Chapter 71
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Chapter 71: The Fish-Men Island Finally Sees the Light of Day! Millions of Mermaids Cry!
"Including Shirahoshi?" Kaido asked flatly.
"Will you hurt her?" Neptune inquired, his look complex.
"As long as she can obey my orders and play her due role," Kaido replied coldly.
"I will persuade her," Neptune said, showing a hint of helplessness before adding, "But in the last ten years, there have been attempts on Shirahoshi's life, so I had to protect her in the tower..."
"I know, you don't need to worry about that anymore," Kaido nodded, reassuringly.
"But..." Neptune began, unsure of why Kaido was so confident.
Suddenly, there was a commotion outside the Dragon Palace. Shouts filled the air:
"Black dragon!"
"He killed two fish-men!"
"Escape!"
Neptune quickly stood up, gripping his mace tightly, and looked toward the door. "What's happening outside?!" he demanded from those nearby.
The gate burst open with a loud bang, and two bloody bodies were thrown onto the 'nine eighty-seven' board on the ground. They rolled a few times, leaving long blood streaks before coming to rest at Kaido's feet.
A huge dragon head peeked through the doorway, golden vertical pupils scanning the room, pausing as they fixed on Kaido's calm figure, and blinked. The dragon then positioned its body and tail at the door before flying into mid-air above the palace.
"When did you get out?" mumbled Yamato, who was eating meat, chewing thoughtfully.
Neptune, still on his feet, was shocked at the scene in front of him. A dragon! Two mysterious deaths! And his lord had not noticed any of this covert action.
Kaido glanced at the two corpses before him without looking at Neptune. "Vander Decken, Hody Jones," he said unemotionally. "One posed a threat to Shirahoshi, and the other was Otohime's murderer. I've taken care of them for you."
Neptune's expression twitched in disbelief. Vander Decken IX, who had evaded them for a decade, was now just a corpse, and Hody Jones was Otohime's murderer? But hadn't he blamed humans?
Turning the body over with a trident, Neptune discovered a large number of capsules in its mouth. "Murder medicine?!" he gasped. Regardless of the truth of Otohime's murder, Hody clearly had malicious intentions. Neptune chose to trust Kaido; there seemed no reason for Kaido to deceive him.
Neptune sighed, disheartened by the revelation that Otohime had died by the hands of one their own. "The guilty are already dead. I'm going to bring the Fish-Men Island to the surface today. What do you think?" Kaido asked, squinting at Neptune.
"Today? So soon... I..." Neptune began, panic rising. He hadn't prepared for this, and neither had his citizens.
"If it's not a problem, it will be today. You have two hours to sort out any issues among the people," Kaido said, turning to the mermaid at his side, Neptune's eldest son, Shark Star, and instructed him to call Jinbei.
"Uh... This," Shark Star began, looking to Neptune for guidance.
Neptune nodded at his son, then showed respect to Kaido with a slight bow. He then hurriedly took a large group of people to inform the citizens about this sudden development, whether good or bad.
Hours later, Fish-Men Island shook violently. The super-atmospheric cover surrounding the island began to peel away layer by layer, and the sea washed away bubbles as small as particles.
The fish people standing on the island seemed unsteady on their feet, with many collapsing to the ground.
The buildings on the island appeared to have been struck by an earthquake, with bits of rubble falling from the ceilings.
Shyarly, the female soothsayer, gazed silently at the crystal ball before her, her eyes brimming with worry.
"Has it started?!" someone exclaimed.
"It feels like an earthquake..."
"Is the island really moving?"
"Look at the sky!"
"The sun is moving!!!"
People were shocked by the sudden changes across the island. The sun in the sky, created by the Sunshine Tree Eve, was shifting in an unprecedented manner. However, the people soon realized that it wasn't the sun moving but the entire island itself.
Above the Dragon Palace, a green dragon and a black dragon floated side by side, their claws posed in the air as they stared into the dark sea. Below the island, countless flame clouds of various sizes appeared, layering one above another and making the island seem even larger from the outside.
Moving slowly between the bottom of the Sunshine Tree and the seafloor, one wrong move could burst the bubble that sheltered Fishman Island, exposing its five million inhabitants to the deep sea. But luckily, Kaido and Bahano's steady efforts were gradually moving the island out of the underwater currents.
The light emitted by the Sunshine Tree grew fainter in the eyes of the onlookers until it vanished completely. The entire island sank into total darkness, devoid of light in the deep sea.
Fear of the dark incited panic among the island's residents.
"We're going to be fine, right?"
"I'm not sure... Huh?"
"I hope that Princess Otohime's spirit in heaven will guide us safely to the surface."
"Princess Otohime didn't want pirates' help! Don't you remember how she died?"
"Stay calm, we're about to see the real sun!"
"I just wonder if it's good or bad to be exposed to the human world..."
"Isn't this what we've longed for?!"
"If humans dare to bully us again, we'll join Kaido-sama and wage war!"
Amidst the noise, Kaido moved the island quickly; faster than he could manage alone. Soon, the dark sea began to lighten, shifting from pitch black to a visibility where neighbor's faces were recognisable, until the water turned a clear blue.
The water above became transparent, revealing shafts of light piercing through from above. Countless fish people and mermaids emerged, gazing skyward, their faces illuminated by sunlight.
With a loud splash, Fishman Island rose from the ocean depths! Huge waves parted around the emerging island.
"Ah..."
The island surfaced completely, and the bubbles that had enveloped it for millennia burst away. The sky cleared, and the sun shone warmly upon everyone. The air on the island mixed with the fresh breeze, becoming crisper.
Tears streamed down many faces as they touched their cheeks, feeling the sun's warmth and inhaling the sweet air.
"Ah! This is the sun!"
"We are finally at the sea's surface!"
"No more living in the dark depths!"
"Phew... This is the day Queen Otohime wished to see."
"From now on, fish people need not live under a false sun..."
"The dream of the Fishman people for thousands of years... has finally come true! Woohoo!"
"Truly... Thank you so much, Kaido-sama!"