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"Wow, that was so scary! Thank you, Master Ikki, thank you for saving me!"
Shirahoshi held Ikki tightly in her arms, huge tears constantly streaming from her beautiful eyes. In just moments, Ikki's clothes were soaked with her tears.
"Okay, Princess Shirahoshi, I understand how you feel. But now we should deal with the New Fish-Man Pirates."
Ikki raised his hand and patted the back of Shirahoshi's huge hand, then turned to look at Nami, Robin, and the others who were dragging the fishman Zeo toward them.
As soon as the two groups met, they quickly exchanged information about what had happened.
"So these people aren't just looking for trouble with us. They want to cause trouble for the royal family too? Are these guys trying to overthrow this country?"
Nami held her chin in one hand and frowned.
"What? They want to overthrow this country?"
Fukaboshi, who had just been healed by Nojiko, opened his mouth and looked at Nami in disbelief. But thinking about what Houzou had said earlier, it was hard for him not to believe her words.
"No, Father! Sir Ikki, could you please take care of Shirahoshi? I need to return to Ryugu Palace immediately!"
Fukaboshi spoke anxiously to Ikki, then turned and rushed away.
"Brother!"
Shirahoshi stretched out her hand to stop Fukaboshi, but he was too anxious and only left a word of comfort for Shirahoshi before disappearing into the distance.
"What... what should I do?!"
Shirahoshi clasped her hands together. In her anxiety, she couldn't help but squeeze Ikki harder. Fortunately, Ikki was strong enough that he wouldn't be crushed into paste by Shirahoshi's grip.
"Okay, Shirahoshi, calm down. It's not like things can't be turned around - we're still here, aren't we?"
Ikki shook his head and used his strength to break free from Shirahoshi's hands, landing on the ground. He also used the flames of his Fire Breathing to dry the moisture from his body.
"By the way, Master Ikki, can I ask you a favor? You defeated that killer so easily - you must be able to defeat Hody Jones too!"
Shirahoshi leaned down and stared at Ikki with her big eyes, as if she would cry if he refused. What Houzou had said earlier had let Shirahoshi know that Hody Jones was behind everything. Remembering how terrifying Hody Jones once was, Shirahoshi was extremely frightened.
"Since we've encountered this situation, we will take care of it. Besides, these guys originally came for us."
Ikki glanced at Nami and Nojiko. Even he hadn't expected that Hody Jones would think of their connection to Arlong.
"Let's go, everyone. Take these leaders of the New Fish-Man Pirates and let's go watch the show. Of course, Princess Shirahoshi, you come with us."
Ikki waved his hand and led everyone toward the Fish-Man Island square. His powerful Observation Haki could already sense the chaos coming from that direction.
"From today on, Fish-Man Island is my territory! And you will witness the death of the original royal family!"
On the high platform in the center of Fish-Man Island Plaza, Hody Jones excitedly delivered his speech to the residents watching from below. Around the square were human pirates that Hody Jones had controlled through violence. From a distance, there appeared to be tens of thousands of them.
"Bastard! Hody Jones, let go of my father!"
At this moment, a roar rang out. Hody Jones followed the sound and saw Prince Fukaboshi charging toward him with a weapon in hand, his face twisted in anger.
"Oh, how annoying!"
Hody Jones sneered and waved his hand, shooting out a bullet-like water droplet that rushed toward Fukaboshi.
"Water Shot!"
BOOM!
The water droplet hit Fukaboshi's abdomen. The severe pain made his eyes roll back and he nearly fainted. But even though he remained conscious, the nearby officers of the New Fish-Man Pirates had already reached him and captured him. They brought him to the high platform where Hody Jones stood and tied him next to his father and brothers.
"Now your whole family is here. Oh wait, that's not right - Princess Shirahoshi should've gone to hell first, hahaha! Speaking of which, what's that guy Houzou doing, letting you come here?"
Hody Jones laughed for a while, then complained about Houzou. He didn't know that Houzou had already been knocked out by Perona's attack.
"Damn it, why is this man so strong?! Is it because of those strange pills?"
Fukaboshi couldn't help but think of the medicine Houzou had tried to take before being knocked down. He also thought of all the legends about the Energy Steroids from Fish-Man Island's royal family.
'I hope Shirahoshi will be okay. Sir Ikki should be able to protect her.'
Fukaboshi looked at his father and brothers who were tied up beside him, his expression quite grim. At this moment, he regretted not asking Ikki for help. Of course, this was also because he hadn't expected that his father had already been captured, or that Hody Jones had developed a human slave army of ten thousand.
"Everyone's here, so let's kill you next. After all, I still have to deal with Ikki and the others."
Hody Jones grinned wickedly at Fukaboshi and the others, preparing to execute the royal family. At that moment, a shout spread throughout the square.
"Stop, Hody Jones!"
Hearing this familiar voice, Hody Jones frowned and looked over. There, a mature mermaid was staring at him intently.
"Madam Shyarly, as Arlong's sister, do you want to stop me?"
"Hody Jones, I know you hate humans, and this has nothing to do with my brother, but this country cannot lose the king and—"
"Hmph! So you're here to persuade me. It seems even siblings can be very different."
Hody Jones shook his head and directly interrupted Shyarly. When he raised his hand, water droplets had already gathered in his palm.
"However, it's already too late, Shyarly. From the moment I killed Princess Otohime more than ten years ago, I'd already decided to take this country into my own hands. That guy Jinbe and the members of the Sun Pirates aren't here, which just saves me a lot of trouble."
At this moment, Hody Jones no longer minded letting people know the truth about Princess Otohime's death. He had already made plans to rule Fish-Man Island with violence from now on. It didn't matter whether the residents knew the truth or not. On the contrary, after seeing the faces of Fukaboshi and the others upon learning the truth, the smile on Hody Jones's face grew even wider.
"You bastard! It was you, Hody Jones!"
Shyarly wanted to step forward in her fury, but Hody Jones had obviously lost interest in conversation.
"Water Shot!"
He called out softly, and the water droplets quickly flew toward Shyarly. But this time, Hody Jones's attack wasn't as effective as it had been against Fukaboshi.
"It's really lively here. Are you already eager to seize the country, Hody Jones?"
Ikki suddenly appeared in front of Shyarly with a smile on his face, having blocked the attack.
"It's you!"
Hody Jones was shocked.
"Yes, it's me. Why, are you surprised to see me? Or did you really think the officers you sent could defeat us?"
Ikki raised his hand and snapped his fingers. Nami and Nojiko dragged Zeo and Houzou to Ikki's side respectively. As for the pirates blocking their way, both human and fishman pirates had been easily defeated by Nami.
"Houzou? Zeo? How is this possible? And Princess Shirahoshi, you're still alive?"
Hody Jones's eyes widened to their maximum, looking at Houzou and Zeo angrily, then fiercely glaring at Shirahoshi who was being protected by Kalifa and the others. In his eyes, Shirahoshi was an extremely unstable bomb. If she exploded, it could have a very negative impact on his plan to seize Fish-Man Island.
"So you're Hody Jones? The admirer of that fishman Arlong? You even created some New Fish-Man Pirates?"
Nami frowned and looked at Hody Jones and the others in the distance with hostility.
"Who are you, woman? It's not your place to speak here!"
"What if I told you I was the one who killed Arlong?"
As soon as these words left her mouth, Hody Jones, Shyarly, and the others looked at Nami in surprise. Hody Jones had thought that Arlong's death might be directly related to Ikki, but he hadn't expected that it was the seemingly weak Nami who had actually killed Arlong.
"I'm also responsible for the deaths of Arlong's friends."
Nojiko also stepped forward and looked at Hody Jones provocatively.
"Good! You've succeeded in pissing me off, women! And you too, Ikki! Everyone, kill them for me!"
Hody Jones laughed in anger and waved his hand, commanding the human and fishman pirates to attack Ikki and the others.
However, before they could even take a step, Ikki's body erupted with powerful Conqueror's Haki, which swept straight across the pirates in the square. Ikki's Haki now wasn't comparable to Luffy's in the original story. At this moment, his Conqueror's Haki had reached the level of Red-Haired Shanks.
Tens of thousands of pirates were hit by the Conqueror's Haki, and almost all of them fell to the ground with their eyes rolled back. Only the officers of the New Fish-Man Pirates and some of the original captains of the human pirate crews remained standing. But even if they were still on their feet, they were shaking and unable to move under Ikki's Conqueror's Haki, which was powerful enough to damage physical objects.
"What... what is this?"
Hody Jones was shocked. He had also been targeted by Ikki's Conqueror's Haki, even more intensely than the others. If he hadn't taken a large amount of Energy Steroids at the beginning, he would no longer be able to move freely.
"This is... Conqueror's Haki, right?"
Neptune raised his head and spoke with some uncertainty. Because Ikki had cleverly made his Conqueror's Haki avoid Neptune, he hadn't experienced it personally, but his knowledge allowed him to recognize that Conqueror's Haki could have such an effect.
"Conqueror's... Haki?"
Hody Jones gritted his teeth. "Hmph, no matter what it is, this man must die! Of course, you too, King Neptune!"
Hody Jones shouted sharply and raised his fist toward King Neptune's head with a powerful strike. At this point, he no longer wanted to wait until Ikki was dealt with before carrying out a public execution of Neptune.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a strong sense of crisis filled Hody Jones's heart. What followed was the cold sound of something cutting through the air. Hody Jones turned his head to look in the direction of the sound, only to see a flying slash made of water coming toward him.
There was no shouting, not even the slightest movement. Hody Jones's body was directly split in two down the middle, and a large amount of blood sprayed out, dyeing the high platform of Fish-Man Island Plaza red.
"Captain!"
The officers were horrified and wanted to move closer to Hody Jones, but the next moment, several more flying slashes passed from Ikki's position and rushed toward them. Hody Jones couldn't block Ikki's slash, let alone these officers. Without exception, they followed in their captain's footsteps.
"With such weak defense, you can't even block a flying slash performed with Water Breathing. How can you talk about seizing a country? Aren't you afraid the Whitebeard Pirates would come to cause trouble for you? No, they don't seem to have time for that now."
Ikki chuckled lightly, raised his hand and sheathed his Zangetsu.
"Nami, everyone, I'm going back to the Explorer first. I've had my Demon Slayer Mark active for too long - I need to rest and recover."
Ikki raised his hand and patted Nami on the shoulder. He took Hina's hand with his other and prepared to return to the Explorer. On King Neptune's side, other warriors from Fish-Man Island had naturally come to protect him.
"Wait, wait, wait!"
Shyarly suddenly stepped forward and blocked Ikki's path.
"What, do you need something from me?"
Ikki recognized the mermaid in front of him as Arlong's sister and was curious about what she would say to her brother's killer's partner.
"Um... can I invite you to my café for a drink?"
Shyarly pursed her lips and spoke to Ikki. Although she wanted to know about Arlong, at this moment when Ikki had stopped Hody Jones, she suddenly didn't know how to begin.