Chapter 181: The next step

Dialogue "sample"

Thoughts 'sample'

Author notes -sample-

Disclaimer: One Piece and all of its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda.

Chapter 181: The next step

Vivi stood up from the table and walked to the window, there wasn't much to see, rocky ground, small houses made of some sort of mud or clay, and clear water ahead of her.

"Let's find them…"

Vivi's eyes started to shine as she focused her powers on enhancing her observation haki to its limits.

Suddenly, she was able to feel every single living being in the entire Fishman Island, no one could escape her notice.

She was able to quickly find out the location of every single one of his friends, they were separated but alive.

She breathed in relief.

'They are fine….'

She wanted to meet them right away since she knew they would be worried about her, but there were some things she had to do first.

"Huh?, what's that?"

Vivi felt a big group of auras coming from above, which she found strange.

When she looked up, she saw a gigantic ship placed in a prepared bubble right above the one from the island.

"That's the Noah. Impressive, isn't it?" Bell saw Vivi looking up and assume she was asking about the ship.

"Yes, is very impressive. To build something of that size…I'm sure my friend Frankly will love to see it up close"

"You can't go there!" Warned the old lady with a grave expression.

"When I was little, my dad promised to take me there one day…but that's impossible now. " Said the mermaid with a sad face.

"How so?, I can tell there are people up there" Said Vivi.

"That's the Headquarters of the new Fishmen Pirates. Not even the royal guard dares to venture there anymore" Said the grandma.

"It's all his fault, Hody Jones and his crew!" Bell shouted.

"Shush, child!. What if someone heard you?"

"Tell me about those pirates. " Requested Vivi.

"They have been around for a while but became a lot more brazen after the news about Whitebeard passing got here…this island used to be under his authority and protection." Explained the grandma.

" They are more than brazen! they are bullies, asking for money all the time and they also took my brother!. " Bell spat the words with rage.

"What do you mean, they kidnapped him?" Asked Vivi.

The grandma sighed.

"No…they recruited him for their crew. "

" He only did it to protect me…they implied that they would take me instead if he refused…" Bell lowered her head in shame.

The grandma walked to the window and looked up.

"They claim to be doing it for the sake of all Fishman. Hody Jones probably thinks of himself as another Fisher Tiger, but they are not much worse than all those humans who attack us and treat us like property."

"I see… I think I understand the situation."

Vivi looked at the young mermaid.

"You saved my life. I will do one thing for you in return. Ask me anything you want."

"Anything I want?... I only saved you because it was the right thing to do, you don't need to do anything for me."

The kind mermaid answered with a smile.

"No offense girl…but what could you do anyways?. I advise you to go find your crew and leave this place as fast as possible if you value your lives" Said the old mermaid.

'I feel like I'm being a bit underestimated…' Vivi thought.

'I guess I don't look like much of a fighter I can't blame them

She looked down at her attire. Boots, short pants, and a simple black top.

"Wait" The young mermaid seemed to have an idea.

"Maybe she could deliver a message to Master Jimbei."

'So Jimbei is here after all.' Vivi though.

"True, if anyone can do something for it would be him…" The old one said.

"I'll go write a message for him. Can you deliver it? Master Jimbei, is usually at the 'Sea Forest' northeast of the island."

Vivi smiled at her.

"Sure, I'll deliver that message for you…wait."

She turned to look out the window.

"There is a group of people approaching….humans."

Bell looked outside and saw them too.

"Is the same humans that came the other day…" The mermaid had a frightened look on her face.

"Again?!" The old lady frowned.

"Stay hidden, girl. Don't let them see you." She told Vivi.

"Bell, stay behind me, I'll talk to them."

Vivi gave one last glance out of the window before moving, she recognize the man walking in the front of the group and already had an idea of how this encounter was going to end.

The old lady gave Vivi one last reminder to stay hidden before opening the door and walking outside, the Bell following behind.

"Brother, brother" The big man with green hair called.

"Can I have the mermaid this time?"

"Coribou, I already told you, we can't create trouble with those freshman pirates until we are ready to leave. Then we'll take all the mermaids you want with us" Caribou smiled with cruelty and his other three crew mates laughed.

They were the only survivors of his crew, everyone else was killed by Hody Jones and his fishmen during their confrontation before Caribou decided it was better to surrender and join them, at least until they had an opportunity to escape.

He turned his gaze towards the house as the old mermaid and her granddaughter were coming outside.

"You know why we are here. The Fishman Pirates require the cooperation of every citizen of this island in exchange for our protection" Caribou threatened.

'Protection from who…you are the only ones robbing us.' The old lady wanted to shout but knew better.

A.N: - Remember to comment, vote and/or leave a review if you have the time. Those things help me a lot and I would really appreciate it.

You can Support me on P@treon if you like and get 10 advanced chapters.

-patreon.com/Kriogenix