Chapter 83: Mermaid Coffee Shop
The legendary Ancient Weapons, Uranus, Pluto, Poseidon—Prince Elus had no idea what Uranus was. After all, there was no information about this treasure in his memory. Over the twenty years since coming to this world, he had inquired from many sources, but unfortunately found nothing.
However, there were many clues about Pluto and Poseidon, these two treasures. Pluto was a warship, crafted by the most outstanding group of shipwrights in ancient Water 7, combining the wisdom of many to counter a massive evil force—a super warship. Probably because it was a product of human effort, rumors about Pluto were the most numerous in this world.
The World Government targeted Water 7’s shipwrights for the Pluton Blueprint, scheming to kill Fish-Man Tom, and now secretly monitoring Iceberg. Furthermore, Crocodile disrupted the Alabasta Kingdom for that Pluto Battleship whose whereabouts were unknown. In the end, it all stemmed from this Ancient Weapon.
The other Poseidon was even more interesting—not a man-made weapon of destruction, but a natural overlord of the sea. Its true identity was a mermaid princess who could communicate with Sea Kings, appearing only once every few centuries. She was destined to be the king of the Sea Kings, possessing the immense power to save countless lives or destroy the world.
Nowadays,
the unawakened Poseidon was hiding inside Hard Shell Tower in Ryugu Palace.
“Vander Decken, I will take down this wanted man.”
Prince Elus said firmly.
This uglier-than-hell pervert had to be eliminated. Without taking out this guy, it would be hard to contact the mermaid princess.
King Neptune stroked his fluffy red beard under his chin. “Vander Decken is very cunning. The Sea King Army has never relaxed its search for this guy over the years, but unfortunately, it has still yielded nothing.”
“Of course, if it’s Prince Elus, capturing Vander Decken shouldn’t be difficult. It’s just… the matter of the alliance needs to be considered carefully. Ryugu Kingdom cannot withstand too much turmoil.”
The matter of allying with the Eckmond Kingdom was something King Neptune had pondered for more than a day or two. As soon as he received Jinbe’s report, he began thinking about it. He had talked with Jinbe, discussed it with his three sons, and consulted with his most trusted ministers.
The final results of the discussions were almost unanimous: allying with the Eckmond Kingdom was likely all benefits and no drawbacks. At least, based on the intelligence they had, there was no apparent downside. On the contrary, the advantages were numerous and clearly visible.
But the more so, the more cautious King Neptune became. Since ascending to the throne of Ryugu Kingdom, he had lost the recklessness of his days as the Great Knight of the Sea. With the entire Fish-Man Island on his shoulders, he had cautiously maintained Ryugu Kingdom’s foundation for all these years, not daring to act rashly, nor qualified to do so.
Even when his beloved queen was assassinated, he could only shed tears silently when alone, not daring to show the slightest weakness in public for the sake of Ryugu Kingdom’s greater good.
“Your Majesty Neptune, the alliance is a matter for two countries, so it can naturally be negotiated slowly. Anyway, as long as Whitebeard is still alive, even if we reach an agreement before he dies, it would be good.” Prince Elus said calmly. He understood King Neptune’s difficulties very well.
Fish-Man Island’s situation was vastly different from Water 7’s. Nowadays, Fish-Man Island was still Whitebeard’s territory. Ryugu Kingdom could not just break away from Whitebeard’s protection, nor could it disregard the Black Prince. Caught in a dilemma, it could only use delay tactics, letting time resolve the issue.
Whitebeard was old and declining, while the Black Prince was in his prime.
Time would help Ryugu Kingdom make the right choice at the right moment.
Moreover, even if Ryugu Kingdom was not ready to agree to the alliance immediately, it would not hinder him from finding a way to contact that mermaid princess.
“Also, if I said I would deal with Vander Decken, I will definitely do it.” Prince Elus repeated his “sincerity” once more.
He acted as he said. He took out the Den Den Mushi to contact Second Lieutenant Isca who was guarding the ship, briefly explained the situation, assigned the mission to search for the wanted man Vander Decken, and even specifically asked King Neptune for a team of Sea King Army to act with Isca and help with directions.
Prince Elus had acquired a batch of warships from Water 7 and also borrowed a batch of Marines from the Navy to help sail them back to the New World. Otherwise, no matter how capable Prince Elus was, with just him and his over a hundred maids and attendants, it would be impossible to bring this batch of warships back to the New World.
Although Prince Elus had no Navy rank, the title of Seven Warlords was usable. Commanding these Marines without senior officers was no issue, especially with former Second Lieutenant Isca. With little effort, she had these Marines under control.
“Prince Elus, Vander Decken is very cunning. We have no idea where his lair is.” Hoshigaki Kisame advised tactfully.
He did not doubt that Prince Elus could crush garbage like Vander Decken with one finger, but the premise was finding him. If he could not be found, even heaven-defying skills would be useless.
“No problem. Let my subordinates search first. Maybe we’ll get lucky and find him. If we really can’t… we’ll think of other ways. Anyway, what I promised, I will definitely do.” Prince Elus said with a smile.
Hoshigaki Kisame was speechless. With the conversation at this point, he had nothing more to say.
This so-called “Black Prince” was not a good reputation after all. He looked smiling and amiable now, easy to talk to, but what would happen if he truly angered him… He did not want to find out.
King Neptune also lacked the confidence to reason with Prince Elus and could only laughingly change the subject.
Thus,
the banquet continued, but the conversation gradually drifted elsewhere. King Neptune and Prince Elus chatted about everything under the sun, past and present, getting along quite pleasantly.
——————
This was deep in the seabed, shrouded in boundless darkness on all sides. The sunlight transported by Sun Tree Eve could not dispel the deep sea’s darkness; its light only graced the area centered on Fish-Man Island.
Fortunately, progress in science and technology made this endless darkness no longer an impenetrable forbidden zone. Bright white lights pierced the depths, dispelling the darkness ahead, revealing startled strange fish, colorful coral, and abruptly rising boulders.
After clarifying the path, under the fish-man’s guidance, the warship encased in a bubble moved forward, pulled by several sea beasts.
This was the deep sea, with no wind to harness. Sea currents were fixed and hard to utilize conveniently, so they had to capture and train sea beasts as draft animals. Fish-Man Island had specialists raising these pulling sea beasts, and this time they were lent to Prince Elus.
The bubble enveloping the warship was extremely tough. Second Lieutenant Isca stood on the deck at the ship’s bow, gazing at the area illuminated by distant lights.
“Did you used to search for people this way before?” Second Lieutenant Isca chatted with the mermaid beside her. This tall, skinny, pole-like ribbonfish fish-man was a Sea King Army officer, ordered to cooperate with Second Lieutenant Isca.
“That’s right!” The ribbonfish fish-man nodded.
“…” Second Lieutenant Isca shook her head helplessly. In her view, finding a hidden fish-man in this boundless deep sea with such a high-profile method was unlikely to yield results.
“Second Lieutenant Isca, I know what you mean. Before joining the Sea King Army, I traveled the human world on the sea and saw how the Navy surrounds and hunts pirates… But this is the deep sea.” The ribbonfish fish-man glanced sideways at the short Second Lieutenant Isca. “Methods on the surface don’t apply here.”
“Activity around Fish-Man Island has Sun Tree Eve’s light, but once outside its range, without this, we can’t advance at all. And don’t think this will scare off the target—the deep sea is fair. The difficulties we face, the target can’t avoid either. Also, you’ve finished reading the intelligence file on Vander Decken, right?”
“You mean that Vander Decken is an Ability User?” At this point, Second Lieutenant Isca somewhat understood.
The ribbonfish fish-man nodded. “Yes, Vander Decken is a fish-man who can’t swim. He can’t move through the water like ordinary fish-men, so he must rely on a ship to travel the seabed.”
“You mean… the Flying Pirates? So that’s it.” Second Lieutenant Isca finally fully grasped the ribbonfish fish-man’s meaning. As an Ability User, Vander Decken could not operate in the deep sea without a seastone coating to isolate seawater. Plus, with the notorious deep-sea pirate crew Flying Pirates as background, the target was clearly not alone and had no fixed abode.
However… Second Lieutenant Isca seriously sized up the ribbonfish fish-man beside her this time. Observation Haki could accurately sense that his martial power was not high, but this intellect and thinking were not to be overlooked.
At the same time, this sparked some curiosity in her. Ryugu Kingdom’s Sea King Army did not seem like a bunch of useless wastes. Why had they failed to capture a Vander Decken who never dared confront Ryugu Kingdom head-on for so many years?
“The seabed world is too vast!” The ribbonfish fish-man sighed bitterly.
Soon after, Second Lieutenant Isca understood the meaning of those words.
The boundless seabed was like a continent to humans. Searching with three to five warships for half a day only covered a tiny patch on the sea chart.
However, this was good news.
Second Lieutenant Isca narrowed her eyes, standing on the bow deck, looking into the endless darkness, then simply closed her eyes completely.
At the same time, Observation Haki spread out like mercury spilling to the ground, encompassing all surrounding scenery and life in her mind.
Her power had come too easily. Though her foundation was solid and not some inflated fake, truly mastering this ability required proper tempering.
This needle-in-a-haystack search in the deep sea was an excellent tempering opportunity.
——————
Fish-Man Island, Coral Hill.
This was the liveliest place on Fish-Man Island, a world completely different from the ancient, majestic, golden Ryugu Palace.
After visiting Ryugu Palace and resting overnight, the next day, Prince Elus greeted King Neptune, disguised Fran, and came to the streets of Fish-Man Island as ordinary humans, leisurely enjoying the sights.
The search for Vander Decken was on Second Lieutenant Isca. Until she gave up, Prince Elus had no intention of intervening. After all, if he had to handle everything personally, why waste the Hogyoku’s power on these others.
“Your Highness, that’s a tuna fish-man, so huge.”
“…This is a flounder fish-man, right? Belly so round, like a balloon.”
“Amazing, it’s a starfish!”
Though she had seen many strange mermaids and fish-men at the banquet in Ryugu Palace, Fran couldn’t help sharing her excitement with Prince Elus upon seeing new ones.
Prince Elus did not care what the maid said, letting it go in one ear and out the other, not taking it to heart. Anyway, from his understanding, what Fran said at times like this was surely meaningless chatter, mostly filler words and interjections.
Better to focus his attention on Coral Hill’s beautiful streets full of exotic vibes than waste energy on that useless stuff.
Until—
Fran suddenly restrained the relaxed expression she wore while sightseeing, showing a vigilant look like a bristling cat facing a great enemy.
She warily eyed a building to the front-left. That was a mermaid coffee shop.
“Your Highness, be careful.” Fran stared at the mermaid coffee shop like it was some demonic lair from which no one returned.
“Don’t tense up!”
Prince Elus patted Fran’s head. He had already seen the group sitting by the floor-to-ceiling window in the coffee shop.
More precisely, his gaze met that of the leader in the group, wearing a dark green trench coat.
He got a clear look at the man’s appearance.
His eyelid twitched, and he drew a sharp breath. Prince Elus sensed trouble.
It was the Revolutionary Army!
But why was the Revolutionary Army here? Passing through? Or planning a coup on Fish-Man Island? Probably not!
Prince Elus pondered the various possibilities of the Revolutionary Army appearing here.
At this moment, the man in the booth waved at Prince Elus, his World Government-wanted face showing a somewhat kindly smile.
Though the bright red tattoo on his face made that smile look anything but friendly.
“Let’s go, Fran. Let’s meet this big shot!” Prince Elus suppressed his jumbled thoughts. Better to meet this Revolutionary Army leader—the world’s most dangerous criminal—directly than guess unreliably here.
“Big shot? Is… ah!” After a few steps closer, she finally saw the man’s true appearance in the coffee shop booth and immediately recognized his identity.
“Keep it down.”
Prince Elus stopped Fran’s exclamation.
“Got it!” Fran, quickly regaining her calm, quietly followed Prince Elus into the mermaid coffee shop.
