Fukaboshi lay unconscious upon his hospital bed. Several merfolk doctors bustled around his bloodied body, working urgently to save him. One blood-soaked bandage after another was discarded into a basin.
Before long, the basin had become a mountain of crimson cloth.
Princess Shirahoshi watched her brother with fear and despair. Tears streamed down her face like pearls, making the onlookers' hearts ache.
King Neptune held her hand, gently patting its back, and spoke in a soothing voice:
"Fukaboshi will be fine. We have the best doctors in all of Fish-Man Island here."
"Father…" Shirahoshi sobbed into Neptune's chest.
"I'm so afraid… so afraid that big brother will… will end up like—"
Neptune knew what she could not bring herself to say: "like Ryuboshi and Manboshi."
Yes—he had three sons. And Shirahoshi had three brothers. Hody Jones had already taken two of them. And now, a swarm of pirates had come for the last.
Why? How can people be so cruel? What grudge do my children bear against these pirates? Why, again and again, is their hatred directed at us?
Suppressing the fury rising in his chest, Neptune forced himself to remain calm, whispering words of comfort to his daughter.
"It will be all right, Shirahoshi. You must be strong. Right now, Fukaboshi needs our support most. Pray for him—he can hear you. He cannot bear to leave you, and so he will wake."
"R-really?" Shirahoshi lifted her tearful eyes to him. "Big brother can hear me?"
"It's true."
"O-okay… I'll pray for him. I'll pray that he recovers."
With that, Shirahoshi pressed her hands together before her tiny nose, closed her eyes, and began to murmur prayers.
Neptune gently released her, leaving her to pray, and turned one last look at his wounded son before stepping out of the room.
In the corridor outside, General Seahorse dropped to his knees the instant he saw the king, guilt and dread written on his face.
"Your Majesty! I failed to protect Prince Fukaboshi. It was my—"
"Rise," Neptune cut him off, pulling him to his feet.
"This was not your fault. It was those pirates—they went too far."
Grateful for the king's mercy, yet burning with fury at the pirates, the general snarled through clenched teeth:
"Your Majesty, please, let me go after them! Even if it costs my life, I'll drag them down to hell with me!"
But Neptune shook his head, his voice solemn:
"General Seahorse, I have told you countless times—I will not hear of such reckless words again."
"B-but—"
"That is an order."
"…Y-yes, Your Majesty."
Though shame and anger still roiled within him, the general bowed. Neptune moved forward a few steps, then called:
"Scholar Catfish?"
The robed scholar quickly approached, bowing low.
"Yes, Your Majesty. What do you command?"
"Alvida and Hatchan—they're still here on Fish-Man Island, aren't they?"
Neptune's voice was steady, but Scholar Catfish sensed the shift immediately. He glanced up and caught the king's face, shadowed with grim resolve.
"They are. Our people have been keeping distant watch over them."
"Then deliver a message for me." Neptune's hand gripped his thick white beard, tugging at it as though to tear it from his chin.
"A message of respect… to Captain Davy Jones."
Scholar Catfish swallowed hard. He and General Seahorse exchanged a glance.
They both knew—the king had finally made his decision.
And soon, the tides of Fish-Man Island would change.
Meanwhile, one of the "Supernovas," the gangster Capone "Gang" Bege, strode into a Fish-Man Island restaurant. A crowd of sharply dressed subordinates in suits trailed behind him like loyal shadows.
The owner of the establishment was a wiry Fish-Man, though most of his patrons were humans—pirates in particular. Catering to them was his livelihood.
The moment Bege entered, he wrinkled his nose at the raucous din of drunken laughter and shouts. Displeasure darkened his expression.
"Is there nowhere more comfortable, more quiet than this?" he demanded.
"Godfather," one of his men explained at once,
"the better restaurants are all in the nobles' district. But the merfolk there… they don't take kindly to our kind."
"Heh. A bunch of aquarium exhibits daring to prick at me?" Bege sneered, slipping a cigar from his coat pocket. One of his men quickly flicked a lighter to life.
But then, a slurred woman's voice drifted from a table near the entrance:
"Sounds like… you're not very happy here… Then why not… just get lost already?"
Bege's men all turned, glaring daggers at the speaker.
Bege himself only cast a sideways glance—and recognized her instantly.
One of the "Supernovas." The gluttonous "Big Eater," Jewelry Bonney.
At that moment, she was shoveling food into her mouth at a staggering pace, her crew barking at the waiters to keep the dishes coming. Yet, despite the endless stream of meat and bread, her stomach never seemed to swell.
"Tch. You again, tasteless woman." Bege instantly lost interest, pushing aside his man's lighter without even lighting his cigar.
"Why is it I can't seem to go anywhere without running into you?"
Bonney stuffed a drumstick into her mouth, glaring at him defiantly between chews.
"You wanna… fight? Like… Kid and Apoo… this morning?"
"Good grief. Can't you swallow before you speak?" Bege recoiled in disgust, stepping back as though her half-chewed scraps might splatter onto him.
Bonney, undeterred, continued eating without pause, eyes locked on him in challenge.
Bege pressed his lips into a thin line and shook his head.
"I won't stay in a dump like this. Breathing the same air as you makes me feel filthy."
Bonney only smirked, boots propped boldly upon the table, her posture daring him to take offense.
With a cold snort, Bege turned away, leading his men toward the exit.
Just then, a young red-skinned Fish-Man strode in through the door, calling out loudly:
"Boss! The new bounties for the criminals from the 'Paramount War' just came out! Do you want a set?"
The skinny Fish-Man owner waved a hand eagerly.
"Of course! Give me one. I'll put it up on the wall. My customers will love it—what's a pirate joint without bounties, eh?"
The pirates in the room roared with laughter at that, the atmosphere buzzing with excitement.
Indeed, a wall plastered with wanted posters would make them feel right at home.
The young Fish-Man handed over the stack of posters and hurried out again—his pay for the day depending on how many he could distribute.
After all, that beautiful black-haired woman had instructed him so.
Meanwhile, the shift in the restaurant owner's expression had not gone unnoticed by the "Supernovas."
Bonney perked up with interest.
"Hey… Boss… whose bounties… got updated? Read them out loud…"
The rowdy patrons chimed in:
"Yeah! Read 'em out! Let's hear it!"
The Paramount War was barely a week past, and still ablaze in everyone's minds. Anything tied to it was hot commodity—and new wanted posters were no exception. The pirates were eager.
"You want me to read them?" The Fish-Man owner gave them all a strange, almost mocking smile.
"Are you sure you really want to hear this?"
Bege, who had already stepped a foot out the door, hesitated at that peculiar tone. He turned back, curiosity piqued, and remained to listen.
Bonney swallowed another mouthful, let out a small burp, and grinned.
"Go ahead… it's just names, faces, and numbers… We've all seen bounties before."
"Very well. I'll read them."
The Fish-Man deliberately shuffled the stack—placing the Whitebeard remnants and escaped convicts' posters at the bottom, while pulling the Davy Jones Pirates' bounties to the top.
"Let's start with these, then…" He cleared his throat with feigned casualness.
"'Spotted Sea Cow' Momoo, sea beast of the Davy Jones Pirates! Bounty unchanged—15 million berries!"
The very first poster had the restaurant bursting into laughter.
A mere sea beast carrying a bounty worth nearly a quarter of some well-known pirates? The absurdity had the crowd joking among themselves, the room light with mirth.
Unfazed, the owner calmly unfolded the second poster.
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