Chapter 369: Chapter 369: The Erupting Gale, Deep Sea Water Tornado!

"Seriously, how much longer do we have to wait?" Usopp said with a furrowed brow. "Is this banquet even going to happen? They invited us here but didn’t seat us, just left us hanging like this... What’s the meaning of this?"

"My stomach is so hungry..." Merry said, rubbing her belly.

"Same here."

"Ah."

"Though I don’t have a stomach to get hungry with, yo ho ho ho ho!"

"Now’s not the time for that."

Nami glanced at the figures gradually surrounding them and slowly narrowed her eyes.

This situation didn’t seem right.

Seeing this, Usopp fell silent for a moment before saying with a headache, "We’re not getting dragged into some strange incident again, are we?"

Why did this feel so familiar?

"That’s possible."

"I apologize for having you come all this way," the Left Minister said as he approached them, his expression calm. "But for the safety of Fish-Man Island, we must detain you first."

Upon hearing this, Nami and the others immediately frowned. What did he mean, "for the safety of Fish-Man Island"?

What had they done?

"Left Minister, there must be some misunderstanding here!" Camie said anxiously.

Luffy and the others were her good friends—how could they possibly threaten Fish-Man Island?

"No, there is no misunderstanding, because I have received information that they are suspects," the Left Minister replied.

"Suspects of what?" Nami asked.

"First: They have captured many young and beautiful female Merfolk!"

"Second: According to Madam Shyarly’s prophecy of the future, you are dangerous individuals who will destroy Fish-Man Island!"

"Huh?"

Usopp’s head sprouted several question marks before he loudly retorted, "What kind of joke is that?!"

"A prophecy of the future... How can anyone know if something like that will come true?!"

If they were going to attack them for a reason like that... he absolutely wouldn’t accept it!

"That’s right, prophecies are completely unreliable," Nami said, also frowning. "And you’re saying we, the Straw Hat Pirates, captured Merfolk..."

"What a joke!"

"Have you forgotten what we’ve done before?!"

Back on Sabaody Archipelago, they had killed a Celestial Dragon for Camie, a young female Merfolk!

Not to mention, Meiser was a hero of Fish-Man Island who had saved so many Fish-man slaves!

Even if Meiser was considered dead in their eyes, that shouldn’t make them view the Straw Hat Pirates this way.

"This..."

Hearing Nami’s words, the Left Minister’s face showed a troubled expression, because he understood what the Straw Hat Pirates meant to Fish-Man Island.

But as soon as he thought of Madam Shyarly’s prophecy, his expression immediately hardened.

"I know what the Straw Hat Pirates have done, and I know this may seem unfair to you, but..."

The Left Minister paused, then spoke with a serious expression, "For the safety of Fish-Man Island, we must ask you to bear with this inconvenience for now."

"However, rest assured, as long as we can confirm your innocence, we will release you and offer our sincere apologies."

The Straw Hat Pirates had indeed done Fish-Man Island a great favor, but... for the island’s safety, he had no choice but to act this way.

"To think it’s for this reason..."

Merry looked at the Fish-men with disappointment. She had initially thought they were decent people, but now...

Seeing the slight disappointment in Merry’s eyes, Neptune was reminded of his own daughter when she was young, causing his heart to ache.

"Is this really the right thing to do..." Neptune murmured.

Was it truly fair to the Straw Hat Crew to arrest them without concrete evidence?

"Surrender quietly, you lot!" the Left Minister declared.

"How could we possibly surrender just because of that reason..." Nami instinctively pulled out her Clima-Tact and retorted, "Don’t joke around!"

As pirates, how could they casually entrust their lives to others?

Even if they needed to figure things out, they would do so while free!

"Well said!"

Merry slowly floated up, glaring discontentedly at the surrounding Fish-man soldiers. "We won’t surrender quietly!"

"Then it seems we must fight, yo-ho-ho-ho-ho!"

Brook also drew his weapon, his gaze sharpening.

Usopp pulled out a pellet, grinning as he said, "Guess we’ll test the waters with you."

Uncle Rayleigh had said he could use his Devil Fruit ability to enhance his strength and speed...

Now was the time to try it!

"It seems you intend to resist to the end," the Left Minister said coldly. "In that case, there’s nothing more to discuss. Go, capture them!"

"Right!"

Upon receiving the order, the Fish-man soldiers roared in unison and charged toward Usopp and the others.

"Don’t underestimate us!" Usopp shouted.

As he spoke, he immediately activated his Devil Fruit power to amplify his strength.

Then, he hurled the pellet in his hand.

"Special Attack: Exploding Star!"

"Whoosh—"

"Buzz—"

In the next moment, the pellet suddenly grew several times larger mid-flight before crashing violently into a nearby Fish-man soldier, followed by a terrifying explosion!

"Boom!!"

"Ah!"

The struck Fish-man screamed, then collapsed to the ground, eyes rolled back.

The scene instantly intimidated the other Fish-man soldiers.

Usopp, meanwhile, wore a satisfied expression. This feeling of enhancing his own power... was truly exhilarating!

"Throwing cannonballs by hand?!" Nami exclaimed, staring at Usopp in disbelief. "Aren’t you a sniper?!"

"Who says a sniper can’t throw cannonballs?" Usopp replied with a smirk.

A single shot, hitting the target in one go—what else could that be if not a sniper?

Nami:

Is that how it works?

Just then, a Fish-man soldier rushed up to Nami, raising his trident to strike as he shouted, "Got you!"

"Thud—"

"What...?!"

The Fish-man soldier was utterly dumbfounded, staring at Nami, whose arm he had struck yet showed no sign of bleeding.

What was going on?

"Even though I can’t show my full strength in this environment, that doesn’t mean you can bully me!" Nami declared.

As she spoke, she lifted her foot and kicked the Fish-man soldier squarely in the body, bending him over in pain like a shrimp.

Then, with another swing of her Clima-Tact, she struck him on the head, knocking him out cold.

"Yohohohoho!"

"Miss Nami is indeed more terrifying than before," Brook chuckled.

While speaking, he effortlessly cut down several Fish-man soldiers, making it look easy.

"Enough nonsense!"

"Yohohohoho! You accuse others so casually—you’re all bad people!" Merry said, furrowing her little brow. "I’m going to beat you up!"

"Huh?"

Hearing Merry’s words, the Fish-man soldiers surrounding her were first taken aback, then burst into laughter together.

This little brat actually said she was going to beat them up—it was almost funny.

They then moved to grab Merry, thinking it would make the other Straw Hat Pirates hesitate to act.

But before they could make a move, they saw Merry slowly extend her hand out of the Bubble, aiming it directly at them!

The next moment...

"BOOM!!!"

An incredibly terrifying gust of wind erupted from Merry’s hand, forming a horizontally oriented Deep Sea Water Tornado in the seawater!

"BOOM!!!"

Fish-man soldiers: ???

Staring at the massive Water Tornado that had appeared out of nowhere, the Fish-man soldiers were completely stunned.

Wait, was this something a child who looked no older than eight could do?

Was that even reasonable?!?

Immediately, the Fish-man soldiers standing before Merry were swept up by the attack she had unleashed, their bodies flying uncontrollably backward with the Water Tornado.

In the end... they crashed violently into the inner wall behind them, smashing a huge hole in it!

"BOOM!!"

Then, the force of the wind gradually faded, and the seawater slowly returned to calm.

"Hmm?"

Zoro, who had just run to the area with Perona, paused in surprise, then looked with astonishment at the massive hole and the Fish-man soldiers lying on the ground. "This attack is..."

Could it be that Meiser had launched an attack here?!

If that guy used a Water Release Technique here... wasn’t he afraid of leaking the information that he was still alive?

At this thought, Zoro furrowed his brow.

"Stop spacing out and go save them!!" Perona scolded.

How could this idiot still be daydreaming at a time like this?

"Oh!!"

Snapping back to reality, Zoro nodded, then ran outside with his Bubble covering him.

"What terrifying power..."

After glancing at the destruction Merry had caused, the Left Minister’s expression immediately darkened.

"Left Minister, these people are clearly Devil Fruit Ability Users!"

"Devil Fruit Ability Users..."

Listening to the Fish-man soldier’s words, Neptune turned his gaze to Usopp, thinking to himself, ’This man’s ability... how does it resemble that legendary man’s ability?

Is it a similar ability?

Or is it the same Devil Fruit?’

With this thought, Neptune fell into deep contemplation.

The Left Minister then said, "I can see they are Devil Fruit Ability Users..."

After speaking, the Left Minister paused for a moment, then as if he had thought of something, his eyes lit up and he said, "Break their bubbles! That way we can capture them!"

As long as they could make these Devil Fruit Ability Users come into contact with the sea, they would win!

"Roger!"

The Fish-man soldiers nodded upon receiving the order, then began carefully approaching the group, clearly intending to break their bubbles first.

"What should we do?"

The group warily watched the surrounding Fish-man soldiers closing in and said, "If the bubbles are broken, we’re really done for."

At that point, only Merry would still have the ability to resist; the others would basically be waiting to die!

"Then we just won’t let them break them!" Nami said.

"Roger!"

"Everyone, please don’t resist anymore," Camie said nervously. "Otherwise, you’ll really be punished for it—"

"That may be true, but..." Brook said solemnly, "Miss Camie, we have no reason to just wait obediently to be captured either."

"That’s right."

Usopp nodded and said, "Right now, they’re the ones trying to capture us for no reason, so... we can’t just surrender without a fight."

After all... they had no idea what these guys’ true intentions were when they said those things, so they absolutely couldn’t hand over the initiative to them.

"This..."

Hearing their words, Camie was immediately stunned. What should they do now?

"Just watch our performance obediently," Nami said.

Then, she glanced at Merry and quietly gave her some instructions.

Upon hearing this, Merry turned to look at the huge Bubble Coral not far away, then nodded to show she understood.

"Go, capture them!"

"Roger!"

Upon receiving the order, the Fish-man soldiers once again charged toward Usopp and the others with fierce shouts, but this time they fell even faster than before.

"Dammit..."

"I advise you all to give up obediently," Usopp said calmly, pushing up his glasses. "Otherwise, you’ll be the ones who suffer."

"That long-nosed guy has actually become so reliable now!" Pappag exclaimed in surprise.

"It seems everyone has become incredibly strong over these two years..." Camie said.

Hearing their words, the corners of Usopp and the others’ mouths slowly began to curl upward.

They hadn’t been playing around during these two years.

"Dammit, with our strength, we can’t defeat them at all..." the Left Minister gritted his teeth, then turned to look at Neptune and said, "King Neptune, please lend us your strength!"

If their king was willing to take action... he could definitely capture these people.

Hearing the Left Minister’s words, Nami and the others also stopped moving and turned to look at Neptune, who had remained motionless the entire time.

They were very curious about what choice this kind-hearted uncle, who had invited them here as guests, would make.

"Can we really just capture people arbitrarily because of a prophecy about the future?" Neptune, with his arms crossed, frowned and said, "Is that really acceptable..."

"King Neptune?"

"Quiet, I’m thinking."

After pondering for a moment, Neptune’s gaze gradually sharpened.

"It seems you’ve made your decision, curly-haired old man."

"Although I don’t know whether you’ll destroy Fish-Man Island, for the island’s safety... you’ll have to endure some inconvenience for now." Neptune raised his massive golden trident as he spoke.

"Such excuses again..."

Nami frowned upon hearing Neptune’s words, then glanced at Usopp and Brook before saying, "In that case..."

"Hmm?"

Before Nami could finish her sentence, several white ghosts drifted out from the distant corridor, swiftly charging toward the surrounding Fish-man soldiers!

"This is...!"

As if realizing something, delight immediately appeared in Nami’s eyes.

Meanwhile, Neptune raised his weapon and began spinning it wildly.

"I’ll only pop your bubbles, I won’t harm your lives, don’t worry!"

With those words, Neptune unhesitatingly thrust toward Nami.

The next moment...

"Clang!"

"Zoro!!"

Seeing Zoro appear before them in an instant to block Neptune’s attack, Usopp and the others immediately showed surprised delight. "Yeah, it’s me," Zoro said without turning his head.

"Hara hara hara..."

Perona emerged from the corridor wearing a bubble, laughing cheerfully as she used her Devil Fruit ability to knock down some Fish-man soldiers, then said, "And me too~"

"What’s the point of being royal guards... I’m only fit to be a sea worm..."

"If there’s a next life, I’d rather be seaweed..."

"Huh?"

Watching these suddenly despondent Fish-man soldiers, the Left Minister was utterly bewildered. What was happening?

After forcefully pushing Zoro back toward Usopp and the others, Neptune frowned at Perona and said, "I see...

So this is that girl’s Devil Fruit ability."

The released ghosts could actually make those hit by them become depressed... That truly was a terrifying ability.

"Lord Neptune, what should we do?!"

"Don’t worry, I’m here," Neptune replied.

He then turned his gaze back to Zoro, clearly considering him the most troublesome opponent.

"Hey, Zoro, Perona, weren’t you two captured?" Usopp asked, puzzled. "How did you get out?"

They had been planning to capture these people first, then interrogate them about their crewmates’ whereabouts, yet Zoro and the others had emerged on their own...

"I cut through the prison cell and came out," Zoro said calmly.

Left Minister: ???

Wait, what was that?

A half-meter thick steel door was cut through?

Was that reasonable?

"That’s so like you..." Usopp muttered.

Come to think of it, why hadn’t these people confiscated Zoro’s weapons after capturing him?

Did they think Zoro posed no threat at all?

That was just... absurd.

Meanwhile, Nami looked curiously at Perona and asked, "So how did you two get captured in the first place?"

"It’s all because of this idiot."

Perona said irritably, "He said he wanted to find a place to rest and sober up while waiting for you all, so we both went to the prison cells together."

"You didn’t even resist?" Usopp asked in surprise.

This Ghost Princess actually obediently followed the Fish-man soldiers to the prison cell?

"Anyway, they can’t threaten us, so going is fine," Perona said. "We can also wait for you all to come here."

With her and Zoro’s strength, they could come out of that place anytime, so she wasn’t worried.

Usopp immediately understood—it seemed these two didn’t take these Fish-Man race guys seriously at all...

Thinking about it carefully, with their strength, dealing with these people really would be as easy as playing.

"Alright, we can save the chit-chat for later," Zoro said, staring at Neptune who had raised his weapon. "We’re still in the middle of a fight."

"Right!"

"Continuing to fight will only result in both sides getting hurt," Neptune said calmly, looking at Zoro. "So you should just surrender quietly..."

"Solie!"

Zoro: ???

"It’s Zoro!" Zoro roared, baring his shark-like teeth.

Who the hell is Solie?

"Hurry, pop the bubbles on them! Then victory will be ours!" the Minister of the Right said.

"You’re back?!"

Seeing that the Minister of the Right had returned with reinforcements, joy immediately appeared in the Left Minister’s eyes.

"Yes, I brought people to support you!"

"Good!"

However, when Neptune saw the Minister of the Right, his expression instantly became somewhat tense.

"How is my daughter Shirahoshi?"

"Is she alright?"

Clearly, this old father was very worried about his daughter’s safety.

Upon hearing Neptune’s words, Perona’s eyes flickered.

"So this is a father who cares about his daughter..." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

As if remembering something, Perona’s gaze became somewhat complicated.

Lord Moria—

"Princess Shirahoshi is perfectly fine," the Minister of the Right said.

"That’s good..."

Hearing that his daughter was unharmed, Neptune immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, he looked at Zoro and said, "Then let’s start by capturing you!"

After dealing with matters here, he would personally go out to find the Straw Hat Boy and that sunglasses-wearing man!

But before he could act, an enormous bubble appeared inside the room, pushing all the seawater out!

"Huh?"

Seeing this, Neptune was momentarily stunned, then frowned.

This situation really wasn’t favorable for them...

"Hey, where did the seawater go?" the Left Minister exclaimed in shock.

"It’s that little girl!"

The Minister of the Right glanced at Merry standing beside the giant coral bubble and said dumbfounded, "She did it!"

Hearing this, the Left Minister looked at Merry, then said with a grim expression, "We really miscalculated..."

Without seawater... they st

ood even less chance against these people!

"Heheh"

Merry, under everyone’s gaze, grinned and said, "Let’s see what you do now."

"Well done, Merry!" Usopp cheered joyfully.

Without the limitation of seawater... these people were no match for them at all!

"Yohohohoho"

Brook also laughed and praised, "As expected of Miss Merry."

"Nami told me to do it~"

"As expected of Miss Nami."

"Save the flattery for later," Nami said. "Let’s finish the job first!"

"Right!"

Hearing Nami’s words, everyone nodded, then turned their attention to Neptune and the others.

Then, Zoro grinned and said, "Come on, let’s continue."

Such a massive Merfolk... I wonder how it feels to cut one down.

"Damn it..."

The Minister of the Right gritted his teeth, then raised his weapon and said, "Let’s attack together and capture them!"

There was no turning back now, so... they had no choice but to fight with everything they had!

"Wait!"

King Neptune said, "Let me handle this!"

"What?"

"Your Majesty..."

"These people are very strong," Neptune said with a serious expression. "To avoid unnecessary casualties, I’ll personally take them down!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Neptune charged toward Zoro, wielding his massive golden trident.

"Bring it on!"

Seeing this, Zoro immediately infused his weapons with Haki, planning to take down the fat Fish-man in front of him with a single strike.

But before he could make a move, a crisp sound rang out.

"Crack"

"Ah!"

"My old back!!!"

Feeling the intense pain in his lower back, Neptune’s face instantly turned pale. His body then collapsed uncontrollably to the ground, trembling uncontrollably.

Zoro:

Seeing Neptune taken down by his own actions, Zoro, who had already assumed his fighting stance, was left utterly speechless.

What was this?

After a moment of silence, Zoro relaxed his stance, unsure of what to say.

"Oh no, His Majesty’s back is injured!" the Left Minister exclaimed anxiously. "Quick, everyone, attack! Don’t let them harm His Majesty!!"

"Right!"

Upon hearing the Left Minister’s command, the Fish-men immediately charged toward Zoro and the others, roaring fiercely.

"So..."

Zoro knocked down several people with a single slash and said irritably, "When did I ever say I’d bully someone who can’t fight back?"

Unfortunately, such words meant nothing to the Fish-man soldiers.

After all... to them, the safety of their king was the most important thing!

"Yohohohoho!"

"It seems we’ll have to knock them all out first," Brook said with a chuckle.

"Leave it to me!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Perona released several Negative Spirits without hesitation, and the Ghosts immediately rushed toward the Fish-man soldiers.

The next moment...

"Whoosh"

The expressions of the Fish-man soldiers hit by the Negative Spirits instantly turned gloomy.

"I... I really want to be a sea slug..."

"Someone like me actually became a royal soldier... I don’t deserve it..."

"I’m sorry... if possible, please let me become a sea toad..."

"What a terrifying woman..."

The Minister of the Right looked at Perona in the distance, swallowing nervously as he said, "She defeated all the soldiers in such a short time..."

Is this the power of a Devil Fruit Ability User?

It’s absolutely terrifying!

"Now you know how powerful I am~" Perona said with a smug smile. "If I hadn’t been too lazy to deal with you earlier, did you really think you could capture the two of us?"

Don’t be ridiculous!

She could take down these fools without Zoro even lifting a finger!

Minister of the Right:

Why are pirates nowadays so terrifying?

"Well done, Perona!" Nami praised with a smile.

"As expected of you," Usopp added, sounding impressed.

"Perona, you’re amazing!"

"Hara hara hara!"

Hearing everyone’s praise, Perona burst into laughter, clearly delighted.

"Tie them up," Nami said.

These guys had already lost their fighting strength, so there was no need to keep dealing with them—just capture them.

"Got it!"

Hearing Nami’s words, Zoro nodded, then proceeded to tie up all these Fish-man soldiers.

"Dammit, losing like this is just too humiliating..."

Watching Zoro approach with chains in hand, Neptune slapped the ground with both hands, clearly intending to struggle.

Seeing this, Perona flew over, looking at Neptune with a complicated expression. "Curly-haired old man, I suggest you behave yourself."

If possible, she really didn’t want to lay a hand on this curly-haired old man.

Seeing the look in Perona’s eyes, Neptune fell silent for a moment, then glanced back at the soldiers Zoro and the others had already tied up.

’I don’t know why this girl has such an expression, but if I force a fight in my current state... Not only will I lose, but I might even anger these pirates, and then my soldiers could be killed!’

Thinking this, Neptune completely gave up on struggling.

"That’s more like it."

Seeing Neptune become obedient, Perona nodded in satisfaction, then signaled with her eyes for Zoro to come forward and tie him up.

Zoro didn’t hold back either, tying Neptune up tightly.

"That should do it," Zoro said, patting the chains.

"Wait, what have you all done?!"

Coming to his senses, Pappag grabbed his starfish head and said, "Why did you capture all of them?"

"Yeah..."

Camie also stared blankly at the scene. "How are we going to handle this?"

To this, Perona just snorted. "They were the ones who attacked us first."

Then, Perona looked at Camie and Pappag. "By the way, who are you two?"

As she spoke, Perona summoned two Negative Spirits.

Seeing this, Pappag’s eyelids twitched.

"We’re friends of Luffy and the others!" Pappag quickly said.

"Friends, huh."

Realizing they were on the same side, Perona promptly withdrew her ability, which made Pappag sigh in relief.

Even though he didn’t know who this woman was, she was terrifying...

"Seriously... how did things end up like this so suddenly?" Usopp scratched his head.

They had somehow gotten into a conflict with the royal family of Fish-Man Island, and then somehow captured all of them... What kind of mess was this?

"You started the conflict, and you’re asking me?"

"Well, actually, I just wanted to scare them a bit so we could all escape together..."

Zoro: ???

So that’s what it was?

How was he supposed to know that?

After a moment of silence, Zoro shook his head. "Well, what’s done is done, and there’s no turning back now, so... stop worrying about it."

"Is this the kind of situation you can just brush off with ’what’s done is done’...?"

Usopp muttered, "Passing through Fish-Man Island and accidentally taking over Ryugu Palace..."

"Just how evil are we as pirates?"

Seriously... why do they always end up in these weird situations?

To this, Zoro said what’s done is done, what else could they do?

After glancing at the two bickering, Perona looked at Nami and asked, "Is it just you few who came here this time?"

Aren’t Luffy and the others with Nami and her group?

"Not exactly."

Nami shook her head and said, "Luffy and that wood-playing idiot were originally here too, but for some reason, those two suddenly disappeared..."

Wood-playing idiot?

Perona was momentarily stunned before realizing who Nami was referring to.

"You mean Meiser..."

Then Perona grew puzzled. Since those two had come to Ryugu Palace... why would they sneak off?

Could they have discovered something?

Meanwhile, Zoro said with an annoyed expression, "Huh?"

"Those two actually ran off secretly?"

"Seriously, don’t they know they’ll get lost if they wander around here!"

"Those idiots!"

If they got lost here, it wouldn’t be easy to find them at all!

What a hassle!

"Why would those words come out of your mouth," Usopp quipped. "You’re the only one here who could get lost."

This directionally-challenged guy actually has the nerve to complain about others... how can he say such things with a straight face?

"Huh?"

Hearing Usopp’s words, Zoro immediately took offense.

"What do you mean by that?" Zoro glared.

Was this jerk calling him directionally-challenged?!

"Exactly what it sounds like," Usopp shrugged. "After all, you are directionally-challenged."

"Yeah, that’s true."

The others also nodded in agreement, clearly well aware of Zoro’s situation.

Zoro: —

Seeing their reactions, Zoro opened his mouth but found himself at a loss for words.

After a moment of silence, Zoro turned his head away and said nothing more.

Listening to their conversation, Neptune showed a surprised expression.

He truly hadn’t expected this incredibly powerful swordsman to be directionally-challenged... this was too unexpected!

"So you’re directionally-challenged too..."

"Sori!"

"It’s Zoro!!!"

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