【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

Gilkrud Square

Hody sat on his throne, feeling the endless power flowing through him. An irrepressible joy welled up inside him. Looking at King Neptune and the third prince whom he had captured, he finally burst into laughter. Now, as long as he eliminated that legendary mermaid, he would be the supreme king of Fishman Island. "Hahahaha, isn't the scenery here nice?!"

"Captain Hody! Princess Shirahoshi and Jinbe have fallen into a trap!!"

"Hahaha, this is truly a stroke of luck!!" Hody laughed wildly as he looked at Jinbe and the mermaid princess, who were bound and lying in front of him. "I never expected that the two people I was most worried about would both deliver themselves to my doorstep. This is truly a windfall!!"

"Hahaha, Jinbe, you really came." Looking at the mermaid princess and Jinbe lying on the ground, filled with remorse and self-blame, Hody laughed triumphantly. "There are 100,000 people in this square ready to fight. Even if the Straw Hat crew comes here in a fit of rage because of their comrade's death, these 100,000 people will make sure they don't leave alive!"

"Hody, don't get too cocky!"

“It’s been a long time, Mrs. Shirley.” Hody looked impatiently at the merman above the square who had interrupted his interest. “What are you doing here?”

"I want to convey a message to you, who are so self-righteous: my divination has shown that a man will destroy Fishman Island."

Hearing this, Hody looked up at the mermaid with interest, a lewd smile on his face. "In fact, it might really be destroyed. So, did my image appear in the divination?!"

"No, the man who will destroy this island is Straw Hat Luffy!!"

Hody's face instantly darkened. Hearing her provocation, he casually sprayed water droplets at her. "That's utter nonsense. Why make veiled accusations? Mrs. Shirley, you're just venting your anger. I'm not like your brother. Speaking of which, when I was a kid, your brother Aaron was an idol in Fishman Street!"

"Power, authority! These are already within my grasp!" Hody said mockingly. "Let me tell you the truth! I am the one who murdered your beloved Queen Otohime!!"

"My operation started ten years ago. That day, I bribed a human pirate to set the autograph box on fire with a sniper rifle, and I took advantage of the chaos to shoot and kill Otohime, and then killed the human I hired!! Hahaha, she was just too much of an eyesore!"

Hody looked at Shirahoshi with a grim expression. "That woman who calls revenge against humanity a sin, who advocates this all over the island, and who's about to make it a reality, is really an eyesore, isn't she, Shirahoshi? Your mother deserved to die, and I'm here to punish people like that!!"

"I already knew about this," Bai Xing said, her eyes filled with tears, but she remained strong.

"You knew all along that I killed your mother, what does that mean, White Star?" Hody was furious, not expecting that his battle plan from ten years ago would have such a flaw.

"A few years after the incident, Megaro secretly told me the truth. It turned out to be Neptune's pet and had witnessed the whole thing."

"Princess Shirahoshi, why didn't you tell us?" Jinbe asked in shock.

"This is the last promise I made with my mother: no matter who the prisoner is, we must never hate him!"

"Hahaha!!" Hody laughed triumphantly upon hearing Princess Shirahoshi's words. "You're something else, Megalo, choosing such an idiot to tell her the truth."

"Stop laughing, you bastard!!" Jinbe roared angrily at Hody, who was laughing triumphantly. He would never allow anyone to mock Princess Shirahoshi's kindness. Even he had never imagined that there was such an honest and strong girl in the world.

"Hahahaha." Hody pointed triumphantly at Shirahoshi, laughing maniacally in a mocking tone, "Listen up, Shirahoshi, because of your stupidity, your father, your brothers, yourself, and the entire nation will pay with your lives!! Yabu Same!!"

"Your Majesty!!" The fishmen and mermaids above the square covered their faces in horror as they watched the king being shot by Hody.

Hearing the terrified and desperate screams and curses of the crowd above the square, the entire New Mermaid Pirates burst into laughter. "Hahaha, what a pitiful sight!"

"Hey, Straw Hat Luffy!!"

"If you want to destroy this island, then come now!!"

"Let's cause a huge ruckus here now!!"

"If you're on this island, come over right now!!"

"straw hat!!"

"straw hat!!"

The fish-men and mermaids above the square cried out in despair.

"This is unbelievable... That kind of guy has become a lifeline... Your cries are pointless." Hody grabbed Neptune's head, raising his hand to attack. "You insane idiots, open your eyes wide and watch carefully, the former King Neptune's head is about to be ripped off!!"

"Your Majesty!!" the fishmen cried out in terror.

"Mr. Luffy!!" Shirahoshi cried out, tears streaming down her face, "Please save my father!!"

"Ooh!!" Luffy burst out of the shark's mouth and kicked Hody hard in the head with a furious kick, sending Hody flying straight into the wall like a cannonball.

"Hey hey hey!!" The fish-men above the plaza stared in shock at the fallen Hody, then looked incredulously at the suddenly appearing Straw Hat Luffy. "Luffy! He really appeared!?"

"Although it didn't go as planned, Luffy's entrance was still grand enough." Lucci appeared, grinning as he looked at the shocked shouts in the sky above the plaza.

"You guys hurry up!" Jinbe shouted.

"Don't worry, we're not idle at all!"

"Mirage dispelled!" A woman's voice rang out, and a beautiful woman with long orange hair suddenly appeared in the center of the square.

"Lion's Roar Cannon, fire!!"

"Whoa! It's a pirate ship!!" The fishmen in the square stared in disbelief at the pirate ship flying over the square. King Neptune had also been rescued by them in the chaos. A brightly colored pirate ship arrogantly stopped in the middle of 100,000 people.

"It's the Straw Hat crew! Everyone's here!"

"Hey, Straw Hat Luffy!"

"Are you really going to destroy this island!?"

"Why do we need to conquer the Dragon Palace?!"

"Answer now! Are you enemies or friends of Fishman Island?!"

"Friend or foe? That kind of thing..." Hearing the shouts of the Fishman Island residents above the plaza, Luffy reached up and pulled his hat down, casually saying, "Think what you want!!"

"Here, this is a letter!" Nami smiled and handed the item to Shirahoshi.

"Cowardly Star, that guy is really dangerous!"

"Thank you so much, everyone. This is the hope of Fishman Island left by my mother... Mr. Luffy, you just called me..." Shirahoshi looked at Luffy with some surprise. Mr. Luffy always called her a coward.

"There are two new weapons. Raise your hand if you want to ride in them!"

"A new weapon!?" Luffy's eyes lit up immediately upon hearing Franky's words, and he raised his hand, shouting, "Me! Me!"

"You're not good enough, we haven't dealt with that guy yet." Lucci pulled back the excited Luffy and looked at the fishman who had been knocked unconscious by Luffy but had gotten back up. "He's pretty tough."