232 A hunt for Ancient weapons (2/4)

Once they had reached the island, Ian had Libell stop the ship before he addressed the crew.

"Alright, we are here. You guys can go stroll around or buy clothes and stuff if you want, meanwhile I'll go see the royal family." Ian told them.

Although he was mainly here for the ancient weapon, or rather for the mermaid princess, he still won't waste this chance at seeing this beautiful island.

Plus… Ian turned to look at Don who was emotionally looking around. The guy had been held most of his life and now he was back in his homeland…

"Go deal with your stuff." Ian patted him on the shoulder.

Don looked at him gratefully and smiled before he jumped off the ship. His emotions alternating between being excited and nervous.

'I have to visit mom first… Hopefully, nothing bad happened to her…' This was the thought he had.

Aokiji was his close friend, but he knew this wasn't the correct time to accompany him so he left him to go alone, and he himself jumped off the ship just strolling casually.

"I'll go restock our food supplies." Bert excitedly announced as he jumped off the ship. He didn't wait for Ian to reply and went ahead.

He was excited about all the various types of food that will be available. After all, this was Fishman Island.

Ian shook his head as he smiled helplessly.

"We'll go shopping around big bro," Stella yelled having jumped off the ship and landed already. By her side, she held the hands of Akemi and Reiju.

"Have fun." Ian nodded at them.

They had plenty of money for shopping, and they were girls, there was no way they wouldn't buy new clothes on every island they visit. So he gave them his blessing.

This left Elene and Robin.

Ian looked at them.

"You want to come with me?" He asked them with a small smile.

And they nodded.

"Yes, I want to see the princess with my own eyes," Robin said.

Meanwhile, Elene replied with:

"I just want to go with you." She said as she held his hand.

"Well then let's go see the little princess." Ian nodded.

He smiled at them and started leading the way.

If he remembered correctly, the princess had some trouble with a certain person. But Luffy who passed through here must have fixed that already.

So he only needed to convince the princess and her father for her to join him.

****

The Ryugu Palace. Ian went directly to this place where the royal family would be.

The moment he reached the place, the gates opened and three princes met him.

This was natural for Ian.

After all, this was their country, and they would know when someone like Ian had come to visit them.

They greeted him.

"Yonko, Ian D. Louis. Welcome to Fishman Island." Fukaboshi the eldest son of King Neptune greeted with a small incline of his head.

His two brothers, Ryuboshi, and Manboshi followed after him.

Ian waved his hand.

"There is no need for this, just call me Ian," Ian said.

"This here is Elene, and this is Robin. They are my lovers and crewmembers." Ian introduced them.

The princes nodded at Ian with small smiles.

"The old man Whitebeard talked about you when he was last here. It is good to see that what he had said was correct." Whitebeard did say that Ian was polite and humble back then.

Ian laughed.

"Haha, that damn old man…" Ian said. It was almost like he was treating him as one of his sons…

Not that Ian minded.

"Come, Ian. I'll lead you to our royal father. He is expecting you." Fukaboshi smiled and said.

He then started to lead Ian towards the inside of the place.

A few minutes later, the guards opened a gate, and Ian found king Neptune along with his daughter Shirahoshi, waiting for him.

There was a table full of dishes already served.

The king pointed at it before he spoke.

"Come join us young Ian. We have various foods you must try." He invited him warmly.

It was not like Ian didn't understand what was happening.

They were trying to gain his favor.

After all, he had proved time and time again that he was as strong as the old man Whitebeard if not even stronger.

His feats were various. From the war all the way to how he had destroyed the big mom pirates.

But Ian was not going to mind. He always enjoyed good food.

"Don't mind if I do." He said before he took a seat.

Elene and Robin did the same.

When they started to eat, King Neptune then asked.

"So what brings you here young Ian?" He said as he was munching on food.

Ian took a deep breath before he looked at the princess. Her aura since a while ago was behaving oddly, twisting and turning like a wave of the sea, as if something great was about to happen. Ian decided to wait and see.

King Neptune took that as something else and abruptly stood up.

"No." He said.

"What?" Ian asked perplexed. He did not even ask yet.

"No. you cannot marry my daughter." King Neptune said with an undertone of warning. Even if he wanted to remain on Ian's good side, if it meant he should sacrifice his daughter then he refuses to do that.

The three princes tensed up, and Shirahoshi herself blushed a bit. She was a bit older now, and understood things.

Ian waved his hands hurriedly.

"You are mistaken. I'm not here to marry her, old man." He explained.

The king took a few seconds to watch Ian before he concluded that he was not lying and sat back.

"I'm sorry, I jumped to wrong conclusions." He apologized.

Ian didn't mind and continued on.

"I need her help. I want her to join me in my journey!" Ian said.

King Neptune once again got up and yelled this time.

"Impossible. There is no way I would let that happen." He said. She was still young, she can't even protect herself.

But Ian calmly looked at him.

"With all due respect, even though you are her father, she is a person with her own choices. I would like to ask her, not you." He retorted.

"You…"

The king was appalled, but Ian had a point. So after a bit of internal battling with himself, he looked at his daughter silently.

His sons jumped in anger.

"Don't talk to royal father like that. Even if you are a Yonko that doesn't gi-" Fukaboshi was still talking when his father interrupted him.

"He is right. It is up to Shirahoshi to decide this. She has grown up now, and can have her own choices." He patiently said.

Shirahoshi felt warm at this.

But before she could reply, all of a sudden she started to glow in a deep blue light.

She then heard a deep voice speak in her mind. Not just in her mind, all of them there were able to hear this voice.

"Apologies child, I will use you as a medium to speak with the chosen one." The voice said.

Ian had never heard this voice before. It was not like the other voice from before.

The voice continued on.

"I don't have a lot of time so I will be quick. I can' speak directly to you as my old friend can, but, fortunately, you met the bearer of Poseidon's will. You are worthy Ian D. Louis, and henceforth shall also be a bearer of the same will and power. The time for our meeting is nearing, be patient.

As for you my child, your powers have fully awakened, and rest assured they will not vanish. Use them well!" the voice left them no time to react. It said what it wanted then vanished.

And with that, the deep blue light surrounding her form jumped towards Ian and sank into him.

After which Ian felt a new connection establish between him and a huge number of strong auras surrounding their place. They should be sea kings.

The rest watched what happened with various degrees of shock.

"Did I just become Poseidon?" Ian wondered out loud.