At the time, many scoffed—especially the Celestial Dragons and World Nobles, who traded in slaves themselves. Why would anyone lower down the ladder follow such a rule?
But when Kaguya destroyed the Sabaody Archipelago auction house and executed the Celestial Dragons involved in trafficking, no one dared cross that line again. Anyone caught was executed on the spot—Celestial Dragon or not.
"Seems you're not completely ignorant," Rog's eyes narrowed. "But it doesn't matter. You won't get the chance to report this."
"So you're planning to risk it all?" Kaguya asked with a smirk.
"In our line of work, we live with a blade at our throats," Rog said coldly. "Blame your own bad luck. Get her!"
With that command, the pirates—grinning wickedly—rushed toward Kaguya.
Kaguya's eyes turned icy cold. As she twirled a lock of hair around her finger, just as she was about to slaughter these fools—
A piercing whistling sound tore through the air, and a hail of arrows rained down like a storm!
"Damn!" Rog's expression changed drastically. "It's the Fishmen!"
Thud-thud-thud!
"Aaargh!"
With miserable screams, the pirates were caught off guard. Many fell in an instant. The rest tried to shield themselves, but the barrage was too intense. Arrows pierced through shields and bodies alike, turning the skirmish into a massacre.
To his credit, Rog's swordsmanship wasn't bad. He swung his blade swiftly, knocking aside arrows mid-flight.
But as his subordinates dropped one after another, Rog's face darkened with fury. Gritting his teeth, he shouted, "Damn bastards! Grab that woman! Now!"
Several pirates rushed toward Kaguya. But before they could reach her, more arrows whistled through the air.
Thwip-thwip!
The pirates fell, arrows piercing their throats before they hit the ground.
The remaining ones panicked and tried to flee. But one of them barely got far before—shunk!—an arrow struck him in the back, exiting through his chest in a spray of blood.
"Captain, we've got to go!" the scar-faced youth shouted. "If we don't leave now, we're done for!"
Rog clenched his jaw, his eyes blazing with fury. He cast one last, unwilling glance at the silver-haired girl in the distance, then growled, "Retreat!"
The pirates, grateful for the order, fled in every direction.
"Next time," Rog snarled, "I'll wipe you filthy freaks off the face of the earth!" He turned and stormed off.
Under Rog's command, the pirates disappeared into the ruined city. The storm of arrows ceased.
Then, rustling sounds came from the surrounding forest. More than a dozen agile figures emerged, surrounding Kaguya quickly.
A tall, muscular figure stepped forward, shark tail behind him, steel trident in hand. His narrow eyes glinted sharply. "Who are you, and why are you here?"
"Who I am is not for you to ask," Kaguya walked over, glanced at him, and said mockingly, "When I was chatting and laughing with your parents, you weren't even born yet."
A man who looked like a guard stepped out and shouted loudly, "How dare you! How can you speak to His Highness the Prince like that!"
But before he could finish, the women's eyes, cold as water, glanced at him casually, instantly making him feel as if he'd fallen into an ice cave, chills running all over his body.
What a terrifying gaze!
Shark Star waved his hand and said, "Step down!"
The guard trembled all over, as if receiving a great pardon, and quickly withdrew, cold sweat soaking his back.
Shark Star turned around and said in a deep voice, "You don't seem to be with those pirates, but that doesn't clear your suspicion. Why did you come here?"
"I came here not for anything else, but for—" Kaguya stared intensely at Shark Star and said, "Pluto and Poseidon."
Shark Star's eyes narrowed, and he gripped his trident tightly, saying in a low voice, "How do you know such a secret?"
"What if I said, I knew long ago," Kaguya walked toward him with amusement and said, "Would you believe me?"
"Impossible!" Shark Star said firmly, "Only direct royal bloodlines could know such secrets. How could an outsider like you know these things?"
"That only applies to others," Kaguya snorted disdainfully, "Don't compare me with those ignorant fools."
"It seems you don't intend to speak the truth. In that case, we'll just have to capture you," Shark Star's eyes grew sharp, and with a wave of his hand, he said, "Seize her!"
The surrounding guards immediately raised their spears and swords, surrounding Kaguya cautiously.
"Wait—!"
Just then, a magnetic female voice came from the distance, and a figure rushed quickly toward them.
"Stop!" Shark Star's eyes narrowed. With a wave of his hand, the advancing guards halted immediately.
"Wait—!"
The one who ran up was a woman in purple clothes, with short black hair and striking blue eyes. Her pale skin and purple nails, along with a hooded top and mature charm, were complemented by her fishtail lower body—clearly indicating she was a mermaid.
"Shyarly, why are you here?" Shark Star asked in surprise.
Due to her exertion, Shyarly's face was flushed, and she was panting heavily, drenched in sweat. After calming her breath, she looked up and said, "You must not touch her!"
Shark Star asked in astonishment, "Why not?"
"If you harm her—" Shyarly said solemnly, "it will bring catastrophic disaster!"
"Catastrophic disaster?" Shark Star echoed in shock.
"That's right, and not only that, she is—" Shyarly said seriously, "the key to saving Fishman Island!"
The key to saving Fishman Island?
Everyone looked at each other, puzzled by what Shyarly meant.
Shark Star suddenly realized something and stepped forward anxiously, asking, "Could it be that Lady Shyarly foresaw something?"
Everyone here knew that Lady Shyarly possessed the ability to foresee the future through divination. As a child, she had predicted the advent of the Great Pirate Era and even foretold Whitebeard's fall before the major event.
Her predictions were almost one hundred percent accurate!
So, as long as she said it—
"That's right," fine beads of sweat appeared on Shyarly's forehead, "Right now, Fishman Island is already in an unprecedented crisis, teetering on the brink of destruction. If things continue this way, it will definitely perish, and the entire island will be annihilated."
Everyone looked at each other, their faces turning pale. They knew that Shyarly was not being alarmist—her prophecies had never been wrong, not even in the most unbelievable events.
She had once predicted that the Navy Headquarters would suffer heavy losses in the Battle of Marineford, and that a Navy Admiral would fall in the conflict. The entire Navy Headquarters would face an unprecedented setback, and its fate would hang by a thread.
At first, such a prophecy wasn't believed by many. It was too far-fetched. Whitebeard, after all, was already plagued with illness, so his death in battle was somewhat understandable.
But the Navy, under the World Government, was the strongest force in the world. Not only were there the three Admirals and Fleet Admiral Sengoku and Hero Garp, but even the second-tier Admirals-in-waiting—Peach Rabbit, Fujitora, and Chaton—possessed immense power. With such a formidable lineup and massive military force, how could they possibly fall into crisis?
However, the outcome of the war exceeded everyone's expectations. Though the victory or defeat was unclear, it was evident from Admiral Akainu's death and the Navy's full retreat from Marineford Island that the Navy had lost—perhaps disastrously!
This shocking result caught everyone off guard and only reinforced their faith in Shyarly's predictions. So when she made this statement, their first reaction wasn't to doubt her, but rather surprise that this seemingly delicate girl could affect the survival of Fishman Island!
Shyarly walked forward, her eyes fixed firmly on Kaguya, and asked, "May I ask who you are and why you've come here?"
Kaguya had never expected that Shyarly's prophecy would be related to her, and with some interest, she replied frankly, "I came to find Pluto and Poseidon."
"Pluto, Poseidon?" Shyarly pondered for a moment and said, "I'm not quite sure about Poseidon, but regarding Pluto, are you referring to the Noah's Ark?"
"Noah's Ark?" Kaguya was slightly taken aback.
Could Noah's Ark really be Pluto?
What kind of joke was that!
Noah's Ark was a ship from hundreds of years ago, one tied to a covenant with Fishman Island. But from available analyses, it wasn't Pluto. If it were, the King of Fishman Island wouldn't be unaware of it.
Moreover, although this ship was massive, it was already in ruins and had lost its power source—completely incapable of sailing again. Also, Pluto was said in legend to possess the power to destroy a small island with a single shot, yet Noah's Ark had no such weaponry.
Besides, if Pluto really was Noah's Ark, then the World Government—searching all over the world—wouldn't have overlooked it.
Just then, Shyarly raised her head and said seriously, "That's right, Noah's Ark is very likely Pluto!"
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