Putting aside Fish-Man Island's crucial geographic position for the moment, just the fact that the mermaid princess was the incarnation of Poseidon meant it absolutely could not be handed over to those power-hungry lunatics.
"Change course. We're going to Fish-Man Island."
Oguro gave the order without hesitation.
Even if Fish-Man Island had already fallen under Big Mom's banner, he would still snatch it back.
...
Sabaody Archipelago
Oguro first found a craftsman to coat the ship.
At the same time, he noticed that there were noticeably more pirates on Sabaody than before.
After the Summit War, Marineford had basically been crippled.
Akainu had gone so far as to move Marine Headquarters directly into the New World, declaring his determination to wipe out pirates once and for all.
As a result, the defensive forces stationed at Sabaody Archipelago had been drastically reduced.
As far as Akainu's decision went, Oguro could only say one thing.
A brute would always be a brute.
Wanting to charge into the New World and start swinging fists was fine, but Sabaody Archipelago was an even more important strategic point that absolutely could not be abandoned.
To put it bluntly, if the Navy could intercept over ninety percent of pirates at Sabaody, then within at most ten years, the New World would stop receiving fresh blood altogether.
The Yonko, and even the pirate world as a whole, would naturally wither and decline.
At that point, wouldn't it be far easier for the Navy to clean them up?
Akainu pouring all of his strength into the New World was nothing more than treating the symptoms and not the disease. Pirates would never be completely eradicated that way.
Of course, none of that was Oguro's problem.
Sabaody Archipelago sat right next to Mary Geoise. If he extended his influence here, it would definitely provoke the most violent reaction from the World Government.
Now wasn't the time to tear off all pretenses.
The moment news of Oguro's appearance at Sabaody spread, the Five Elders learned of it.
"Getting the ship coated? Is he heading to the New World?" Shepherd Ju Peter frowned slightly.
Everyone knew that the foundation of the Holy Spirit Empire was Water 7 in Paradise.
For Oguro to leave Paradise was a risky move.
Who knew if someone might seize the chance to attack his home base?
On top of that, the New World was Yonko territory.
Oguro might be strong, but snatching food from under their noses wouldn't be easy.
No matter how you looked at it, Oguro's actions didn't make sense.
Of course, it wasn't really the Five Elders' fault for failing to understand.
In their eyes, Fish-Man Island was nothing more than a weak little nation.
It had always wanted to return to the surface, yet lacked the strength to protect itself.
Humans had never truly taken fish-men seriously.
The fact that fish-men were constantly captured and sold as slaves was proof enough.
More importantly, they could never imagine that Oguro possessed something like the World Crossing Gate.
Even across tens of thousands of miles, he could return in an instant.
If anything happened at Water 7, he could be back immediately.
For him, there was no such thing as being afraid of someone "stealing his home."
Jaygarcia Saturn spoke up, "Maybe he's going to meet the Whitebeard Pirates. Didn't they have contact during the Summit War?"
"The Whitebeard Pirates aren't doing too well right now. Maybe they asked him for help?"
"I don't think a pirate crew could command him," Topman Warcury countered. "If Whitebeard were still alive, maybe there'd be a slim chance."
A dragon does not mingle with snakes.
The Whitebeard Pirates might once have been a dragon, but now they were far from it.
"Have CP0 keep an eye on him," Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro said calmly. "If we know his movements, we can respond accordingly."
The others exchanged glances and agreed.
"What about probing Water 7?" Shepherd Ju Peter asked seriously. "Oguro took a captain-level subordinate with him. This is the best opportunity."
They wanted to gauge Oguro's true strength.
"No. There's no need," Nusjuro shook his head.
"Vegapunk is researching the Holy Spirit Empire's power. Once we uncover their secrets, that will be the moment we completely erase the Holy Spirit Empire."
"There's no reason to alert them now."
After thinking it over, Ju Peter agreed.
What they didn't know was that the Science Division had already been completely taken over by Sōsuke Aizen.
The research reports they received regularly were basically all nonsense, things that could never be realized.
"Oh, right. Send word down. Tell those idiots not to go to Sabaody for the next few days. If they die, it's their own fault."
Before concluding, the Five Elders couldn't help but warn the pigs living in Mary Geoise.
Oguro had a history of killing Celestial Dragons.
If those fools dared provoke him, they'd deserve whatever death they got.
...
Sabaody Archipelago
The Desert Rose was successfully coated.
Oguro didn't linger and immediately set off for Fish-Man Island.
CP0 agents watching from the shadows finally breathed a sigh of relief.
That killing god had finally left.
They were terrified that Oguro might snap and carry out another large-scale purge on Sabaody.
The image of Celestial Dragons being beheaded was still fresh in their minds.
Thankfully, this time he had only come for the coating, and left as soon as it was done.
...
Deep Sea
As the Desert Rose continued to descend, the surroundings grew darker and darker.
Along the way, Oguro saw numerous shipwrecks.
Pirate ships that had tried to charge into the New World, only to sink halfway there.
In the distance, a massive black shadow rapidly approached.
A Sea King.
"Turn off the lights. Stop the ship," Oguro ordered.
In the pitch-black deep sea, a single light was the most obvious target imaginable.
The Sea Kings here were nothing like the few-hundred-meter ones from shallow waters.
Down here, thousand-meter-class Sea Kings were everywhere, and even ones exceeding ten thousand meters weren't rare.
Oguro guessed this was likely an instinct engraved into Sea King genes to guard the possible emergence of Poseidon.
That instinct kept them constantly lurking around Fish-Man Island.
After all, in the original timeline, when Shirahoshi called out, several Sea Kings over five thousand meters long showed up almost instantly.
If they weren't already nearby, there was no way they could arrive that fast.
The Desert Rose remained silent as a massive Sea King swept past them.
Its absurdly huge body made the Desert Rose look no bigger than one of its eyes.
"Tch. No wonder Poseidon is called one of the Three Ancient Weapons. You wouldn't need many of these Sea Kings. Just controlling ten would be enough to turn the world upside down."
This was a world covered by oceans.
Control the sea, and you control the world.
The Desert Rose restarted its engines.
This time, Oguro smoothly arrived at the outer perimeter of Fish-Man Island.
He deliberately checked the flag.
It was still the Whitebeard Pirates' banner.
Looks like he made it in time.
The Desert Rose slowly sailed into the port, where two fish-man guards stepped forward to collect the passage fee.
After paying, Oguro didn't rush to meet Neptune.
Instead, he took the women with him to stroll around Fish-Man Island.
As one of the world's most famous tourist destinations, how could they not enjoy it properly?
At the same time, inside Ryugu Palace, Neptune was wearing a deeply troubled expression as he discussed a matter of life and death.