Chapter 11 - Ryugu Kingdom Trouble (Part 8)

As Luffy continued to deal with the massive continental ship falling. Otohime was struggling against Hody in her battle. The power drug was a marvelous product that could increase the power of the Fishman that used it. And Hody had consumed alot by now. He should have been dead but was moving by will alone. In another section, the injured Vander Decken was mounting his final attack towards the princess, and now.

Otohime blocked another attack.

Hody didn't give her enough time to transform her feet back into a tail. He returned, gathering a bit of distance, and swam, closing the distance, yet he was aiming for Shirahoshi.

Otohime cut his path and slashed his abdomen in half, making his internal bleeding escape from his stomach.

The monster tried to pierce her with his own trident, she dodged, however in the process she was punched hard in the neck.

Both fell, floating underwater as Otohime moved her neck, it was a terrible dark bruise. She cried, making bubbles in the water, her hands reached her neck, and started scratching the bruise reflexively, making her scream in pain.

"Mom!"

Shirahoshi cried out. She tried to go help her, however, she was stopped by her mom's voice.

"Don't come near! Shirahoshi, he's still alive."

Otohime stopped the scratching and stopped screaming. However her tears still fell, it was unbelievably painful.

Shirahoshi felt useless.

The ship was falling, and she couldn't help anybody, she was just a burden to her mother as she defended her from Jones.

"Damn...You."

Hody managed to sport himself, he held his stomach as water rushed into the wounds. His head was now bleeding, courtesy of the rubble he had on his body earlier when he fought Luffy.

He grasped his strongly this time.

gazing at the black trident being held by Otohime, full of corrupted tentacles. If he wanted to kill the most troublesome person for his plans, Shirahoshi, then he needed to kill Otohime first.

However, she was very stubborn, and even after having eaten so many power pills she still equaled him in power. In the recess of his insane mind, Hody rejoiced that they had the vision to steal and mass-produce the pills. Because if he were his normal self then he couldn't beat Otohime or the Straw Hat.

Hody roared and charged.

His mouth opened like a lamprey as she focused on him, however this time he cartwheeled using the blade fin as a weapon was able to finally parry her spear.

However, the tentacles on her weapon just stabbed him and sent even more corruption into Hody.

He went for a kick yet she met him with one as well, however, hers were coated in a metallic substance that he'd seen the Straw Hat use.

"Die! Why don't you die! It's for the future of your people you bitch!"

"I am the provider of guidance and benevolence for my people. I cannot die here, I have to guide them towards a better future, one without hatred!"

Both clashed their opinions again as Otohime managed to push the hulking monster back.

She rushed him and hit his head with the handle of the spear. She went to slash his throat, yet he managed to block the trident with his pillar thick forearms...

He roared right in her face and went to bite off her head, she flipped and hit him with a haki uppercut with her leg instead of her punch. It concussed him and she went for a kick drop right into his chest, collapsing his left lung and ribs.

The kick with both legs dragged both bodies into the Ark of Promise, Noah.

XOX

20 years ago.

"Noah's mission?"

Neptune's voice resounded in the throne room.

Otohime asked her husband what the purpose of the ship was.

She was a bratty 12-year-old, in her hands was a giant bundle.

It was her first son.

Otohime had short golden hair a frowny face, a small body, and rebel blue eyes. She wore trendy clothes instead of the more expensive ones she was supposed to wear. Yes, she was the definition of bratty.

"Listen well, the ark is no mere historical monument. It sits on the floor of the ocean, waiting to fulfill a promise… I don't know what that promise might be however, I know that it was made by a great man in the past."

"Great man?" Otohime asked, confused.

"Hmmm, I don't know the full story since I wasn't paying much attention back then…"

It was a mystery passed down from generation to generation in the Royal family of Ryugu. It was a mystery perhaps more fantastic than Poseidon…But Otohime already knew the story of Poseidon, intimately.

It was a ship that had yet to fulfill its purpose. Even the methods of constructing it were long lost. And because of its massive importance to the world. Noah was to be protected by the Royal family for generations upon generations of Kings and Queens and the ark could not be harmed. Until it one day fulfills its promise.

Otohime looked down at her son, she cooed as Fukaboshi tried to reach her with his pudgy cute hands. An action contrasting her rebellious nature, which made Neptune chuckle in his mind.

"That story, it needs to be passed down. if I cannot do it, then you must bear the responsibility to teach our future children. My wife."

"Hmmm….We shall see Neptune…"

She dismissed herself from the room without her husband's permission. Neptune sighed, putting up with her attitude at her age was tiresome.

XOX

Present Time

"—Come in, hurry!"

Three men, soldiers of Neptune's army. Proudly named in memory of their greatest General and King, entered the cramped bunker outside of the Kingdom. Near one of the roots of the mangrove, they started the engines to produce a bubble big enough to envelop the ship and hopefully stop the massive ship.

"—We will shoot out all the air in the tank into a bubble, quick!"

They started using the complicated panels as fast as they could. As a bubble formed in the cannon turret it was rapidly filled with air from the reservoir.

"—It needs to be big so it can envelop Noah!"

A man said, opening the valves on the upper layer.

"—Damn! The bubble has no buoyancy here."

Another man said, looking at the display, he put his hands on the handle to control the aim of the turret.

The air could not lift Noah, the ship would continue falling down. But it wasn't causing despair yet.

"—But it will slow down the ship a lot!" The man controlling the target said.

"—So, we can't do anything but believe the Straw hat and our Queen?"

"—Yes…We must follow our orders, the crown prince put his faith in us!"

"—Monkey D. Luffy, Fishman Island is in your hands!"

All of them screamed Luffy's name, and the three grasped the handle and aimed with their hearts at the ship.

XOX

The Straw Hats all sat on the ship, as they watched the soldiers wrap up the confusion in the plaza. They carried off thousands of resigned criminals to the flying ships.

"Now we only gotta wait for Luffy to wrap things up," Usopp stated, pulling a card from the deck.

"Yeah"

Nami said, her smile joyous as she smelled victory. The group played a card game while waiting, of course betting on money, after all, they were pirates.

And of course, the only one to actually win and rack up debts from her crewmates was Nami herself.

Sora and Chopper, as well as Robin, didn't participate, they just watched as Sora served up desserts for all the women. Zoro nonchalantly asked for his sake and Sora just yelled at his face to get it himself.

XOX

Otohime launched him into the deck, and finally, she could transform back her legs into a tail. Everyone here couldn't hear Fukaboshi's voice, nor Luffy's voice. It was just too far away to hear, even from the speakers.

She was floating above the ark of the promise, as Hody, tired of being thrown back, flipped in mid-air, blocking the momentum of her kick expertly.

Hody landed on the wooden floor cracking it with his massive naked feet and crushed the floor of the deck with his fist. He held his hand sunk into the thick wood of the Noah. He grasped the ship to stop the momentum from Otohime's cruel kick.

He vomited blood as his left lung was reduced to paste by her attack, blood didn't stop coming out of his orifices.

He took the knit sack that contained the rest of his drugs and binge ate them through the crimson liquid, being careful not to choke on his own fluids, it was disgusting but...

This was all so he wouldn't die, he needed to keep going!

His thoughts were jumbled, as his body couldn't hold any longer. His insanity made him crumble mentally.

Nonono, I need. I need need needneedneedneed. killneedneedneedneedneed kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill Humans, trashtrashtrash! Whywhywhywhy? Traitors, Humans, Fishman need killingkillingkillingkillingkilling, why no kill? Humans badworseterribleevil, evil evil!

"O…..T….o….h….i….mmmm…..eeee!"

His last words were spoken…

Otohime just looked at him with her eyes focused, her mouth opened showing her teeth. Her posture was harsh, her body suffered terrible injuries and yet, this was going to be the last strike…

However, Otohime's plan wasn't to be…

Hody's last mistake of his story was…

… Holding the ship for dear life.

In that instant as Otohime was going for the final blow, an incredible force was felt. It displaced reality itself from her perspective. The ship was completely thrown away to the side. Like a little toy.

A force so great to move such a weight in these incredible depths. She couldn't believe her eyes as she stayed in place before being blown back by the whiplash of the waves and currents formed.

She held an eye open as she viewed that Hody still held onto the ship. And was consequently moved away with the continental ark. Her daughter was right behind her, also scared out of her mind as the ship moved to the side.

Both looked on stunned as the waters settled.

XOX

A few moments back, on the bottom of Noah.

"I will definitely save it!"

Luffy closed the call, and put the snail back into his pocket, he put both hands into the hull of the ship, he was tired of holding the entire thing on his own. He flexed his muscles, crashing the water molecules as his powerful and terrible strength manifested.

He sunk his hands into the hardwood, grasping the entire ship, the ship the size of a country itself. Luffy pulled it hard to the side, he then threw the ship aside like one would throw a box in anger.

Luffy aimed his throw right at the bubble that veered off the path. The ship broke the water causing shockwaves and low noises that were felt across the ocean floor.

The Ark moved, no longer being in course to hit with the island. The ship itself blended with the empty island-sized bubble veering off course.

Luffy focused on the ship and Hody who was on it, he put his hands on his back. His palms started heating up as plasma formed in his palm, utilizing the heat of his lighting.

He heated the water with it, rotating it, forming two whirlpools as he propelled forward at unimaginable speeds. It was the best way to use his lightning to make him move 10 km underwater…

Luffy moved with two formed typhoons behind him.

A few moments before Noah was thrown.

As for the rest of the people in the Kingdom, they stopped evacuating. True the news of a colossal vessel falling on your nation might be scary. Still, they stopped running.

The princess chose to guide it away. Their Queen relinquished everything to guard them, their Prince's speech. And Luffy being viewed as the savior of their people.

They chose to stay, despite the fears, despite their terrors, they chose to believe in the man donning a straw hat.

And at that moment they looked up in the sky, the ship moved. The Ark, half the size of their country was thrust to the side, no longer it would fall on top of them. No longer they would have to fear for their lives, the emotions heightened, as tears began to drop.

"—THANK YOU! MONKEY D. LUFFY!"

All of them yelled their gratitude as the kingdom celebrated, they were saved...

XOX

"..." Vander opened his black eyes, he crawled in a lower room of the continental ship, he could still move, he wouldn't die so easily. Otohime might have thought that she won, but he would never give up. Hody would also pay dearly for betraying him, how dare the bastard try to fight him when he was so close to killing Shirahoshi.

He crawled and crawled until he reached two of his special made axes, ones that would actually hurt Shirahoshi and kill her. He touched them with his right hand. Passing all of his malice, bitterness, rage, venom, and hatred. All of his obsession and ambition of his family into those battle-axes.

The mental drive to kill was strong, the power behind him given by the pill was such that the axes turned into a spotless black. Accidentally giving those weapons armament Haki, a thing he never used or trained in, it was a product of fate or perhaps coincidence.

Vander could only smirk maniacally.

"...Shi...ra...ho...shi…"

He said after regaining what little sanity he had. The power drug clouding his mind gave a bit of breathing room, as the weapons floated because of his power, aimed at the princess, he laughed.

It was time to end her life.

However at that moment, he was thrown to the wall, breaking it and exposing him to the sea, nothing to protect him. He lost his body, he couldn't move very well. Even so, his two armament-coated Haki battle-axes still were thrown by him, and would reach Shirahoshi and kill her.

However…

He wasn't done, he picked up a dagger, black shine dripping through the metal, coating it with his will.

He threw the poisoned dagger, however this time, he caught it in mid-air, the throw still held its speed, even while he was being dragged by that piece of metal.

The dagger still tracked Shirahoshi even if Vander was holding it. The dagger dragged him forward even beneath the sea. He only focused on surviving and controlling his body, he couldn't swim, but he was still a Fishman. He could still breathe underwater.

This was someone driven to do something even if it kills them, he could not swim, yet even then, that did not bother him at all, he was single-minded in his pursuit.

To kill his beloved… Ryugu Shirahoshi.

XOX

"Luffy-sama…."

Shirahoshi saw everything Luffy did, she saw him propelling towards Noah so he could face Hody on the deck of the ship. However, the unthinkable happened.

Hody got up again picked up his red spear with his only left-over arm and charged out of the bubble, screaming and roaring in preparation for battle.

Luffy traveled forward, not caring about meeting Hody in the middle of the sea.

"Luffy-sama!" Shirahoshi cried in desperation, not seeing Luffy doing anything to dodge the spear.

"..." Hody thought nothing, he couldn't be conscious anymore. He was just a puppet, a marionette, driven by a single resolution, to kill all the traitors of his race and to kill all the humans.

They converged in the heart of the sea.

Luffy did nothing to block the strike. Hody with incredible strength still left in his hulking body, impaled his spear through Luffy's left chest. Although the ramming speed wasn't able to drag Luffy with him.

In fact, all momentum was stopped as a sea of blood came out of Luffy's wound. His lung, and heart burst like a balloon full of water, deep under the sea, weakened by the water, he couldn't use Haki at all.

So even if a normal strike wouldn't hurt him on land. Here in the depths, a massive blow from an enhanced Hody, that his Haki could normally block, was different when water enveloped his body. Weakening his defenses…

Shirahoshi and Otohime seeing the man they fell for receiving a fatal blow made them cry. The most affected was Shirahoshi…

Why did the world want to take her beloved from her?

Why? She did nothing wrong, why take his life, why?

However… Luffy wasn't dead...

A flicker of hope came when Luffy confidently grasped Hody's only remaining arm with his hand. Luffy gave a smirk, his eyes were burning in excitement, he had his heart shattered, yet he was still alive. Still never near death.

The smirk he gave off and the confident stare was perceived by all parties for only a second. Before Luffy twisted both him and Hody and drove both of them to the bubble enveloping the ship…

Before passing the bubble, Luffy deactivated the power over exponentials.

If he suddenly passed from water to land with the strength to fuse atoms it would be bad news for the world around him.

Both fell into the deck of the ship full of air, all strength Luffy had on land returned in an instant. His Haki returned, his powers returned, his normal physical prowess finally came back, he could feel it.

Because he increased his power over exponentials and its theoretical limit by a lot. His natural body received a large, perpetual boost, nevertheless, they were trivial compared to the true trait of his natural body.

The spear who was still lodged in his chest broke apart, the sharp tongues that were sticking out of his back broke and fell off. The handle itself cracked and with incredible force was ripped off, revealing the hole in his chest that pierced his heart. A part of the metal was still inside as the wounds closed instantaneously. The lungs and heart reformed themselves in a matter of seconds. The gory pieces of his ribs, old heart, and lungs were cannibalized by his natural processes. And his incredible body broke down and metabolized every piece of metal still inside.

Yes, it wasn't his incredible physical prowess, nor his speed, nor his height, the true trait of his body was the high-speed regeneration he had.

It could be called almost instantaneous in fact, it was what enabled him to survive eating two devil fruits. This regeneration appeared after the war of the best.

He couldn't pinpoint when it appeared, but it definitely appeared before Rayleigh's training. He could see it's early traits when he invaded Marineford the second time to give out his message.

"It's time to finally finish this, Hody... Jones…"

Luffy slightly frowned at the hulking monstrosity, while pronouncing the name, with his deep voice.

XOX

Right after Luffy threw the ship…

Seeing Luffy hurt scared Shirahoshi, she wouldn't know what to do if Luffy died. She just got out of her isolation, being hurt for years and years, supporting this unbearable weight on her shoulders.

However a vortex of bubbles made its way to her ears, she turned to look down, where Noah was previously, and two pure black axes rotated towards her. She gasped and tried to get out of the way, however, they were too fast and were about to reach her chest when…

A body blocked Shirahoshi's view of both axes.

Blood spread through the ocean as Shirahoshi's eyes widened, the seconds stalled as she saw blonde, golden hair being marred by blood.

the two axes carved their blades and stopped, they carved through the tiny waist of the golden-haired woman. Stopping midway but nonetheless, the damage was done, the woman couldn't block both axes with her trident in time.

So instead, the golden-haired beauty used her own body to protect her child.

Shirahoshi's tears started to fall as the golden-haired mermaid limped.

Shirahoshi's giant yet soft hands enveloped the smaller golden mermaid. As the axes detached from the woman's waist, they sank into the depths of the black sea, as a cloud of red stained the water around them.

"W...why?! Mo—Mo—Mother!" Shirahoshi screamed as her hands trembled, holding the body of her mother.

Why did she protect me…?

Shirahoshi's thoughts came to mind, as she held her mother… again she held her mother, just like ten years ago. Again her hands knew the feeling of her mother's blood, again she had to experience this unbridled despair that clouded her heart.

"Wh—Why?"

She wasn't worth protecting, her life, she had done nothing over the course of her life, her mother was more important than her.

Her mother was the Queen she ruled over everybody in Fishman isle. She was the one who mounted rescue operations, search-and-destroy missions from slave trades. She negotiated with pirates for their protection. In contrast, she, Shirahoshi just spend all of her days locked up in the tower, doing nothing…

"Sh—Shirahoshi… Ar—Are you alright?!"

Otohime said, coughing blood, laying limply at her daughter's hands, Shirahoshi, stared down crying.

"Yo—You're alive! You're alive!"

The princess said murmuring low as more tears fell, she started sobbing and crying in earnest. Yet Shirahoshi controlled herself, she couldn't activate her terrible power, or others would pay the price and she didn't want that.

"I—I'm not going to die from this...However, I—I can't move, th—the p-pain is too much, I'm about to pa—pass out!"

Otohime said, gulping down the blood that accumulated in her mouth.

Shirahoshi looked down at her hands, finally seeing two massive gashes on both sides of her mother's waist. It was so bad that she could see her mother's red, bloody muscles from the cuts, it was a wonder that her organs didn't just spill out.

Shirahoshi wasn't worth protecting, that's what she told herself.

Her mother abandoned her to a life of misery, she ruled over Fishman Isle, ruling with benevolence, always willing to help, always aiming for peace.

Otohime just didn't have time for her, she was of no importance when compared to the kingdom, that's what she told herself every night. She was not important compared to the weight of her mother's responsibility. And the misery and loneliness she felt were products of selfishness. So she pushed those feelings down, she gave up on herself, only having a pet for company.

And when mom would visit her every few months, she would be a bundle of joy. However, those visits were brief, soon mother, her elder brothers, whoever would visit her would leave.

And she would be alone again for months on end, with a guard delivering food as the only outside contact.

"I—I'm… I am not worth being saved by you!" Shirahoshi spoke, her words broken by her sobbing, Otohime stared at her in shock.

"Sh—Shi—rahoshi, what are you talking about?! It's not safe up here, go back to the island, please!"

Otohime said desperately, not understanding what her daughter was saying. All while she held her bleeding torso, the wound was awfully bad.

"Yo—you always, try to protect me, when your life is more important than m—me. You never cared about me because you, you are the ruler, you need to take care of the people, it's ha—hard isn't it?" Shirahoshi asked.

"There is no need to protect a useless girl like me!" Shirahoshi made her feelings felt to her mother.

It was a product of neglect, a self-sacrificing nature, and the shy disposition of Shirahoshi.

She rationalized the abandonment in her mind, thinking it was okay because she wasn't important compared to the Kingdom. Never realizing that the neglect was caused by Otohime's own fault, the blame always lied with her.

She forgot that her daughter existed for months on end. And even when she visited her mind didn't realize the reason why her daughter became more and more depressed and antisocial. As the 6-year-old grew into one of the most beautiful women in the world.

The 16-year-old, was saved by none other than Luffy, in hindsight, it was obvious that Shirahoshi would form a close bond with him. It was the first, that someone actually cared for her, actually listened to her deep desires of getting out of that horrible tower. That he pushed her forward, to be a little better than she was, it wasn't a wonder why she latched on to him so hard and fast.

His charm and presence, as well as his physical appearance certainly contributed. But it was his personality, and what he stood for, as well as what he made her do that pushed the emotion of love to the forefront of her heart.

Yet Shirahoshi, who rationalized her isolation, couldn't grasp the true reason. It wasn't the Kingdom, it wasn't the responsibilities of her rule, it wasn't her other son's that grabbed her attention all the time. The fact that she rarely visited her daughter was because of a small shame hidden within the depths of her heart.

Ever since she killed that man, that human who assassinated her husband. She felt shame, everything she stood for, was in shambles at the time, why should she preach about peace. When she murdered a human and took revenge with her own hands. Even though the man himself, the criminal, the bastard that murdered her husband was on death row already.

It was a matter of time before they would decide to cut his head off. Yet she went and killed him beforehand, in the most brutal way possible. One that left his cell walls stained with his blood and gore, and even to this day the marks remained. She wasn't the same person anymore after the spear made contact with her husband's back. The poisoned spear that took his life three days later, the same spear she now wielded.

She changed back there.

Never to come back from that, she left with no warning, even missing her husband's deathbed. Missing his funeral and losing all memories of those three months. Only to find herself in north blue. She tried to come back, yet every time the calm belt blocked her, the sea kings were primed to kill.

She couldn't fight against those gods of the deep sea, in her time there she killed a lot of people. She surfaced, now with legs instead of a tail, she walked and lived amongst the humans. Witnessing many tragedies and becoming one of the most dangerous warriors to ever live, even rivaling her husband when he was at his prime.

Now armed and ready she returned, yet the shame that encompassed her heart was but a small ember now. She returned and implemented a new rule to her kingdom, one that many praised, development came fast, and everything was going great. Even Jimbei, one of her most prized "citizens". She couldn't admit it, because he was still a pirate, brought in protection from an Emperor after Whitebeard's death.

Big Mom was a name to be feared, she was one of the most powerful women in the world, certainly the most powerful woman that Otohime ever met in her lifetime. Instead of taking monetary compensation, a factory was created. The previous artisanal sweets her country produced now were factorized and produced faster. And then imported to Big Mom's territory.

Everything was well, yet her shame blinded her to the hatred stewing in the lawless area of her kingdom, Fishman district. After all, why should she preach about compassion, and understanding when she herself went on a blind rage fueled by cold revenge?

She couldn't face her daughter for the longest time, after all, Shirahoshi was the embodiment of her peaceful ideals. Shirahoshi was the purest thing in the ocean, and she, Otohime, was stained by murder. There is no way a hypocrite riddled with guilt and shame could ever look in her daughter's eyes again.

That's what led to neglect.

She felt as if she wasn't a worthy parent to Shirahoshi, and that led to her own daughter's depression and trauma building for ten years. Since she was 6, from such a young age.

She, Otohime was the biggest failure as a mother to her youngest, and even to the oldest, both Manboshi and Ryuboshi wanted to be warriors. And she respected their dream and even taught them how to fight, so they could be knights of the sea.

Yet Fukaboshi, her crown prince. She never respected his dream of being a general like his father, she always pushed the responsibility of him being the next ruler. Always grooming him to succeed her, unconsciously denying his own dreams of the future. That he had to succeed her when he reached 25 years old was something she herself invented.

She wanted to get out, she didn't want to rule anymore, because the shame, had always been there hidden. She didn't want a hypocrite like her leading her people, so she wanted to push the responsibilities towards her son when he matured enough. Now she saw this as a mistake.

She was also completely shaken by the fact that it wasn't the human she killed that assassinated her husband and almost killed her. it was another Fishman by the name of Hody.

The man certainly stewed in the hate for humans as he grew on the district. Yet, she, naive Otohime didn't do anything to better the lawless zones, even before the incident that took her husband.

"I, don't say that Shirahoshi, daughter, look at me, you are more important. I will die a thousand times before seeing you hurt, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, for abandoning you…"

"B—But, you had no choice, you had a kingdom to rule, you had lots of responsibilities, instead of trying to stay with a useless girl like me."

"D—Don't say that you are not useless and never will be… you are my precious daughter, and I want you to know that I love you, I love you so much...Shirahoshi, stop trying to rationalize it, your loneliness, your depression, it's all my fault, I—I couldn't face you in the eyes until now, I was shameful, I don't deserve to be your mother, a hypocrite like me..." Otohime said, her tears never stopped falling from her eyes mingling with the deep sea, Shirahoshi had a shock.

Shirahoshi fully understood, she understood, now, that her mother abandoned her.

Not for a grand reason, but for a more selfish one, the deep resentment surprised, her hands started trembling as rage built up within her. Yet her self-sacrificing, benevolent trait pushed it down, she felt silly and guilty to ever think that way. Her mind worked and worked, she finally knew what her mother passed through, she now stared and the baby blue eyes, identical in nature. She saw all the suffering that her mother passed and all the shame and guilt hidden deep within those eyes.

At the same time, Otohime saw the resentment, realization, resignation, and guilt. Finally, she saw love, her heart, still beating lurched in happiness. It was the same eyes that stared at her before the incident, it was the same innocent unconditional love that a daughter had for her mother.

Otohime, in all of her guilt, resolved herself. And gazed back at Shirahoshi, finally meeting her eyes again, it took a lot of courage to do so, she smiled and reciprocated the love.

"S—Stop, you aren't a hypocrite, mother, you are the most amazing person I've ever met. I've always wanted to be like you ever since I was young, even though I resented you when you returned from your journey I admired how you became a warrior. I've always thought how cool you were, rescuing both humans and Fishman from slavery, I've raved about you to Megalo all the time..."

Both talked, their emotions heightened, one forgiving the other for their mistakes.

"Oya~... what a great reunion we have here… mother and daughter bonding… time?"

Shirahoshi gasped and looked as Vander arrived, aiming his dagger at her, he traveled fast. Her mother in her hands looked shocked that he was still alive. Shirahoshi looked into Vander's deep black eyes, and felt his bloodlust, her body shivered, and she started a cold sweat. Her eyes dilated and contracted, she was having a full-blown panic attack.

"Haha, Shirahoshi, release your mother, the queen will die today, you shall die as well Shirahoshi. Bahoho, then again she isn't much of a Queen when I slaughtered all of the Fishman districts, I took a sizeable chunk of your citizens, didn't I Otohime?"

What followed was a brutal description of what he did at the Fishman District. Almost 400 thousand dead, all innocent, children and elders dead without discrimination. To tell this to two people looking for peace all their lives, it was too much.

"Aaaaa!~ Aaaaa!~ Haaaa!~"

Otohime cracked, her weeping voice permeated the ocean floor as Vander laughed, he was completely insane.

Shirahoshi also couldn't handle the things he discussed, she got withdrawn, what was this person even saying?

Why did he want to kill so many innocent people, was it because of the drug? Or was it his intention all along?

Shirahoshi wanted to know, yet at the same time, she was afraid of the answer, afraid that someone would kill so many, including babies just for the fun of it. He kept taunting her, taunting her mother, they couldn't protect their citizen. Not one bit.

Otohime's mind reached peak stress, coupled with the bleeding made her finally faint. She took too much punishment since she arrived in the Plaza. Her emotions overwhelmed her, and she finally closed her eyes passing out. Her final thought was the regret of leaving her daughter to fend for herself as the monster approached. She only hoped Luffy would come and save her, however that was too optimistic.

Shirahoshi had the end of it, this was too much for her frail mind. This man was the sole being responsible for all of her suffering, if he hadn't threatened her life since she was six. She wouldn't have to grow so isolated. And having him destroy so many lives. When she and her mother, the Royal family worked so hard for peace, made her innocent mind feel rage for perhaps the first time in her young heart.

She wanted this person gone, permanently from her life, yet there was nobody around to help her. She turned to look at the sides, in a plea for help, but nobody would come.

Luffy-sama was facing Hody in the ship, 50 or 60 miles from here. There was no way he could help her. Her brothers were very badly injured from surviving their execution, she was alone. She tried to wake her mother, to no avail, she was here alone. As Vander Decken approached, trying to kill her, the dagger in his hand approached her left breast. Trying to pierce her heart, he was not far away, as gasps of a nervous breakdown started to form in her lips.

"Die~my beloved Shirahoshi~~"

Vander spoke as he got close, only a few meters until he reached her heart, however at that moment, his body collided with a tail.

A large tail with pink scales the smile turned into an expression of surprise for a brief nanosecond, and he finally died.

The impact was so great that his body became a red blotch, as the remains were thrown to the side at incredible speeds. Organs, and broken bones, as well as a red mist. That's what was left of him as his remains were launched into the roots of the tree Eve.

Shirahoshi screamed as she moved her tail.

She cried very loudly as her voice was heard throughout the ocean, she attacked Vander, in the spur of the moment, hitting him with her giant tail.

the strength and speed of the strike were thousands of times greater than being hit directly by a Marine warship. It re-splashed the water and imploded the water around her with a temperature close to the sun.

Her hands protected her mother, like sonic booms shockwaves around the water. It killed Vander immediately and made him turn into a lump of gore.

She had reached her limit and had done something so unforgivable, this was the day Shirahoshi killed, drenched her soul in blood, her first kill.

She cried, protecting her mother, she made the decision to end Vander's life.

It was so easy, why did mother have so much trouble with these people, when a simple sway of her tail was enough to end their lives?

She asked herself this, yet she couldn't find an answer, she did not know this, but she was born to be a weapon that could destroy the world if she wanted.

That's why she was born with such strength that dwarfed even the most glorious giant.

Why did she have to do it?

Because there was nobody else around and she was sure Vander Decken would try to kill her mother after he killed her. And that she couldn't allow, she wouldn't be able to handle her mother's death.

She felt so guilty of actually going through and killing him, she sobbed, hard, as she saw her mother, sleeping, her face troubled, it was for the best.

Now she knew that people like Vander Decken and Hody Jones wouldn't ever listen to reason, they wouldn't give up on their mindset.

Shirahoshi learned this today, there are people in the world that would never be able to convince, no matter what you do. There are people too set in their ways to ever listen to her, it was a sobering realization, and a grim one.

Could she accept herself, when she had killed a person, out of necessity?

Her mother had done the same thing, Shirahoshi also had the flames of revenge guiding her as she killed him.

Now she knew exactly what her mother passed through, it made her understand the Queen even more. Her young 16-year-old brain, tried to process all of this.

She needed to think hard about what she wanted to do, and what did she want to accomplish, in life. She wanted peace, world peace, now how could she achieve it, with the taint of murder upon her soul.

Before Shirahoshi's heart could stew in more guilt and regret, a hand grabbed her thumb. It was a tiny touch for a giant mermaid as her, being closely and genetically related to sea kings, yet the touch was warm, even in the deepest sea,

Shirahoshi looked down and saw her mother touching Shirahoshi's fingers. Even in her troubled sleep, it made Shirahoshi smile.

Her mother didn't hate her, she didn't hate her for choosing to kill Vander Decken, she accepted that decision as to the correct one.

Now it was time to seek help, her mother's wounds weren't life-threatening, but they were still serious.

XOX

"Hrm, I hate you, and everything you stand for!" Luffy said with grave contempt.

Hody, a monster born from his own environment, a monster born from just words, not actions. He gathered like-minded individuals, spawning hatred upon hatred. Living off of the fear of their elders and comrades' hatred being forgotten, living in fear that their anger at the humans someday might vanish. They live in the hope that their crusade is right and just, that all humans are evil as they portray. He desires blood, he doesn't want peace, that was never his intention for this kingdom…

The kind of hatred he bears has no experience nor will. He is empty...there is no substance to him, a monster born of words, not actions, this is so unpalatable it's a joke!

You are not the only monster born by words to exist and will probably not be the last. I will remember this well, a weakling bug such as yourself at least taught me something.

Hody picked the remains of the spear, it was still sharp, even with the broken tips. Hody threw the spear with all of his force, yet the spear could only bounce off Luffy's skin when it hit. Hody stared like he couldn't comprehend, didn't the spear pierce Luffy when they were in the sea, why wasn't it working now?

"Don't think for a second that my skin is so soft that you can just use a normal weapon to harm me. You just had the advantage because I was weakened in water, it won't happen again" Luffy spoke.

"JAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Hody's heart pumped and palpated.

His life was basically at the dead end, he was looking at the precipice.

"JAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...JAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA….JAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAJAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…."

He could only laugh in insanity, the flicker of consciousness only thought back.

XOX

Hody, age 7.

"Humans are an inferior species. Never forget that Hody. Their existence is evil"

An old fishman said that to him and his small group of friends, they were very young, he heard all these talks the past year, of people hating on something called humans.

What are humans? He thought.

He asked and the old man told him what they were, the man said with the utmost hatred and contempt, Hody's young mind just grabbed every word and imprinted it into his mind.

XOX

Hody, age 8.

"With the beginning of the age of pirates, people die every day on Fishman island!" A hurt man said, brandishing his sword in the dark depths of the district.

What is this age of pirates? What are pirates?

And as usual he was answered, he absorbed the hatred of the man's words again.

XOX

Hody, age 9.

"The humans have gone mad and abduct young people left and right!"

Why do they need to abduct?

And so he was told about how valuable they were to the human slave market, about how they didn't care for fishman freedom.

What are slaves?

Again, he received enough hatred from the man's speeches, enough to vomit blood.

XOX

Hody, age 9.

"We are on a crash course with death! Fishman island is ruined! What is wrong with the royal family accepting pirates freely into the country?!"

What is the royal family?

He asked again, they were the 'supposed' protectors of the kingdom, the ones that ruled everything, yet they still allowed everything to happen.

XOX

Hody, age 10.

Why did the government let the humans do crimes so freely in their land? why did they not bar entry? why did they allow kidnappings? to occur? why did they let others lose their freedom and be sold like cattle to the humans?

Those were Hody's thoughts as he made to ten years of age, the first embers of hatred burned deep.

XOX

Hody, age 10.

"He blew up one of the slave ships on the surface?!" A man, criminal and thief, rejoiced as they joined the central street of the district, near Noah.

"Yeah! He made the supreme sacrifice to accomplish it" Another praised the man as they erected a huge photo with the deceased 'hero's' face, it was an improvised funeral, however the size of the photo spoke volumes on this 'hero', the people around raised their glasses of beer, cigars were distributed, swords were raised in praise.

"But he too eight humans with him!"

The same fishmen said to the others, he murdered 8 humans as he attacked the slave shop, to them, it was an accomplishment. This 'hero' was no hero, he was a murderer, and yet he was praised and idolized.

"….It was a bloodbath! There were limbs and guts everywhere!"

"Praise the hero who killed those humans! Never forget his death!"

"Let's celebrate his death, a toast."

"CHEERS!" they yelled, raising their mugs of poor beer.

Hody and his friends in an alley heard everything, they just stared at the photo, they were wearing poor clothes and rags, yet they were still in living conditions, they didn't starve, but...

"So that's a hero, so cool—Much," Ikaros said.

"Heh, Eat it, Humans," Hody said with a punk attitude, smiling, and crossing his arms.

XOX

Hody, age 11.

"Arlong just sunk a human pirate ship!"

"Yeah!"

All of the denizens of the district cheered.

Hody and the others gathered near Arlong, he was sitting in a nearby rock with a knife, he wore a bandana over his forehead with a star pattern together with square patterns as well. He had earrings and had a white tank top, which showed manly muscles that Hody was inspired by, Arlong pointed his finger at everyone gathered near to hear a story.

"This is a holy war! Long ago the scum known as mankind feared and envied the superior Fishmen who had been granted great natural strength" He pierced the wooden table with his knife with a thud sound to make his point.

"So their answer was oppression! These human worms, choking on the lands above used their only advantage over us: Their sheer numbers! They drove us underwater, to the bottom of the sea! Listen close boys..."

Hody was lapping every word, this guy was just the coolest.

"You must curse the humans!"

And that was how Hody met his role model.

XOX

Hody, age 12.

"Nyu! I've known a human named Rayleigh for years, he's a strange one, never shrunk back in disgust because of me…"

Hody was listening to Hachi story together with Big sister Sharley who was Arlong's little sister. She was 2 years older than him, he thought, and a few other kids he didn't know, however.

He sighed and walked away when Hachi started praising humans! What was wrong with this octopus, being chummy and all with humans!

"...Hody?" Hachi asked, seeing Hody walk away from his story time. Sharley looked at him.

"I don't like your stories Hachi…" he glared at Hachi with absolute disgust. "They make me sick!"

XOX

Hody, age 13.

"The humans are terrified are terrified of the day of judgment they know is coming! For our moment of vengeance!"

The teen just smiled full of unbridled evil running through his thoughts. A dark shadow was cast upon his form.

XOX

Hody, age 15.

"Don't forget our history. Imagine the anger of our dead brothers! Inherit their fury!" A drunken man said at the table during a game of darts, he held a bottle and cried his heart out to Hody.

XOX

Hody, age 17.

"Terrible news! Our hero Fisher Tiger, freer of slaves! Has been killed by those fuckers, those damn humans!" A man entered the bar., he cried his heart out revealing the news

"What?!" A man near the tables screamed and cried in frustration, Hody and his group left the bar, in a somber mood.

"So Tiger wasn't our chosen hero, either." Zeo lamented a bit, as they wore disguises.

They put on masks with a dark uniform, their group of terrorism was born from their disgust, it was not only them but a bunch of like-minded individuals following Hody's leadership.

They moved to the main island, undercover from the night, closing in on a house they knocked on the door.

"Who are you?! Get out of here!" The man with a family said Hody grabbed the man's throat.

"Pl—Please let him go!" The wife came rushing in trying to help her husband, however, she was grabbed by them as well, the men invaded their home and dragged the children out.

"We hear you gave blood to humans," Zeo said with contempt.

"H—He was dying, I had no choice." However the husband wasn't given time to talk anymore, a spear thrust in his stomach, impaling him to the house wall, the men went inside and spread flammable gas.

"Daddy!"

"P—Please!"

The wife begged Hody, however the pleas were not heard, they grabbed the wife and raped her until all of them were satisfied, they threw her body next to the husband and impaled her alive in the wall with another spear, being impaled and watching his wife being brutally raped until death took a chunk of his mind, the children just cried like little brats, they couldn't escape because they had their tiny feet or tail smashed by the superior force of the terrorist group, so they did the same to them, impaling both children next to their parents, and just put fire to the house, they watched as the house exploded and caught fire, eventually the fire reached the family and the group just heard their screams of pain until they died being burned to death.

XOX

Hody, age 18.

"This country is mad, from the king down. It wants to forgive the humans for what they had done to us."

Hody said wearing the army uniform he was gifted from passing the training, he got a red spear as a weapon, he also found another white spear, however that was guarded back in his home.

"Did you hear about Jimbei?! He's one of the seven warlords now! The Arlong crew's the only force trying to keep the proper balance between species." Zeo said with hatred.

XOX

Hody, age 22.

"Hey! The island's in a huge panic! The royal family is critically injured…" A man arrived with news on the streets of the district

"Who?" An old man asked all paid attention to him.

"Queen Otohime was critically shot, and Neptune was poisoned, they were attacked by a human!" The man with the news said as he started releasing his anger and frustration.

"You see? THIS IS WHAT HUMANS DO! Queen Otohime and Neptune only wanted peace with them, however, the humans won't even show mercy to kind souls like them, the humans are truly evil!" A man said with crossed arms, all of them raised their blades in rage and anger for the humans.

"If the royal family won't show some pride and strike back…"

"...Then we can't trust our kingdom any longer!"

"We don't need this worthless country."

On a nearby empty bar.

"Ja ha ha ha! And now the worthless king Neptune has been taken straight to hell! If your evil enough to mingle with humans you deserve death..." Hody said in their corner of the empty bar, cheering on the destruction of the royal family with his friends and comrades.

XOX

Hody, age 30.

He presented a bag to his friends, he opened it up, inside were many pills, their coloration was red and blue.

"We must have our vengeance! The time is now! Finally, the heavens have chosen us and given us power!"

"?!"

All of them were surprised by the pills, they could feel the importance of them for their next ventures, however, the fact that all of them knew exactly what this was gave them a newfound respect for their leader Hody Jones, he managed to steal it because he worked on the palace as a soldier still.

"Kya, what is this? " Daruma, the little red shark fishmen asked, now wearing a proper pirate outfit instead of the dregs they wore in the past nor the terrorist costume they wore for subterfuge.

"Is this what I think it is—Much? The legendary drug—Much?" Ikaros asked, surprised, he exclaimed his question loudly, he now wore a helmet with round earrings.

"How did you get it—Dosun?!" Dosun asked, his anger showed in every word he spoke, however, he wasn't angry because of his friends, he was just angry all of the time.

"Can you manufacture these?" Hody asked Zeo, he smirked as he made the question.

"I'll give it a try," Zeo responded with confident caution.

"Now we can unite the fishman district against the Goddess of the Sea!" Hody said, a bit happy that the hopes of his mates were rising, it was time for a new brighter future for all fishmen.

"By the way, nice design on our symbol Zeo."

Hody stared at the wall of their hideout, the symbol that they eventually tattooed on themselves, and on their pirate flag was of a giant flaming circle, representing the inspiration from the sun pirates, however it wasn't filled inside, instead there was a stickman figure with its head chopped off to the side, representing a human, a slash across diagonally complimented the racist design against humans in general, they were going to drag all humans to the depths of the sea, towards a place scarier than hell itself.

XOX

Hody, age 32.

"This is a holy war! The righteous and valorous crusade that will be honored for millennia! Begin the preparations! Preparations to kill humans for as long as you draw breath, that is!"

Hody said to his massive gathering of his brethren, they had lived together, grown together, they shared his views, he was right, the Queen was wrong!

"We have been chosen! To undertake our righteous vengeance!"

….

…..

...

"...The day of judgment is at hand!"

XOX

As the three halos of metal circled his back, Luffy opened his grey, stormy eyes.

"Enough, I had enough of your face!"

Luffy said, as he put his palm as if reaching for the sky, Hody, now a mess of a being, a hulking ugly monstrosity, with a haunting appearance, charged forward, nothing else came from Hody's lips, his sanity had reached an end.

On Luffy's palm, countless discharges of lighting started conglomerating, spinning, being formed in a flash, then disappearing, it was a presentation of lights, unlike anything ever witnessed, the countless discharges of lightning in his palm was also loud, so loud it was deafening.

"I hope you pay attention to this, Humans and Fishman alike, they can try all they like, they can try to reach it, but instead they get burned badly,"

Luffy said as the lighting started to spiral, forming plasma, as it broke like a yolk liquid-like substance, and started raining down on the floor, melting and burning the wooden planks.

The bubble around them, the bubble the size of an island started to wobble as the inside started blazing.

"You are too hasty to reach the sun Hody, engrave this sight as your final memory."

The plasma in his hand broke and broke until a blinding light illuminated them, the heat exploded parts of the deck where they were sending torches of splinters, burning stakes of wood, everywhere, one even pierced Hody's stomach.

The plasma formed a sphere in Luffy's hand, so bring, so radiant it illuminated all of the ocean floor, the ball was the size of a marble, the temperature was too incomprehensible, reaching 15 million Celsius.

The small sphere was as hot as the core of the sun, it wouldn't be wrong to call this a small star, it was as if Luffy picked a piece of the sun and brought it to the planet, now it sat on his palm, yet it didn't burn him, in fact he wasn't even sweating.

Hody ignored everything and charged forth into the blinding light, not afraid of getting burned, it stroke to Luffy as very symbolic, to have an overwhelming drive to even face your final end, without having any look into the consequences.

Even though he was just a weakling being temporarily boosted and kept alive by an enhancing drug.

The fact that even through the light, Luffy could tell that Hody was smiling made Luffy give out a bit of respect.

Hody you are truly something else, I thought you were just a weakling, but you gave me a tiny surprise until the end.

That respect wasn't overshadowed by the hatred of what Hody represented and wanted to achieve, but Luffy could at least let this small bit of respect, leak, just a tiny bit in the Fishman's final moments.

Luffy winded up, and closed his palm, blocking out the tiny sun on his hand, yet it made his fist around glow as a bubble was formed around his fist, as a stopgap of heat, 15 million degrees was too much, he couldn't let the tiny sun explode, it might destroy a good chunk of the sea, so this would have to do, an outer layer of heat to end this fight, if it was going to explode, it would kill everything around, so it was best if the attack was severely reduced in its potency, and he could erase the tiny sun afterward.

Glaring at Hody, he released the killer conquerors Haki, it constituted as an attack, so it made sense that his powers over exponentials would affect Hody as well.

This time the power over exponentials made a cruel rule...

—They heightened Hody's mental and sensorial perceptions by the power of 2000, making him see and feel things faster than light, to Hody, time was stopped, he couldn't move, yet for Luffy, time continued normally.

Hody felt the pain of his wounds, trillions, quadrillions, sextillions of times worse, and more slowly than before.

This was the absolute punishment, there was nothing that Hody could do anymore, from his perspective Luffy hadn't moved, at all, or rather, no light had reached his retina as his brain processed things faster than light could, his eyes picked things faster and faster, his sense of touch was too much for him to bear, and would cause him to die of shock, but he was suspended in time, unable to die, on the other hand, form Luffy's perspective, Luffy charged forward, bringing the sun with his closed fist ready to punch Hody out of existence, the superheat made the ocean floor look like daytime, blinding everything around it for thousands of miles.

Luffy's muscles tensed all-around showing the ripped form that he achieved. And the smile on his face was full of bloodlust.

"This is your end, goodbye Hody!"

At that moment Luffy felt, with his observation, that Shirahoshi had extinguished Decken's life, on her own, Luffy was a bit worried.

"Omni series: White dwarf!"

Luffy excited, laughing as he swung his fist down, near Hody, making 80% of his body immediately vaporize, the rest was carbonized and fell off the ship

Yet the attack didn't end...

The bubble around couldn't handle the heat, as it wobbled, because of the change in pressure, the wooden floor evaporated leaving a hole too big to be fixed, Luffy looked down, and he could see hundreds of floors with hedges blacked by the burning, scorching heat, the bubble finally popped as water started to rush in, the heat was dissipated by the pressurized water rushing in, making contact with his body, the little sun still clenched in his fist was revealed and Luffy took a bite out of it, consuming its own energy, soon the sun was completely eaten by him, and was absorbed back with the help of his fruit of God, well he was Indra, the king of heaven, so he could control heavenly bodies as well, such as the sun and other stars.

It wasn't weird that he could produce such attacks.

This attack was in homage to his brother, a sun that would never extinguish, a white dwarf, continuously illuminating his path forward until the end of the universe, the strongest attack in the Omni series.

There were three distinctions between his lightning attacks...

Assault series was full of discharges of common and complex lightning attacks,

Omni series utilized lightning to create superheated plasma, one not seen in normal life and then utilizing plasma as an attack.

And there was a rank above.

The Singularity series, well those attacks were too dangerous.

They...they were just too lethal, too... world ending, it wasn't even a joke,

Then the fruit of God also boasted of 2 transformations, they were the Avatar form, when the spirit of Indra would descent onto his mortal body creating an avatar state, and the full transformation into a God in astral form, these two transformations gave him a boost in everything, especially in his lightning abilities, turning his normal stormy blue lighting into more dangerous discharges, but until now he had no reason to use them at all.

He looked back as water crashed on his shoulders as the bubble ripped apart, cooling his fist, he looked at the three halo-like structures circling behind him, they were the bracelets that the Kuja gave him, seals to his power, made from concentrated sea stone, it was almost metallic in appearance and had the color of silver, they were circling on his back by the power of his electromagnetism affecting them, the halo made a lot of sense, since he was, in fact, a god, after he ate the red blood apple fruit on the ruins underneath the calm belt.

Soon the electromagnetism strengthened, and the pieces joined together like a jigsaw puzzle, and they bound again to his muscular biceps, being held together by the red rubies in the middle, Luffy smiled, the conflict was over, now he had to deal with the consequences, and of course, the celebrations, nothing like a good feast after a battle. His smile turned into a smirk.

Now should he let the ship fall onto the sandy sea floor or should he try to move it, he wondered, this thing seemed important and he felt bad for making a huge hole on the deck, it would be a hassle to fix it, well as a passing gesture he put a hand on the wood and activated his powers over exponentials, boosting the durability of the ship permanently, the ship could still sail if they wanted to.

Shirahoshi stared at her beloved darling from a distance, as the ship fell, no longer having the protections from the bubble, but it was already off course, so it wouldn't fall again on fishmen isle, and the screams that she made when she killed Vander attracted the sea kings, obedient to her they came to drag the Ark where it could belong.

Shirahoshi was surprised that they communicated with her as she traveled faster towards the ship, Luffy-sama must have no way of returning home, and being flooded by pressurized water, the levels of 10 km deep must take a terrible toll on his body, she worried about him, and she worried of what he might say, she killed someone, would Luffy-sama still accept her, would her mother still accept her? She earlier scoffed at the idea of killing right in her mother's face, she hoped that they would forgive her hypocrisy.

She lead her subjects, the seas kings behind her as they reached the Ark, she saw Luffy sinking, as he looked a bit thoughtful, she was surprised by the fact that he could survive so much time here without breathing, she remembered that humans couldn't breathe underwater from her mother's tales.

"Luffy-sama, are you alright?"

Luffy tried to speak but only formed bubbles, he fished the tiny coral that he had and made a bubble on his head, the water was nice and cool, he wished to experience a moment of weakness here before they returned.

"Uhh, Hoshi-chan, you are here, is Vander dead?"

"Ye—Yes, Vander Decken-san is dead…"

Suddenly she blushed, he called her that nickname again, she was so happy she could die, and she gazed at Luffy's muscular body, there was pearly red blood staining his left peck, he was hit there, yet there wasn't a wound there anymore, it had healed so fast!

He was so dreamy that even his blood was so pretty to look, at, she started huffing as she stared at him with a bit of an obsessive gaze, her mouth was open as she stared at his face, at his eyes, at his scar on his chest, at the scar underneath his eye, at his long and muscular legs, and thick thighs that could probably crush a man with a kick, she couldn't help it, after the danger had passed and the fact that he saved her, as well as the kingdom, the hero worship started to bloom instantly in the depths of her mind.

Luffy was looking at the sea kings passing them to grab the chains of the ship, he never seen them act so organized, even those he hunted, they didn't actually protect their young whales and dolphins did, they were very strange animals that could grow indefinitely like a lobster, some even reached hundreds of kilometers, they were the most dangerous things in the sea, these ones were pretty big as well, each the size or even surpassing the size of Noah itself, it was best that he'd let them go their way, he wasn't in the best position to hunt one of them for breakfast, and they were in their natural habitat.

"̵M̶y̷ ̴M̴y̷,̶ ̷w̴h̸a̷t̸ ̷a̵ ̵h̵u̶m̸a̴n̴ ̵w̷e̵'̷v̵e̴ ̵e̴n̴c̶o̵u̵n̴t̸e̸r̴e̸d̷ ̶h̶e̶r̷e̶.̵"̵ ̵ A voice reached both their ears, Luffy grabbed his head as if an annoying headache appeared.

"Wh—What? Who's talking?'"

Luffy said as he was put on Shirahoshi's hand, next to Otohime as he put a hand on her shoulder, to support as she was badly injured, he looked around, there was only Shirahoshi and a bunch of sea kings dragging the ship away.

AS for Shirahoshi, her obsessive streak wasn't over, having Luffy sitting on her hand was almost too enticing, her hand was sensitive so she felt his entire body, and she was afraid to say it, but she enjoyed feeling Luffy's muscular butt, she felt so perverted for thinking that way, but she couldn't help it,. It was just so toned, and muscular, and… She needed to stop that line of thinking.

"̷W̸h̸a̶t̷ ̶a̴ ̸m̴i̴g̸h̶t̸y̶ ̸l̷i̵t̵t̶l̴e̶ ̷m̸a̶n̵.̶"̸

"̵I̸ ̸a̷m̷ ̸g̴l̶a̴d̶ ̸t̴h̷a̵t̸ ̴h̴e̸ ̴h̵e̷l̷d̵ ̵b̸a̷c̴k̸ ̵o̶n̵ ̸h̵i̶s̸ ̵i̵n̸c̷r̵e̸d̶i̷b̵l̷e̸ ̵a̴t̸t̶a̸c̶k̸,̸ ̴t̸h̶a̴t̴ ̴l̶i̶t̶t̴l̸e̷ ̵b̴r̵i̷n̶g̵ ̴o̸r̶b̶ ̴c̸o̷u̴l̸d̴ ̴h̷a̴v̷e̷ ̴d̷e̷s̶t̷r̷o̴y̴e̶d̷,̴ ̶n̵o̴t̴ ̸o̶n̵l̶y̴ ̸t̶h̸e̶ ̷s̵h̵i̵p̷ ̴b̵u̵t̸ ̶t̷h̵e̸ ̵w̵h̸o̷l̵e̸ ̶s̵e̸a̷ ̵f̸o̴r̴ ̵t̶h̷o̵u̸s̸a̷n̴d̴s̸ ̴o̵f̷ ̸k̸i̵l̴o̶m̶e̶t̷e̵r̷s̷,̷ ̷h̷e̶ ̸c̵o̶u̷l̷d̵ ̶a̸l̸s̴o̷ ̸h̴a̴v̸e̶ ̶d̷e̴s̷t̷r̸o̴y̸e̴d̵ ̵t̷h̶e̷ ̷e̸c̶o̶s̸y̷s̷t̴e̵m̴.̵"̸

"̸B̷u̷t̶ ̴t̸o̴ ̴c̴r̶e̵a̸t̶e̵ ̴t̷h̶e̷ ̷s̴u̵n̶,̷ ̷e̷v̸e̴n̷ ̶i̷f̸ ̸i̴t̸ ̷w̸a̴s̵ ̷s̴m̵a̶l̴l̸e̴r̶ ̷t̸h̴a̶n̴ ̶a̴ ̴p̷e̶a̸r̷l̶,̷ ̴a̸n̸d̴ ̶i̵l̵l̵u̴m̵i̴n̷a̸t̵e̶ ̴t̶h̴e̸ ̵s̴e̸a̷ ̶f̸l̷o̵o̷r̵ ̷w̵i̵t̵h̷ ̷i̷t̸,̷ ̷w̶h̵a̸t̶ ̵a̵ ̷f̵e̴a̷t̴ ̸o̵f̸ ̷p̴o̸w̶e̶r̷,̷ ̸n̷e̷v̶e̶r̶ ̸b̴e̷f̸o̷r̶e̶ ̵s̵e̴e̸n̵.̶"̶

"W̶e̸l̷l̴,̷ ̵w̶e̸ ̸a̷r̸e̴ ̴g̴l̶a̷d̴ ̵t̶h̴a̵t̵ ̸t̶h̶e̸ ̸s̷h̴i̴p̷ ̶i̶s̷ ̶s̷a̶f̶e̸,̸ ̵t̵h̴o̵u̶g̸h̶ ̴i̸t̷ ̶r̸e̴c̵e̵i̶v̷e̸d̵ ̴a̶ ̵b̶i̵t̴ ̶o̶f̸ ̴d̷a̸m̸a̶g̴e̸,̸ ̷I̷t̶ ̵w̷a̸s̸ ̴a̴ ̴v̶e̷r̴y̴ ̴g̵o̸o̸d̵ ̴t̷h̷i̸n̷g̵ ̸t̵h̴a̸t̴ ̴p̴r̴i̶n̵c̵e̶s̸s̴ ̶S̵h̶i̴r̴a̶h̶o̴s̴h̵i̸ ̷c̶a̷l̶l̷e̸d̸ ̶f̴o̷r̸ ̴u̶s̵.̸"

"What...? But… I didn't do anything but cry and scream!"

Shirahoshi said completely understanding their weird speech, returning back to normal, her voice became shockwaves, transmitted calmly over the sea, she now knew what it took to interact with them, Luffy on her hands looked at them and sighed.

So the ones talking are the Sea-kings, so Shirahoshi can talk to them, well I doubt I can speak to them, but I can at least hear them or their garbled speech, this is weird...

"̶I̴ ̵c̵a̷n̷ ̵s̶e̶e̷ ̷i̷t̴ ̴i̸n̷ ̸y̴o̵u̷r̶ ̸e̸y̸e̷s̵,̵ ̸y̷o̸u̵r̴ ̵c̵r̸y̶ ̵f̸o̷r̸ ̶h̴e̵l̵p̶ ̷w̶a̵s̸ ̵g̶u̷i̴d̴e̴d̵ ̵b̶y̵ ̵t̴h̸e̶ ̶a̵n̷d̷ ̷w̷i̸l̶l̶ ̵o̶f̷ ̷b̶o̴t̵h̷ ̵y̶o̵u̷r̴ ̶m̸o̴t̵h̸e̴r̶ ̵a̴n̵d̴ ̵t̴h̷e̴ ̷m̴i̸g̸h̸t̸y̸ ̴l̶i̴t̴t̷l̵e̶ ̴h̷u̷m̸a̶n̷,̷ ̵t̵h̴e̷i̷r̸ ̴s̵t̷r̵e̸n̴g̶t̴h̷ ̴n̸o̵w̴ ̶b̵e̶c̶a̸m̶e̵ ̵y̴o̴u̶r̷s̸,̴ ̴a̸n̶d̵ ̷t̷h̷e̶i̸r̴ ̵w̴i̷l̶l̵ ̶s̴h̴a̴l̶l̵ ̷g̷u̶i̸d̵e̷ ̵y̴o̶u̷ ̴i̵n̷t̸o̴ ̸y̶o̸u̷r̶ ̴f̶a̶t̸e̸.̵"̵

"Haha, J̷u̷s̵t̸ ̵a̸s̶ ̶t̷h̷e̶ ̶l̷i̵t̷t̵l̷e̶ ̵m̸a̸n̵ ̶a̷n̷d̷ ̸y̷o̴u̵r̵ ̸m̶o̶t̵h̸e̷r̶ ̶t̵r̷i̴e̵d̵ ̷t̵o̸ ̵s̷a̷v̸e̶ ̵y̸o̶u̴r̸ ̷k̷i̵n̸g̵d̶o̴m̶,̷ ̵, you too wanted to be of use to them, in your heart, you wish to be a source of strength for him, t̷h̷e̷ ̸l̵i̵t̶t̷l̷e̸ ̴m̵i̴g̸h̴t̸y̵ ̶m̴a̴n̴, I mean."

"Our power is also your power, a̶s̷ ̷t̶h̴e̶ ̶Q̵u̵e̴e̶n̴ ̵o̴f̸ ̵t̵h̴e̶ ̵S̴e̵a̴-̸k̵i̵n̵g̸s̷, we will be yours to command in the future, you now understand very well how to use it, don't you now?"

"..." Shirahoshi kept silent as they moved away, disappearing to the deep sea.

"Hey, Hoshi-chan, let's go back, Otohime is still injured and losing a lot of blood,"

Luffy said, a bit worried for Otohime's health, he knew she was strong and tough, but still, it would be best if Chopper were to treat her.

"Ye—Yes, Luffy-sama" Shirahoshi said, as she beat her tail and she carried both of them in her giant, but caring hands.

XOX

As the sea kings carried away the ark, a conversation struck.

"So she was finally born, our Queen, the one with the power to destroy the world…"

"̷Y̸e̷a̷h̵…̸"̷

̶"̸W̴a̸s̶ ̷i̷t̸ ̸m̷y̶ ̷i̸m̸a̷g̷i̴n̴a̴t̵i̶o̴n̵…̸?̵"̵

̷"̸H̷m̴?̷ ̷W̴h̷a̴t̷?̶"̴

̷"̸T̶h̷a̷t̷ ̴h̵u̵m̷a̴n̸ ̸w̷i̴t̴h̶ ̴t̷h̴e̷ ̸h̴a̵t̶ ̵s̴e̸e̵m̸e̴d̸ ̵t̷o̵ ̷h̶e̸a̷r̶ ̶o̶u̷r̷ ̵v̵o̷i̸c̴e̵s̷"̸

̵"̸T̴h̷a̷t̴ ̴c̷a̶n̴'̶t̴ ̵b̷e̸…̷!̶"̷

̵"̴B̸u̶t̸ ̴t̷h̴a̵t̶ ̸d̶i̴d̶ ̵h̸a̸p̵p̴e̷n̶ ̶o̶n̸c̴e̴ ̸b̵e̶f̷o̴r̴e̶.̸.̸.̴"̶

"Rayleigh, did you hear that voice?"

With a cape billowing behind him, they survived the unbearable cold of these depths, the problem was the mate darkness covering the outside, he walked towards the rail of the ship, he was a man reaching 9'4" tall, with a very stylish mustache if he said so himself.

"Hear what? It's dead silent down here in these depths, are you okay Captain?" Rayleigh said facing the man who would become the pirate king, Gol D. Roger.

"Who's talking out there...?! Come out!"

Roger's voice boomed ton the depths of the ocean, but no sound was to return.

XOX

The Straw Hats aided the Kingdom as best they could, and finally they could leave the rest to the army and the social workers and volunteers.

Now they remained on the ship, as Sora finished with the dessert, Zoro was already napping again, Nami and the rest took to playing gambling games again, as Brook played a joyful guitar, Robin was petting Chopper on her lap, as a point in the sky was made apparent, people pointed at it and soon enough it was Shirahoshi, a few tears still rolling down her cheeks.

"Please, please, a doctor, please save my mother! She won't stop bleeding! Please! Please!"

Shirahoshi cried, showing Luffy and Otohime, failed and bleeding pretty heavy, Luffy was the only one managing to stabilize the Queen's condition however, even if he was taught first aid and some pretty advanced stuff, he only used it on himself and he was an amateur with no experience with these medical skills.

It was just a piss poor stopgap and he knew it, the only thing keeping Otohime alive was her vitality, her body just wouldn't die and if he was seeing correctly she would survive this without treatment but still this would take too long to heal without medical help. Her vitality was so strong that he would be surprised if she could just walk and swim with these wounds, if she wasn't knocked out from the initial pain and the shock from this stress filled day.

"Chopper, bring out the operating tools, we'll need it!"

Luffy on top called for Chopper to help, they landed on the plaza and Luffy carried Otohime over, scaring the population and putting fear in Fukaboshi's mind.

It wasn't fear of Luffy, it was the anxiety of seeing their Queen and mother so damaged by those monsters, they knew it wasn't Luffy's fault, the hatred of humans being left behind by the people watching. Chopper immediately armed a makeshift operating room in the middle of the open plaza, it would have to do.

Putting her in the makeshift table he helped Chopper with the anticoagulant.

"Luffy! We need blood! She's a rare S type!"

Chopped said, however, Luffy was giving his all with sewing shut the wound and reconnecting the organs together with Chopper, he couldn't let Chopper do the surgery alone, and him being the second most knowledgeable person about biology and medicine, he had to help.

"Damn! That's one in 100 million!"

Sora raged about the rarity of this special blood type,

"Anyone have an S blood?!"

Chopper yelled loudly for all the kingdom to hear, however the people looked down and despair set in, nobody had that type of blood, they looked at one another, not finding any hope. Fukaboshi and the other princes started having panic attacks, Jimbei looked down, he wanted to help so badly but he had an F type.

"C...Can't my blood be used?! I have SSS type, will it work? It is red like hers won't it do?!" Shirahoshi said, crying a bit.

"Yo—You? How were you even born? I mean…." Chopper said, murmuring, however, then he raised his voice, "No, SSS type and S are extremely incompatible, they are almost poisonous to one another, but the thought counts, just stay there!" Chopper affirmed her.

"Chopper, use mine!" Luffy said, finishing the hard part.

"B—But Luffy, you are type F!"

"Would you believe me it changed when I got surgery 2 years back? It's now S type!" Luffy said, walking and cleaning his arms.

B—But, changing blood types, isn't that close to impossible? D—did he have a bone marrow replaced or something?! Chopper reasoned.

"W—Wait, the act of giving blood between is prohibited by the Kingdom, it it is a law that was passed down by humans who did not want to soil their blood with Fishmen blood, Straw hat, it is a crime"

Fukaboshi hesitated in his speech, it wasn't as if he was denying Luffy's generosity, the crown prince's warnings were just so that Luffy wouldn't be considered a criminal, it wouldn't do for the one that saved them for this crisis to commit a big crime and not know about it. Fukaboshi's kindness was bigger than the immediate drive to save his mother, he couldn't let Luffy do this without knowing the repercussions, although looking at the kingdom's citizens, nobody seemed to give a crap about this law anymore, it was a dirty, hateful law in their minds, nobody would want to enforce it, they just wanted their Queen to be saved, Fukaboshi knew it, but he still had to tell Luffy before he could make the decision.

Luffy glanced at the prince and grinned.

"Pirates don't obey the law!"

Luffy eyed him, confidently, while giving the crown prince a happy, and a bit of a challenging smile, to the rest of the kingdom there was a big, unknown chemistry between the two, merman, crown prince and the captain of the straw hats, to everyone around, there were some seeds blooming, of deep friendship between the two, which was weird since this was the first time meeting.

"B—But Straw hat, you" The Minister of the Left called him, in a last-ditch effort to safeguard Luffy's status as a clean, spotless person in their country.

"Let him! ...Minister, there is nothing wrong with what he needs to do." Fukaboshi smiled solemnly, happiness welled inside of him as he saw the human, trying to save their Queen with a grin on his face.

"The old laws are a curse on their own, I'm sure that my mother will remove those laws in the drop of a hat, let him be!"

Fukaboshi said, a few tears escaped him.

To think the day would come where a human would willingly give his blood to a mermaid. The history was not kind, humans often rejected fishmen blood, even while being treated in the kingdom's various hospitals, it was so bad that people died of blood loss, without clear donations, and even fishmen didn't want human blood if the rumors about Fisher Tiger were true, and for what was spoken by the straw hat crew with him while they helped the kingdom, Fisher Tiger couldn't accept human blood in his last moments.

Luffy walked up near Chopper.

"Do you believe me? Do you believe that my blood type has changed?"

Luffy looked at Chopper intently, his words were spoken with such a charming voice that even the people next to them couldn't help but nod, even though they weren't the medic specialist! This was the charisma that a person like Luffy had, it was almost close to mind control, you couldn't help but agree to his words, even if they were inherently wrong.

Chopper mumbled and nodded, a bit bashful, Luffy gave a little scratch under Choppers cheeks before he sat next to Otohime.

His massive and muscular legs sat in a lotus position, it was the first time Chopper took a look at how massive Luffy really was, his legs were long and thick with rippling muscles, his torso was also tall, his muscles were lean, not too bulky but he had a massive abdomen, chest, shoulders and back in comparison to the men in the crew, which was well fitted for his massive size, almost reaching 7 feet tall.

Even sitting down, Luffy's chest reached more height than the operating table, it was that jarring and foreign feeling that passed through Chopper at seeing how different his captain really looked, and then Luffy flexed his arm, to promote blood flow, Chopper then went to work, done admiring the slaughtering machine that was Luffy's post-adolescent body. If he remembered correctly Luffy killed somebody by just running his massive frame towards them in the fight while being distracted by the new tank weapon Franky unveiled, it was absolutely insane! How could that happen? To kill someone just by walking into them, it was almost worse than being run over by a full speed water train.

Luffy picked the needle, for the blood extraction, sterilized, he tried to pierce his skin, but before he could reach the arm, he stopped and thought that even this sharp metal would be able to actually make a hole in his body, it wouldn't be able to pierce the skin, so he applied a coating of armament, making the previous platinum color turn shiny black, and he stabbed in the correct spot.

With his armament on the needle, it was possible to hurt his incredibly tough skin.

He sighed in relief, only because finding another blood type equal to hers here would be a hassle and most likely impossible.

He looked to the sky, seeing the light rays transmitted through the roots of the tree, the mangrove Eve.

Extracting the blood from his Captain, Chopper continued the rest of the operation, as the suspense stilled in the population, finally Chopper linked both tubes.

The light seemed to momentarily blind the people.

As their vision returned to normal all they saw was crimson, brilliant red, filling the empty tubes.

As man and mermaid were connected by the blood at last.

And the red blood continued to flow.

Slowly and slowly

The lives here witnessed the moment, as the emotions spelled high.

Their tears fell as their hearts tightened, their hearts hurt to see the act of kindness that Luffy gave them, yet despite the hurt, nothing could give them more elation, a person who could have easily destroyed them, willingly gave his life-blood towards the most adored woman in the deep sea, the kind-hearted Otohime who lived her life, full of heartbreak, full of disappointments and dead ends towards her dream of peace, those that watched here today, finally understood...

The five million citizens finally understood what Otohime, the brave mermaid warrior wanted... Her hardships, her achievements, her joys, her sorrows... everything was transmitted through the tube of red blood that joined their Queen and their Savior.

Luffy looked up, amidst the cheering for his name, as Jimbei sat down beside him as friends, his crew joined him as Chopper worked fiercely, truly Chopper was a medic to be awed by, he couldn't compete with the level of diligence and knowledge that Chopper had, nor he could ever reach the tremendous amount empathy that went into his work and patients, truly he had great comrades who could do things he could never do.

He affirmed himself that there is no way that he could ever reach his dream without each and every one of them here with him, and he then affirmed his other dream, his dream of protecting his comrades dreams, it was the only way he could reciprocate their support, he would do anything for that matter alone. AS he looked to the side, he saw the one he wanted to have adventures with. He looked forward again and closed his eyes serenely.

"Hey, Jimbei... come and join my crew…"

Luffy said, his eyes were closed, a small smile on his face.

Jimbei widened his eyes in shock, an explosion of feelings overcame him, he didn't know how to feel from this monumental invitation, he was about to respond when...

"Luffy…"

Otohime, twitched, she started waking up, soon her eyes opened and those baby blue eyes which glittered with the hopes of their kingdom opened.

Seeing the Queen awakened and not in critical condition made everyone cheer for her name, finally, their Queen was awake, it was the same feeling when she returned from Marie Geoise and when she returned from North blue.

Otohime turned her eyes to meet Luffy's stormy grey eyes as they opened.

"When I saw all that light enveloping the sea, I thought you didn't like us and wanted to erase everything."

"Well, from your perspective, that attack is pretty jarring to witness, of course there is no real way to witness it since you'll be temporarily blinded by the intense light." Luffy said, smirking a bit.

"Don't you have less flashy attacks?" Otohime said, smiling serenely.

"Heh, of course not, after all lightning is nothing but flashy."

Luffy joked, and she gave all of them a full-blown grin, the same she gave them as they arrived on the island, the same goofy and happy expression, Luffy thought that this was her true happy face, one before all of the tragedies that befell her life.

It was a truly beautiful smile.

"Otohime, your dream is a road... a road that leads toward the sun," Luffy said, in a loud and pleasant voice for everyone to hear.

"You may not want to hear a poor advice from a 19-year-old but…" Luffy smiling goofily, making everyone else around him ease, like an expert politician would do. He then turned into a serene, with wisdom in his eyes, Otohime was quickly enraptured.

"Never hurry, you are on the correct path…" Luffy combed her hair, her wavy and frizzy blond hair, with his fingers.

"If you hurry, if you go too fast towards your dream, towards the road to the sun, you may find that the sun itself has burned and singed that road, it may even burn you as well, just like my cruel Sun burned Hody Jones dream."

Luffy said, expertly putting everyone's hopes down, and also putting morbid thoughts in everyone, it was the shrewd mind and sheer manipulative talent that he inherited from his mother, it was in his blood, and it was why he was such a prodigy in the political arena like Rayleigh told him, he just never used it because he doesn't really care about the consequences of his own actions.

However he cared about Otohime's actions, and the consequences to her actions, he couldn't help but care, she was just too lovable, too precious to let herself get burned, and not know where she did wrong.

"It doesn't hurt to walk in that road at a slower pace, it doesn't hurt to take breaks, it doesn't hurt to look back and drag those that are walking tiredly behind you, and give aid to them, it doesn't hurt to look to the sides and invite other pilgrims, you are not alone in your dream, remember this." Luffy spoke in difficult metaphors, yet the meaning was not lost to Otohime, she understood what he conveyed perfectly, there was no need to rush headlong into her dream, if she did she would only get burned.

Looking around she found a lot of faces staring her, full of hope and support, she smiled, it would be meaningless if she was the one running while they could barely follow behind her in her dream, they would eventually get tired, and it was her duty to support them and take breaks in the long road, she could not just go headlong, expecting everyone to naturally follow her, everyone had a different 'pace', she would also need more comrades, not just down here, but above the sea, if she could get strong support, then her kingdom would have a louder voice above, where the sun rays touched their skin,.

After thinking about what Luffy said, she smiled at him, not hiding her blush.

"That was a great advice Luffy, baby steps huh?"

Otohime said, as the clouds passed and the sun was setting, the surgery continued unimpeded, as Otohime stared at Shirahoshi and both were lovingly talking to one another, it seemed that they made up, which made Luffy smile, the wounds of neglect would heal with time, it was his sincere hope that they did.

Luffy closed his eyes to take a nap while sitting in a lotus position, it wasn't because he was tired of the battle or anything, the Monkey family just loved to sleep. There was nothing to it. Soon a snort bubble formed as he dozed off to the joking frustration of his friends.

The dust had settled, as Luffy took the nap he so needed, Chopper was finishing the surgery, next would be the antibiotics treatment, the Straw hats all worked to help the kingdom, providing aid and food to the people, as well as Zoro and the others clearing out the rubble, seeing Zoro chop down giant pieces of stone and coral, into tiny pieces was impressive to look at, he had a small gathering of construction workers, picking up the pieces as he advanced like a machine.

Robin worked with the princes and the army to apply sedatives to the captured criminals, creating hands with the medication in hand made the process very fast, they were in the flying ships as they were hauled to the palace's dungeons.

The citizens then went to their normal life, settling back and letting the adrenaline high wear off.

As Otohime and Shirahoshi looked at each other, they knew in their hearts, that they needed to resolve the situation on the Fishmen district, and Otohime needed to… unfortunately…

...Execute all those that went against the crown today…

It was the unfortunate law of the country, but to execute more than 300 thousand criminals on her own… it was a cruel and grim fate… one that she had to follow, she grit her teeth in pure cringe.

XOX

"Hey, what is troubling you Otohime-chan?" Luffy gave a look of apparent worry, only denoted by the seriousness in his eyes, she couldn't have known, he was an expert at hiding things from her, after all, her color of observation didn't pick up on anything other than an endless sea of blackness.

"It's just *sigh*" She looked at him with a bit of sadness leaking through, and a bit of worry, having said that she focused again on Luffy and smiled sadly. "Hody Jones was one thing, a bad news, a very bad news, however… Vander Decken, the monster that was obsessed with my daughter, he…" the Queen's eyes widened in pure and absolute terror and sadness, as she spoke the next words.

"He… He said he killed everyone back in the Fishmen District…" she choked on her own words, disbelieving herself. "The district doesn't only house criminals Luffy, it also harbors veterans and old folk, as well as dozens of orphanages down there from the unwanted, it's how the district was formed in the first place…" Otohime couldn't bear it anymore and just hugged Luffy with all her might, as Luffy tried to do his best to console her.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he couldn't have killed everybody! To kill an entire city, even I would have problems killing everyone, I'm sure a lot of them survived... Listen, we'll drop you in the palace, as well as the others, and I'll mount a team with Jimbei, Chopper, Zoro, and Brook, as well as a few soldiers, and we'll go down there to find survivors!" Luffy gave an optimistic smile, it was a true one in fact, Otohime had to wonder how mysterious and unpredictable Luffy actually was, a killing machine in one moment and an optimistic hero in another moment, it was truly hard to grasp what Luffy's true nature was, or if he was just a chameleon.

"Luffy… I need to go…" Otohime said, putting her hands on the deck of the sunny, as her tail swished around, like a kicked puppy, looking down, he gave a stare that told her to stay in the palace to rest, her wounds while healing steadfast, still needed proper care.

Otohime looked at him, a bit frightened like a girl who had just been scolded by her dad, what was she? Why did this man have so much control over her actions, why was she so submissive towards him?

She summoned all of her existing courage and shook her head.

"No, Luffy, I, I need to go, I need to see this through… Please, take me with you!" Otohime, like a little girl trying to disarm her dad, tried to put her happiest charming face, however, the pure tears and terror running through her eyes made it a bit sad to watch, Luffy had doubts whether or not she was ready to see what would be down there, Luffy lips curled down, a bit angry his order was denied.

Luffy grabbed her cheek in a claw grip, putting his hands on her soft lips, it was a frightening position to be in, Luffy's eyes held a threatening, dangerous and wild look, his fingers played with her cheeks and chin, as well as her lips, his fingers entered her mouth and started playing around, while his stormy eyes held a cruel laughter behind them, a small sadistic smile made its way into his face.

Otohime felt hot, she shivered in excitement as she was turned on by being in this position, her eyes which previously held terror now held something else, unbearable lust, his dominant presence made her instantly wet, his fingers playing with her face like they owned them, made her twinge, again she was reminded that she was probably a masochist for enjoying this.

Her body automatically licked his fingers which were playing with her tongue, she started sucking on them as her eyes were glazed with lust, to her those fingers tasted better than any food she ever tasted, soon, however, he pressed both hands on her cheeks and he got close, his eyes were but a few centimeters from her own, his intimidating conquering gray eyes stared right into her soul, she felt like a helpless little girl, being looked at with magnifying glasses, her every thought being exposed, she felt completely naked under those eyes, the frightening part is that she didn't care, she actually loved this feeling.

"I will take you…" He said, smiling, however, his face got serious again. "But prepare to be punished, no one disobeys my orders," Luffy said, staring at her baby blue eyes, with his own hard, demanding and conquering one's, she nodded like a little child.

Once again she was reminded of who this man was, he was one of the strongest people she ever met, his charisma was through the roof, and he was wild and unpredictable, one moment he was humble, the other he was more demanding than a celestial dragon, however his authority wasn't hateful and dislikable like those of the celestial dragon, his power and authority was like an addicting honey, sweet and vicious, it would make you completely dependent and happy to be of service to him, this was the power of his charm, even when disobeying his commands made people accept his punishments like they were the most natural thing in the world, it was a weird and honestly disconcerting feeling, however that feeling was felt in only a small part of her mind, and that small part was dying faster and faster, she was falling faster and faster into his honey trap, as well as the rest of her kingdom.

It wouldn't surprise her if worshippers started using him as the idol of their faith, it was that bad of a feeling, the fact that he was a literal God might help that part even further if she were honest.

XOX

The next few hours passed numbly for Luffy, gathering a small team of hardened soldiers, as well as some old souls on his crew with him who could handle tragedy if it hit them in the face, he ventured into the district, his main worries were Otohime who was with them, and Chopper, who was the doctor accompanying them, he was there for simple reasons, if there were survivors, he would treat them, if there weren't... Luffy would be worried about Chopper's mental state afterward.

Luffy looked at the land, deep beneath the sea, covered in darkness, only lighted by streetlights and other things, it wasn't a total mate black, however it received less light than Fishman isle, however it still received some light from the tree, it wasn't enough and it only made the district look like a permanent night zone.

At least he left most of his crew along with the princess at the palace, this wasn't something they were ready to see yet, not this…

A killing floor of innocent people, of children and babies, of caring old people and more, it would be too much for them, he couldn't risk it.

Luffy released a sigh, denoting his worried heart as they approached the town, this wouldn't be a fun experience for him, the Queen, Zoro, Jimbei, Brook, and Chopper who came with him, and the hardened soldiers, in fact he believed this experience would be vomit inducing for most of them.

It was with a bit of a heavy heart that Luffy approached the killing ground, hoping that his observation picked signs of survivors.