493. Fish Business

"The Straw Hat Pirates have reached Fishman Island, Captain."

Dela reports the Straw Hat Pirates' progress to Buggy in the Captain's room. They are currently sailing to a newly discovered island that was found by one of their expedition teams. None of them want to miss this opportunity, so they go to the island as fast as possible.

"Hmm, let's stop observing them."

"Pardon?"

"Tell the men to stop following them. I don't want to know what they do from now on, unless they appear on the news. It won't be fun if I know their progress every day. Knowing they can reach Fishman Island is enough for now."

"Understood. But Jinbe has just contacted us. He was asking if Sun Pirates can handle that problem without us. They want to show that they are still strong to their people."

"No problem, just tell him that he can ask our help anytime he needs it. Fishman Island is still our ally, so we will help them anytime they need it."

The problem that Jinbe wants to solve with his crew is a war against another Fishman Pirate crew. It is led by a Tiger Shark Fishman who was a member of Sun Pirates. Buggy has killed Hody Jones in the past, but many Fishmen are still not satisfied with how things go with humans.

Many Fishmen still hate humans and want to conquer the world to enslave humans. They were hiding in the dark and accumulated their force for years. Most of their core members were from Sun Pirates who left when Fisher Tiger joined the Revolutionary Army.

They were very dissatisfied with Tiger who joined hands with humans but couldn't do anything because he was stronger than all of them. Jinbe is also too strong for them, so they hide for years. They finally come out of their hiding now because of the Celestial Dragons' defeat.

It's their greatest chance to get on top while the world is in chaos. But Sun Pirates and Ryugu Kingdom managed to suppress them so far with the help of Clown Pirates' groups. Their war has been dragged on for too long and now it seems Jinbe wants to end this already.

"It's good that Jinbe finally decided to end this. He always wanted to stop the war peacefully, but it was too difficult. Those guys, especially the leaders can't be changed already. I even doubt they actually hate humans. They might just want to rule and they are using their fellow Fishmen's grudge against humans. We can only eradicate them, but Jinbe was too soft because they are his kin and old friends."

"I will tell the ones on New World's 1st islands to get ready to move to Fishman Island anytime then."

"Alright, I doubt they will need to go, but better prepare for the worst scenario."

Dela gives more reports, but they aren't as important as the previous one. So Buggy handles them quickly and focuses on the journey to the new island again. They haven't found an unknown island for a long time, so this is very exciting.

Meanwhile, the Straw Hat Pirates have finally met Sun Pirates on Fishman Island. Luffy and Jinbe have met in the Marineford War, so both crews get closer rather easily. The Sun Pirates guide them exploring Fishman Island together with Caimie & Papag.

When they are in Mermaid Cafe, the royal family suddenly shows up to meet them. Otohime is the most excited because she wants to see Buggy's son & daughter. She has heard about Straw Hat Pirates many times, especially about Leo & Nami because they are Buggy's kids.

Shirahoshi also joins her family as there is no Decken who would disturb her because Buggy killed that guy years ago and took the Flying Dutchman to be used on Clownland. But she is still a shy and cowardly girl, so she hides behind her much smaller mother who can't even cover her nose.

The Sun Pirates and civilian fishmen are surprised by the sudden visit of their royal family. They immediately bow to the royals, but the Straw Hat Pirates don't do anything. Caimie asks them to bow nervously, but Otohime says they don't need to, so it's fine.

"You must be Straw Hat Pirates. Nice to meet you, I have heard a lot about you."

"Who are you guys?"

"Ah, right, let me introduce myself. I am Otohime, Queen of the Ryugu Kingdom. This is my husband, the King Neptune, and they are my children."

Otohime introduces her family excitedly, not giving anyone a chance to interrupt her.

"It seems you want to meet us. Why is that? Do you have some business with us?"

"We actually want to invite you to have a feast in the palace."

Otohime's invitation makes the fishmen's jaws drop while the Straw Hats only think of the food they can eat there.

"Can we bring others?"

"Yes, you can bring your friends if you want."

"Alright, let's go Caimie, Papag, and you guys too."

Luffy invites Caimie, Papag, and the Sun Pirates to join the feast. But obviously, they refuse because joining the royal family's feast is too nerve-wracking for them. They want to, but they are too nervous to actually join, and they are afraid of making mistakes.

Only one person agreed to join, that's Jinbe, who is close to the Royals already. This is also a good chance to talk about his plan, so he decides to join them. They go to the palace immediately under the people's jealous gazes.

Some people are lurking in the dark alley, watching the group leave for the palace. They leave as soon as the Royal Family's ride gets quite far. Their gazes are full of hostility and they seem to be planning something very bad.

Back in the New World, Clown Pirates finally arrive at their destination. The island they are visiting right now is a small island the size of a football field, a true football field that the world knows where people play round ball with their feet, not playing oval ball with their hands. It should be called handballs instead.

Anyway, the crew is exploring the island happily and doing their usual things like collecting local items or making an Eternal Pose. They become very busy with their exploration and Buggy leaves the matter on Fishman Island to the back of his head.

It will be solved anyway, as Sun Pirates have enough power to defeat the enemies. Even if things go wrong, Luffy's power of MC will solve anything. His men are ready to help anytime too, so it will be fine.

Clown Pirates finally finish their exploration after a week. Well, they could finish faster, but they took their time there. It's been a long time since they explored a new island and they haven't had a good rest for a while, that's why they are enjoying this vacation.

After returning to Clownland, Buggy finally gets the report about Fishman Island. The problem has been solved and the opposing Fishman pirate crew has been defeated as well. Buggy doesn't read the details though and only read that Straw Hat Pirates were helping them.

"Why don't you read the details?"

"As I said, I don't want to know how powerful the kids are right now. Knowing they are strong enough to compete in the New World is enough for now. They will eventually come to challenge us if they want their Captain to be the Pirate King. Well, at least Leo will come to challenge me. It will not be fun if I know their power well enough before that time comes."

"Hmm, do you want me to stop reporting about them then?"

"No, keep telling me where they are and what they do. But no need for details, just general situations. They might appear on the news once in a while anyway, so I'll hear about them even if I don't want to."

"Understood. Then I'll move to the next report, it's about Elbaf. They want us to negotiate with The Charlotte Pirates again about Lola and Loki."

"Tsk, I've told them many times that Lola doesn't want it and we won't force her. Seems like that damn Giant Prince still wants to get her. Tell them I'll flatten their country if their prince doesn't stop bothering me about this. I'll erase them from the map even if Magnus begs me to stop. Charlotte Pirates are my people, so that includes Lola who has returned because of Katakuri."

That's right, Lola has returned to her family now with her idiot crew members. Katakuri has unified their family again after Linlin's death. It wasn't easy though because most of the Charlottes were following their mother's principles deeply, so it took a while for Katakuri to change them.

He needed to clean up their force too because Linlin's influence was deep. He even did something rather extreme as he killed Streusen because he knew Streusen was the one who influenced his mother a lot, just like Mother Caramel.

Katakuri could only take Lola after everyone else changed for the better. Their changes also make Charlotte Pirates stronger now because they become more solid. They are not unified by fear again now, but real love for each other as siblings.

Also, something odd actually happened because of those changes. Smoothie actually accepted Enel's advance after years, so now they are a couple. He finally succeeds after chasing her for years. Well, being on the same side also helps because they were enemies in the past, so she would never accept him before.

Another couple was also formed after that between Clown & Charlotte Pirates. Buggy never even expected this, but Pudding actually became Maverick's lover. Their age gap is quite big, but it's normal in this world.

Though Buggy would still beat Maverick to a pulp if he makes a move on Pudding before she turns 20. He almost beat him up too for being a couple with a 16 y.o girl. Maverick was saved because it was Pudding who loved him first and she actually cried when asking him out, so he was forced to accept her.

Well, no one can blame her for falling for Maverick despite the age gap. She is a half 3-eyed tribe while Maverick is a pure one. He is the only one here who can understand her who is seen as a freak by many people, even some of her siblings, and also her late mother.

Maverick took care of her and comforted her every time she was down. So no wonder she fell in love with him. Katakuri is actually glad that she can find someone she can depend on because he can't be that person. He loves his siblings equally, but that's also the reason he can't treat Pudding specially.

That also applies to his other siblings. But he actually feels that things kept getting better for them siblings since their mother's death. They become closer and their bonds are real now. They feel happier even though their overall crew power has reduced a lot because of Big Mom's death.

But well, following the Clown Pirates isn't bad at all as they actually get a lot of benefits. They find themselves getting stronger at a much faster pace than before and they find a lot of new things they never knew. All in all, they feel happier now than when their mother was alive.

Buggy doesn't know that they think that highly of him and his crew, but he doesn't care. As long as they are still on his side, then he will help them. But he won't show mercy to his enemies, especially the ones that really annoy him.

"That flamingo is stirring up things again even after I warned him so many times. Dela, contact Law and tell him that he can start his plan to take Doflamingo down. We will give him anything he needs for his plan. I will break that bird's legs for real now."

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I've uploaded Chapter 531. Buggy & Red Hairs

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