For reasons unknown, there is a massive cavern beneath the Red Line. Compared to the Red Line as a whole, this cavern is insignificant.
Yet its interior space is actually vast, and it is an unavoidable route for pirates heading to the New World. Fishman Island lies along this very path.
If it weren’t for the magnetic fields of the Grand Line, it wouldn’t be impossible to bypass Fishman Island altogether.
However, the defining trait of a Log Pose is that it only records the direction of the nearest island with the strongest magnetic field.
Upon reaching each new island, one must remain there for several hours to several days, sometimes even one or two years, before the Log Pose fully charges with magnetism and points to the next island.
And Fishman Island just so happens to be the island with the strongest magnetic pull at this location.
Bypassing Fishman Island means sailing aimlessly across the sea without any guidance from a Log Pose, a danger that is utterly terrifying.
If they fail to stumble upon a new island before their supplies are exhausted, they will be stranded to death on the sea.
For navigators sailing the Grand Line, no matter how bizarre or uncanny the phenomena they encounter, they must place their trust in the Log Pose in their hands.
Unless one possesses an Eternal Pose for a specific island, storing a new record at Fishman Island is the safest option.
“Guys, I suddenly don’t feel like going to the New World anymore…”
“Huh? Why?!”
“Yeah, Boss! We went through so much trouble to get here, wasn’t it all to head for the New World?!”
“I did some calculations on our expenses today… Our goal in going to the New World was to find more treasures, but now I’m thinking, if we go back home, find a mandatory route, and charge tolls there… we might actually make more money.
It’s decided! Let’s find a rich island and become bandits!”
Even though there are still plenty of pirates these days, without Roger spreading the news of ‘One Piece,’ many people aren’t quite as obsessed with the New World.
At least on this day, one pirate crew seemed to have lost its dream.
Every day, there are people who lose their dreams, but the former tax officer of Fishman Island found the door to the New World opened for him. Looking at the skyrocketing revenue from transit taxes, he felt the world was incredibly surreal.
Overnight, the kingdom had changed hands, but that didn’t really matter to him. He was just an employee, after all. Whoever the king was made no difference.
Besides, the new king already had quite a reputation on Fishman Island.
What he had never imagined was that money could come so easily on Fishman Island, as if people would just voluntarily hand it over even when nothing was done.
“What are you daydreaming about? Hurry up and get those bills ready. This is all future funding for the military!”
“Sorry, Princess, I got distracted just now…”
The tax officer shook his head and refocused on the ledger. If there was anything about the current Fishman Island that made him uneasy, it was Nanamo.
This princess didn’t have any particularly cruel hobbies, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that the threat of unemployment had already arrived at his doorstep.
Everything was progressing step by step. With the advantages provided by the ocean, Rachel and her group of combatants were more than enough to handle most situations. So far, even officers like Sebastian had hardly had a chance to take action.
This also conveniently became a period for Nereus to train these new recruits. Not all pirates were willing to honestly pay taxes to pass through. Conflicts broke out from time to time, though most of them took place outside Fishman Island.
Meanwhile, the residents of Fishman Island enjoyed a long-lost peace over the past month or two.
Various infrastructure projects were being rolled out one after another, and some of the idle people in the Fish-Man District finally had proper work to do. Judging from the current situation, Fishman Island had already entered a phase of vigorous development.
At the same time, there were now quite a few prisoners on Fishman Island, most of them pirates who failed to behave themselves while passing through. Seeing that their numbers had grown to a certain extent, Nereus was preparing to cash them in.
“I’m heading to Dressrosa. Anyone want to come with me?”
No matter what, trading these pirates to the World Government for bounties required a broker. Compared to dealing with people from the Underworld, it was better to find someone he already knew.
Because of its geographical location, Dressrosa was quite close to Fishman Island. The Fighting Fish under Nereus’s command had been captured and tamed in the nearby waters.
As for Nereus himself, he was also on fairly good terms with Dressrosa’s current king, Riku Doldo III, sharing a certain degree of personal friendship.
Fishman Island needed defenders, so Nereus left behind Sebastian and the other officers who excelled in underwater combat.
“Dressrosa? I want to go. I already made plans with Scarlett last time.”
In the end, aside from Nanamo, Nereus only brought along a few of his human subordinates, Brook, as well as Amphitrite and Luna.
None of them were Fish-Men or Merfolk, yet they had all chosen to follow Nereus.
Because of that, Nereus didn’t leave them behind on Fishman Island for this trip to the surface. Even though Eve Tree could bring sunlight, the living environment was still vastly different.
Places like Dressrosa and Delta Island, which Nereus frequently visited, were always stocked with Eternal Poses. Combined with the fact that this was just a short trip, there wasn’t much preparation needed, and they soon set off.
By the time they arrived at Dressrosa, however, it was already dusk.
“You all wait here. If you’re interested, you can go ashore and relax a bit. Who knows, you might even meet your true love. Dressrosa is the ‘land of love and passion,’ after all.”
The title “Kingdom of Toys” only came about after Doflamingo arrived and used the Hobby-Hobby Fruit to turn his enemies and part of the population into toys.
But even before Doflamingo’s arrival, Dressrosa, as a tropical island, already had a similar atmosphere.
Nereus, meanwhile, opened his wings and flew toward the King’s Plateau at the center on his own.
Aside from personal matters, he also came here to research issues concerning inter-state communication.
After all, the situation on this sea was quite special. Relations between countries usually depended on the personal ties between their kings.
What Harald had done before was much the same. The countries willing to engage with Elbaf were all ones Harald had won over through his own connections and efforts.
Without Harald’s work, the rampages of some giants abroad would likely have dragged the Giant Kingdom’s reputation down even further. Back then, the Giant Warrior Pirates had brought not heroic legends to the world, but fear.
“Princess Nanamo? Aren’t you coming along? Didn’t you say before we left that you wanted to go play with Princess Scarlett?”
Hermes had already transformed into a flying carpet, waiting for Nanamo to hop on. But when he turned around, he realized Nanamo had no intention of moving.
“I forgot to bring a gift… Wait here, I’ll go take a look in the sea to see if there’s anything good…”
As she spoke, Nanamo jumped straight into the ocean, seemingly planning to look for some local specialties. After all, since everything came from the sea, as long as she didn’t say anything, no one would be able to tell whether it was found in shallow waters or the deep sea.
You can read ahead upto 25 chapters on my patreon and I’ve also activated (date to date) subscription model on my patreon.
Become a Patron!