Although they had suffered a slight shock, King Neptune and his three sons relied on the merfolk physical constitution—far superior to that of humans—and quickly recovered.
Well… that was until they caught sight of Shirahoshi, who still hadn't removed her makeup. The older King Neptune nearly fainted again on the spot.
Fortunately, Shirahoshi promptly explained everything, bringing the king—whose eyes had already started rolling back—back to life in an instant.
After learning that her appearance was merely a prank, he not only cast aside his earlier doomsday expression, but even turned around to comfort his beloved daughter, who now looked full of guilt.
"It fine, it fine! Children should be a little mischievous! And even if you really did become like that, you… you… you would still be Daddy good daughter!"
After an intense internal struggle, King Neptune finally forced those words out through gritted teeth.
He then added, "We were just… hmm… it just that we haven't seen you in so long, so we got a little too emotional!"
Fukaboshi and the other two nodded beside him like chickens pecking at rice in agreement.
"Wow! Brother Sherwin actually guessed it right, meow!"
(=ω=)
The little ragdoll widened her eyes in shock and couldn't help exclaiming, "Klee Meow clearly felt just now that Brother Sherwin was talking nonsense, but I didn't expect you really fainted because of that, meow."
Neptune and his three sons: "..."
Sherwin and the other Felynes: "..."
"What wrong, meow? Did Klee say something wrong, meow?"
(=ω=)
Sensing that the atmosphere was a bit off, the little ragdoll scratched her head in confusion.
"Klee didn't say anything wrong. That exactly how it happened! I wasn't talking nonsense at all!"
Sherwin covered Haibara Meow, who was about to speak up and mock the little ragdoll, while shamelessly insisting.
And after fiercely gnawing on his palm a few times, Haibara Meow didn't continue exposing King Neptune lie either…
Although with Shirahoshi Observation Haki, she had long known he was just comforting her.
...
After a joyous reunion, King Neptune quickly arranged a banquet in Ryugu Palace to entertain Sherwin and the others.
"Mr. Sherwin, there is something I would like to trouble you with."
As the banquet reached its midpoint, King Neptune suddenly avoided Shirahoshi and the others, pulling Sherwin aside alone, even using honorific language.
"In two months, it will be the four-year World Conference. At that time, the Ryugu Kingdom will apply to the World Government to become an affiliated nation, so that we may obtain the right to live on the surface."
So this thing is held once every four years like the Olympics?
Sherwin scratched his head in confusion.
In the manga, when wapol and Princess Vivi first met, it was at the World Conference. Back then, Princess Vivi was just a little girl not much taller than an ordinary Felyne, yet after the main story began, Dalton failed to recognize her immediately.
Judging from all that, from the World Conference Princess Vivi attended as a child to when Luffy and the others arrived at Drum Island at the start of the story, she and wapol should not have met again.
However, considering that if he had not intervened, the Kingdom of Alabasta would still be trapped in prolonged drought at this time, perhaps Cobra originally had no time to attend this session? Or maybe he simply did not bring Vivi along?
Just as Sherwin was making wild guesses in his mind, King Neptune continued, "To show our sincerity, I intend to bring all members of the royal family, including Shirahoshi, to attend the conference. I hope that when the time comes, you can accompany us as well. After all…"
"The World Conference is held at Mary Geoise—the place with the most Celestial Dragons."
Although King Neptune did not spell it out completely, his meaning was already clear—he hoped that when the time came, Sherwin would protect Shirahoshi and the others to ensure nothing unexpected happened.
Perhaps because Sherwin had reminded him before, or perhaps due to the shock Shirahoshi had brought him during this period, although Neptune still wished to fulfill Queen Otohime final wish, he no longer naïvely believed, as he had in the manga, that the World Government would certainly accept them.
"Uh…"
Sherwin scratched his head again but did not immediately agree.
Even if it were only for Shirahoshi sake, he had never subjectively considered refusing this request. Besides, he could conveniently unlock a new map along the way.
It was just that…
He was currently preparing to go trouble Donquixote Doflamingo.
Given what the Heavenly Yaksha had done in Dressrosa, if Sherwin were to take action and eliminate him, he would undoubtedly be seen as a righteous figure.
However, Doflamingo had once been a Celestial Dragon. Who knew whether those brainless, bloated fools would use that as an excuse to forcibly strip Sherwin of his Shichibukai status?
Of course, postponing the matter until after the Levely was also an option. But not long ago, Sherwin had already contacted Morgans and the others, telling them to be ready. Now asking them to wait another two months…
Given their friendship, it was not impossible, yet Sherwin felt there was no need.
After all, the possibility of his Shichibukai title being revoked was not that high. And even if he did lose it, as long as he had not been defined as a pirate or placed on a wanted list by the Marines and the World Government, he could still head to Mary Geoise. At most, it would merely irritate those Celestial Dragons.
And taking ten thousand steps back, even if they truly could not go, Jinbe was still a Shichibukai. He and his Sun Pirates would certainly be able to accompany them as guards.
At worst, Sherwin and the others could just have the Dodo Advance stand by near Mary Geoise. If anything unexpected really happened, they would just charge straight in and beat the hell out of them.
After thinking it through, Sherwin nodded at King Neptune and agreed, "No problem. I'm quite interested in Mary Geoise as well."
Having obtained Sherwin promise, King Neptune was overjoyed. He stood up, walked over to him, and toasted him with several consecutive cups of wine.
After that, Sherwin and the others stayed on Fish-Man Island for a few more days.
On one hand, Shirahoshi hadn't seen her family in a long time and needed a few days to reunite with them. On the other hand, since Suika Meow and Kaido Meow were visiting Fish-Man Island for the first time, Sherwin deliberately took them around to sightsee.
During those few days, Shirahoshi was basically dragging her three older brothers around to spar with her, which made King Neptune feel another wave of heart palpitations…
Especially when Shirahoshi used a Fish-Man Karate technique—Shark Tile True Fist—to literally knock over Ryuboshi, sending him flipping onto his back, King Neptune was so shocked he nearly tore out a large handful of his beard.
However, amid his shock and palpitations, King Neptune also felt proud of Shirahoshi.
Even though Ryuboshi had held back during the spar and even seemed somewhat suspiciously willing to walk right into Shirahoshi punches, King Neptune could still see that Shirahoshi had an extremely solid foundation in both Fish-Man Karate and Fish-Man Jujutsu.
Hmm?
King Neptune suddenly noticed a blind spot…
"Shirahoshi, who did you learn your Fish-Man Karate from?"
"At first I learned from a few fellow Fish-Men who were living in Totto Land, but they didn't know much themselves. So later I went to ask Boss Jinbe for guidance.
When he was in the Calm Belt, he taught me for several days. I heard that Brother Sharkstar and the others also learned from Boss Jinbe back then!"
Shirahoshi answered honestly, looking somewhat excited at the thought that she and her three brothers had become disciples of the same teacher.
So you were involved in this too, Jinbe?!
King Neptune kept a smile on his face, but inside he was already roaring.
Of course he had no objections to Jinbe teaching Shirahoshi how to fight. What truly angered Neptune was…
That guy didn't even give him a heads-up in advance! He had nearly made a fool of himself in front of his precious daughter!
Does anyone still take him seriously as the king?!