Landing on Fish-Man Island

Duke wanted to defend himself, but Robin gave him no chance. After speaking, the young lady looked around at the scenery of the deep sea.

As the ship descended deeper and deeper, the sunlight gradually faded, and the seabed slowly turned dark. In the blink of an eye, the only remaining light was overhead, as if the entire world had fallen into darkness. The unease rising from the depths of one’s heart made one desperate to escape.

The oppressive atmosphere weighed heavily on their chests. Anyone without a firm will might develop thalassophobia here. Especially when enormous deep-sea beasts appeared one after another, enough to drive anyone to the brink of collapse.

"Splash, splash, splash, splash, splash—"

A Sea King with crimson eyes swam over, its tail fin beating through the water. Perhaps because Darkness Maru had invaded its territory, it immediately opened its jaws wide, intending to swallow Darkness Maru whole.

Facing that gaping maw lined with fangs, Duke directly released the pressure of Conqueror’s Haki. The overwhelming aura, mixed with a dragon-like majesty, condensed into a line and struck the Sea King. It immediately cried out in alarm, its crimson eyes regaining clarity, before it let out a wail and fled.

Accidents could happen at any time in the perilous deep sea. Duke did not dare relax, and Conqueror’s Haki spread over a large area centered on Darkness Maru. The aura of a king at the top of the food chain made every passing Sea King tuck its tail and turn around to flee, though there were also a few brainless creatures unafraid of death.

Several Sea Kings with adorably vacant expressions sensed Duke’s Conqueror’s Haki and actually circled Darkness Maru from afar. The king’s aura kept them from acting rashly, but these clearly none-too-bright creatures were unwilling to leave.

"Captain, there are more and more monsters!" Perona no longer cared about her low spirits. She hid behind Duke, trembling too much to look outside.

"They were drawn here by the captain’s Haki. Too much curiosity isn’t a good thing," Robin said calmly. She believed Duke would handle these Sea Kings.

"What a pain…" Duke narrowed his eyes slightly, then suddenly opened them. "Get lost—"

Terrifying killing intent and Conqueror’s Haki converged, instantly enveloping the approaching Sea Kings. As sea beasts at the top of the food chain, they might not understand what a dragon’s pressure was, but the warning of death was a fear every living creature could sense. For a moment, they seemed to see mountains of corpses and seas of blood, frozen on the spot by terror.

Unable to move their fins, the Sea Kings stared with frightened eyes as they slowly sank into the deep sea. The light was so dim that only fragments of their bodies could barely be seen, but the size of these Sea Kings was simply immeasurable. They were rarely seen in the upper waters and were undoubtedly rulers of the deep sea.

Such colossal creatures could be seen everywhere along the rest of the journey. This was only the deep sea near Fish-Man Island. Across the entire ocean, who knew how many Sea Kings like these existed? No wonder Poseidon was bestowed with the title of a god and hailed as a terrifying weapon capable of destroying the world. One could imagine countless giant beasts raising tsunamis and smashing islands at Poseidon’s command. That was a natural disaster humanity could never resist.

Further down, the three were fortunate enough to witness a spectacle. A magnificent blaze suddenly erupted from the pitch-black deep sea, while billowing Black Mud rose upward. The majestic grandeur of an undersea volcanic eruption made them marvel at nature’s terrifying power. In the blink of an eye, it could fill seas and form lakes; merely watching it filled them with fear.

"Are we not at Fish-Man Island yet?" Duke said with a grave expression. "Conqueror’s Haki isn’t endless. If we don’t reach Fish-Man Island soon, we may have to wrestle Sea Kings in the ocean."

"E-E-Eek—Captain, you’re joking, right? People will die!" Perona burst into tears on the spot. "No, what if the coating breaks?"

Perona’s words carried great depth. Since graduating kindergarten, this was the most profound thing Duke had ever heard. Just as he was about to tease her, he saw a straight beam of light ahead. The sudden radiance pierced through heaven and earth, connecting the deep sea to the sky.

"That is…" Robin also saw the pillar of light. After staring in shock for a moment, she said delightedly, "Could that be the legendary Treasure Tree Eve?"

"Get ready. Fish-Man Island is almost here." Duke breathed a sigh of relief. Unless absolutely necessary, he did not want to fight Sea Kings in the deep sea. He was not the protagonist and did not possess heaven-defying luck. Luffy might be able to punch through a ship’s coating and emerge unharmed, but Duke would probably not fare so well.

Light was the foundation of survival for all living things. Without light, there could be no photosynthesis, and without photosynthesis, even the most basic food chain could not be established. Perhaps single-celled organisms could exist, but fish-men were destined to be unable to survive.

Therefore, although Fish-Man Island lay beneath the deep sea, it was not a place of eternal darkness. The giant tree growing near Fish-Man Island, Sun Tree Eve, could carry sunlight from the surface down into the depths of the ocean. Thus, Fish-Man Island beneath the sea also had sunlight and cycles of day and night, ensuring that fish-men and merfolk could survive underwater. To thank nature for its mercy, they even described this phenomenon as the "blessing of the sun."

"This tree… is truly magnificent!"

Because of Sun Tree Eve, a trace of light now appeared in the pitch-black deep sea. The towering tree, like a pillar holding up the heavens, shone as brightly as the sun. Like a lighthouse in the darkness, it cast the hope of life into the black storm.

The light illuminated the deep sea and revealed Fish-Man Island as well. A massive double-layered hemispherical bubble membrane enclosed the entire island. This was an unavoidable stop on the route to the New World, as well as the birthplace of most fish-men and merfolk. It was also known as the Undersea Paradise.

The dazzling light draped it in a hazy veil, making everything seem dreamlike, beautiful beyond anything in the mortal world.

"Fish-Man Island is here. Prepare to disembark." Duke issued the captain’s order. On this ship, only he was qualified to say such a thing.

Darkness Maru sailed through the entrance of Fish-Man Island’s main gate. Duke did not force his way through and chose the proper route. Once the ship entered Fish-Man Island, Perona remembered something and asked, "Captain, Fish-Man Island is only a stop along the way. Once the Log Pose finishes recording, let’s leave quickly! I heard fish-men and merfolk have a terrible impression of humans. They reject humans fiercely."

As soon as she said that, Perona felt the hostile gazes around them. The fish-men and merfolk, the island’s residents, watched Duke’s group of three coldly. Quite a few of them looked openly hostile. If not for an order from the royal palace, they would have swarmed them long ago.

"Captain, they’re really unfriendly!"

Perona was right. Neither fish-men nor merfolk had anything resembling a friendly relationship with humans. Humans despised them as freaks and captured them as ornamental playthings. Having suffered endless torment, they hated humans. The radicals among both races looked down on humans with their inferior racial traits and often called for every human who came ashore to be exterminated.

Most merfolk and fish-men did not want to provoke humans. They only wanted to spend their lives peacefully on Fish-Man Island. To the residents of Fish-Man Island, this place was the sea’s blessing for merfolk and fish-men, their last pure land. Yet even though they retreated again and again, humans still refused to let them go. Even on Fish-Man Island, there was no shortage of human traffickers who captured merfolk.

"It’s fine. As long as we don’t cause trouble, they’re quite friendly." Duke took the lead in getting off the ship and walking into Fish-Man Island. He was not wearing a mask, nor was Robin. After leaving the Sabaody Archipelago and entering the New World, they likely would not need masks again.

"Friendly?" Perona looked at the vicious stares around them and could not feel any friendliness at all.

"Do you know why our captain was wanted in the first place?" Robin asked with a light smile as she followed behind Duke.

Perona decisively shook her head. When Duke first became famous, she had only been an ordinary little girl. By the time she joined Moria’s Pirate Crew, Duke had vanished from public view. Other than knowing that Duke’s bounty was high and that he had defeated an admiral, she knew nothing else.

"When the captain was still in the Marines, he once rescued a fish-man. That fish-man is highly respected on this island. You should have heard his name… the hero who freed slaves, the captain of the Sun Pirates—Fisher Tiger!" Robin said as she looked at Duke’s back.

"Fisher Tiger!? That fish-man who caused havoc in the Holy Land… Our captain saved him?" Perona cried out in shock.

Thanks to Elegant Cabbage, Collecting 16 to 25 Year Old Beautiful Girls, A Real Man Whose Fists Hit Flesh, Ice on the Snowy Ground, Song Wenci, Chūnibyō Little Little Little Bookworm, Jiang Che, God of Strong Liquor, Young Master White Day, Book Friend 20180316191528235, Book Friend 141113224341813, Fate Lasts Only a Moment, Call Me Tank-sama, Ning Caixiao, and ￥The Dao That Can Be Stolen￥ for the rewards!

I’ve been away these past few days, and these chapters were rushed out earlier through overtime. I didn’t give my thanks in time, so I’m making up for it today!