The grand, coral-carved doors of Ryugu Palace’s main banquet hall did not just open; they were violently blown off their hinges. The heavy slabs of ancient stone crashed into the polished floors, kicking up a thick cloud of dust that rolled over the remnants of the royal feast.

The sudden explosion interrupted what had been a tense but relatively peaceful standoff. King Neptune gripped his golden trident. The Ministers of the Right and Left stood frozen. The remaining Straw Hat Pirates—Ben, Nami, Robin, Vivi, Bonney, Sanji, Franky, Brook, Chopper, Oimo, Kashii, Caroo, Merry, and Sunny—turned their attention to the shattered entryway.

Through the settling dust, a small army marched into the palace.

They were heavily armed, their eyes wild and bloodshot. At the forefront of the invasion force stood two distinct figures. One was a massive Great White Shark fish-man, his pale skin contrasting with the dark, jagged tattoo of the New Fish-Man Pirates on his stomach. He held a sharp, curved trident and looked around the room with absolute disdain.

Beside him walked a bizarre, four-legged Bullhead Shark fish-man. He wore a tattered captain’s coat, a wide-brimmed hat, and a manic, obsessed grin that stretched across his face.

The Minister of the Right gripped his seahorse-shaped staff, his face turning pale. He pointed a trembling finger at the two leaders.

"Intruders!" the Minister yelled, his voice echoing in the massive hall. He turned quickly to Ben and the other pirates. "Be careful! That is Vander Decken IX, the captain of the Flying Pirates! And the one beside him... that is Hody Jones!"

"Hody Jones?" Franky asked, adjusting his sunglasses.

"He was once a soldier in the Neptune Army!" the Minister of the Right explained, sweating profusely. "A highly capable fighter! But he harbored a deep, fanatical hatred for humans. He deserted the army to form an extremist pirate crew! They are the ones causing the chaos in the lower districts!"

Hody sneered, resting his trident on his shoulder. "Shut up, old fool. Your time has passed. The era of bowing to the surface dwellers ends today. We are taking the throne."

Vander Decken, however, completely ignored the Minister, the King, and the heavily armed pirates standing in the room. His eyes darted frantically around the corners of the banquet hall, scanning the high ceilings and the empty tables.

"Where is she?!" Decken demanded, his raspy voice cracking with psychotic obsession. He stomped his four legs impatiently. "Where is my beloved?! Where is my future wife?!"

King Neptune’s face flushed with pure, unadulterated fatherly rage. The giant merman stepped forward, slamming the butt of his golden trident into the floor so hard it cracked the tiles.

"SHE IS NOT YOUR FUTURE WIFE!" Neptune roared, his voice booming with the authority of a ruler and the fury of a protective parent. "AND I WILL NEVER, IN A THOUSAND LIFETIMES, ALLOW YOU TO MARRY HER! YOU ARE A NUISANCE AND A COWARD, DECKEN!"

Decken recoiled slightly, his face twisting into a scowl.

"And your efforts here today are a complete waste of time!" Neptune continued, pointing his trident at the fish-man. "You have invaded my palace for nothing! Shirahoshi is not here! She is no longer in the palace!"

Decken froze. "Not here? Impossible! She has never left the Hard-Shell Tower!"

Hody Jones chuckled darkly, a cruel, grating sound. He didn’t care about the princess; he only cared about the throne. But he needed Decken’s distraction to keep the King off balance.

"Do not lose your nerve, Decken," Hody said smoothly. "If the Mermaid Princess is no longer in the palace, it doesn’t matter. You still have the power to find her wherever she is hiding. Use your curse."

Decken’s eyes widened as the realization hit him. "Of course! My right hand! I have never washed it! As long as my target is marked, she cannot hide from my love!"

Decken immediately turned and marched back out through the shattered palace doors. He walked into the outer courtyard. He reached down and grabbed a massive, jagged piece of pink coral that had broken off from the palace walls. It was easily the size of a small boat.

Decken touched the coral with his right hand. He didn’t aim. He didn’t look at a map. He simply hurled the massive chunk of coral blindly into the sky.

The curse of the Mato Mato no Mi activated instantly. The massive coral chunk defied gravity, locking onto the exact coordinates of Princess Shirahoshi. It began to accelerate, flying rapidly away from the palace and toward the distant Sea Forest.

"Wahaha!" Decken laughed triumphantly. He leaped into the air, landing perfectly on top of the flying coral. He rode it like a bizarre, jagged surfboard. "I am coming, my sweet Shirahoshi! And if I find you with someone else... then you are better off dying in a sea of blood!"

Inside the banquet hall, Ben’s eyes narrowed. He recognized the immediate threat. The coral was massive, and Decken was unhinged. If that projectile reached Luffy and Shirahoshi, it could cause serious collateral damage to the fragile princess.

"Sanji," Ben said calmly, his voice easily cutting through the tension in the room.

The blonde cook looked over.

"Stop Decken and destroy that coral he’s sitting on," Ben ordered flatly. "If he reaches his destination, the princess’s life will be in danger."

Sanji froze. The cigarette in his mouth dropped slightly.

Princess? In danger?

The words triggered a biological override in Sanji’s brain. It didn’t matter if it was chivalry, basic human decency, or his overwhelming, highly problematic perverted nature. A lady was being threatened.

Sanji’s visible eye literally ignited with a red-hot flame.

"A LADY IN DANGER?!" Sanji roared.

He didn’t run. He vanished.

Using a combination of Soru and Sky Walk, Sanji exploded out of the shattered palace doors. He moved so fast he broke the sound barrier, a shockwave of displaced air knocking the front row of Hody’s fish-men flat onto their backs.

Outside, Decken was flying away on his coral, laughing maniacally as he gained altitude.

Suddenly, a blur of a black suit and blonde hair materialized directly in the flight path of the massive coral projectile.

Sanji didn’t say a word. He didn’t negotiate. He spun his body mid-air, bringing his right leg around in a devastating, high-speed arc.

CRASH!

Sanji’s heel slammed into the front of the flying coral. The sheer, overwhelming kinetic force of the kick pulverized the massive stone instantly. The coral shattered into a million harmless pieces of dust and debris, stopping its forward momentum completely.

Vander Decken, who had been sitting confidently on the coral, was suddenly sitting on empty air.

"Eh?!" Decken gasped, looking down.

He didn’t have time to react. He didn’t have time to fall.

Sanji spun again, his right leg instantly erupting into the blinding, white-hot flames of Diable Jambe. The heat was so intense it evaporated the moisture in the air around them.

"Flambage Shot!" Sanji roared.

Sanji drove his flaming, Haki-coated heel directly into the center of Vander Decken’s face.

The impact was brutal. There was a sickening crunch. The front of Decken’s face physically caved inward under the incredible pressure of the strike. His nose shattered, his jaw dislocated, and the sheer heat of the kick seared his skin.

Decken was instantly knocked unconscious before his brain could even register the pain.

His limp body plummeted from the sky like a shot bird, crashing heavily onto the stone courtyard of the palace with a loud thud, sliding a few feet before coming to a complete stop right at Ben’s boots.

Sanji landed gracefully beside the unconscious pirate, adjusting his tie and lighting a fresh cigarette. "Trash disposed of. No one threatens a lady while I’m breathing."

Inside the banquet hall, Hody Jones stared at the scene in shock.

He looked at Decken’s crumpled, smoking body. He looked at the blonde human cook who had just casually shattered solid coral and one-shot a notorious pirate captain in the span of three seconds.

Hody’s arrogant sneer faltered. He realized instantly that these humans were not the weak, fragile creatures he had been raised to despise.

"They... they are monsters," a fish-man lackey stammered, stepping backward.

"Do not falter!" Hody roared, snapping out of his shock. He reached into the small pouch strapped to his belt. "They are just humans! We have the power of the sea!"

Hody pulled out a handful of small, red pills. Energy Steroids.

"Brothers! Take the pills!" Hody commanded. "Unleash your true strength! Tear these humans apart!"

The New Fish-Man Pirates didn’t hesitate. They pulled out their own rations of the red pills and shoved them into their mouths, swallowing them dry.

The reaction was immediate and horrifying.

The fish-men screamed in agony and ecstasy. Their muscles bulged grotesquely, expanding and tearing their clothing. Thick, dark veins popped out across their skin. Their eyes turned blood red, the whites vanishing entirely as the aggressive, unnatural steroids supercharged their physical capabilities, pushing their strength past their natural limits.

"KILL THEM ALL!" a massive squid fish-man roared, charging forward with a heavy iron mace.

The Royal Guards of Ryugu Palace stepped forward to defend the King, crossing their tridents. But they were completely overwhelmed. The steroid-enhanced fish-men moved with terrifying speed and power. A single swing from the squid fish-man shattered three tridents and sent five Royal Guards flying across the room, crashing into the banquet tables.

"The guards can’t hold them!" the Minister of the Left panicked.

Hody grinned, holding his trident. "This is the end of your peaceful reign, Neptune!"

"Is it?" a calm voice asked.

Vivi stepped forward from the Straw Hat ranks. She didn’t transform into her Simurgh form. She simply spun her Vibranium spear, the blue energy humming at the tip.

"Straw Hat Pirates," Vivi said, her voice ringing with the quiet authority of an acting commander. "Clear the room."

The crew didn’t need to be told twice.

Oimo and Kashii, remaining in their human-sized forms, stepped up.

"Little fish think they are strong because they took medicine," Kashii grunted, resting his heavy battleaxe on his shoulder.

"Let us teach them the strength of Elbaf," Oimo laughed.

An enhanced swordfish fish-man lunged at Oimo, his blade aiming for the giant’s heart. Oimo didn’t even block. He simply swung his spiked Uru-metal mace in a casual backhand. The heavy mace collided with the fish-man’s ribs. The steroid-enhanced muscles didn’t help. The fish-man’s chest caved in, and he was launched across the hall, embedding himself into a coral pillar.

On the left flank, Nami twirled her upgraded Clima-Tact.

"Thunderbolt Tempo!"

The staff sparked, and a massive, jagged bolt of blue lightning shot through the room, chaining perfectly between six advancing fish-men. The electricity bypassed their enhanced muscles entirely, frying their nervous systems and dropping them to the floor, twitching and smoking.

Robin stood calmly in the center, her arms crossed.

"Cien Fleur: Clutch."

A hundred arms sprouted across the bodies of a dozen charging fish-men. Despite their steroid-fueled bulk, they couldn’t fight the leverage. With a synchronized, sickening series of cracks, Robin effortlessly snapped their spines, dropping them instantly.

Bonney, annoyed that her lunch had been interrupted, casually dodged a spear thrust from a crab fish-man. She placed her hand on his chest.

"Don’t mess up my pizza," Bonney muttered.

A pulse of pink energy washed over the fish-man. In a second, his bulging, muscular form withered. His hair turned white, his skin wrinkled, and his bones became frail. He collapsed under the weight of his own iron mace, completely immobilized by extreme old age.

"My back..." the elderly fish-man wheezed.

Franky, seeing the crowd thinning, decided to finish the job. He lifted his left arm, his hand folding back to reveal his internal weaponry.

"This is not a SUPER invasion!" Franky roared. "Weapons Left!"

A barrage of concentrated, high-explosive rounds tore through the remaining ranks, blowing the steroid-enhanced pirates off their feet and completely routing their offensive push.

Brook glided through the chaos, his cane sword drawn. He moved so fast he looked like a phantom.

"Yahazu Giri."

He sheathed his sword with a click. Five fish-men standing behind him suddenly froze, their weapons dropping from their hands as a deep, freezing chill overtook their bodies. They collapsed, unconscious from the precise, freezing strikes.

In less than thirty seconds, the entire vanguard of the New Fish-Man Pirates that had breached the hall had been completely and utterly dismantled. They lay groaning, bleeding, or unconscious on the polished floor.

Hody Jones stood near the shattered entrance, his eyes wide in disbelief.

He had given his men the pills. They were supposed to be invincible. They were supposed to have the strength of ten men each. But these humans had swatted them away like annoying insects.

He looked at Oimo, who was yawning. He looked at Nami, who was casually checking her nails. He looked at Sanji, who was lighting another cigarette.

Fear, cold and sharp, pierced through Hody’s steroid-induced arrogance. He realized with terrifying clarity that if he stayed in this room, he would die.

Hody didn’t hesitate. He threw a handful of smoke bombs onto the floor to obscure his retreat. He spun around, sprinting out of the shattered doors, across the courtyard, and toward the massive, open water channel that connected the palace to the ocean.

He dove headfirst into the water.

Splash.

The cool, dark water enveloped him. Hody let out a breath, a manic grin returning to his face. His strength was at its peak because of the pills. He was a fish-man in the water. He was untouchable here. No human could fight him in his domain.

Back in the courtyard, Ben stood over the unconscious, caved-in body of Vander Decken. Ben raised his hand, channeling a pulse of magic to store the defeated captain into his spatial dimension.

As he did, Ben caught the movement out of the corner of his eye. He saw the splash in the water channel. He saw Hody Jones escaping.

Ben sighed, he walked to the edge of the water channel. He didn’t take off his tailored suit. He didn’t take a deep breath.

Ben simply stepped off the edge, dropping silently into the water.

The moment the water closed over Ben’s head, the cold sensation vanished. A deep, primal connection to the ocean awoke within him. The Aquaman template, which he rarely needed to use on the surface, flared to life in its native environment.

Ben didn’t just swim. He became a part of the sea. The water didn’t resist his movement; it actively propelled him forward. He didn’t need to hold his breath; his Atlantean physiology extracted the oxygen directly from the water with effortless ease.

Hody was swimming rapidly through the underwater channel, looking over his shoulder to ensure he wasn’t being followed.

"Fools," Hody sneered, a stream of bubbles escaping his mouth. "They think they can win. Let them have the palace. Once I gather the rest of the army, I’ll flood the whole—"

Hody stopped swimming.

He blinked his red eyes, staring through the dim, blue water.

Swimming alongside him, matching his steroid-enhanced speed perfectly without breaking a sweat, was the silver-haired Magician. Ben was swimming effortlessly, his suit jacket rippling in the current.

Hody’s brain misfired.

A human? Hody thought, absolute shock paralyzing him. A human swimming faster than a fish-man? And he isn’t holding his breath! He’s breathing! That’s impossible!

"Hello," Ben’s voice carried perfectly through the water, utilizing a specialized aquatic vocalization technique.

Hody roared in anger, his pride shattered by the impossibility before him. He stopped swimming and turned to face Ben. He raised his hands, manipulating the water around him using Fish-Man Karate.

"Yabusame!" (Arrow Shark)

Hody threw his arms forward. Hundreds of perfectly formed, highly pressurized water drops shot through the sea like solid, lethal bullets, aimed directly at Ben’s chest.

He simply raised his right hand and swiped it through the water.

Ben’s inherent hydrokinesis from the Aquaman template hijacked the attack. The moment Hody’s water bullets entered Ben’s immediate radius, they lost their deadly velocity. Ben casually redirected the entire volley with a wave of his hand, sending the water bullets harmlessly curving around him to dissipate in the current.

"My turn," Ben said.

Ben kicked his legs. The water exploded behind him. He closed the distance in a fraction of a second, moving with a speed that made Hody look like he was standing still.

Ben drove his fist—uncoupled by Haki, relying entirely on raw Atlantean physical strength—directly into Hody’s stomach.

The underwater impact created a massive, localized shockwave. Hody’s eyes bulged. All the air was forced out of his lungs in a massive burst of bubbles. The sheer density of the punch nearly shattered his ribs, sending him tumbling backward through the water, crashing into the stone wall of the channel.

Hody coughed up blood, clutching his stomach. The steroids were pumping through his veins, dulling the pain, but the sheer difference in power was undeniable. He looked at the human floating effortlessly in front of him.

"You... you monster," Hody grunted, pulling a small container from his pocket. "Even if you defeat me... you cannot save this kingdom."

Hody popped the lid off the container.

"My brothers are already mobilizing," Hody sneered, his eyes filled with fanatical, burning hatred. "One hundred thousand fish-men. An army born from the shadows of the Fish-Man District. Even if you hold the palace, my one hundred thousand brothers will wreak havoc across the entire island! They will tear the bubble down! There will be anarchy! You cannot stop an army of that size!"

Hody didn’t wait for a response. Desperate, he took the entire remaining handful of Energy Steroids and shoved them into his mouth, swallowing them all at once.

The overdose reaction was catastrophic.

Hody’s body expanded grotesquely. His muscles tore and healed rapidly, bulging to impossible proportions. His dark hair turned completely stark white from the cellular stress. His eyes burned a violent, glowing red. He had sacrificed his lifespan for raw, unadulterated power.

He roared, the sound vibrating the water around them, confident that his transformation and his threat had intimidated the human.

Ben floated there. He crossed his arms over his chest, his face completely impassive.

"Is that it?" Ben asked flatly.

Hody stopped roaring. He blinked his glowing red eyes. "What?"

"I said, is that it?" Ben repeated, with a deeply unimpressed, almost bored expression on his face. "Just one hundred thousand?"

Ben shook his head, sighing softly. "We can take down a hundred thousand street thugs in about 5 minutes. What are you yapping about? You made it sound like an actual threat."

Hody’s mind snapped. The disrespect of the statement, combined with the steroid-induced rage, pushed him completely over the edge.

"I WILL TEAR YOU TO PIECES!" Hody screamed, launching himself forward with everything he had. The water boiled around him from the force of his movement. He raised his trident, aiming to impale Ben.

Ben didn’t move to block. He didn’t draw a weapon.

"Ruler’s Descent."

Ben thrust his open palm downward.

An invisible, localized, absolute pillar of crushing gravity and telekinetic force slammed directly on top of the charging fish-man.

It was like a mountain falling on an ant.

Hody’s forward momentum was halted instantly. The sheer weight of the attack crushed the steroid-enhanced fish-man straight down. His bones cracked. His enhanced muscles gave out entirely.

BOOM!

Hody was driven face-first into the stone floor of the water channel, creating a massive crater underwater.

The white-haired extremist didn’t even have the chance to groan. The overwhelming force of Ruler’s Descent knocked him completely and utterly unconscious in a single, devastating blow.

Ben lowered his hand. The gravity normalized.

He swam down to the crater, grabbed the unconscious, bloated body of Hody Jones by the collar, and tapped his spatial magic. With a swift motion, he transferred the defeated captain directly into his pocket dimension, right next to the still-unconscious Vander Decken.

Ben turned and swam back toward the surface.

When Ben stepped out of the water channel and back into the courtyard of Ryugu Palace, the scene was entirely calm. His clothes instantly dried as he cast a quick Siccatum charm.

The Straw Hat crew had finished tying up the remaining, groaning fish-men from Hody’s vanguard. The Royal Guards were cautiously stepping forward to transport the prisoners to the dungeon cells.

Ben walked over to the guards. He waved his hand.

With a dull thud, the unconscious, white-haired body of Hody Jones materialized on the floor.

"Take him as well," Ben instructed the stunned guards. "He’s the leader."

King Neptune, who had watched the entire rapid, brutal dismantling of the invasion force, swam forward on Hoe. The massive merman looked deeply relieved, though still shaken by the sudden attack.

"I cannot thank you enough, Straw Hat Pirates," Neptune rumbled, bowing his head deeply. "You have saved my palace and neutralized a terrible threat to my kingdom."

Before anyone could reply, the heavy main doors of the palace swung open again.

Three massive, armed mermen rushed into the hall, panting heavily. They were the princes of the Ryugu Kingdom: Fukaboshi, Ryuboshi, and Manboshi. They looked battered, their armor scuffed, but their eyes were fierce.

"Father!" Fukaboshi, the eldest prince, called out, rushing forward. "Are you safe?! We heard the comms! We were out on patrol when the alarm sounded! We hurried back as fast as we could!"

"We fought a contingent of Hody’s men at the main entrance gate and defeated them!" Ryuboshi added, spinning his swords.

"We are here to protect you!" Manboshi sang out.

Neptune smiled warmly at his sons. "I am safe, my boys. The Straw Hat Pirates handled the intruders inside the palace flawlessly."

Fukaboshi looked at the tied-up fish-men and the unconscious Hody Jones on the floor. He turned to Ben and the crew, offering a respectful bow. "You have our deepest gratitude."

"Don’t celebrate just yet," Ben said, cutting through the pleasantries.

"Before I knocked him out, Hody told me his plan," Ben informed the royal family. "He has an army. One hundred thousand men gathered in the Fish-Man District. They are mobilizing right now to attack the main island and wreak havoc."

Fukaboshi’s eyes widened in horror. "One hundred thousand?! If an army that size attacks the commercial districts... the casualties will be catastrophic!"

Neptune’s face hardened. The jovial king vanished, replaced by the warrior who had protected the island for decades. He raised his golden trident high into the air.

"Guards!" Neptune roared, his voice echoing with absolute authority. "Sound the general alarm! Mobilize the entire Neptune Army! We march on the Fish-Man District immediately! We must intercept them before they reach the civilian population!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" the guards shouted, scrambling to obey.

The Fish-Man District - Noah’s Slums

The dark, damp cavern of the Fish-Man District was silent.

The deafening roar of the mob, the clashing of steel, the screams of the extremist army—it was all completely gone.

The vast, sprawling dirt plaza was no longer visible. The ground was entirely obscured by a massive, literal mountain of unconscious, groaning fish-men. Bodies were piled on top of bodies. Broken tridents, shattered shields, and torn flags littered the area in a scene of absolute, incomprehensible devastation.

One man had defeated an army of one hundred thousand. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Sitting at the very peak of the mountain of defeated bodies was Roronoa Zoro.

The swordsman had his black bandana tied around his arm. His three swords were sheathed at his hip. He was leaning back comfortably against a particularly soft, unconscious octopus fish-man.

Zoro’s lone eye was closed. A snot bubble expanded and contracted rhythmically from his nose.

He was sleeping soundly, completely oblivious to the panic occurring at the palace, having already finished the war before the King could even give the order to march.