The negotiations with King Neptune went far more smoothly than Jake had anticipated.
The king agreed to Jake's demands almost without hesitation.
Seeing how unresisting Neptune was, Jake guessed that Whitebeard must have already spoken to him.
Still, smooth progress was the best outcome, and Jake saw no need to dwell on it further.
But during the banquet, a massive, razor-sharp axe came hurtling from the distant sky, aimed straight at Jake.
The axe tore through the banquet hall's walls, its momentum unchecked—until King Neptune intercepted it with a single punch, smashing it into the ground.
As the axe shattered into fragments, Neptune's expression turned grave.
He looked at Jake, his voice utterly sincere.
"Jake-sama, this was absolutely not our doing. It must have been someone with extreme hatred toward humans."
Neptune was drenched in sweat at this moment.
He paid no attention to his still-bleeding fist—compared to such minor injuries, it would be far worse if Jake misunderstood their intentions.
Under these circumstances, Neptune knew Jake could easily assume this was a trap they had set, striking him at his most vulnerable moment.
If they didn't quickly clarify their innocence now, it would be impossible to explain later.
The hard-won agreement might even be completely nullified.
However, seeing Jake's utterly unsurprised expression, Neptune couldn't help but wonder.
Could this be a performance orchestrated by Jake himself?
Was he trying to entangle them in this mess so he could make even more unreasonable demands?
Just as Neptune was lost in these thoughts, Jake's words dispelled all his doubts.
"Your Majesty Neptune, there's no need to worry. I would never doubt your sincere commitment to building a better future for Fish-Man Island. As for who the attacker was, I already have a clear idea."
Hearing this, Neptune's face showed a flicker of surprise.
He looked at Jake and asked nervously.
"Jake-sama, you already know the identity of the attacker? Who is it? I'll dispatch soldiers to arrest them immediately."
As he spoke, Neptune's palms clenched involuntarily, and sweat beaded on his back.
Please don't let the culprit be someone from the palace.
Even if he had no knowledge of it, the resulting distrust would be impossible to dispel.
Jake, of course, could see Neptune's tension, so he didn't beat around the bush.
He turned to Jinbe and said.
"Jinbe, do you remember that cloaked fish-man I electrocuted earlier in Fish-Man District?"
Jinbe immediately understood.
He glanced at Jake, then at Princess Shirahoshi, his face twisting with barely suppressed fury.
"Jake-sama, are you saying this attack was carried out by that bastard Vander Decken IX? He was just electrocuted by you not long ago—how could he recover so quickly and even target you? No—wait, he didn't know you had replaced his intended victim!"
As he spoke, Jinbe's expression darkened to the extreme.
Queen Otohime turned pale, gasping in realization.
"That axe wasn't meant for Jake-sama at all—it was meant for Shirahoshi!"
Neptune's face twisted in shock.
He looked at his wife and asked urgently.
"Why would Shirahoshi be the target? What do you all know? What exactly is going on?"
Seeing Neptune's distress, Queen Otohime quickly summarized what had happened earlier, explaining how Jake had willingly taken Shirahoshi's place as Vander Decken IX's target.
If not for Jake's intervention, that axe would have struck Shirahoshi instead.
At this thought, King Neptune's face turned pale.
Jake was a rear admiral of the Marine Headquarters, but he possessed strength capable of easily defeating Jinbe.
For someone like him, that earlier attack was indeed nothing.
But what if Jake had been Shirahoshi instead?
If Shirahoshi had been alone at that moment, that single attack would have been enough to take her life!
To protect Shirahoshi's safety, it was highly likely that from today onward, she would have to live inside an indestructible iron cage—one that would forever restrict her freedom!
The thought of his daughter nearly being condemned to such a life made King Neptune's heart feel unbearably heavy.
His voice now boomed with fury, thick and thunderous like colliding storm clouds.
"Where is Vander Decken IX right now? Send soldiers immediately to track the direction and origin of that flying axe! We must find that bastard at once! There's absolutely no way we can let someone like him act so recklessly!"
Everyone in the palace could sense the gravity in the air upon hearing King Neptune's voice.
He was known as an exceptionally tolerant and benevolent ruler, and in all his years as king, this was the first time anyone had heard him speak in such a tone.
Clearly, Vander Decken IX's actions had provoked his wrath to the extreme.
But just then, Jake's voice cut in, carrying a note of reassurance.
"Your Majesty Neptune, there's no need to search for him. My Observation Haki has already locked onto his location. I can bring him here right now, but this isn't the time. His attacks are barely even ticklish to me, so you needn't worry about my safety.
More importantly, Your Majesty, perhaps you should consider why Vander Decken IX would target Princess Shirahoshi when they've never even met before, isn't that right?"
Hearing this, King Neptune froze.
He looked at Jake, the fury over his daughter's near-assault fading, replaced by a chilling sense of dread that seeped into his bones.
That Vander Decken IX... might very well know that his daughter was one of the legendary three Ancient Weapons—Poseidon!
But... how could he have learned this information?!
And what unsettled King Neptune even more was this—how had Rear Admiral Jake known about it in advance?!
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Fanfic is on hiatus, once there is more chapter from original author i will be updating it asp.