At the Marine headquarters port, waves of officers swarmed onto the platform, staring in shock at the massive, pitch-black back before them.
At the center of that glossy black back was an enormous sphere!
Inside the sphere was a magnificent island with a complete ecosystem.
The appearance of that sphere, the shape of that island—every Marine officer present had seen it before, some had even visited!
Smoker's jaw dropped, the cigar in his mouth clattering to the ground.
Momousagi's ample chest heaved violently, her slender fingers gripping the hilt of her sword, Kōbishin, tightly.
"Is that... Fish-Man Island??"
"An unimaginably massive whale has carried the deep-sea Fish-Man Island to the surface!!"
Koby and Hellmepo collapsed to the ground in terror, their bodies going limp.
"Alert! Alert!!"
Countless vines whipped through the air, striking the stunned and dazed Marine officers, jolting them back to their senses.
Aramaki's expression was grave as she splayed her fingers, sprouting numerous slender vines that snapped the disoriented Marines out of their stupor.
Pointing at the massive black back carrying Fish-Man Island into the distance, she shouted:
"That Sea King is our enemy—the captain of the Beast God Pirates, Barbarossa Caesar, transformed! This is the ultimate power of the Zoan ability! The Mythical Zoan Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Kunpeng!"
Aramaki's words struck like a thunderclap, leaving the Marine headquarters officers reeling.
In the distance, Black Horse looked as if his mother had just died, his eyes bulging from their sockets.
"What kind of joke is this! Has Ryokugyu gone mad? What nonsense is she spouting! The Kunpeng form should only grow to a few kilometers at most! This damn thing is bigger than G-1!"
He felt his legs trembling uncontrollably, the liquid in his bladder sinking, giving him the urge to urinate on the spot.
World beside him wasn't faring much better.
His vision was filled with nothing but the endless expanse of the black back.
After a long moment, World averted his gaze, expressionlessly glanced at Black Horse's trembling back, then put on his mask.
"We must leave this place, return to the Holy Land Mary Geoise! Yes, we need to leave immediately!"
Black Horse suddenly began muttering to himself neurotically.
But soon, the sound of a Den Den Mushi ringing came from his chest.
"Pururu pururu"
"Pururu pururu"
Black Horse's right hand trembled as he reached into his chest and pulled out the Den Den Mushi.
"Black Horse, we're here."
From the other end of the Den Den Mushi came only a deep, resonant voice that made one think of a massive mountain.
"What? The Gorosei sent you? Did those two come as well?"
Though he didn't know who was on the other end of the call, Black Horse's anxious mood immediately calmed somewhat.
"Yes, we're above your head!"
Hearing this, Black Horse immediately looked up.
There in the sky, a helicopter hovered, circling in mid-air.
Inside the helicopter sat three burly, powerfully-built men, one of whom was focused on piloting the aircraft.
A bald, burly man draped in a khaki-colored Justice cloak held a telescope to his eye, gazing at the distant giant beast and Fish-Man Island.
"Truly terrifying, the captain of the Beast God Pirates! Kahahaha, coming here this time is a situation where survival is far from guaranteed!"
"Yeah, we used to look down on these so-called Emperors of the Sea. Never expected the rumors to be even more exaggerated than we anticipated. This is really troublesome."
A giant man with a bare upper body, tattooed with a massive blue serpent, crossed his arms and spoke.
"Land and coordinate with Black Horse and the others."
[Note: Helicopters—blueprints existed on Vegapunk hometown, when Franky was sent flying by Kuma, so don't say it's abrupt here. Honestly, I wouldn't even be surprised if Vegapunk developed fighter jets. With the existence of bio-modified Seraphim, these things are nothing.]
...
...
On Fish-Man Island, Fish-Men stepped out of their homes one by one, gathering at the island's edge to peer through the transparent bubble film at the outside world.
Though all they could see was the sky, the sea, and dark silhouettes, with occasional floating islands receding in the distance at the edge of their vision, they watched with rapt attention, their faces filled with indescribable excitement and joy.
Their king, Neptune, continued to ramble over the broadcast, instructing everyone on how to interact with humans upon arriving in Tottoland, how to protect themselves, how to conduct business with humans, and so on...
At this moment, the Fish-Men were too thrilled and exhilarated to pay any attention.
Neptune sat alone in the plaza before the Ryugu Palace, a foolish grin on his face as he muttered into the Den Den Mushi, talking to himself for a long while.
As he spoke, his face suddenly grew damp, and two streams of hot tears involuntarily streamed down his cheeks.
"Otohime, your dream has come true. We've truly reached the sun's embrace—without even needing Noah, we've brought our entire nation directly under the sun!"
"From now on, our Fish-Man race will thrive on land, just like the other races in this world. I will lead everyone to coexist peacefully with the others, I promise you."
"Master, what is Cake Island like? Isn't that Big Mom's territory? I really want to eat donuts and ice cream. Master, how did you turn into such a huge fish? It's so spectacular! The sky is so high, the sun is blinding, and the sea is vast!"
Shirahoshi danced joyfully in the plaza, her pink ribbons fluttering, making her look like a fairy.
One question after another, exclamation after exclamation, bubbled up in her mind and echoed in Caesar's.
"Shut up! Stop bothering me!" Caesar's irritated voice startled Shirahoshi.
Pouting, Shirahoshi looked aggrieved, her large eyes welling up with mist.
But Caesar's next words made her sparkling eyes widen and her small mouth fall half-open.
"Tell your old man to prepare the dowry. We're getting married tonight."
"Ma...married?"
A blush, like pink twilight, quickly spread across Shirahoshi's cheeks, making her look as if she were drunk, her face flushed.
"Like Father and Mother did? Will we have little babies?"
"Maybe yes, maybe no. First, we have to..."
"Wh-what? Master, what do I need to do? I don't understand."
"Don't worry, I'll teach you tonight."
...
...
Once again, the world was shaken—Caesar had actually relocated yet another country!
Spanning thousands of miles, he forcibly moved Fish-Man Island from ten thousand meters beneath the sea to Totto Land, placing it in the waters adjacent to Wano Country.
First it was Wano Country, and now Fish-Man Island.
Barbarossa Caesar repeatedly shattered the world's perception of individual might!
The legend of the Country-Moving Demon was being realized by him time and again!
"Is that man trying to gather all the islands in the world together to achieve global unity?"