This novel is finished, and I have posted all the advanced chapters on my Patreon https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395
New World, Laugh Tale.
"Wait… what you're saying is…"
Before the enormous, solemn stone monument, Luffy lifted his head in utter shock, staring at the stone.
More precisely, he was staring at Shirahoshi inside it.
"I'm sorry, really… I'm so sorry."
"Ah, this is troublesome!" Rubbing his head in frustration, Luffy turned back to the others, who were all wearing curious expressions, and said, "Shirahoshi doesn't know how to get out either."
"Nani?!" The group froze in place.
'What kind of answer was that?'
Even the person involved doesn't know how to get out?!
"Then does she remember how she was locked inside in the first place, Luffy?" Jinbe asked, his voice tinged with sadness.
The situation was exactly as Rowen had predicted. Although Jinbe could vaguely sense Shirahoshi's presence, he was unable to communicate with her directly like Luffy could.
"Wait a moment, I'll ask her…" With that, Luffy turned around and repeated the question.
At the same time, he propped his chin up, striking an incarnation Fall Morse pose, nodding from time to time as if he looked extremely reliable.
"Mm… mm… I see…"
"Is this really okay?" Sanji couldn't help asking worriedly, his curled eyebrows scrunched together.
He understood the logic, after all, the only person who could communicate with Shirahoshi right now was Luffy…
But that was Luffy, after all!
Ninety percent of the time, he was in pure idiot mode!
'Was this really okay?'
"We can only trust him. There's no other choice." Nami sighed, unwilling to continue the topic.
At that moment, a terrifying pressure suddenly erupted from Luffy's body.
That was the Haoshoku Haki belonging to a king!
It had been forced out of him by Rowen long before he even set sail in the year 1519. Now, after several years and a great increase in strength, that Haki had become even more suffocating.
"So that's how it is… I understand." Luffy replied calmly, but those who knew him well could hear something different in his tone.
"Well?" Jinbe couldn't help asking.
"I…" Luffy moved his lips, hesitated for a moment, then looked at him. "After Shirahoshi was brought here, Orrick stabbed a knife straight into her heart. After that, she lost consciousness. When she woke up, she was already sealed inside."
Noticing the anger and sorrow on Jinbe's face, Luffy pulled the brim of his hat down. "She said… before she fainted, she felt as if her body was floating up. There was some kind of power inside the stone monument that pulled her in."
A sensation of the body floating?
That was basically the soul leaving the body, wasn't it?!
It was said so plainly that even Luffy, who spent 90% of the time in pure idiot mode, could understand.
The method to save Shirahoshi was very simple: A life for a life.
Let someone die near the stone monument, and their soul would swap places, entering the stone to "serve the sentence" in Shirahoshi's stead.
Shua!
After hearing this, everyone fell silent.
Death was something both incredibly distant and yet within arm's reach.
None of them were prepared to die.
But soon, Jinbe raised his head and pulled his robe down to his waist, exposing his cyan-colored skin.
"I'll do it."
Everyone stared at him in shock. Jinbe stepped forward, came to Luffy's side, and sat down cross-legged.
"If my old life can bring an end to this nightmare, then what fear is there in death?"
He then looked toward Zoro.
"Please, swordsman-san!"
"Is this really the only way?" Zoro stepped forward, his left hand gripping Wado Ichimonji.
Though they hadn't known each other long, Zoro deeply admired Jinbe as a person. He was a man worthy of the title 'Knight of the Sea', regardless of race—a nobility of spirit, pure and lofty.
Even after being steeped in the samurai ethos of Wano Country, Zoro still found it hard to swing his blade.
"Wait! All of this is just Princess Shirahoshi's speculation; there's no evidence to confirm it!" Nami panicked and stopped Zoro, then turned to Luffy. "And if it really is a life-for-a-life exchange, then why don't we just bring Poseidon here instead…?"
"Right! Isn't our ultimate goal Poseidon anyway? Even if we send Jinbe in, it doesn't solve the real problem!"
That hit the nail on the head, instantly lifting everyone's spirits.
That's right… Even if they sacrificed Jinbe to rescue Shirahoshi, they would still have to face the Sea King.
Zoro let out a breath of relief and smiled at Jinbe.
"Looks like you won't be dying after all."
However…
"No. I think it would be best if you didn't cling to such naïve ideas." A familiar voice sounded from behind them.
The entire group spun around in shock, their pupils shrinking abruptly.
"Marines?!"
Clang!
Zoro drew his weapon, cold sweat dripping down his forehead.
"I remember you… Marine Ghost Sword, Quinn·Dante!"
Wrapped in a loose Justice cloak that shielded his body from the scorching desert sun, Dante lazily rested his left elbow on the hilt of his astonishingly long sword. He stood at the front of a group of fully armed Assassination Force members.
"Three-Sword Style swordsman… Roronoa·Zoro…" Dante calmly spoke the name, then looked past him toward Luffy. "There are many ways to kill someone. Do you know why Orrick chose a knife?"
The ignored Zoro: "...I'll cut you down!"
(╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
"Why?" Luffy looked up and asked.
"If the body suffers too much damage, then even if Shirahoshi is rescued, she'll still be doomed to die."
"That's true. We can't only consider the soul exchange, we also have to consider whether the body can survive after the exchange." Chopper glanced at Jinbe and said, "That's why it has to be a delicate balance: killing the target while still being able to heal them afterward."
From a medical standpoint, this wasn't contradictory at all. Many patients whose brain waves had completely stopped could still be revived.
"Not only that, at the same time, the target must be either a Mermaid or a Fish-Man."
Dante showed no intention of attacking. He found a large rock and sat down. "Princess Shirahoshi's body can control the Sea King species, but do you know why? How were Sea Kings born? And what connection do they have with her?"
This question clearly hit the Straw Hats' blind spot. Dante hadn't expected them to answer anyway, so he continued:
"Actually, Sea Kings are nothing more than a group of deliberately created biological weapons… though that statement is kind of redundant."
After all, Ancient Weapons were famous throughout the world.
"Many, many years ago, someone used extremely advanced medical techniques to splice and stitch together the bodily structures of different organisms, creating all kinds of monsters."
"At the time, they weren't this enormous. It was only over the passage of time, through constant exposure to Seastone, which altered their genes and enlarged their bodies, with the changes becoming hereditary, that this group known as Sea Kings came into being."
Looking at the Straw Hats' completely baffled faces, Dante decided to keep it short.
If he tried to explain why Seastone caused organisms to grow larger, he could talk for three days and three nights without finishing.
Remembering how, after Rowen's sudden growth in height, he himself had once grown curious, dug up research materials, and ended up with a splitting headache for three straight days, Dante couldn't help but shiver.
"And just as I said, since they're biological weapons, once the weapons are created, there naturally needs to be a switch to control them."
"And that switch… is you, Mermaids and Fish-Men."
Pointing at Jinbe, Dante continued: "The reason the Neptune royal family has always remained royalty is because this ability to control Sea Kings is passed down only within their bloodline. Every few hundred years, when the power within that bloodline becomes concentrated enough, a Mermaid Princess capable of controlling Sea Kings is born."
At this point, Dante grinned meaningfully.
"That's right… its just as you're thinking."
"Mermaids, Fish-Men, and Sea Kings alike are all products of biological experiments, deliberately placed on Fish-Man Island to help certain Great Characters monitor that entity's every move and prevent it from going on a rampage."
"Fish-Man Island, its original name should have been Observation Post or Military Base. Now, let's return to the earlier question… Think about it. Why is that Poseidon outside able to exchange souls with Princess Shirahoshi?"
Bang!
The information revealed in Dante's words struck the Straw Hats like a hammer, leaving them dizzy, but they had grasped one crucial point.
Robin covered her mouth in shock and said, "Because just like the birth of Sea Kings, Fish-Men and Mermaids… also require a biological template!"
In the desert ruins of Laugh Tale, Robin had already discovered many damaged relief carvings.
They depicted scenes of ancient people performing some kind of worship or ritual, and at the center of those scenes was a massive female Mermaid with a human upper body and a fish tail!
If one excluded the inhumane biological experiments, then Mermaids and Fish-Men were unmistakably the direct descendants of that God!
(End of Chapter)
I am translating some new fanfiction (Haikyuu- Starting From Volleyball). Read it and support me.
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