The Sea Forest, a submarine forest located northeast of Fish-Man Street.
Because many sunken ships from the seabed are carried here by the currents, this place is also known as the Ship Graveyard.
As the Sunlight Tree Eve transmits sunlight from the surface to Fish-Man Island, the Sea Forest, also blessed by the sun, grows a large amount of coral, giving this forest an unusual beauty.
The large three-masted galleon descended from the sky.
As soon as it landed, Yamato, Shirahoshi, and Robin eagerly got off the ship.
Yamato began to wander around, while Shirahoshi found an open space and made a praying gesture with both hands.
Robin, on the other hand, looked at Karl with expectant eyes.
In response, Karl directly scooped Robin up in a princess carry, then disappeared in a flash of lightning.
In Robin's eyes, everything around her was rewinding at high speed, the scene appearing very blurry.
When the scene stopped rewinding and became clear again, she, having subconsciously wrapped her arms around Karl's neck, saw a familiar stone monument.
It was—a Poneglyph.
"Robin, take your time reading here."
Karl put Robin down and said, "After you're finished, just call my name softly."
"I'm going to keep an eye on that Yamato, to prevent her from causing any more trouble."
"Alright..."
Before Robin could give her instructions, Karl transformed into a bolt of lightning and vanished.
"...You idiot, aren't you afraid of getting dirty?"
When Karl appeared again, he was in another part of the Sea Forest.
Looking at Yamato, who was rummaging through a sunken ship as if playing a treasure-hunting game, Karl had a helpless look on his face.
"Karl, Karl, come quickly, let's hunt for treasure together."
Seeing Karl appear, Yamato, who was digging through the junk in a wrecked ship, immediately waved at him and called out.
"No thanks, you go ahead and play!"
Karl teleported onto a mast, like an adult, looking down from above at the childlike Yamato.
And so, one was praying to her mother, one was reading a Poneglyph, and the other was treasure hunting...
It wasn't until noon that Karl's group boarded the large three-masted galleon and flew back to Ryugu Palace.
For the next week, Karl's group accompanied Shirahoshi, who hadn't left the Hard-Shell Tower for a long time, playing all over Fish-Man Island.
The news that the legendary Princess Shirahoshi had reappeared after six years quickly caused a huge sensation on Fish-Man Island.
At the same time...
During these days, Karl also found the assassin of Queen Otohime, who was also the captain of the New Fish-Man Pirates in the original story—Hody Jones.
An extreme Fish-Man supremacist.
Unlike Arlong, whose hatred for humans stemmed from what happened to Fisher Tiger, Hody Jones was a monster born of his environment. He had never been a slave, nor had he been persecuted by humans, yet he was born with a hatred for them.
For this reason, he assassinated Otohime, who wanted to establish friendly relations with humans.
A piece of trash who had been brainwashed since childhood.
After finding him, Karl secretly killed him that night and used electric heat to incinerate the body, leaving no trace.
After a week, the coating on Karl's group's large three-masted galleon was also complete.
And so, Shirahoshi said goodbye to her father and brothers and, with a look of anticipation, followed Karl's group, preparing to head to the sea ten thousand meters above to see the world on the surface.
Although Neptune and the three Neptune brothers were very reluctant to see her go, they were not overly worried.
They had spent a week together.
They had come to understand the character of Karl and his group.
As for Karl, perhaps they didn't know what he was really like under his exterior.
But they believed in Shirahoshi's ability, as well as Karl's companions.
Through their observation these past few days, they had discovered that Nami and the other girls were very friendly to Shirahoshi, and that the two of them were not as evil as their bounties of 200 million and 300 million Berries suggested.
Shirahoshi, who could see directly into people's hearts, had also grown closer and closer to them over these few days, which clearly meant that their hearts were as beautiful as their appearances.
Clearly...
Karl's group were not the evil villains portrayed by Mary Geoise and Marine Headquarters, but good people, just as they were in Morgans' interview.
Entrusting Shirahoshi to the care of a good person who possessed the power of an overlord of the seas, Neptune and the three Neptune brothers, and even Jinbe, were very much at ease.
To avoid causing a sensation on Fish-Man Island by taking Shirahoshi away...
At the royal family's private port, Karl's group bid farewell to Neptune and his three sons, as well as Jinbe, before sailing away in their large three-masted galleon.
After passing through the royal family's dedicated channel, Karl's group did not rely on the so-called super buoyancy wood blocks to ascend; Nami controlled the galleon to rise rapidly.
"The world on the sea..."
In just over ten minutes, the galleon left the dark deep-sea region and returned to the sunlit zone.
Looking up at the sparkling sea above, Shirahoshi's face was filled with longing.
"Are you looking forward to it?"
Sitting on the railing of the ship, Karl looked at the upturned face of Shirahoshi and smiled.
"Mhm, mhm..."
Shirahoshi nodded vigorously.
"Up there is the world's largest archipelago, the Sabaody Archipelago, composed of 79 mangrove trees..."
Karl promised Shirahoshi, "For special reasons, we won't be staying at the Sabaody Archipelago for now. After we've toured the first half of the Grand Line, we'll bring you back to have a good time there when we return."
"Mhm, mhm... Don't worry about me. Lord Karl's business is the most important thing."
Shirahoshi once again nodded obediently, her voice gentle and very considerate.
"Such a good girl."
Karl beckoned to Shirahoshi, then patted her head as she leaned closer.
Although his palm, compared to Shirahoshi's head which was bigger than his entire body, was like scratching an itch with a fingernail.
Looking at the young girl with her sapphire-blue eyes squinted, Karl also revealed a gentle smile.
Although it was useless to covet her, raising the world's most beautiful mermaid seemed like a pretty good choice.
A short while later, the large three-masted galleon left the sunlit zone and emerged from the surface of the sea.
Pop!
With the sound of the bubble bursting, Karl's group, after a year, had finally returned to the first half of the Grand Line.
Before entering the Grand Line, he was just an unknown bounty hunter.
Karl had only been able to get on the front page of the World Economic Journal by riding on the coattails of Carina's Barrier-Barrier Fruit and the little dragon.
When he left the first half of the Grand Line and entered the New World, Karl had gone from being the world's number one bounty hunter to a major figure with a first bounty of 1,011,000,000 Berries.
When he returned to the first half of the Grand Line, he was one of the five overlords of the strongest sea.
In just over a year, to go from an unknown nobody to one of the highest peaks in the world.
Karl's achievement was truly one of a kind.
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