BlackStar_BH:
Just so you know, I've finally defeated the cursed writer's block that slowed me down during this arc, and the arc is already fully completed on Patreon and Ko-fi.
I've already started writing the next arc, and the chapters are coming out at a record speed! We're also incredibly close to a huge milestone… only 18 chapters left before this novel reaches Chapter 1000!
Can you believe it? 1000 chapters… That's insane.
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Chapter's Events:
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[Fishman District, "Noah"]
"H-H-H-H—"
"Hhhhaaaaahhhh"
"H-Hold on a moment!!"
"Cap'n Decken!!!"
"Wh-Wh-What exactly is going on here?!!" Vander Decken's crew panicked upon seeing the colossal ship begin to move from its resting place.
"Do you really have to ask?!! Bahohohoh!!"
"I just gave this mighty ship 'Noah,' said to have been built by the people of Fishman Island in an age long gone…"
"…a nice good shove with my hand!!" Vander Decken laughed mockingly.
"In other words… I just threw this ship…"
"…straight towards Shirahoshi!!! Bahohohoh!!!" He revealed his sinister goal.
"It's really moving!! This is craaazyyy!!"His men couldn't believe their eyes, but their captain's words hit them even harder.
"The Noah is half the size of Fishman Island itself!!! There's nowhere left for her to run or hide, and nobody can stop this ship now!!"
"My beloved Shirahoshi can perish along with the whole of Fishman Island!!! Farewell, Shirahoshi!!! Farewell, Island!!!"
— — — — — — — — — — — —
"What a lunatic!"
Even Vander Decken himself felt his counterpart had completely lost his mind in this moment.
"Good thing I escaped the island, oh~ If I were still there, I'd definitely be killed because of this threat."
"But… bahohohohoh! Doesn't this make me, Vander Decken IX, the true ultimate villain instead of Hody Jones!?"
Vander Decken laughed wildly as he looked at the massive Noah moving upward, heading for Fishman Island.
"No doubt, with that size alone, it will completely destroy the island."
…
Marineford:
"So this ability can actually be used this way…"
Sengoku rubbed his eyes, looking with almost closed lids at the manga scene.
"That ship, Noah, its size is enormous—half the size of Fishman Island, for heaven's sake!" Zephyr stared in shock.
"How frightening… this Vander Decken has completely lost his mind…" Borsalino muttered with a yawn.
"Arara—will Straw Hat Luffy really be able to stop this disaster?" Kuzan looked closely at the final page of the chapter before flipping to the next one.
"Tsk… these tricky Paramecia powers… they can even move a ship the size of an island!?"
Sakazuki clenched his teeth. To him, Vander Decken was far too weak; the idea of moving a ship the size of an island was pure fantasy. Yet a cheap Paramecia fruit allowed him to do just that!
"Knowing how Luffy does things, he'll try to destroy the ship instead of focusing on defeating Vander Decken to cancel the effect of his ability." Tsuru smiled, predicting the events of the coming chapters.
…
Back on Fishman Island, readers' eyes widened at the unexpected turn of events.
"My God! This twisted villain wants to destroy the island just because he was rejected by the princess!"
"Unbelievable! Absolutely insane! Have some honor, damn you!"
"What fault of ours is it if you're not the princess's type?!!"
"You're just too ugly! You even shaved your head, which made you look even uglier! There's no way Princess Shirahoshi would accept a hideous man like you!"
"What's wrong with this guy?! To think he'd hurl Noah at the princess just because she rejected him… this is pure murderous intent!"
"I chased my dream girl for years. I got rejected many times but never gave up. When I fixed myself up and landed a stable job, I gathered my courage and proposed again—but she rejected me once more! Still, I was honorable and never caused her trouble. Why can't you just be like me!?"
Fishmen readers exchanged heated reactions to the final scene of the chapter, unanimously criticizing Vander Decken's way of pursuing a girl—though they also knew the reason behind his obsession in the first place.
…
Rob looked at Fisher Tiger and said:
"I've obtained the Paramecia Devil Fruit that Vander Decken ate… You might not believe it, but he's the one who sold it to the treasure room himself…"
"Really!? Lucky he didn't eat it—I didn't want to stain my hands with killing him." Tiger replied with relief.
"You would've killed him..?" Rob asked with a smile.
"…Yes." Tiger's answer was simple, without further explanation.
"Well, I can't say for sure he wouldn't repeat his counterpart's actions if he had that fruit's power." Rob said.
"That's true. Since we can't be certain, we won't hesitate to protect the island from any possible threat." Even Jimbei agreed with Tiger.
"I plan to…"
When they heard what Rob said, their eyes widened, and their breathing grew heavy.
They couldn't believe what they were hearing.
…
Neptune's expression hardened as he saw what Vander Decken was attempting. But he didn't focus entirely on that—his attention was locked on Shirahoshi in this moment.
"So Megalo saw everything…"
"Thankfully, Otohime never knew the monster who killed her was a villain from her own race."
Neptune felt pain in his heart as he read Shirahoshi's response…
"That's right. Shirahoshi loved her mother so much that she didn't even want to reveal the real culprit, just to fulfill her mother's final wish."
"Whatever the identity of the true culprit, we must not surrender to hatred because of her death."
Otohime wiped away a tiny tear from the corner of her eye as she slowly walked toward where King Neptune and his ministers were seated.
Neptune looked at Otohime with complicated feelings, but in the end, he rose and bowed to her with great respect.
"Don't, Your Majesty, I don't deserve this." Otohime tried to stop him, but she couldn't.
"Otohime, you are the purest soul of our race. You deserve the bow of the entire people, and of their king as well." Neptune said with a smile.
"You're talking about the Otohime in the manga… That isn't me. Even if she reflects my personality, she lived a life completely different from mine."
"But that doesn't mean you don't share the same heart as your manga counterpart."
Otohime didn't deny it, because he was right.
"You said Shirahoshi hid the killer's identity because she didn't want to betray her mother's last request, right?"
"Yes…" Otohime nodded.
"I see this as extremely unfair to the others. Her father deserves to know the true identity of his wife's killer so he can avenge her."
Neptune wasn't satisfied with the situation, but he couldn't bring himself to be angry with Shirahoshi's choice, even if he tried—not that he did.
"You may be right, Shirahoshi's actions could be seen as a mistake."
"But it was merely her dying mother's selfish request… nothing more. For Shirahoshi, in the end, she chose her late mother's final wish over everyone else."
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Upcoming chapter titles (spoilers):
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Chapter 958: The Straw Hat Crew's Entrance.
Chapter 959: Contributions of a True Friend.
Chapter 960: Luffy's Haki Sweeps the Plaza!
Chapter 961: The Battle Begins!
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